Swmmr Grrl

UP EARLY AGAIN

2011-07-21T08:06:00.001-05:00

5 X 200 M (100 free, 50 back, 50 breast)
50 M free
================
1050 M - approx 25 minutes

Another lovely early morning swim at the New Glarus Swimming Pool.

EARLY BIRD SWIMMING

2011-07-18T09:04:00.002-05:00

5 X 200 M (100 free, 50 back, 50 breast)
100 M free
================
1100 M - approx 30 minutes

Friday July 15
3 X 100 M free
1 x 100 M breast
3 X 100 M free
1 x 100 M breast
2 x 100 M free
50 M free
================
1050 M - approx 30 minutes

New Glarus Swimming Pool.

I've been swimming at the New Glarus pool during their early morning swim. I'm still a bit jetlagged so if I'm up early I go down to the pool around 5:30 am. It's quite nice swimming in an outdoor pool as the sun rises.

There's a new bath house at the New Glarus pool and unfortunately it's a bit of a disappointment. The showers are fine but the use of space is odd. Just one big empty room with a single bench. No lockers or baskets, so you have to take yourself with you to the pool deck. Unfortunately some people just put their stuff on the bench and then there's no place to sit down while changing. The place needs at least one more bench and at least some shelves people can put their stuff on.

GLOSTRUP & THE SENSORY TUNNEL

2011-06-14T13:36:00.003-05:00

5 X 200 M (100 free, 50 back, 50 breast)
==========
1000 M (25 minutes)

Went to Glostrup Swimming Pool today as I had a mid-morning appointment and it didn't make sense to drive in to work and then out to Glostrup.

Unfortunately only one lane line in the whole pool. 2 lanes were full of rambuctious boys and the remaining four were open for lap swimming. Luckily there weren't very many people swimming.

The swimming pool also has a long waterslide which snakes outside the building. They've called it a sensory tunnel, so I was expecting cool music and colored lights and got a bit of a surprise when it turned out to be pitch black and with only really minimal blinking white lights. I don't know if there was any music or not because I was a bit freaked out by the darkness.

50 Meters

2011-06-01T13:48:00.002-05:00

5 X 200 M (100 free, 50 back, 50 breast)
1 x 200 M free
==========
1200 M

Our trainer didn't show up again, but luckily there was a lifeguard in the pool and the kayak club was no longer using the 50 M pool, so he let us use it.

Swimming in the 50 M pool was fabulous!

YOU SWIM AMAZINGLY WELL (for a fat lady)

2011-05-25T12:09:00.003-05:00

4 x 200M (100 free, 50 back, 50 breast)
1 x 200M free
1 x 200M (100 free, 50 back, 50 breast)
================
1200M (30 minutes)

Went swimming this morning, as I had to work in the evening. Got a lane to myself and there was someone swimming in the lane next to me wearing a wetsuit and with pretty good speed. When 2 mothers arrived and parked their babies on the side and looked rather bewildered as to which lane they should swim in, I offered my lane and went over to the wetsuit lane.

At first I thought it was a woman swimming, but when I asked if we should divide the lane between us or swim in circles, I saw it was a man. Actually a host from the Danish version of dancing with the stars. I got a sense that he was competing a bit against me particularly when my breast stroke was as fast as his crawl. After I swam several hundred meters in his lane he said, "You swim amazingly well" and we spoke briefly. I was actually finished with swimming my planned kilometer when he said it, but so he didn't feel like he had embarassed me out of the pool I swam an additional 200 meters.

The funny thing is that although it is a compliment it also expresses the wonder that I could swim faster them him. If I had as little body fat as he does (which is probably why he swims in a wetsuit), I don't think he would have been so surprised that I was gliding past him, but my seal-like nature (taking half as many strokes as he does) took him by suprise.

IN THE NICK OF TIME

2011-05-18T15:58:00.001-05:00

4 x 200 m (100 free, 50 back, 50 breast)
1 x 200 m Free (tempo)
========
1000 M (24 minutes)

Back from my evening swim which I nearly baled on. When I arrived in the
neighboring town where I swim I discovered that there was a high profile
soccer match at the stadium next to the swimming pool - thus no parking
spaces available in a very large radius. After driving around a bit, I drove
back to our town (which also has a pool, but no club times that suit me) and
managed to buy the last ticket of the day (5 minutes later and I couldn't
buy it). By the time I had showered and changed, I had 25 minutes left and
just managed to get my 1000 meters in without them ordering me out of the
pool.

BACK

2011-05-11T14:46:00.001-05:00

5 x 200 m (100 free, 50 back, 50 breast)
========
1000 M (approx. 26 min.)

Missed last week's swim because my son is in the hospital. Generally exhausted, but it was good to get in the water.

NEARLY FORGOT

2011-04-27T14:48:00.000-05:00

5 x 200 m (100 free, 50 back, 50 breast)
========
1000 M

Forget to blog this 2 weeks ago.

FA(S)T SWIMMERS

2011-04-20T14:26:00.002-05:00

5x 200 M (100 Free, 50 Back, 50 Breast)
2 x 100M (medley)
50M cool down
=======
1250 M (approx. 35 minutes)

It's Easter vacation in my swim club, so I went swimming at Værløse Swimming Pool instead. I showed up 90 minutes before closing time and there was plenty of space giving me a lane of my own.

Usually the only people faster than me look like athletes and I'm faster than a lot of swimmers who look like athletes. Today however was different. There were numerous swimmers as fast or faster than me, and what was amazing was that they were also as fat or fatter than me.

As much as I like total domination in the pool, it pleases me to see a really *wide* range of fast swimmers. It's what I love about the sport. You can look really out of shape, but you can really make waves once you're in the pool.

