swimsuit addict

I arrived in northwest Florida on Tuesday, and was happy to land in lovely 70s-and-sunny weather. That lasted for a day and a half, and I was lucky to get in a short swim in the beautiful green Gulf yesterday in nearly perfect conditions—water in the mid-60s, very clear, gentle waves, sunny skies. Today the storms rolled in, and air temps are supposed to drop 40+ degrees tonight into more seasonable ranges for the next week. I got to watch an impressive storm over the gulf mid-day today. I love the beach here in any weather, and feel very grateful to get to spend some time down this way over the holidays. And this year I was soooo ready to be out of the city and in a warmer, calmer place.

I’ve swum at my beloved Panama City Beach Aquatic Center every day since I arrived. After several years of low attendance, they finally reduced their winter hours, cutting the LCM morning lap swim to just twice a week, and closing altogether on Sunday. The good news is that there are masters workouts once again—6 a week---and I worked out with the team last night and this morning. It’s wonderful to be swimming outdoors again.

Last night’s workout went like this:

500 scy early warmup on my own (400s, 100k)

2nd warmup with team: 3 x 200, 1 swim 1 kick 1 pull

12 x 50 (fast from walls to mid-pool, easy from mid-pool to walls), odds K, evens S, @ :20 RI

5 x 200 CH @ 3:30, desc. 1-3, 4 easy, 5 fast
[I did all FR, and went 2:58, 2:43, 2:33 (instructions were to descend big!), then 2:26 on last (goal was under 2:30).]

4 x 100 wd w/breathing pattern

This morning was too grey for a proper sunrise, but it was still cool to watch the sky get lighter as I did the following:

500 lcm warmup

4 x 150 desc. @ :20 RI [I did FR/BK/FR sandwiches]

3x thru—all on :10-:20 RI
200 long easy swim, emphasizing dps
4 x 50 K fast
4 x 50 swim, odds fast (integrating kick from previous 50s), evens ez
[Did 1st round FR, 2nd BK, 3rd IM]

100 easy

Then on my own

4 x 150 FR/ST/FR sandwich, ST = IM order

700 wd with lots of play

It’s been fun to see all my Florida swimming friends—every trip to the pool has been a chance to catch up with seasonal swim buddies whom I haven’t seen since last February.

Today I signed up for TNYA’s One Hour Swim event on January 26. There’s a little over a month to get in shape. I’m aiming for 4500y this year. I have some work to do.

Safe travels to everyone hitting the road (or the skies or rails) for travel over the holidays!