It's Useful to Sight Every Once in Awhile

This morning I had the opportunity to do an hour-long open water swim. It was a beautiful morning, already about 76 degrees with a breeze. My friend Diana graciously offered to kayak alongside for me, even though she has a very hectic schedule. I've only done one other open water swim at Lake Bloomington this season.

Today's goal was to swim 30 minutes out (some chop to the water) and 30 minutes back. I was actually surprised how quickly I swam on the way out given my limited open water swimming this summer. I went fairly straight on the way out, picking my head up to sight on a regular basis.

On the way back I started to get tired. I wanted to be done. So, I just put my head down and kept swimming. Good plan, except for one thing.... Was I headed in the right direction? No. If you haven't done any open water swimming, I can tell you that the best approach is to swim straight - the shortest distance between two points is straight. Fortunately I did not go off course very far before I remembered to pick my head up and sight.

What I took away from that moment of learning, was the importance of sighting especially when we get tired. Putting our head down and going for it may not be the most effective way to reach the intended outcome. It is useful to pick our heads up and make sure we are still on course. Has anything shifted or changed?

I finished the return trip in just a little over 30 minutes - not bad considering I had a little stop for a leaking goggle issue. I hope to get another couple of hour-long open water swims before the Steelhead 1/2 Ironman on August 3rd. Today's swim helped me feel more confident and prepared for the 1.2 mile swim in Lake Michigan.

It's been a long training "week", with my last complete rest day July 3rd. Since then I've done one 5 mile race (with a return 5 mile run back to the start), one 7-mile run, 2 pool swims, 3 rides (one 2-hour trainer ride, and two 22-mile shorter outdoor rides), one track workout, and 2 easy 4-mile runs and today's open water swim.

Tomorrow is the Pedaling for Kicks Ride. It's supposed to be quite warm and breezy. Breezy around here can often mean windy. I'm planning to do the 50-mile ride, which should put me about at the 3-hour ride on my training schedule. I hope to start riding by 6:00 AM, so that I will be finished before it gets too hot.

Sunday calls for a 2-hour long run, and a swim (which I plan to do at Lake Bloomington again). I believe Monday would be a perfect rest day!