Aquathon

Aquathon on Wednesday 3/17/10
The TV character Monk would be happy with the swim I did today because it was a nice even number. It was also a long distance swim for me and it left me a little aching. I did not start out to swim this long today, but it took shape as I did it. I got to the Y after having worked 13 hours last night and was tired but motivated to get in an activity. A little caffiene hellped also. I swam 100 round trips at my YMCA which is 5000 yards total. This is a personal record and it smashed my old record of 3800 yards which I did a month or so ago.
It took me a long time and that was ok because I was not racing. I just wanted to see if I could do it and what it would feel like. I did keep track of time and know that I started at 11:28 and finished at 2:06. I took a bathroom break at about lap 63 and then a 10 minute food break at lap 70. I did 500 yds breaststroke, then 500 yds backstroke to start. Then I did a "timed" mile of freestyle (1650 yds) in about 39 minutes. After that it was a variety of strokes but mostly freestyle. I thought I might swim 3000 yards but when I approached it I reset my goal to a higher one. This kept on until I finally saw that 100 would perhaps be a longstanding record for me I felt motivated to try. My arms felt ok as long as i went fairly slow which was 70 seconds per 50 yds. I took a about 5 minutes to change goggles at one point.
Boom! there is a swimmer in my lane without warning but I somehow miss her. Very bad etiquette and dangerous to just get in a lane without warning the person already swimming.
I had been drinking Powerade and by the time I was done I had drank about 44 oz of it. At lap 96 I suddenly had a cramp in my hamstring as I pushed off the wall. Uh oh. time to really take it easy and just finish. There was a different lady that wanted the half lane next to the wall that I had been mostly using and that was fine.
After the swim the tips of my fingertips where some minor cracking had appeared now looked lke huge grotesque fissures. Going to have to dry out. Note to self: push off the wall with feet on the smooth tiles and not on the rougher surrounding surface.
I think about the distance that is swam in a full length Ironman triathlon in relation to what I did. I have not swam like this in open water (Lake, ocean, etc) and am very weary of doing so. A 2.4 mile swim in a choppy ocean is hard to comprehend. I guess with no walls [to stop at all the time] you would just be forced to keep at it and get it done (or in the south: gidder dun).
I came home and pigged out on cold fried chicken and some apple pie from BI-LO. now as I write this at 3 pm I am falling asleep as I type. Time to recover.