Today was one of those "almost" days, when I almost didn't swim. I was grouchy leaving the house. I was hoping to surf but it was flat when I got to the beach. :-( I decided to swim and not leave Tod hanging (we have a regular Thursday plan to swim at 8am). So I went. I did *not* see Tod, but I did swim.

Last week, when I swam, it felt like I had never swam before. My swim golf score was a 79 (up from 75). Add to that the fact that I could hardley swim 4 laps in a row without stopping, and I felt like a big loser. So this week, my new approach was not to swim for laps, but for a fixed amount of time. E.g. for a sprint triathlon, most folks swim the 450m in 10 minutes or less. So, my goal was just to keep swimming for 10 minutes. Just find a pace where I can swim that long without stopping.

And that's just what I did. I did it first in my pool at home on Tue this week. I just swam for 10 minutes in circles and figure eights, never pushing off a wall.

Today I went to the "real pool" at Gleason Park and wanted to see how different it might be to try the 10-minute thing there. I'm not sure what changed between last week and this, but I just got into the water and started swimming. I set my watch to count down from 10:15, and started going. And I just never stopped. It worked. I counted laps, and I swam 500m in that 10:15. I found a rhythm of breathing every 2 strokes was sustainable.

So I think I've met my goal of swimming and biking sprint triathlon distances. The upcoming HealthFirst Tri is a 450m swim and 16 mi. bike. Other sprint tri's do a 13 mi. bike. I think next Thu I need to do 500m swim followed by 13-16 mi bike. That would be fun.