Category Archives: Swim

08182019 – Run & Swim

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Finishing up the Cuyuna solo weekend. I had planned to run and swim today, but was feeling nervous about the swim. I woke up and ran the Yawkey trails. They were a little wet and I thought they might be busy since the other big unit was closed for the races. I liked being able to run from the campsite and straight onto the trails. I ran the Man Cage, Manuel Drive, Tugger, and Trout, plus the access trail. This totaled 3.5 miles in 42 minutes. My legs were definitely tired from yesterday’s riding. It took a little bit for my legs to loosen up and then the hills. It was a cool morning so that felt great.

I got back to the campsite and packed up. I kept going back and forth about swimming. The water is cool and super deep (that’s a mental thing) and pretty much no one was around that would even noticed if I was struggling. I knew that I would be fin, but it’s a mental thing. I could swim across to the “beach” and decide to either swim back or walk the short little bit back barefoot. Or I could walk to the “beach” and swim back to the campground. So many options and things to think about.

I finally decided to just do it. When I got to the dock, someone was there and I jumped in. I started swimming and got about 1/2 way across and just felt weird. I know half way I could have just finished, but again mentally it felt better to just turn around and swim back. So I did. My watch said 270 yards in 5:16. Not really what I was hoping for but I’ll take it. The water is so clear and it was fun to see so far down in the water. A different time maybe I’ll plan to snorkel or something.

I almost decided to go for a ride, but decided not to do the Yawkey unit. I hung out for a little bit longer so I could refill the growler at Cuyuna Brewing and then headed home.

08012019 – Run & Swim

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I had hoped to go to the gym this morning, but wasn’t able to confirm that it would work until late last night and then the class was already full. I did wake up to check to see if it was full or not and I was still waitlisted. Then I laid in bed… and almost didn’t get up. But eventually I did with time to go for a run still. Nothing special, just the Wirth perimeter route that I do. It felt like it had been awhile since I was on the those trails. So it was nice to be “back home”. I didn’t see any wildlife and not really that many people either. It was relatively cool, but you could feel the humidity climbing. We’d had several cool days to spoil us too!

4.51 miles in 47:54.

When I got home I did some deadlifting. One set of 10 at 65#’s and then 2 sets of 10 at 135#. The first set of the heavier weights felt heavy, but the second set felt okay.

Then later in the afternoon we went to Webber pool. I was able to get some lap swimming in. Shortly after we arrived the lifeguards rescued someone and I guess at Webber they clear the pool for a few minutes when that happens. Well evidently, this person also vomited so the pool was closed for an hour which was unfortunate. The person was okay and even last year vomit in the pool would have closed it for the day.

So once the pool reopened there was about 15 minutes before the safety break started. Because they were using the smaller upper pool they were still going to have the break. I did 100 yards with bilateral breathing, 50 yards, and then I got into a rhythm of breathing every stroke and managed 550 yards in one go before the whistles blew for the safety break. I’m glad I was able to get into a longer swim without any problems, frustrated that I’m still struggling with breathing on the right side and alternating. Breathing every other stroke isn’t super fast! But I’ll take it.

07182019 – CrossFit & Swim

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Made it to the 6:30am class today. It is always nice to be back at the gym. Its nice to have all the equipment, programming, and of course supportive people and coaches to cheer you on!

Today was a shoulder press day. I’ve struggled with this movement in the past. Its not surprising I guess. I have trouble getting the bar out of the front rack, especially. We did a few kettlebell presses and then an arm bar press, which was a lot like a Turkish Getup, except you rolled over (with the kettlebell locked out overhead) instead of getting up.

The plan was to get to a heavy 5 and then do 4 sets of 4 with that weight. I used the 35# bar to give myself an extra warm-up set. So I did the bar, 45, 55, 65, and ended on 75. The sets of 4 were not terrible, but definitely were not easy. I probably couldn’t have done any higher weight than that.

Following the shoulder press, we did a relatively short, 2 movement metcon that had box jumps and sit-ups. The rep scheme was 18-15-12-9-6-3. I used a 24″ box which was Platinum and finished in 6:12. I only missed the box once and fortunately did not scrape my leg!!

It is shaping to be a great day out and the swim was with a nice sunny sky. My shoulders were obviously tired from this morning so I decided to do a more endurance type swim. I jumped in and did 4 x 200 with about a two minute break in between. The 200’s were consistently around 4:12 so that felt good. I did the first 100 yards of each with bilateral breathing and even did the first one with almost 150! That felt good. A few times I also tried to switch to bilateral in the last 50 just to see if it was possible. I think some of it is that I get oxygen deprived and need more air in my lungs! I was definitely happy with the workout! Those were also my longest consistent intervals.

07172019 – Bike & Swim

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Today was a tempo ride on the bike. I started off at a relaxed pace heading south. Today I used the 494 bridge to cross the Minnesota River to Mendota. From there I road the Big River Trail and crossed the Mississippi River on the 35E bridge and headed back towards Minneapolis on the trail next to Shepherd Rd. I crossed the Mississippi again at Lake Street and added a short cool down section to get back to my car. It was a nice ride.

I wasn’t 100% sure if the Big River Trail would be flooded or not, but the section I rode on was up off the water pretty far. So I didn’t have any troubles. I opted to ride on the bike trail instead of the potholed East River Road in St. Paul. It was humid but mid-70’s so not too bad. I ended with 18.5 miles in 1:11:14.

The threat of rain or a storm hung around all day and I wasn’t sure if we’d have swim lessons or lap swimming today. The storm broke apart and went around the metro so we got them in! I decided to do a ladder today. I did 50, 100, 150, 150, 100, 50, 25, 25. Then I did some drills I did 25 with closed fists, then 25 with only my right arm, 25 with only my left arm, and finished with 25 with closed fists. I’m doing better with bilateral breathing, but I think I’m not getting enough air when I turn to the right. After 100 yards I pretty much can’t do it. I swam a total of 750 yards.

07122019 – CrossFit & Swim

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I did a CrossFit style workout this morning from earlier in the week on PSE Pro. First it was lunges with the barbell on my back. 5 on each side. Then a monster walk 14 steps on each leg. Followed by 10 hamstring bridges on each leg. For 3 rounds. I was feeling it in my glutes!

Then the MetCon was 2 6 minute AMRAPs with a 3 minute rest between. It was supposed to be with two kettlebells but I only have one of each weight. I ended up using the barbell as I didnt have any dumbbells to meet the thrusters at a challenging weight. So I did 75#. The first round was 6 deadlifts, 4 cleans, 2 thrusters. The second round was 2 thrusters, 4 cleans, and 6 deadlifts. This was a gasser. I did 6 rounds plus 10 on the first set and 6 rounds on the second. The thrusters felt easier on the second round, but I was obviously slower.

Not sure what happened to my watch during the swim. I was in the middle of my 3rd 100 and it vibrated. When I got to the end it wasn’t recording anything. When you look at Strava it says I took 8 hours to swim 200 yards! I’m using the Garmin Connect screenshot because it shows the CrossFit workout too.

I did 4×100 yards and 2×50 yards. Continuing to work on bilateral breathing and not breathing every stroke.

So total swim was 500 yards.