AHHHH-OOOOOO-GAHHH

Weight: 212.8
Delta M: -.2
Mileage: 4 knots to nowhere
July Mileage: 438.6

With my knee being in questionable status Chas suggested I meet her and the kids at the local pool instead of riding today. I was going to waffle and just try riding anyway when somebody walked in from outside and the steamy heat rising off the parking lot at work wafted across and plastered my shirt to my skin and curled my eyelashes. It made that decision a whole lot easier.

I was hesitant to swim for a few reasons. First of all, despite my whining and complaining, I love biking. After being sick so much in the spring, taking rest days now just kills me. Second, my weight has been sinking like a rock with a hole in it. A good ride can burn damn near a thousand calories an hour. I looked at some charts and swimming burns like half that. Then there is the food factor. I don’t know what the deal is, but if I so much as dip my little toe in the water, it makes me hungry. I mean HUNGRY. Like eat 2 foot long subs, a large order of onion rings, and a large chocolate shake, on the way to grandma’s house for dinner hungry. And finally, one word, shrinkage.

After today’s showing at the pool, I will be back on the bike tomorrow. I am definitely going to have to address upper body strength this off season. I only swam for like 30 minutes, and I know I’m going to feel it in my arms tomorrow. I could barely get from one end of the pool to the other.

You wouldn’t know it having watched me flounder around this afternoon, but I used to be a pretty good swimmer. Between swim team practice, and hanging out with friends at the pool in the summer, I was in the water for 6-8 hours a day. I was better at the sprint events, free style, butterfly, whatever as long it was under a hundred meters. I could hold my breath for 4 minutes, so on the 50 free, I wouldn’t have to breathe. One day at the pool I went up the high dive, acted the clumsy jack ass as I went over, then sank to the bottom, and just laid there. I’m guessing I was sitting on the bottom for 2 or 3 minutes before the first life guard got to me. An ambulance was called and everything. The paramedics didn’t think the whole gag was near as funny as I did. They threatened to call my parents, but then I mentioned it sure seemed like I was under water a long time before anyone came in after me. I was asked to leave, and not to come back to the pool the rest of the summer.

For the record, that picture is a Trident class submarine. I used to drive one of those.