Sanity Check

I know that this may be hard to believe but I passed up a day of skiing Breck with my hubby and friends so go for a swim this morning.  And not just any swim, but the MOTHER of all swims (although the distance will increase next month).  6,000 meters.  Non-stop.  PHEW!  Which does lead to the question, "What in the hell is wrong with you?"  And, unfortunately, I do not have any answers.  

6k in the pool just kind of sounded like a good time.  OK, maybe I've been training too long. Up at 4:35am to drive 30 minutes to swim in a long course pool.  Fun?  But it was with my peeps - lots of the PC gang showed up.  And it was a new kind of swim challenge.  6k in one workout?  I haven't done that maybe ever (OK, it's been a long time but never non-stop).  

The biggest challenge is mental.  It is a long way to swim without a break.  Without looking at a clock (OK, I cheated on that one).  Without talking to anyone during a break.  Without taking any water.  Without kicking.  Without sets.  And, the counting.  You see, I can actually lose count during a 200.  Don't laugh, I just did it on Thursday.....my mind wanders and all of a sudden I have no idea where I'm at.  That's the nice thing about swimming long course - counting is easier.  And fewer flip turns which really is something to be thankful for.  

So I first swam 2000, then pulled 1000.  Swam 1000.  Pulled 1000.  Finished up swimming the last 1000.  It's very interesting when you start to think "wow, I only have 2k left" but I suppose that is part of the reason to swim so far.  It sure makes a 1500 seem like a sprint, or a 3000 like child's play.  I managed to pace it the same as the 5000m last month (I did check the clock when I put my pull gear on/off) which felt good.  Although I felt much better during the 5k.....the last 10 minutes or so today I wasn't positive I was actually pulling any water and wasn't confident my arms were actually out of the water.  And then I was a bit worried because it didn't look like the life guards were paying any attention and was wondering who was going to come and get me on the bottom of the pool.  And there was the goggle problem - almost 9 hours later, I still have goggle eyes, and for awhile it seemed like my goggles were actually going to squeeze my brain out of my head through my ears.  (as you can tell, I had lots of time to think about these kinds of things while swimming forever....) Another problem I sometimes encounter in long swims you ask?  When the WRONG song comes playing in my head:  I had a great little playlist going on like Livin' on a Prayer (we're halfway there, yep started singing that about 3k in, and it's Isabelle's favorite song), Gettin Jiggy wit it (I was thinking about yesterday's Will Smith song in our spin group), and then out of nowhere AHHHHHH Madonna's If I Live to Tell.....OMG GET THAT OUT OF MY HEAD!!!!

Anyway, all told it was a great morning for the swimmers!!  Several folks completed 6k, others 5k, 4k, and a 3k in there too.  I'm pretty sure everyone felt great about the effort and especially

the breakfast after.  

Oh, apparently skiing was fabulous today and Whale's Tale was epic:)  Anyone want to sneak up this week???