CALM, COOL, COLLECTED

2011-04-13T16:30:00.001-05:00

5x 200 M (100 Free, 50 Back, 50 Breast)
2 x 100M (medley)
50M cool down
=======
1250 M (approx. 35 minutes)

Nice and easy swim with only 3 swimmers in the whole pool. Fabulous!

1 KM

2011-04-06T16:16:00.002-05:00

5x 200 M (100 Free, 50 Back, 50 Breast)
=======
1000 M (approx. 28 minutes)

Same 'ol program. Met our new trainer who was at a swim meet last week. His replacement was unfortunately sick and didn't know who to call resulting in last weeks chaos. Fine swim.

WHERE'S THE TRAINER?

2011-03-30T16:17:00.000-05:00

25 M - crawl with rope
25 M - butterfly - no breathing
5x 200 M (100 Free, 50 Back, 50 Breast)
=======
1050 M (approx. 28 minutes)

Finally was back in the pool after a nasty cold/flu. However when I arrived there was no trainer. We tried to figure out what to do and while we waited to hear the status from a trainer from another club we decided to at least put the ropes into the pool. After doing so, we were told that we couldn't swim there as there was no lifeguard available, but we could use a single 25m lane in another pool. As there were 8 of us and we had already wasted 20 minutes, most of the people decided to just leave. But I stuck around as did the guy I normally share my lane with. Fine swim. I was very glad to be able to swim, when it looked like I would have to wait until next week.

LOCAL SWIM

2011-02-21T14:25:00.002-06:00

6 x 200 m (100 free, 50 back, 50 breast)
==========
1200 m (around 35 minutes or so)

Due to winter vacation last week, I was unable to swim last Wednesday. Due to my husband's work plans I'll be unable to swim this Wednesday.

So I took a Monday evening swim at Værløse Swimming Pool just before closing time.

Was able to share the lane with one guy who swam only somewhat faster than me. Normally this would bring out the competitor in me, but not tonight. I just needed relaxation, so took it nice and easy and let him gradually pass me while I was swimming crawl and pass me rather quickly while I swam breast and back stroke. It was a nice view in any case. :-)

ONE HUNDRED METERS MORE

2011-02-10T14:35:00.002-06:00

5 x 200 M 100 Free, 50 back, 50 breast (25 minutes)
2 x 25 M Free (using as few strokes as possible - 11 down, 10 back)
2 x 25 M Breast (using as few strokes as possible - 9 down, 8 back)
=====
1100 M (about 28 minutes)

Last week my coach told me that I should increase my swim by a little bit, so I swam 100 meters more than last week.

OK

2011-02-02T16:16:00.000-06:00

5 x 200 M 100 Fri, 50 back, 50 breast
=====
1000 M (approx. 20 minutes or so)

Fine swim, not much else to say.

OUCH!

2011-01-26T15:01:00.002-06:00

5 x 200 M 100 Fri, 50 back, 50 breast
=====
1000 M (approx. 20 minutes or so)

Went swimming for the 2nd time after finally getting my foot into decent shape (plantar fasciitis blues), upped my modest distance from 500M to 1000M no problems, no pain in the foot. I probably could have swum longer, but am being careful with the rehab of my foot.
Get out of the pool and shower (wearing shower sandals to avoid going barefoot and fucking my foot up) The moment I take off my sandals to put on my pants I end up stepping on something that hurts like HELL!!!!

Sit down and take a look at my foot and it's been pierced by an ugly heart earring - all of the way in. Pull it out and continue swearing all the way home and now here!

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR......

(and on top of it all the white contrast stripes on the chest of the new swimsuit I bought that are supposed to give the illusion of an hourglass figure ended up being transparent!)

HEEL SPURRED

2011-01-17T16:31:00.003-06:00

2 x 200m - 100 free, 50 back, 50 breast
100M free
=========
500M (about 12-15 minutes or so)

So as you can see from the abscence of updates on this blog, that something must have been wrong. Unfortunately I started having foot problems in September and it turns out that I had a heel spur/plantar fasciitis.

After several months of R&R my foot is doing much better, but unfortunately it has meant many changes - for example that I currently can't go barefoot. Since I didn't have any bath sandals and there's a long walk through the locker/shower rooms to the pool, this was one of the many reasons that kept me out of the water.

However on Wednesday, after purchasing some bright pink shower sandals, I was finally able to give swimming a try again. There was some minor discomfort in my arch, but otherwise the swim was fine. I decided to limit my swim to 500 meters the first time, but hopefully I'll be able to double it next time if I'm not experiencing any pain in my arch.

CHRISTIANSBORG RUNDT 2010

2010-08-28T23:22:00.010-05:00

Canals of Copenhagen
2000 M - approx 52 minutes

This year the water temperature was only 16 degrees and there lots of jellyfish in the water. I decided that a shorty alone, wasn't going to cut it. So I took the advice of a friend and wore nylon stockings and a mesh shirt under my wetsuit. The organizers suggested wearing rubber gloves to avoid jellyfish stings so I decided to give it a try. I was a little apprehensive, but I figured I could use my watch and the bracelet with the timing chip to provide a good seal so they wouldn't fill up with water. You can easily spot me in this photo - I'm waving with the blue gloves wearing checkerboard stockings.

Hopping in to the water.

This year there were 80 people in a heat and a much smaller starting pier. There was a rope that was longer than the pier, and the swimmers were supposed to hold spread out and hold onto the rope at the start, but it was really pretty chaotic. I was one of the first ones in, so I was in the middle of the rush at the start. Look for the blue gloves.

