Today I joined the Alien group swim program at UM. This is great for me because when I finish I’m at work, basically. So I just shower and walk over to my office. I’ve also never used the outdoor training pool so having access to it finally is pretty sweet.
We have to be in the water at 6AM on the nose. This means that I have to be out of the house by no later than quarter to six, which means I have to be fully caffeinated by 5:30, which means I have to be up by 5:00AM with my bags already packed the night before.
Getting up at 5 today was pretty easy because I fell asleep in front of the TV at around 7:45PM last night and then got into bed for “real sleep” about an hour later. When I was a little kid I had a consistent 9PM bedtime. Lights were out at 9PM from the time I was old enough to bitch about having to go to sleep so early until, oh, I dunno, around the 9th grade. Nowadays, if I can’t get to bed by 9PM I start to bitch. But last night I fell asleep even earlier than usual because I was doped up on sedatives post-MRI. (Refer to: Tests, Tests and More Tests.)
Anyhoo, this is what UM looks like at quarter to six in the morning:
It’s kind perdy, isn’t it?
Here’s the pool before sunrise:
I have always enjoyed working out before sunrise. I also like starting road trips before sunrise or going to work before sunrise because when the sun does eventually rise you get a little boost of energy and feel very much like you’re a part of the cycle of life. By the time the sun started poking its shining little face out over our pool, I was done with my warm up.
Unfortunately, the UM swim team moves in at 7AM and we have to get outta there and let them do their thing. So we really and truly only have an hour. As opposed to when I hit the pool alone and I sorta try to kinda stick to the hour limit but never really do. My workout for today was insane. There was little chance of me finishing it in 60 minutes. The warm up itself was 500 yards. Then I had to do, get your math brain ready, 3 x (5 x 100; (30″ RI); 50 kick).
This means that I had to complete 5 100 yard swims each with 30 seconds of rest between 100s, followed by a 50 yard kick to recover. And then I had to do all that again. And then again.
And THEN…
I was supposed to swim one final 100 yards at race pace and top it all up with 300 yards nice and easy to cool down.
I got as far as half way thr0ugh the third set before I had to leave the pool. The workout was supposed to be 2550 yards total and I only got 1800 done. Short 700 yards. That’s a friggin’ lot of yards. BLAH. I hate not completing a workout. It makes me feel very much like I’m falling behind. Whatever. I guess what matters is that I did all I could to get the distance completed in the time allotted. More stuff to work on.
Now a full day of classes and then bridge repeats out on Key Biscayne at 7:15. Then tomorrow about 2200 yards, yoga and preparations for the arrival of the Persian Prince. And next week I get to fit in all this training while teaching and workshopping a musical. Fun fun fun!
mymultipersonality 
I’ve been thinking about switching to a time-based workout for my Saturday long runs, as well. Limiting myself to a three hour run, and simply trying to complete as much distance as I can in those three hours. From this perspective, I’ll be interested to keep track of how you progress with your swims limited to one hour.
Yeah I figure it’s all about seeing that absurd distance number and then seeing the time and then just busting ass to finish. if you don’t, you’ve still reaped massive cardio rewards and the next swim is that much easier. Most of our workouts (even our runs) are time based, not distance-based. I find that it’s helpful for the tris.
Very nice looking pool! I love early morning trainings and agree with you about feeling like part of the life cycle. In the summer I’ll get up some mornings at 4:45am to do open water swims…it’s beautiful!
Wow. 4:45 is intense! Are you open watering in the ocean or a lake?
Lake in Boulder, CO. I just fell in love with the open water swimming and it’s totally worth it before heading to work. Great way to start the day.
Absolutely. We’re not supposed to get into the ocean before sunrise due to the early morning feeding habits of carnivorous sea beasts. I’m jealous. I love Boulder. Are you doing any of the Boulder tri series races this summer?
Doing the entire Boulder Tri Series! This will be my first 70.3! I’ve never swam in the ocean (besides what you do as a kid, no freestyle) I would love to try it someday. Have you done the boulder tri series?
This is only my first year doing Tris so no, have not done Boulder series. But planning to do Rocky Mountain in Silverthorne in July. I was also considering volunteering at the 70.3 if I can get over there. I will be in Steamboat all summer. Open water is interesting. You’ve got extra buoyancy and when the current is with you, it’s great. But sometimes you end up fighting the tide and it feels like you’re not moving anywhere.