A Swimmer's Weather Dilemma

I love my lunch time swim workouts but every so often I encounter the swimmer's dilemma...rain.  I'm very lucky to have outdoor and indoor swim options during the summer.  I usually spend all but a few days doing outdoor swims because there is nothing better than getting a little sun and a good workout in.  

This week there were two days where rain played a factor in deciding what to do for my lunch workout.  The first was on Monday...it was storming hard and for the life of me I couldn't fathom heading out into the storm to get soaking wet and then jump into the pool.  I know that seems silly but silly I am! 

No matter how great your umbrella is you are bound to get wet in the rain when it is storming hard enough.  I headed to grab lunch from the cafeteria and got a chuckle when I looked around and saw that one of my normal swimming workout partners had also chosen to take a rain check on the lunch swim.  

On Thursday, we were all swimming outside and we discussed the forecast for Friday.  The meteorologists were calling for an 80% chance of rain all day.  No fun! We all decided that we would swim indoors if there was rain.  

Sure enough on Friday it was raining and it seemed like the rain fell even harder right as it was time for my lunch workout.  I got to the gym and got lucky to score a close by parking spot.  Our gym gets super crowded for lunch workouts and I was very thankful. Unfortunately, my parking spot was in an area with horrible drainage.  I swear the water was an inch deep and running fast through the parking lot.  My shoes were platform sandals and my feet and jeans still managed to get wet.  

I jumped into the pool after a quick hello to a friend and began my warmup.  I knew what workout I wanted to do and it was a set of 50's that would hit 800 yds.  I knew my total distance that I wanted for the day so I came up with a warmup and early set to help me hit my goal.  Warmup was 400 yd easy swim followed by 4 x 50 yd of drill/swim in IM order.  

Set one - 500 yd ladder.  25 yd on 30 sec.  50 yd (free/back) on 1:00, 75 yd (50 free/25 breast) on 1:30, 100 pull on 1:50 and then go back down with same.  

As I was finishing up my 500 yd ladder one of my workout buddies showed up.  He had given the rain a little time to let up.  I offered him a 200 warmup because I was ready to hit my 50's.  While he did his warmup I swam a 200 pull.  

Set two - 4 x 50 x 4.  The first set of 4 x 50 are free/stroke on the 1:00.  The second set are all free on 50 sec.  The third set are pull on 55 sec and the final fourth set are free on the 45 sec.  You get a little rest by changing the interval times so that it isn't a complete descend from 1:00 down to 45 sec.  I'm still struggling to hit the 45 second intervals.  I come in right on the 45 seconds so it's just touch and go.  I end up finishing the set of 4 about 3-4 seconds slow which is a bummer but I'll get there.  

A second workout buddy joined us doing the workout during the 50's.  The two of them decided to take the 50's even faster and do a set of 4 on the 40 second interval.  I swam a 150 pull while they did that.  I ended the workout with a 150 yd cooldown to hit 2400 yds for the day.  That's a little more than I would normally swim during a lunch workout but after surviving the monsoon I wanted to get my money's worth in the workout! 

My jeans were still a little damp from the puddles when I got cleaned up and headed back to work.  Thankfully though the rain had let up and it was barely a drizzle as I left the gym.  I was able to avoid any torrential puddles and so my shoes were much drier when I returned to work.  Apparently though one of the lunch crew decided to swim outdoors after all.  

Here's a quick list of some of my swim tips:

1) Variety - it's your friend.  Swim different strokes, swim different distances.  Don't just swim the same thing every time you get in the pool.  

2) Drills and Kick work will make you stronger.  Research different drills and try out new ones every so often.  

3) If there is torrential rain...roll up your pants! (oh wait, that's not a swim tip!)

4) TriSwim Shampoo and Conditioner is your friend...it will keep your hair looking and smelling great.  No green hair here! 

5) Push yourself - you'll never hit a faster interval if you don't try to.  Some days it might work and some days you might fall short but you've got to go for it or you will never succeed.