This is after the first 500 meters. Already after about 200 meters the gloves had filled up with water and were really annoying, particularly my right hand. I took the glove off (with quite a bit of struggle because of my watch) and tucked it into the leg of my wetsuit (because I don't litter!)

Swimming by Holmens Kirke.

By this time, the left glove was also bothering me, so I took it off as well. And tucked it into the other leg of my wetsuit.

Gammel Strand. Here I saw several gloves floating in the water. It really wasn't a very good idea with the gloves, but people could at least take their garbage with them.

Swimming under Stormbroen. I like doing backstroke under the bridges. Feels less claustrophobic that way.

Obligatory photo taken from a bridge.

Frederiksholms Canal

Exiting the canals, entering the harbor. Only 300 meters left to swim.

Nearing the finish line. Note the feet position. I'm doing my traditional show off finish by swimming butterfly.

Finishing with a splash!

My teammates!

Silver medal this year. Everyone who has completed at least 4 times gets a silver medal rather than a bronze.

END OF SEASON

2010-06-22T14:52:00.001-05:00

5 x 200 M (100 free, 50 back, 50 breast)
========
1000 M (not timed)

Swim season at my club ends tomorrow, but unfortunately I won't be able to swim. Luckily I was able to get a swim in today.

Took a nice easy swim.

PENULTIMATE SWIM IN THE CLUB THIS SEASON?

2010-06-16T15:07:00.002-05:00

400M: 2 x 200 (100m free, 50m back, 50 breast)
100M: 4 x 25 dizzy/indian swimming
100M: 4 x 25 back butterfly legs with fins
100M: 4 x 25 crawl arm breast legs
100M: 4 x 25 something I can't remember
250M: 5 x 50 free - maximum (start ever 2 minutes - 41, 40, 44, 47, 45 second swims + recovery)
400M: 4 x 100 medley
50M: cool down
=========
1500M - approx. 1 hour

Swim season is winding down. Next week is the last chance to swim in the club this season. Don't know if I'll make it or not, but you can turn in next week to find out.

Fine swim.

RETURN TO SAMPPALINNA

2010-06-12T02:08:00.002-05:00

1000M x Free
500 M mixed
===========
1500 M (approx. 45 minutes)

Repeated my wonderful swim from Monday morning.

Photo here:

SAMPPALINNA SWIMMING STADIUM

2010-06-07T08:37:00.003-05:00

1000M x Free
500 M mixed
===========
1500 M (approx. 45 minutes)

Currently in Finland at summer school.

Had a fantastic morning swim at the Samppalinna Swimming stadium in Turku, Finland.

A wonderful outdoor 50m pool heated to 26 degrees with the sun on my back.

WAKE ME UP

2010-06-02T16:17:00.000-05:00

500 meters easy swimming mainly with fins.

Was so tired that I could hardly swim and thus stopped after 500 meters.

HMMM...

2010-05-05T15:05:00.002-05:00

400M: 1 x 400 free
100M: 4 x 25 breath on 3, 5, 7, and 3rd stroke
100M: 4 x 25 breast stroke albows in front of chest
100M: 4 x 25 back knees and hips under water
100M: 4 x 25 butterfly kick with fins
200M: 8 x 25 free - maximum 12.5 moderate 12.5
400M: 5.33 x 75 medley with fins (crawl, back, fly)
100M cool down
=========
1500M - approx. 1 hour

Not much to say about tonight's swim, so I won't.

LEGIONELLA BACTERIA

2010-04-21T14:29:00.000-05:00

No swimming tonight. They found legionella bacteria at the swimming pool and shut it down.

STILL BUSY

2010-04-14T02:20:00.003-05:00

400M: 2 x 200 (100m free, 50m back, 50 breast)
200M: free with fins and hand paddles
100M: 4 x 25 with pull boy
100M: 4 x 25 breast stroke albows in front of chest
100M: 4 x 25 breast stroke on back
200M: 8 x 25 free - maximum down easy back
500M: 5 x 100 medley
=========
1600M - approx. 1 hour

I'm pretty stressed out, so no accompanying narrative.

TOO TOO BUSY

2010-03-24T02:19:00.000-05:00

Was sick for a while, and busy with Easter vacation, etc. so I forgot to blog this before.

1100 M (can't remember the program)

FUNKY

2010-03-03T15:02:00.003-06:00

400M: 2 x 200 (100m free, 50m back, 50 breast)
100M: 4 x 25 dizzy/indian swimming
100M: 4 x 25 slow crawl - long strokes
100M: 4 x 25 breast stroke on back
250M: 5 x 50 free - maximum (start ever 2 minutes - 44-49 second swims with recovery)
500M: 5 x 100 medley
50M: cool down
=========
1500M - approx. 48 minutes

Been away from the pool for a couple of weeks. One week there was winter vacation, last week there was snow, but was good to finally get back in the water. It's not because I've been lazy though, I've been skiing and occasionally going to the gym. Here's what I've been doing instead of swimming.

February 13, 2010
Went skiing with my son in the morning (only about 1km) and then on my own in the afternoon (about 8km)

February 14, 2010
Skied about 2km before I could tell that I was exhausted, and hadn't eaten enough for breakfast. Walked about 1km home.

February 16, 2010
Forgot to cancel the time I had booked at the fitness center. Since I didn't want to have to pay the $5.00 cancellation fee, I decided to show up. It was supposed to be a martial arts/Thai Boxing inspired work out but turned out to be "Pulse and Strength" instead.
Survived the hour. :-) Also joined up for their "Lose Weight and Win" competition.

February 17, 2010
Walked a lot.

