I swam a palindrome!

I've been spending a lot of time here in Lane 6 this year.

I try to swim laps every day that I can, which turns out to be about five days per week, every week since mid-May. Swimming was a big part of my life growing up, but after high school, running, biking, hiking and beer took its place. This year, I decided to get back in the pool.

Yesterday, I swam the fastest 500 free that I have in 20 years: 7:42.47, which isn't especially fast, but I'm old and I don't dive off the blocks or flip my turns anymore. It's also a palindromic number, which is kind of neat. All I was trying to do was break eight minutes. In swimming, you can measure seventeen seconds with a calendar.

And, for the record, the water temperature has been in the mid to upper 60's for the past couple of weeks, which, even I have to admit, is getting a little crazy. I haven't seen another swimmer there since about Labor Day. I only have a couple more days of swimming outside before I will be forced to switch to an indoor pool for the Winter. I will be sad, but warmer. Indoor pools are usually up around 80 degrees, which is disgusting. 73 is just about perfect for cranking out laps.

Today it is 56 and raining, but the water will still be 66, so I'll be back there this afternoon. I am on pace to swim half a million yards for the year.

Awesome. I wish we had a pool club here besides the YMCA. My son is a very good competitive swimmer so I am already paying for it - I would love to do 3 days a week of low impact pool work but there is no shared or "open" practice when the teams are in the pool so I'd have to make a special trip at 5:30am to get a lane. So... jogging, hiking and biking are tearing up my old knees.

The time to swim laps...that's all I want in life. Swim a few for me.

pinchvalve wrote: The time to swim laps...that's all I want in life. Swim a few for me.

I need to stay fit for work and this is just about the least punishing format for your back and joints. It's a bonus is that swimming is one of my favorite activities. I am as comfortable in the water as I am on dry land.

Congrats! Given some of the cold mornings we've had around here, I give you a ton of credit!

Well done Woody!

I can definitely appreciate your efforts (former NCAA All-American swimmer--and 500yd/400m specialist.)!

That's meters, right? Not a bad time at all.

chuckles wrote: That's meters, right? Not a bad time at all.

Sadly, no. It's good old American yards.

There is a metric pool on the other side of town but, unfortunately, it's overrun with small children and pregnant women. This one is a little more exclusive.

Plus, they have a bar here.

I'm definitely getting old. I love to swim. It used to be part of my regular workout. I've gotten away from it recently. A big part of it is my intolerance to cold water. I used to be able to jump into a pool that was 70 degrees and love it. Now, forget it. I'll get in, but I'm not happy about it. The pool at the YMCA I belong to is around 80. That's fine, I can get in. But it drops a degree or two, I'm out. We have an above ground pool at home, the kids love it. It's in the low 70's typically. I'll go in with them, but takes me a while to get used to it.

Nice time on the 500, Woody. Swimming is fantastic exercise!

I've got a pool at home, and if the first number isn't an 8, I can't get it in it anymore. My tolerance for cold is shot to hell. I really prefer it to be around 84 to 85 ideally, which is about 2 weeks a year. I need to cut down some trees, but that's another story.

Woody said: And, for the record, the water temperature has been in the mid to upper 60's for the past couple of weeks, which, even I have to admit, is getting a little crazy. I haven't seen another swimmer there since about Labor Day. I only have a couple more days of swimming outside before I will be forced to switch to an indoor pool for the Winter. .. 73 is just about perfect for cranking out laps.

Get a wet suit. With a water temp in the low sixties I'd still be surfing in a shorty lenth suit.

HappyAndy wrote: Woody said: And, for the record, the water temperature has been in the mid to upper 60's for the past couple of weeks, which, even I have to admit, is getting a little crazy. I haven't seen another swimmer there since about Labor Day. I only have a couple more days of swimming outside before I will be forced to switch to an indoor pool for the Winter. .. 73 is just about perfect for cranking out laps. Get a wet suit. With a water temp in the low sixties I'd still be surfing in a shorty lenth suit.

It's not the water temperature, man, it's the pool cover!

So, I went back today as promised. The rain had let up a bit, but it was still windy and drizzling. The air was 59 and the water was 67.

On my second 500 of the day, I broke eight minutes again with a 7:48 something, followed immediately (and on short rest) with a 2:56 for 200, another seasonal best and my first sub three minute 200 of the year. I love cold water.

I don't usually do much sprinting, but just for kicks, at the end of the workout, I turned a 36 second 50 free, which is not blistering fast until you adjust for no dive / no flip turn / old fat guy. This was significant to me because that's the same time that I was turning for a 50 in back in seventh grade, 100 years ago this week.

When I got home, I made a big pot of coffee and immediately poured it onto my feet.

Pretty brisk times. I was a decent (if I may say so) collegiate swimmer but I can't go that pace these days.

Well done.

I got in the water last week for the first time in...a really long time. After a nice long warmup, and some pulling (about 1000 yds), I did some 50s on a minute. It took every ounce of effort to break 30. After 4 of those I was gassed. The water felt like jello...

I would like to do some training over the winter and maybe do a masters meet in Feb/March. God willing I would like to break 5 minutes in a 500 (keeping in mind that when I was in shape I did a best of 4.20...back during the Reagan administration).

Don't get too happy about the shoulders and swimming. A large number of my college aged lifeguards had shoulder surgery scars from high school swimming.

I survived high school swimming and a little college water polo without shoulder surgery, but a freak injury at work took one of mine out for a while. So far, swimming is making it better, rather than worse.

ST_ZX2:

That's flying! I was sub five back in high school, but no where near 4:20.

The shoulder surgery thing is generally a manifestation of poor technique.

Woody wrote:

chuckles wrote: That's meters, right? Not a bad time at all.

Sadly, no. It's good old American yards. There is a metric pool on the other side of town but, unfortunately, it's overrun with small children and pregnant women. This one is a little more exclusive. Plus, they have a bar here.

The 500 meter swim doesn't exist anyway, good jorb!

ST_ZX2 wrote: The shoulder surgery thing is generally a manifestation of poor technique.

That's what everyone screams, but I think its more a function of a joint that is 99.9% composed of soft tissue being put through a massive and aggressive motion 42million times in a row. The swimming motion is like running by swinging your feet past your ears on every step. Good form and adequate rest can help.

MrJoshua wrote:

ST_ZX2 wrote: The shoulder surgery thing is generally a manifestation of poor technique.

That's what everyone screams, but I think its more a function of a joint that is 99.9% composed of soft tissue being put through a massive and aggressive motion 42million times in a row. The swimming motion is like running by swinging your feet past your ears on every step. Good form and adequate rest can help.

I swam about 60,0000-100,000 yards a week for years. While I can't say that I did not have any pain, I certainly do not have any long-term damage. I am not unique either.

Two work-outs a day M-F, one on Sat. (off Sundays). During the heart of the season we'd conservatively average 8000yds/ work out. That is 88K yards/wk. Some workouts were 10K twice/day--like during Christmas break...and no days off. Then we had dryland training as well.

Train 48-50 weeks a year.

People have no idea what it takes to be a world-class swimmer...but I would put our training regimen up against ANY OTHER sport.

I think I hit about 55,000 per week at my best, but that was a long time ago. I'm no where near that these days.

Nor am I