By Paul Tenorio

Diving Back In Archive

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Today marked two benchmarks for me when it comes to this swimming season. Actually, I guess when I think about it, it’s really three.

First, I hit the indoor pool and the 4:30 a.m. practices for the first time in a month or so. And the first time during the middle of my busiest work schedule — football season.

Second, and this is the one I almost forgot, I dove off the blocks for the first time today. In fact, I spent about 15 minutes working on diving off the blocks. It felt pretty good, and I’m thinking that it’ll take a good amount of time off my swims.

Finally, and this is the one I am most thrilled about, I reached the double-digit mark in pounds-lost during this swim project. This morning I weighed in at 181 pounds. That’s 12 pounds less than I weighed in before I first hopped in a pool.

Twelve pounds is a lot. I’ve been stuck around nine pounds for a few weeks now and was wondering when I would finally (and if I would finally) hit that magic mark of 10 pounds. Nice to skip that number and go a few more.

Without a doubt, the things that have happened in the pool have been important to me. Increasing my yardage, dropping my times. But I would be lying if I didn’t say that perhaps the most fulfilling part has been getting back into shape.

I had allowed myself to slip into really bad condition. Getting up to 193 pounds just was not acceptable. So to get down to 181, which is around where I think I naturally should be … well, it feels pretty good.

Now, I’m setting my eyes on the number 178. I think if I can get to that weight I’ll be in prime condition. When I was a freshman at Northwestern I came to school at about 172. I think I’ve added some bulk since then.

So three more pounds, and maybe a few more percentages of body fat. By the way, I finally went and measured today. 13.1 percent. That means I’m in athlete zone. Or I guess maybe 0.1 percent above it. I think that counts.

The work I’ve been putting in certainly has been paying off, and that’s awesome.

Today’s workout was interesting. I got tired pretty darn fast, which is kind of unusual but not surprising. Why not?

Let’s review:

Last time in the pool: Thursday morning.
Last time awake at 4:30 a.m.: Uh, a while ago.
Workout I did: Something completely new.

There’s no doubt that taking four days off was a bad decision. I had not done that ever since I started, and my coach, Jeff King, was right when he told me I just don’t have the muscle memory to take those days off.

I also think that some of the stuff we did today wore me out. I felt like everything I had done to this point might as well be erased off the white board. These kids are just plain faster and better than I in every way.

The kicking, the breath control … all of it. I was tired, they were lapping me. My kicking is so slow it’s embarrassing.

Hopefully, the more I swim the sets with them the better I keep up. In order not to feel too down, though, I’ll focus on the positive: 12 pounds lost … and counting!

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- TBD
Aug. 31: Weight- 184, Waistline- 34, BMI- 26.4, Body Fat Percentage- TBD
Sept. 8: Weight- 184, Waistline- 34, BMI- 26.4, Body Fat Percentage- TBD
Sept. 15: Weight- 181, Waistline- 34, BMI- 26.0, Body Fat Percentage- 13.1

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.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 15th, 2009 at 5:03 pm and is filed under Diving Back In. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.