1.0 km from home to train station
0.3 km from bus stop to work (got off a stop earlier so I could get some walking in)
1.6 km from a different train station to a meeting at the main library
0.4 km from library to Metro station
1.0 km from train station to home
=======
4.3 km

February 18, 2010
Walked about 2.5 km and then shovelled a metric shitload of snow.

February 23, 2010
Had a nice 75 minute ski in the woods (probably 3-4 kilometers) after work

March 02, 2010
An hour of Funk at the Fitness club.

SNOW SNOW SNOW

2010-02-10T16:42:00.003-06:00

400M: 2 x 200 (100m free, 50m back, 50 breast)
100M: 4 x 25 dizzy/indian swimming
100M: 4 x 25 breast arms / crawl legs
100M: 4 x 25 crawl arms /breast legs
100M: 4 x 25 back stroke / breast legs
200M free - maximum
(90 second recovery)
200m breast - maximum
500M: 5 x 100 medley
=========
1700M - approx. 52 minutes
+
50M: 2 x 25 m underwater

We've had a lot of snow in Copenhagen, and since I don't have snow tires on my car, it's been hard to get to the swimming pool. I have however been doing a lot of skiing in the woods by our house - so I've been getting a good deal of exercise in.

Good swim today, not much to comment on, except for that I finally remembered to bring some lotion with me. :-)

POST-AEROBICS SWIM

2010-01-20T15:27:00.002-06:00

400M: 2 x 200 (100m free, 50m back, 50 breast)
100M: 4 x 25 free (3-5-7-3 breaths)
100M: 4 x 25 breast (elbows in front of chest)
100M: 4 x 25 one arm crawl - switch arms ever 25 m
100M: 4 x 25 fly kick with fins
500M: 5 x 100 medley
=========
1500M - approx. 45 minutes
+
100M: 4 x 25 m underwater

Yesterday I went to an aerobics class with a colleague (step and strength) so I was a little wary about how my swim would go today. My legs were only a litte sore when I got up this morning (thanks to some good ol' NSAID and leg elevation), but after a full day of work, they were hurting before my swim.

Decided it would be best to use the muscles, so I went off to my swim, and luckily it went just fine.

I ended the swim by swimming underwater the length of the pool in one breath 4 times in a row. As I had remembered to bring a bottle of water with me to training, the most difficult part of the exercise was to not pee my pants at the end of each lap. (I know, ewwwww!) Luckily I succeded.
Been out for a while due to scheduling and back troubles. Went swimming with my 10-year old son once during X-mas vacation, but otherwise nothing.

Good to be back in the water.

MORE SQUID HYPERMILING :-)

2010-01-13T17:40:00.002-06:00

400M: 2 x 200 (100m free, 50m back, 50 breast)
100M: 4 x 25 free (somersault every 4th breath)
100M: 4 x 25 loop-de-loop (also known as indian swimming - rotating crawl)
200M: Medley with fins (back, crawl, fly - switch ever 25 m
200M: 2 x 100 squid hypermiling
300M: medley (back, breast, crawl - switch every 25m)
100M: 4 x 25 m underwater
=========
1400M - approx. 55 minutes

Been out for a while due to scheduling and back troubles. Went swimming with my 10-year old son once during X-mas vacation, but otherwise nothing.

Good to be back in the water.

SQUID HYPERMILING

2009-12-02T15:10:00.002-06:00

400M: 2 x 200 (100m free, 50m back, 50 breast)
100M: 4 x 25 free (breathe 3, 5, 7, 3, 5)
100M: 4 x 25 breast (elbows to chest)
100M: 4 x 25 back (knees and hips under water)
100M: medley
200M: 8 x 25 free (max down, relaxed back)
500M: 5 x 100 medley
200M: 2 x 100 squid hypermiling
=========
1700M - approx. 55 minutes

Back in the water after a couple of weeks of on-and-off cold/throat infection/influenza. Nice to be back in the water again.

The sprints went well. All four were under 20 seconds, so I'm satisfied.

You're probably wondering - WTF is squid hypermiling?!

The trainer likes to bring out some new toys and tonight it was a sponge squid on a rope that you drag behind you to - you guessed it - increase drag. It was really noticible if my speed dropped and then I accelerated. The squid's arms then spread out and you felt a real jerk on the line. However if I kept a steady pace it was hardly noticable that I was dragging along a squid. A bit like keeping a steady speed with low reps in my car - hypermiling - with a squid!

WOMEN ONLY

2009-11-12T14:14:00.002-06:00

150 free
50 breast
100 free
100 medley
100 free
100 breast
100 medley
100 free
100 back
100 breast
100 free
===========
1100 free (actually I think more but I lost count)

I was feeling a bit weak after a 4 day bout of the flu, and didn't swim in my club yesterday (also we had to tidy up so our new cleaners could come clean our house). But I had read about swimming for women only from 8-9pm at one of the local swimming pools. "Great", I thought, "One of those well-meaning projects to try to get immigrant women to exercise more - there won't be a soul". When I showed up there was a line of about 30 women (half of which with a hijab) waiting to be let into the pool. My dreams of an empty pool were dashed, and I considered leaving. As I vascillated, a voice of sense spoke to me - "Not all of these women will be swimming laps - they're probably just coming to have a good time - give it a chance"

Although I had become the last in line, I stripped off my clothes quickly so I could get into the first wave of showers and stake my claim on the fast lane of the pool. I was the first one in the lane and swam at my usual speed when I was joined first by one hopeless swimmer unaware of the keep right lane etiquette and then yet another. I was so frustrated I forgot to count laps. Eventually one of the swimmers left the lane, and I was sharing my lane with a woman 10-20 years older than me with no clue how to swim. I quickly found out that I was swimming 4 times faster than her, and suddenly it was a sport for me to finish my 100 meter sets before she finished one lane.

