Paddling along

Today was my last day in the Masters swim program. This is the "adult swim team" I joined for the summer. It's kind of expensive when combined with my regular gym membership, and I can't go more than twice or three times a week, so I decided to just do it for three months.

I really like it and am sad to have to stop. It's been fun to feel myself getting better throughout the summer. Swimming really makes you learn about your body's strengths and weaknesses.

My arms are awfully wimpy, while my legs are stronger. My freestyle, which I always considered my strongest stroke, is just average. But my backstroke isn't bad surprisingly.

It will be getting cooler soon anyway, so it would be hard to swim anyway.

Lesson learned: My breast stroke still needs some work.

Three for the price of one

I have wanted to do a triathlon for a long time. I just thought when I actually did it, I would train for it, practice the transitions and anticipate it for months.

Well I finally did one, but I decided to do it the day beforehand. Since it was sprint distance, I figured I could rely on my regular swimming and biking work outs to get through it.

It all started when I volunteered to be part of a relay team with Paul, a friend from church. His team's biker had dropped out, so I stepped in.

Then Paul's pregnant wife, Jenn, who is also a good friend, had her baby early. It was probably for the best, considering last time I talked to Paul he said, "Yeah, I just got up to running two miles without stopping." That was right before he told me the other guy can only swim three laps without stopping.

After Paul cancelled, my biking buddy Steve called and told me he was considering doing it. And of course he talked me into it too.

So it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, considering the last minuete nature of the decision. I did learn a few things for next time (and I think there will be a next time):

1. During the swim, don't panic, even when there are hundreds of legs and arms swinging in the water around you. Just roll with it. So what if you get kicked in the face. Or swallow a gallon of water. Or lose your goggles. (All things that happened to me).

2. Get a road bike. I felt pretty good on the bike, but it didn't really matter how good I felt, because I had a handicap since I was riding on a mountain bike. I could pass people on the up and down hills, but I tended to get passed on the flats and transitions.

3. Hydrate. Luckily I only had a quarter mile left when I started feeling cold chills.

Despite all that, I placed first in my age group. I got the blue medal and everything. I will be honest though — there was a friend of mine in my age group who left me in the dust (along with most men). It's just that because she got best female overall, she didn't get to get first place in her age group too. Thanks Ryan, for kicking butt.

Right now, I would kill for something chocolate.

Lesson learned: See above.

Dog paddeling

I just joined a local swim team in my area and had my first practice on Monday.

It was funny, but for the first time in awhile, I was actually nervous. I spent the hour and a half beforehand trying to suppress the butterflies in my stomach. I had visions of these tall, sleek swimmers gliding by me as I dog paddled.

In reality, I didn't have anything to worry about. Keeping up wasn't really the issue, it was keeping track of what I was supposed to do. The coach would stand at the head of the pool, hollering a string of lap sets: "200 free, four 50 IMs, 50 free, four 25 IMs..." I could usually only remember the first two, and even then, I would forget where I was. One time I actually did an extra IM, which is one lap of each stroke.

It felt good to be in the water, though, and the hour went by fast.

Lessoned learn: I know how to swim, I need to learn how to count.