Fleet Feet Swim Lessons

The rumors are true, Jan and I are taking part in weekly swim lessons through a Fleet Feet training program. The cost, $120 per person, had me thinking twice about registering for the class. We will be able to attend 9 of the 10 sessions, so it comes down to about $13 per lesson, not bad, especially when you can spend a couple of hundred for a weekend of Total Immersion training. I furthered justified this by hoping what I learned would be used over the next 20-30 years of my life while I continue to swim. If so, that takes the cost down to $3 per year, which even a frugal person such as myself can justify spending.

My grandfather swam in area lakes until his mid-late 70's and at the local Y up until 80+. Maybe one or two of his swimming genes are in my body? The genes haven't shown up yet, but after a few lessons let's hope they come out to play. My goal is to become more efficient in the water and spend less energy moving, even if my speed doesn't improve. Jan, an Ironman finisher (once an IM finisher, always an IM finisher, just like the Marines), wants to become more comfortable in the water (and faster - such a competitive person).

Mike Baxter, a local triathlete, is the head coach, with Katie Niebuhr assisting. We have about 26 people in the class and swim from 6:30-7:45 at the Harley School. The first night the coaches had us do a time trial. There are a range of people in the class, all adults, but all sizes and shapes and abilities. Three people are just trying to become comfortable in the pool and did not complete the trial. Nine swimmers did a 50m trial and thirteen of us did a 100m trial. Jan was 3/13 with a 1:34, I was 6/13 with a 1:49 which actually is a pr for me. One of the goals the coaches have for us is to get our final time trial completed at a faster pace.

Last Tuesday we were doing swim drills and Coach Katie came over to the lane I was sharing and said this drill was especially for me! I didn't know she was even watching, not when she had 25 people to instruct. Is it good or bad that Katie can see how pathetic I am from across the pool?

One final note for now. There is a 78 year old man in the class who swam a 1:30 for the 100m time trial. He is prepping for his first triathlon in June. That is the type of person who keeps me inspired to keep moving and learning.

Pay Attention to Cyclists on the Road!

Storm Andrea

Honestly I don't like the Weather Channel feeling the necessity of naming every storm. Hurricanes happen so infrequently and we grew up with that standard it seems okay. But every snowstorm? Ridiculous. So the northeast had a blizzard yesterday. Even the Weather Channel set up shop for the day here with reports near Irondequoit Bay every hour. Storm Vulcan hit with 17+ inches and wind gusts up to 45mph. It was miserable.
But the Weather Channel got the storm name wrong. It should be "Storm Andrea". My daughter Andrea was born March 13. It was midterm week during my senior year of college. She made it tough to study and keep my mind on school. Ever since her birth it seems like we get a storm during this week. Anyone remember the ice storm where we lost power for 7 days? That was March, I was in graduate school. We heated the house with a wood stove and cooked meals on top of it. So much fun.
Oh yeah, Happy Birthday Andrea!

On a related note, MW came up with a new term; Snow Relocation. Perfect.
One nice thing about staying home from work yesterday was being able to go in my basement, put in a Spinerval dvd and ride 31 miles while looking at the warmth of Arizona. That sure beat the 3x I went out and did snow relocation.

Global Warming

Winter in the northeast, as well as many other parts of the country, is not going to end. This morning, March 6, it was -8 in Rochester. That's right, MINUS 8! We have not seen our lawns except for one brief warmup in January. I have a nice base of 15 inches of snow, which apparently from the 10 day futurecast will be sticking around for quite awhile.

A fifteen inch base is what some ski resorts used to like in winters past, not what should be in my lawn on a permanent basis. Where is this thing they call Global Warming? Did a volcano explode in some deep part of the Pacific effecting weather patterns across the United States? Are we back in the "Year Without a Summer"?

People around here are excited because Friday the high temperature might reach 37. We will only be 5 degrees below the normal temperature for this time of year. Oh boy. But don't worry, another cold front is moving in to our area next Wednesday, featuring highs of 22. Don't get out the shorts, singlets and suntan lotion quite yet. This year's Running of the Green five mile race might be run in the white, white snowy roads.

How is the weather in your neck of the woods?