Around 600 meters along, my respect for this woman grew. Not only was I unable to scare her out of the lane by swimming butterfly, but she just kept plodding along, taking no longer breaks at the end of her lane than I did at the end of my 100 meter set. She did eventually move over to the lane that had emptied next to us, but in my eyes she had transformed from an irritating poor swimmer to the toughest bird in the pool - plodding along at her own pace and swimming for 45 minutes. Swim cap off for you my dear!

HEAD ON COLLISION

2009-11-04T15:04:00.002-06:00

100m crawl
100m medley
100m kick with fins(4 x 25 crawl front, back, side, other side)
100m 4 x 25 technique with hip fins
100m back kick with fins
100m crawl (focus on elbows)
100m breast (4 x 25m 8 strokes per lane)
100m crawl (4 x 25m 20 strokes per lane)
100m fly (4 x 25m 10 strokes per lane)
250m varied cool down
=====
1250m (approx 35 minutes)

I came late today because my shoulders were a bit sore after all of my max swimming. I decided to take it easy and coming late was the best way to ensure that I didn't swim too far. I was also tired after a miserable wait for my commuter train. There were no trains on my line in my direction for 90 minutes!!!

Anyway I get in the lane that only had one person, and I see her at the other end. It looks like she's taking a rest, so I start my lane and figure we can coordinate how to share the lane when we're both back at the other end. Unfortunately she didn't see that I had gotten into her lane and started swimming backstroke in the same side of the lane as me. I was so tired, I was just looking at the pool bottom and then suddenly BANG!, I'm hanging in the ropes. I wake up and see my clubmate and apologize, but she was really pissed off (I would have been too in her situation).

We both swim the rest of our programs, and I ask her how she's feeling when we're finished. She said not so good, and she's worried because she already has problems with her back. I wish she would have stopped swimming immediately, because now I'm worried about her. I think I'm actually feeling a bit of the impact now as well.

THE POWER OF PINK!

2009-10-28T16:00:00.004-05:00

400M: 2 X (100 Free, 50 back, 50 breast)

Technique
100M: 1 x 100 crawl long slow strokesmedley
100M: 4 x 25 back (hip, ear, pinky)
100M: 4 x 25 side kick
100M: 4 x 25 fly legs with fins

200M alternate max and relaxed each 25 m

300M breast
300M crawl

100M medley (25 m free timed - 18.56 seconds)
100M out (50 free, 25 back, 25 breast)
=====
1800 meters (55 minutes)

Still stoked from my 25 meter time from last week, I decided to try to treat myself to a new swimsuit. Usually our local sports shop doesn't have anything I like, but today I found a nice new Arena suit - black with pink accents. Then I saw a shocking pink swim cap in a junior size. Since I have kind of a tiny head, I decided to buy it. It turned out to fit me very well - I never realized how irritating my old swim caps were. Tried out the suit and it worked fine as well.

Before I went swimming this evening I wrote to a good friend and told him how much I liked that there was hardly anybody in the tool. Never should have done that - tonight there were 3 times as many people as normal. Up to 4 people in each lane - unheard of! Luckily every one was well behaved, so I was able to swim happily and wasn't annoyed that they were there.

I decided to do another timed 25 meter free and I was completely elated when I shaved off 0.76 seconds from my time from last week. It must be the power of pink. When I bought my suit, I asked the store if they were going to be donating cash to breast cancer research because it was pink and purchased in October. They smiled and said, "No, we had an event last Saturday with a 20% discount on sports bras" . I'm still high from my new fastest time for 25 meters, so I'm going to make a donation now - you should too. www.stoetbrysterne.dk

MONOFIN!

2009-10-21T15:43:00.002-05:00

250M: (100 Free, 50 back, 100 breast)

Technique
100M: 1 x 100 medley
100M: 4 x 25 breast technique (clap above water before stroke)
100M: 4 x 25 side kick
100M: 4 x 25 fly legs with fins

150M crawl
150M breast
150M back

100M medley
100M breast

50M: 2 x 25 with monofin
50M: 2 x 25 free (last one timed 19.25 seconds)
=====
1550 meters (approx. 1 hour)

Was worried I might not be able to swim as I was having some serious stomach rumbling before I got in the pool. Had a very fine swim and am beginning to feel more power in my stroke. During the last 100M medley at the end of the program, I decided to sprint. The 18-year old in the lane next to me jaw dropped - "You can really swim", she said. I told her it was my philosophy of conserving energy that was my secret and told her that although she was using twice as many strokes for breaststroke that I was still a lot faster, and told her to try swimming 25 meters using only 12 strokes. She said thought it was impossible, but I told her it was a very doable number, as I could manage the lane with only 8 strokes. She gave it a try and swam much faster. When she got to the other side, she exclaimed, "I feel like Superman". I was very glad to help a youngin' out!

My coach could see that not only do I take my swimming seriously (actually follow his program and shout over to him whenever I have questions) but also got the impression that I like to goof around and brought out a couple of monofins, that I tired out - I really sucked at it, but it was great fun trying. After the high of playing with a monofin, I decided to finish my program with a 25 meter sprint using the starting block. It went pretty fast, so my coach asked if he should time one for me. I thought it was a great idea, and immediately swimmed another and he clocked it at 19.25 seconds. Quite satisfied with the time, considering it wasn't an actual race and was at the end of my swim program.

