Training Note: Barton Springs 3 miler

I got to the pool at 6:40 and attempted a 3 mile swim.

My time was 1:49:23 via: 35:53, 36:18 (1:12:12), 37:11. I was happy with it.

Note to my readers who are unfamiliar with swimming: a strong swimmer (say, NCAA or an English Channel swimmer) would have knocked out this workout in about 55-60 minutes.

How it went: the first mile was under control; the first lap was 9:10 and I then got warmed up. Dawn was breaking and I was enjoying the swim.

The second mile saw me tire a bit; I had to dodge some other swimmers but it wasn’t much of an obstacle. Half way saw me arrive at just under 54 minutes. My back was aching a bit due to the fact that in this type of swimming, one has to look forward more frequently than normal. One not only has to “sight” what is ahead but one has to look out for other swimmers since there are no well defined lanes.

The last mile started way slow (9:23, 18:36, 27:53) but I was in the “just get it over with” mode.
Note: this is a pool with a 1/8′th of a mile (200 meter) long swimming area.

For some reason, the song I’m all Right (from the film Caddyshack) went through my head again and again.

Analysis: this swim wasn’t easy for me, but it wasn’t “oh my gawd” hard either; I’d call it a moderately tough effort. I feel confident in my ability to take on the Big Shoulders swim.

I’ve swam faster in a pool 5K (March 2007; 1:36:49) and in 2001 I finished the Big Shoulders 5K about 5 minutes faster. But this is the best I’ve done in the open water in a long time; in fact this was my best open water 2 miler since 2002 (at least).

One other note: my left calf cramped near the end of the last mile; I had to flex my foot to relieve it.