The first dive in the pool is the hardest in the mornings because it's too darn cold. (Photo by Jeff King/Curl-Burke)
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After a nice little three day break from the pool, it was back into the water this morning — and boy was it a cold return.
I’m not joking. It’s getting very, very, very cold outside and in the water. And it’s not easy to motivate yourself to go from edge-of-pool to in-the-pool.
Jeff, meanwhile, set himself up with a nice little umbrella and chair and seemed fairly comfortable — though I have to believe the cold, and the rain, of course, is getting to him a bit, too.
Bad news: I’ve had a sore throat the past two days and even though I’ve now downed three pitchers of water today, I’m not quite feeling better. Let’s hope whatever this is does not stick around.
I was able to jump in this morning after a countdown from 10. And the workout went well.
I started with a warm up that went like this:
25 swim, 50 kick, 25 swim, 100 kick.
2×25 swim, 50 kick, 50 swim, 100 kick.
3×25 swim, 50 kick, 75 swim, 100 kick.
4×25 swim, 50 kick, 100 swim, 100 kick.
That was basically Jeff’s way of saying, “Hey, you had three days off, why don’t we get you used to swimming again.”
I tried to focus most my energy on my hand position, and Jeff took notice right away. It always feel good when coaches see that their words of advice are actually getting through to you.
I’ve started to add more strokes to the practices, as you may have noticed, and today was no different. After the warm-up I did 20 25s and none of them were freestyle.
On the way up, it was breastroke with a butterfly kick. On the way back it was backstroke. All of these were with fins.
Finally, I finished the practice off with eight 50s and it was broken down with fast freestyle up (breathe every five) and butterfly kick on your back on the way back.
All-in-all, it was a good practice to get back into the swing of things, and to keep my body from freezing up in the water.
I can only imagine how cold it’s going to be tomorrow considering the nice cloudy, cool day we’ve had so far. It’s amazing how much you pray and hope for sun when you know how cold a pool can be without it in the morning.
Also, I swear to you that body fat percentage is coming. In fact, I am close to purchasing this cool scale thing I saw on woot.com (though not fast enough to buy) that measures it all for you. And that would be easier than getting a ticket trying to get someone to help you at Gold’s Gym — though I guess with the cold weather I’ll be heading there more often in the afternoons now.
Another cool note, I saw a former teammate of mine, Esteban Maldonado, and he pointed out how much better I look since he last saw me in February. He said I’m starting to get fit like I was back in the day (though about nine pounds heavier), and that’s always nice to hear. Hopefully it continues to happen and I keep feeling better out on the soccer field, too.
July 20: Weight- 193, Waistline- 36, BMI- 27.6, Body Fat Percentage- 17.7
July 27: Weight- 189, Waistline- 36, BMI- 27.1, Body Fat Percentage- 16.6
Aug. 03: Weight- 185, Waistline- 36, BMI- 26.5, Body Fat Percentage- 15.6
Aug. 10: Weight- 184, Waistline- 36, BMI- 26.4, Body Fat Percentage- TBD
Aug. 17: Weight- 186, Waistline- 35, BMI- 26.7, Body Fat Percentage- 14.5
Aug. 24: Weight- 185, Waistline- 35, BMI- 26.5, Body Fat Percentage- N/A
Aug. 31: Weight- 184, Waistline- 34, BMI- 26.4, Body Fat Percentage- N/A
Sept. 8: Weight- 184, Waistline- 34, BMI- 26.4, Body Fat Percentage- N/A
Washington Post reporter Paul Tenorio will train with a swim club over the next few months and chronicle his journey as he attempts to transform from regular guy/sports reporter to competitive swimmer — everything from his waistline to his best times.
welcome to the world of freezing water at 6am, ear infections and sinus infections. enjoy!