FOLLOWING THE PROGRAM - ALMOST

2009-10-07T15:02:00.003-05:00

400M: 2 X (100 Free, 50 back, 50 breast)

Back Technique
100M: 1 x 100 back
100M: 4 x 25 back kick
100M: 4 x 25 back kick with flippers
100M: 4 x 25 back fly with flippers

100M crawl
100M breast
100M: 4 x 25 crawl kick
100M: 4 x 25 breast kick
100M crawl
100M breast

200M:(100 Free, 50 back, 50 breast)
=====
1600 meters (approx. 55 minutes)

Good swim and nice to be taking a break from so much crawl. I'm realizing I'll be able to swim more meters if I start doing new programs instead of the same basic program I've been doing for the past 5 years. Only 5 swimmers in the pool tonight which was totally sweet. I might be the fattest in the pool, but I'm the fastest! :-)

OINK DISEASE

2009-09-23T14:50:00.003-05:00

SWIM:
5 x 200M (100 Free, 50 back, 50 breast)
========
1000 M (approx 25 minutes)

Was sick with the flu 2 weeks ago and then to a conference in Kolding last week, but was back in the water tonight.

I'm still feeling kind of weak from the Man-Bird-Pig AH1N1 Oink disease, or whatever bug I caught, so I took it kind of easy.

Unfortunately I also have to deal with another kind of oink disease - overeating. Hopefully I'll be shedding some pounds soon.

BACK IN THE CLUB

2009-09-02T15:23:00.002-05:00

5 x 200M (100 Free, 50 back, 50 breast) (23:45)
4 x 25M Kick (crawl, breast, back, fly)
4 x 25M Crawl arm
4 x 25M Breast
4 x 25M Back
100M cool down
========
1500 M (43:00)

Tonight was the first night back in my old swim club and what a pleasure it is to be out of the public opening hours (although that might change with a new system where people can book "empty" lanes - more on that as it develops).

Totally sweet swim with an entire lane to myself, 5m flags at both ends and competition lane lines. Completely clear view through the water after the turns for backstroke.

I should be back here every Wednesday evening. Now I just need to remember to pay the bill for the swim club.

Round Christiansborg 2009

2009-08-29T11:47:00.006-05:00

1 x 1980 m crawl
1 x 20 m butterfly
=======
2000 m (53:13)

This year's Round Christiansborg had several uncertainties. A windy day with thunder storms was in the forecast, but luckily we only saw a few drops of rain despite rather threatening skys. The wind was in our backs for the hardest part of the race (harbour) and the water was never so choppy that there were actual white caps.

Unfortunately there were thousands of jellyfish in the water this year. I managed to only get a couple of stings on my forearms and possibly one foot (it was tingling a lot during the race, but it might have been due to the cold). My mental energy was focused on avoiding jellyfish more than enjoying the fantastic scenery this year. The following photos were taken by my son and basically capture the essence of the swim. Cold choppy water (63 degrees) with warmth from a wetsuit and with the focus on the immediate surroundings rather than the big picture.

All in all I think the swim went well and according to the time schedule I had sent out to folks. I debated as to whether I should swim butterfly for the last few meters and as you can see above in the swim program above, I did it again this year.

Here's a photo after the finish waiting to pick up my clothes.

Despite the cold, despite the waves, despite the jellyfish, I'd gladly swim this race yet another time. The oldest competitor (age 74) was in our heat and he has swum it for all 4 of the years that they've been hosting the race. We all applauded him when we heard he was in our heat. We were all so relaxed about everything that it took about 5 seconds before the starting sound went off before any of us actually started swimming.

EQUIPMENT TESTING

2009-07-24T06:08:00.002-05:00

Værløse Swimming Pool

2 x 200 (100m crawl, 50 back, 50 breast)
7 x 50 crawl
===========
750m (forgot to look at clock)

I tested the new wetsuit that I bought (Aqualung Quantum Stretch Shorty) to see if I'll be wearing for the "Round Christiansborg" swim at the end of August. There is a lot of excess fabric around the shoulders and neck, but it seems like it might work out OK. Quite a bit of water entry while doing flip turns, but that won't be a problem during an open water race.

I was pretty tired before swimming, so I have a hard time judging whether the wetsuit made my swim easier or more difficult. Likewise I wasn't sweating profusely in the wetsuit, so I'm wondering how much of a difference it will make while swimming in colder water.

However no chafing, no binding, so it looks like the wetsuit should work out OK.

KITSILANO BEACH!

2009-07-20T00:35:00.002-05:00

Kitsilano Beach and Swimming Pool

approx. 300 m open water crawl
3 x 137 m crawl
137 m breast
=======
848 meters

Had 2 great swims at Kits Beach! The first was a race around the roped swimming water in the ocean against my Kitsilano-based friend ArkanGL, who narrowly defeated me in our short race. I was honored to have an opponent with similar swimming skills and who was willing to enter the water with the risk of photos of the race being posted on the internet.

In order to honor his victory, I treated him to the entrance fee to the Kitsilano Public Swimming Pool. It is the most awesome pool I have ever swum in. Better than the pool at the top of the hotel we stayed in in Prague, better than the pool in Bagsværd with the great view of the trees behind it. This pool is so fantastically amazing that it merits a trip to Vancouver for the pool alone. Not only is it a mind-blowingly long 137 meter saltwater pool (didn't need the googles I forgot to bring with me), it has an amazing view of the ocean, Vancouver and the mountains behind it.
As I looked down at the pool at 8:30 pm with only two swimmers in it, I wished that I had had my hand stamped, so I could have had an extra go at it. (See photo here: http://twitpic.com/azb5c)

Just one of many reasons to return to Vancouver.

SUNBURNED

2009-07-06T06:03:00.002-05:00

Goodman Community Pool, Madison WI

No Program, Just wading and goofing around.

Went swimming with my family and my long lost co-blogger "itsbean" at the Goodman Community Pool. Excellent pool with wading area, 2 water slides, and 2 roped off areas for swimming and diving.

