Swimming Makes Me Tired

My swim week is at an end. I should say I am tried. I swam 5 times this week and three days in a row at the end of the week. Swimming just saps my strength, I have a great respect for those that do this on a more constant basis than I do. I needed a nap this afternoon to recover from my week in the pool. This was a good move. My muscles feel worked but without the damage that a week of running can do to your body. I feel ready to get out there tomorrow and go back to my running program.

In other news, I was a dummy for a black belt test on Saturday. I can always go with a good ass kicking so I volunteered to get beat on a bit in the name of school spirit. It is always nice to be there for those moving up the ranks. Plus, as I always say a good deal of what training provides to you as a practitioner is the removal of the shock of actually being hit. If you can get over that you have a much better chance of getting through a fight.

Some Time in the Pool

I have noticed that I get some injuries when I train too much. A big suprise but true. To combat the tendencies of my right hip, left calf and right hamstring from yelling too much, I have decided to take a more reasoned approach to my training. This is tough for a guy who at some level enjoys chastising himself for not gritting through the pain. So I have decided to take a 3 week on one week off sort of routine. But my off week is a pool week. I am not a big fan of swimming laps, there is too much isolation in swimming. There is too much disconnect from the environment for me to ever be enthusiastic about it. But to keep injuries in check it is a must. So I did 30 laps on Sunday, 25 on Monday and 40 today. That is a lot of laps and I think it is good for me, even if it is boring.

As to the running, I am getting faster again. I dropped some speed after my illness. I think that lung infection really hit me hard in terms of endurance. I am only now getting back to a 10:00 pace. For a while I was around 11:00 to 11:30 for a time. Now I am back to 10:00 to 10:15. With a little speed work I should be ready for a half marathon in November. Here is to happy training.