Today I had goggles so I swam for 350 yards. I would have done more, but I mistakenly thought the bus schedule said night service pulled out on the 45s and it was really the 15s, so I ended up waiting an extra half hour at the terminal instead of swimming an extra half hour. But I’ll know better for tomorrow.
Oh, and my legs were NOTHING like they were yesterday. Nor were my arms :-) In fact, I felt just about the same as I did back in ye olde dayes of yore, except for breathing. Even then, I was able to go two complete cycles before breathing at the start (I expected I’d have to breathe after every cycle before I began, and of course by the end I did have to do just that). In any case, at about the 250 yard mark, I began to hit my second wind.
See, when I swim I have to warm up. And that takes quite a few laps. After my lungs open up, then I’m pretty much able to go for as long as I can keep my arms moving, but until I get to that point it’s |: Swim-Down-25-Yards-Then-Grab-The-End-of-The-Pool-Until-The-World-Stops-Spinning :|
Well, when I got to 275 yards and turned for 300, I thought: Wow, I’m feeling pretty good. I’m gonna push it and not rest this round. By 302 yards, I thought: That was a dumb decision, but now I’m committed. (Honestly, I was really about at 315 yards when that thought came to mind as I gazed upon the last 10 yards to the wall thinking that thirty feet never seemed so far, but hopefully the sense of how long it was can be felt metaphorically by your desire to have this run-on sentence reach its terminus.)
I made it, gasping for air. And then did the backstroke home for 350, at which point I saw the clock and incorrectly perceived that it was time to boogie. Which was sad, because I had juice left in my arms and could have done the backstroke all day long (after all, doing the backstroke I don’t have to worry about breathing because my face is above water the entire time—I do, however, have to worry about occasionally being waterboarded by the swimmer sharing the lane with me).
Anyway, grand total is now 550 yards down. 1,759,450 to go… (Look ma, I’m more than 0.03% of the way there!!!)