Lots of deck space with deck chairs, good shade, and a concessions area.

Unfortunately "itsbean" missed some spots when she helped me put sun screen on my back, so I've got a few patches that have become sunburned. Ouch.

TRIATHALON

2009-06-30T05:48:00.002-05:00

SWIM:
5 x 200M (100 Free, 50 back, 50 breast)
========
1000 M (approx 25 minutes)

BIKE:
2x 5 KM (to the pool and back)

RUN:
Running around getting ready for our trip to the US

Had a nice swim and had the lane to myself the last 800 m. Forgot my shampoo and nearly washed my hair with sunscreen (time to get the prescription swim goggles, I think)

No relaxing at home with a nice cold alcohol free beer.

ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY

2009-06-23T04:15:00.002-05:00

Værløse Svømmehal

5 x 200M (100 Free, 50 back, 50 breast)
========
1000 M (approx 25 minutes)

Because of some health problems, I haven't been swimming. Because I haven't been swimming, I've been having some health problems. It's an awful vicious circle, but it clearly demonstrates how essential swimming is to my physical and mental well-being, not to mention my online persona of swmmrgrrl.

That said, it was a fine swim considering I haven't been in the water to February. I'm most grateful that no matter what kind of shape I'm in, no matter how much time has passed, that I can hop into a swimming pool and swim a kilometer without much effort at all. For the same reason, I'm also confident that I'll be able to hop into the canals in Copenhagen on August 29th and swim 2km like I did the past 2 years.

I saw a couple of my geriatric swim idols in the pool. These are the wrinkly ladies in their 70's and 80's who clearly don't give a fuck about how their bodies look, but are interested in how their bodies work, and are out swimming because they clearly enjoy it. They're even faster at changing their clothes than I am (and I'm speedy), don't care if their breasts are sagging without a bra under their shirt, etc. This is how I want to be when I'm an old woman (i.e. not that much different than I am today)

HACKING THE WETWARE

2009-02-03T06:28:00.002-06:00

5 x 200M (100 Free, 50 back, 50 breast)
========
1000 M (25:15)

Finally got into the pool today because I had the day off because my son started kindergarten.

Great relaxed swim and I was in a really good mood - quite goofy mood actually. So I intermittantly sang whale/dolphin songs underwater just to try to weird out my fellow swimmers. I didn't notice if it actually work, because I didn't want to reveal myself as a prankster.

Anyway very nice to be back in the water.

RETURN OF SWMMRGRRL

2009-02-01T13:50:00.002-06:00

3 x 3m scooting on my bottom
2 x 10m waterslide
======
29m (approx. 25 minutes)

Finally got back into the pool with a *very* slow start. Took our kids swimming at Bagsværd Swimming Pool and just managed to goof around with them a little bit before we had to leave to go to a party with friends.

MORNING DISCOUNT

2008-09-30T07:25:00.002-05:00

5 x 200 (100 crawl, 50 backstroke, 50 breaststroke)
=======
1000 m (approx. 22 minutes)

Arrived around 9 am and got the special morning swim price (50% off).

However there were a lot more people in the lanes because of it, and even more babies than the last time. Normally the mothers and babes are just finishing when I arrive at around 10 am, but here they were getting their babies ready to swim, which of course meant that they were also showering their babies when I finished swimming.
Not that I have anything against babies, it's just that they and their mothers take up a lot of room in the locker room.

Had a good swim, and the lanes weren't too crowded - had 3 in my lane for only about 2 minutes otherwise only had to share it with one other person.

BABIES ABOUND

2008-09-23T03:59:00.000-05:00

5 x 200 (100 crawl, 50 backstroke, 50 breaststroke)
=======
1000 m (approx. 25 minutes)

Had another Tuesday morning swim. There's always a lot of mothers with their babies when I come, because they have to get out of the warm water basin at 10 am. Try to imagine a locker room filled with 10 mothers and their infants. Makes me change and shower in a hurry, that's for sure.

I have to admit, I don't really get the whole "baby swimming" thing. It makes no difference for actually learning to swim, raises the risk for ear infections, and is a major pain-in-the-ass to deal with a wet squirmy baby. It really is just entertainment for the parents, IMHO. Oh sure, it's great with the closeness in the water, but the baby really doesn't get that much more of an experience than an ordinary bath would give it.

In any case, I had a great swim. Had the lane to myself the whole time, and that's always great.

TODDLER SWIMMING

2008-09-22T11:06:00.000-05:00

Took my 2-year old son swimming. They were having "Grandparents' Day" at his daycare, but unfortunately none of his grandparents could come. So to avoid him being surrounded by throngs of old folks he doesn't know, I picked him up early, and went to the pool.

He had a great time, and didn't want to leave the pool. And once we were in the locker room, he decided to crawl into a locker and close the door behind him. It was really cute and funny.

CLEAN SWEEP

2008-09-16T15:39:00.000-05:00

5 x 200 (100 crawl, 50 backstroke, 50 breaststroke)
=======
1000 m (approx. 27 minutes)

Tuesday mornings have become a great time for me to swim. We get our house cleaned on Tuesday mornings, and since I'm currently unemployed, it's a perfect excuse to get out of the house.

Had a whole lane to myself and remembered my moisturizer today!

SLIP SLIDING AWAY

2008-09-11T16:15:00.000-05:00

Took my son to Bagsværd Svømmehal and had great fun going down the water slide, doing our Jesus trick, swimming against the current, etc.

WARM TURQUOISE WATER

2008-09-09T05:39:00.002-05:00

5 x 200 (100 crawl, 50 backstroke, 50 breaststroke)
=======
1000 m (approx. 27 minutes)

Took a nice easy swim after my race last Saturday. Nice calm and relaxed.

