With Breezy Point Triathlon less than two months away, I figured it was high time I headed to the pool to discover if I could still swim. I’m almost positive the last time I swam laps was way back in 2004 – the year of my one and only Ironman triathlon – so I was a little concerned that I’d even remember what to do.
To save time later in the evening, I ran the 6.5 miles to the local rec center where I’d arranged to meet Ally (Lady Bulldog as one of my Twitter friends recently named her – nice one Joe!). Despite the afternoon sun, the run was a little chilly, and by the time I reached the rec center, my hands were freezing.
After a quick membership reactivation, I soon found myself changed and sitting on the edge of the pool – goggles and pull buoy by my side. For anyone that doesn’t know me as a “swimmer”, I train exclusively with a pull buoy – not to make me faster, nor improve my technique, but for the simple reason I can’t swim without one! Just ask Lady Bulldog…
Anyway, Ally was still getting changed, which left me the perfect window of opportunity to try a quick 50m without the pull buoy. I failed; made it about 20m and then slowly sunk to the bottom. I returned to the edge of the pool, grabbed the pull buoy and set off on another 50m. This time I made it up and back with no problems; just a little fatigue in the arms and shoulders. Best of all the technique (albeit poor) and the breathing all came back very quickly.
By this time Ally was changed and ready to go, and we spent the next 10-20 minutes swimming a few 50’s – 10 in total, for a whopping 500m! We chatted in between laps and both pondered how the heck we ever managed to swim 2.4 miles in the Ironman?! Here I was, gasping for breath after a slow 50m with a pull buoy jammed between my legs, but somehow I’d stroked my way through 2 x 1.2 mile loops in 1 hour 26 minutes. The thought of that lake swim in Lake Placid never ceases to amaze me.
So, after two bike rides last week and a short swim “experiment” tonight, I guess my triathlon training has officially started. With regards to the swim, I’m not looking for speed or anything special – the next couple of months will be about building up endurance to get me through a continuous 1000m open water swim. And just in case you’re wondering: pull buoys are not allowed in the triathlon, but my trusty Xterra wetsuit does exactly the same job of keeping me afloat!
Wish me luck…