Trying to Cycle

Saturday we had what was supposed to be a swim/bike workout, but since it was rainy and wet it turned into a swim/run instead.

The swim was fun, but short. My mentor, who knows I am also playing water polo and have a history of swimming, invited me to the early workout for mentors and captains so I could get some more laps in. The venue has two outdoor pools, one of which is covered by a "bubble," which is just what it sounds like - a big, white inflated bubble over the pool. This traps the heat, and that particular pool is kept quite warm (over 80 degrees, which in pool parlance is really f-ing hot). This results in a warm, humid, chlorine-y atmosphere, that upon entering is lovely but as soon as you try to be active it feels like you're suffocating. At least it did for me - I tried to actually swim hard, but ended up hanging halfway out of the pool trying to get a breath of fresh air, of which there was none to be found. Changing tactics, I swam about 1000 yards (maybe a bit less) of easy freestyle before hopping back out to get ready for the "real" workout with the participants.

The early workout was 7:45 - 8:30, then we were back in the pool at 9. Now, 30 minutes might not sound like a long delay, but imagine you're in a wet bathing suit, have forgotten to bring your parka, and are still wearing your swim cap, from which rivulets of cold water dribble down your back. You're trying to keep your towel relatively dry, since you need to use it again after the "real" swim and before the run, so it's loosely wrapped around you. You're barefoot, the cement is cold, and it's starting to rain.

So.

Thankfully we were in the outdoor pool for the 9AM workout, which was really fun. I hopped into the "faster" lanes (we self-categorize as fast or faster - there are no slow swimmers) and away we went. It was a short workout - I think we only went about 1000 yards - but I forgot how much fun it is to swim in a group like that. Very motivating. Then we had relays, so they broke us up into teams with a mixture of four "fast" and "faster" people in each group, and we swam a 200-yard relay, one lap at a time. It was an all-out 25-yard sprint, twice, and great fun. And my team won! (I know, I know, not a race...)

Because it was so wet outside, we ran instead of biked, which involved a large group of women cramming themselves into the locker room and wrestling themselves into sports bras and tight running clothes while still damp - a workout in and of itself. I would say it was team sport, with strangers helping other strangers untangle bras and pull up pants. Pretty entertaining.

We then ran a simple out-and-back flat 3.4-miler, which felt pretty good, and I hopped in the car and went home to take a long hot shower and a nap.

Sunday I was going to run, but was worried about my lack of cycling training, so bought an indoor resistance trainer (thanks Mom!). Essentially you hook your back tire up to the trainer and the wheel sits on a spinner, which offers resistance as you pedal and shift. The trainer came with a training DVD, which I watched yesterday. I don't think I've sweat that much in a long, long time - that was a seriously hard workout, but totally fun - essentially the video is a guy in an actual cycling race with a camera mounted on his handlebars, and at the bottom of the screen they give you stats like heartrate, RPM, power output, and intensity level you should be riding at to mimic the race. I couldn't do the whole thing and ended up just spinning fast at really low resistance for quite a bit of it, but it was totally fun. I have another video that's supposed to up your strength and speed, and am honestly a little afraid of it.

Today is supposed to be a swim... I find that on the days I am supposed to swim if I don't shower in the morning before work I am more likely to hop in the pool because I feel so gross. So, we'll see if grossness wins out today. :-)