Routine Uneventful Training

A shaded part of a cycle path along the Love River in the city of Kaohsiung.

The title I have chosen today sounds a little like my swim training today was pretty boring. Well, it was routine - as usual I got up about 5:30 am and managed to start swimming by 6:10 am. At least I was down there actually doing it. It was uneventful. I did not break any of my records or impress anyone. I generally took the same number of strokes each length (16 usually), and when I did flip-turns, they were so-so, at least I got a good push off the wall on most of them. It can be a little intimidating for someone my height in water barely 4-ft deep. Training: well, it was training, even though the first 3,000 was pretty slow (partly because I felt sluggish and due to lane traffic which made passing difficult much of the time). Still, I got 4,500 meters in today which included several easy 100s on my own and a 100m race near the end (but only about 1m 31s for that). Yesterday evening at home I played around with a pair of 20 lb dumbells which I think made me feel a little lethargic. I was also concerned I might be taking chances with my shoulders, which had been a little painful last week. So I'll just stick to swimming for now, and try to avoid any clunky kinds of movements. Nevertheless, the fact that I actually played with the weights means that I feel a lot better than I did last week or the week before.

A friend in Kona used to say to me that running, even if slow, was like putting money in the bank, and that you did not have to go out and do something spectacular each time. Well, it seems that with all this swimming I have not improved these last few weeks. Anyway, I'll just keep pressing on and see what happens. In any case, I tried on my suit jacket today and I almost feel I am wearing a straightjacket, so the swimming may be having some effect on me after all.

View of Love River with Mount Gu in the background. The cycle path continues along the river.

Today I also had to go with my wife and one son across town to deal with some stuff in a government office. While it was pretty routine, just actually going and coming back resulted in my having a good rest at home this afternoon. At home when tired I usually take some reading work with me to the bedroom where I can lie down and work, and when the mind drifts too much, then I can put the work down and have a good sleep. At night, I don't usually get enough hours of sleep, so being close to the bedroom in the afternoon is particularly important to me. Perhaps for every hour I swim each day, I need an extra hour of sleep. So that translates into quite a few $$$, but maybe the medical bills will be a lot less in the long run.

Tomorrow will soon come, and hopefully the same routine in the morning!