That Devil on My Shoulder

I had 5 days off of working out about 2 weeks ago.  It felt necessary because I was so exhausted and eventually sick.  When I got back in the pool last Wednesday, I was ready to kick some butt.  As you see, I am often a big fish in a little pond when it comes to the skill level and speed of lap swimmers at the YMCA.  So when I saw the people in the pool I thought, pshht, piece of cake.  I'll show these people what lap swimming really is.  (Please note: Yes, my inner ego is really this high.  Quite a fault, but I'll take that over bashing myself any day.)

So I get in, do my warm up, switch lanes because water aerobics was starting, do a small set.  Then on to the main show:
10 x 50 yards
2 on :60
2 on :55
2 on :50
2 on :55
2 on :60

Looks like cake walk, doesn't it?  In the first 50 or two, I notice a guy in the lane next to me.  He is lap-ing me.  WHILE PULLING.  Yeah, only using his arms to propel himself through the water. If I had any thought of being "fast", it flew right out the window! I have generally being making 50s on :52-53.  So this was work for me!  And that is where my self-esteemed dropped to the bottom of the pool like an anchor.  I was trying my hardest and this guy was still lapping me (I'm assuming he is in college, and a collegiate swimmer).  I was barely making :55 seconds for the 50s, my swim shorts were falling down, my goggles were fogging up.  I was trying so hard, but I could not propel myself through the freaking water as fast as I needed to. All of a sudden, I was fat, I was slow, I was a terrible swimmer.  I should give up on weight loss and being healthy, and just go eat a mountain of food and sit on my butt because swimming all these laps and not making the right times was going to get me no where.  Instead of doing 10 x 50 yards, I ended up doing at least a 200 without stopping.

Looking rough after a hard swim.  Sometimes it is a battle!

Finally, finally, the torture was over.  I snapped back to reality.  Who the heck was this person who was swimming those terrible 50s?  Was that really me thinking those thoughts?  Anyone who knows me will describe me as a positive person...and that was a side of myself that I rarely see.  Things weren't sunshine and daisies, I was still annoyed (with myself?  with the fast guy swimmer? idk!).  So annoyed that I had a 50 butterfly on deck.  I was so immersed in my thoughts that I didn't realize I did a whole 50 and didn't die of exhaustion.  That's huge for me!  It is such a mental game.  Butterfly is the hardest stroke and yes, it does cause pain because it is that hard.  Reminded me of the first time I ran.  I was on top of the world!

Geez, sounds like a Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde swim workout over here.

And yesterday, I had 4 x 50 butterfly to do.   I tried to talk myself out of it, but I wouldn't let myself back down from the challenge.  I survived!  Yes, there were some breathes in which I got a mouthful of water instead of air, but I just kept plugging along.  200 yards of butterfly -- hey!  I used to race that.  haha and yes, that was a painful swim back then too.



It appears I'm approaching the 1000 minute mark for May workouts.  VERY happy about that.  If I workout tomorrow (and I'm assuming no working out on Thursday because I'm babysitting), that will be 20 out of 31 days working out in May.  SUPER excited about that!  It is hard to believe I went years at a time without swimming and without exercising.  I'm having a lot of fun!

And one last note for tonight.  I found a running buddy.  Here she is:

SwimTot!

There were 5-7 extra (mostly drunk) people in our apt over the weekend.  That's not really my thing, so I took SwimTot on some trails.  And she wanted to run.  And she whooped me.  That kid is fast.  Now, it is easier to carry her 40lbs across land than it is my 270, but when she got tired, I caught up to her and told her to keep going (This is your soccer conditioning!) and she did!

Wait -- What's that?  I weigh 270 now??? haha yep, lost another like 1.8 since the last time I weighed in.  Pretty awesome.  Bout to get another pair of unmentionables out of my grab bag for another 5 lbs lost!