Sixteen laps!

I did 'em! All sixteen laps, all at once, on a Friday afternoon. That's a pretty productive lunch break, if you ask me. In case you don't remember, sixteen laps is equal to half a mile, which is slightly over the distance I have to go for this triathlon. (The actual race distance is .41 miles, so I'm good to go.)

There were two other people in the pool, and we were all wearing swim caps and goggles; the non-swimmer in me felt like I was part of The Club finally. The lady two lanes over was not doing flip turns, and I was, so I felt even cooler. The guy in the lane next to me was the really intense guy who I see at lunch sometimes; and my flip turns next to his were terrible as usual. Also, he could swim faster than me when he was doing drills that didn't even involve his arms. Awesome. But he wears Crocs to walk out to the pool, so I think I win.

All judgment of my fellow swimmers aside, the swim itself went well. I felt good the entire time, except that I somehow have lost my earplugs so I get water in one of my ears. I spent the next two hours after my swim at work with my head tilted to the right and finally succeeded in getting the water to drain. I hate having water in my ears. (I think subconsciously I imagine it goes in my ear and straight into my brain, so that freaks me out.) Anyway, the sustained head tilting probably contributed to my stiff neck later on in the afternoon. Lucky for me I work for a chiropractor and could have Dr. Eric take a look at it.

I don't know what the deal is, but swimming tends to make one specific muscle in my neck tense up. It's at the base of my neck on the right side (I should ask my boss more specifically what that muscle is). I wonder if it's from the breathing to the side; that's a common cause of injury with swimmers, along with shoulder problems. But I breathe every third stroke so I am turning my head to both sides, so I wonder why just the one side has problems. Maybe I'm not rolling evenly in the water, so when I turn to the right my neck has to work harder? For those of you who don't know, when you swim freestyle like what I'm doing, your body is actually supposed to roll from side to side with your arm lifting out of the water. I think it helps you cut through the water, and it's also a lot easier on shoulders, back, and neck. I'll have to pay more attention to my roll next time I swim.

In other news: I didn't do any training at all over the whole long weekend. I gardened, I helped some friends move into a new house, and I did some cleaning; but I did not go to the gym or run or even touch my bike at all. Oops. It was a nice break... but I also feel like the past few weeks have been a total break for me! And I now have less than six weeks until the big event! After my 16-lap swim on Friday, I am feeling pretty confident about at least being able to finish all of the three portions; my goal is just to finish and that's it. I do have to start doubling up my workouts: go for a swim and then bike right after; or go for a run as soon as I finish a long bike ride. That would, incidentally, streamline my weekly workouts, which totally appeals to my suddenly-lazy self. Oh dear. Should I be more concerned about this triathlon? Eh... for today, at least, it is too lovely outside for anything other than carefree enjoyment of exercise!