Only a mile

4:30am is early, my alarm went off at 4:30am, I didn't crawl out of bed until 4:31. Any later and I don't think I would've made it, but as soon as my feet hit the ground there was no turning back. The next step in my evolution into a truly fit athlete was planned, and onto Red I climbed to bounce through the early morning hours. Around 6am I arrive at Walden Pond, sky morning blue with the sun only barely touching the far side of the lake. Arms lifted and fell in the water before me and I stood a little in reflection before I realized I'd forgotten my towel and had to run around the corner in order to get changed... bummer...

Pulling the #39 Yamamoto rubber around me makes me feel like I'm donning the fairing of a supped-up Japanese crotchrocket, realizing whats underneath makes me feel like I forgot to order the engine. As I'm approaching the water I hear a few guys talking about first swims and glean from the conversation its one of the trio's first time out. Turns out its not, but the three let me tag along and occasionally check back for me as I struggle to find my form in this new, infinitely more murky environment. They pull ahead, I pull to the side to check the manifold, the heads, the gasket, basically to make sure the engine is still in working order. Then like a new rider at the local track, I hug to the outside, and keep everything within my very limited abilities, especially the speed (in this account lets connote speed with the depth of the water). I make my way along the edge, almost keeping pace with that earlier trio, noticing every so often that the other new guy also was struggling at points, which gave me an immeasurable boost of confidence, reminding me that everyone started at some point, and those without the insanity of teenage youth usually start with more trepidation. Around I go, those other swimmers acting as a target, gaining more confidence and slowly choosing more ambitious goals... instead of hugging the shore, bridging the gap between two distant small peninsulas, pushing myself into more even stroking, delivering all my breath to the lake without holding it back in. I have a long ways to go, but progress was being made, and Saturday's two lap swim will go much much better, I just have a feeling.

The ride back was good, more traffic of course which is always annoying, but more downhill and warmer muscles, also being able to see the cracks in the road lends some enjoyment to the process.

The goals for the next few days:

Friday :
SWIM - 20 min technique (side flotation) 20 min interval work,
BIKE - 20 min fast spinning in aero, 20 min interval
RUN - 10 min warmup 10 min interval, 10 min cooldown
situps and pushups and stretching

Saturday and Sundays schedules to come