An LSD Sunday

Part I
Sunday is LSD day, and I got to spend the morning on the bike path with my friends Dave and Maria. Warm up was a moderate .8 mile walk, in a relaxed 14 minutes or so, followed by stretching. Then we set off west, at an easy jog, Maria and I chatting, with Dave loping off down the grass at the side of the path. Two weeks ago when we did this it was blustery and a good 15 degrees cooler, and we headed out into the wind. Today was calm, overcast and in the mid-40's - just right. The river was perfect mirror-image reflection still, and beautiful.

Maria hesitated just a tick at the orange bridge - it's one mile out and where I turned around last time out. But I kept going. And she slowed down just for two beats at the crossing leading into the cabbage patch, at 1.5 miles. But I kept going. 50 yards down I let her know I was aiming for the barricades at about 1.9 miles. 200 yards later, she asked me if I was going to cross the road and try for the 2 mile marker - and I told her I thought I could do that. I was a little worried about that road crossing, because after the barricade, the path drops down to cross the road that goes to the Lock, and I would have to go up the rise on the other side to get back on the path - but my legs felt good and strong, and I went up it just fine.

And then, we were there, at the yellow post, 2 miles out. It was a slog for sure, 28 minutes, but I ran all the way, talked all the way and did not stop either for the whole distance. Felt like I could have gone another half mile, too, but I didn't want to push. Other than a little dash up the hill to the barricade on the return, we walked and talked back to the parking lot, and declared that it had been a good run and a grand morning, and vowed to do it again soon.

Part II
Sunday morning is usually swim time me, but both cars were gone, and I had to wait for Jon to come back from his overnight with my car before I could get out to the Y. As he is not an early riser - his idea of an early start to the day is to get up at "crack of noon", he wasn't back until 2:30 pm, and I didn't get to the Y until after 3. This really isn't too bad, as the kids are done with their lessons by 1 pm on Sunday and the pool is pretty quiet, with lots of lanes open. Coach lifeguards from 11-4 on Sundays, and after we exchanged pleasantries and I updated him on the whereabouts and activities of the rest of the crew, I slipped into the pool. I pulled on my zoomers, spit into my goggles, rinsed them, slipped the strap over my head, and made each eye piece "suck face".

Warm up was a lap each of breast, back kick, back stroke and breast, followed by stretching. Then I slipped into an easy crawl, LSD-ing in the pool at 70 seconds per lap. I felt really relaxed and at ease, my breathing was unrushed, and I just felt good. I knew that today was going to be the day - and it was: my very first mile using just the crawl stroke and no stopping!

I felt a little tired around lap 26, and I felt my stroke getting jagged, but I was able to get back to fundamentals, stretching out my arms and rotating my hips. By lap 30 I knew I was going to make it. Just for jollies, I grabbed a quick peek at the clock before I started the last lap. I pushed through the lap - not exactly a Thursday night "melt-down" sprint, but I did it in 55 seconds - and I was pretty happy with that.

Total time: 43:03. Not too shabby for me.

Tonight's question: Will I be able to move tomorrow? I'll let you know.

See you out there.