Date: Wednesday June 1st
After yesterdays 15,000 meters and change, today is a recovery day in that it is a light swim on the docket for me, how decadent!
10 x 200’s Super EZ on the 3:15 interval
Our Masters swim practice at 6am is cancelled due to a lightening storm so I swim at lunch time instead of with the Masters group, I also have my strength training to complete, I enjoy a 3 miles run first then knock out my lifting routine, by now it is 7:25am, Cynthia, Margaret and Barbara and I ground with 25 minutes of Yoga, then it is on to the next task, teaching a 60 minute Jump Rope class, the day races by at work and at 6:15 pm I am pulling the mini into the driveway home for the evening, in my mind I have already laid out the list of tasks to be achieved before the evening is over….WRONG NOT TONIGHT!
” Why am I feeling soooo tired tonight, could it possibly be the 15,000 meter swim yesterday?”, I make a decision to rest for a few ticks under the covers of my bed before I unpack my bag, repack and get ready for tomorrow.
I send a message from my brain to my muscles to move my sorry a#$$ out of bed, it replies ” not bloody likely”, suddenly I am freezing cold and my legs and back are aching, stabbing pains in both my hips, my back and front of the thighs, I groan” awwwwwwwwwww”, it doesn’t help.
Then I am hot , cold, hot cold, burning up, soon it is 9:30pm and I haven’t moved, my son Soeren comes to my rescue, he listens to my whimpering and offers me kindness and compassion….a cold wet towel with ice wrapped inside it on my forehead, he prescribes Excedrin and brings an iced water and an iced Gatorade all with a straw, then props me up and drops the excedrin in my mouth, then a sip of water to help them go down….” you must drink Mum, keep up your fluids”, ” it will get better, you are fit and strong, your body is fighting it now, you have to relax, no stress”
I obediently listen, he sits with me for over an hour, it helps, the aches are less intense, at 11:00pm he goes to bed, leaving his door open ” call if you need me Mum, I am hear for you”, what a caring fellow, I feel fortunate to him with me.
Morning has broken, the fever has not…
The night passes, sleep comes around 2am, at 3am I receive a work call, back to sleep until 6am, I perform the body scan like I do when swimming in the cold, what feels good, the list is not as long as I would have hoped, ” how can it be such an effort just to lie here”.
The kids head off to school at 7am, ” don’t go to work today Mum, just don’t, you need to rest”, I don’t reply. As soon as they are out the door I go about the task of pulling myself together, bag packed, some sort of feed tossed in my lunch bag and down to the morning workout, yes that’s right 8000 meters is going to be covered at 6:30am.
I stand on the pool deck, slide into the pool and creak my way up and down 320 lengths of the pool in a little under 2.5 hours, it is ugly, for the first 4000 I am planning my exit should I need to throw up in a hurry, ” OK, here is the plan, don’t open your mouth until you get the window up and lean your head out, absolutely no chucking up in the pool”. Luckily it doesn’t come to a window dash and the swim is complete.
Then into work for the rest of the day, self elected quarantine in my office, no visitors for their own safety, then home by 6pm.
Recovery is Sweet…
By 8pm I am feeling much better, my head is clearer and there is a glimmer of appetite, I get a good nights sleep then it is back out to the lake to train…
Friday June 4th
Pool Workout 2750
5 x 50’s Drill
400 Aerobic Cruise
21 x 100’s on the 1:40
Open Water 5000 meters
Air Temperature 61 Degrees, Water Temperature 62-66 degrees
Strong wind and white caps to little Italy and back
Saturday June 4th
Ready to launch...Destination Picnic Island then next stop Little Italy
The Final swim of the week, the course is a morning swim out to Picnic Island, then up to Little Italy and return to the canoe launch, Deb is paddling and we snappily achieve out goal in 2 Hours and 5 minutes, we knock out 3 feeds, each under 25 seconds, the first part of the swim I am noticing my focus on feeling cold, ” have to pick up the pace and snap out of this”, I think to myself, I give myself a good swift mental kick in the a#ss and things improve noticeably, it turns out to be a darn good swim.
Total Distance for the Week: 45, 315 meters ( 28.14 miles)
Next Up REST DAY Mmmmmmm, then it is back in the saddle come Monday, how far, how fast, I’ll keep you posted.