ROUND CHRISTIANSBORG 2008

2008-08-30T13:25:00.002-05:00

2000 M (varied crawl, backstroke, breaststroke and a little dash of Butterfly)
==========
50:48 (Number 120 out of 151 women)

Despite my lack of training, I decided to swim Round Christiansborg again this year. It was a beautiful sunny day so I decided to register on race day.

Anyway here I am, greased up ready to go!

At the start:

One of the guys in the heat (but not pictured) asked an official what the water temperature was. On hearing it was 18.5 he said, "Boy maybe I shouldn't wear my wetsuit after all" The official said - "You've got one minute to decide" and I said "Wetsuits are for wimps..." and he kept his wepsuit on.

The heat I was placed in was really fast, and I immediately lagged behind, freezing and wondering why in the world I entered this race again. No photos from the harbor front as I had agreed with my family that it was OK for them to just take photos in the canals - as keeping a 3 year old happy for a long race wasn't going to be so easy.

Here's my oldest son in the foreground, the buoy in the middle is the 1 km mark, and I think I'm near it. Look for the green swimcap, because it's all on it's own. Everyone else from my heat is far ahead of me.

Finally somebody I can actually pass in this race! Holmens Kirke in the background.

Just as I'm enjoying the sweetness of actually passing somebody, I've got somebody on my tail.

With the Danish parliament(Christiansborg) in the background, I decide to take it easy for a while and swim a little backstroke to use my muscles in a different direction. It had the added adventage that I could look up at my family and wave.

I discovered it was actually more pleasant swimming backstroke under the bridges. Easier to follow your progress and not as dark and claustrophobic as while swimming crawl.

Rounded the bend - that's Christiansborg Slotskirke in the background (no seperation of church and state here)

Swimming along Gammel Strand.

Lifeguards. Thorvaldsen's Museum and Nikolaj Kirke (which is no longer a church but a gallery) in the background.

Swimming under "Strombroen". Time for some breaststroke.

The "Marble Bridge" in the background. I'm pretty tired here, and there's only about 300 meters to go.

Photo taken from the last bridge.

A beautiful day for a swim - Finish line in sight!

Nearing the finish - note the guy in the green cap in the foreground - he looks like he's been standing there for a while.

Finally the medley is completed with a little bit of butterfly - just to show off.

More showing off.

Obligatory head scan at finish!

Success!

LIMP WRIST

2008-08-21T09:07:00.003-05:00

Took my son to Bagsværd Svømmehal and when I went down the slide after him to enter the pool, I slipped and fell as I was about to go down. Landed on my ass and my wrist. I could immediately tell the wrist was borked by stayed in the water for about 30 minutes so my son could have some fun in the water.

Now following the RICE protocol (Rest, Ice, Compresssion, Elevation) when I'm not typing, taking care of the kids etc.

I had been considering swimming in Amager Open Water and Christiansborg Rundt, but this injury definitely finalizes the decision I made last night that I wouldn't be competing because of too much stress as I wait to see if I'll be going to school or working this fall.

OLDSKOOL ANTI-DEPRESSANT

2008-08-11T13:35:00.004-05:00

Physical activity!

Our son has a case of the blues and is having a hard time falling asleep at night. Swimming is a great way of getting him to do physical activity, so I took him to the pool after dinner to see if I couldn't wear him out.

We had great fun going down the slide and swimming in the current pool.

We even invented our "Jesus"-trick where he stands on my thighs and I walk so it looks a bit like he's walking on water. It amuses us anyway.

MORE FAMILY FUN

2008-08-10T13:33:00.002-05:00

150M (100M Free, 50M Breast)
Fun time break
2 x 150M (100M Free, 50M Breast)
=============
time it takes for father and son to change clothes both to get in and out of the pool.

Another day of family fun at the pool.

08-08-08

2008-08-08T13:31:00.000-05:00

Took my son to Bagsværd Svømmehal today.

We used the family/handicapped changing rooms and it worked perfectly for us. Ever since our son turned 8, I haven't been able to take him into the ladies changing room with me. Since he's not ready to go through the men's changing room alone, it's only been his father who's been taking him to lessons. Nice that I can take him swimming now to.

NEW POOL

2008-08-03T04:30:00.002-05:00

200M (100M free, 50 back, 50 crawl)
100M free
===========
300M (the time it took for my husband and kids to get showered and changed)

Værløse Svømmehal is closed for summer vacation, so we decided to try out Bagsværd Swimming Pool. It's got beautiful architecture and great facilities for kids, but there 25M pool could sure use some ropes to seperate the lanes. They've seperated it with one rope - 3 lanes for play, 3 lanes for laps. There are no lane lines on the bottom of the pool - only 5 meters from the wall, so it is utter chaos to try to swim laps like that.

Luckily there was only one other woman swimming laps when I arrived, so it wasn't a problem, but about 35 minutes later when we left it was really crowded. Even a gorgeous view of trees outside the window doesn't make up for that. :-)

The best part of the outing was when my 9-year old son overcame his fear of the water slide and went down it 5 times!

FAMILY FUN

2008-07-09T08:34:00.002-05:00

5 x 200 (100 crawl, 50 backstroke, 50 breaststroke)
=======
1000 m (approx. 25 minutes)

My husband, oldest son and I biked to the swimming pool today. Since my husband had forgotten his bicycle at the train station, I biked ahead while my son and he walked to pick it up (1km). That way I could get some serious swimming in before they got in the water. The timing was perfect - I swam 975 meters before I noticed them getting into the pool.

Fun goofing around with them afterwards.

BETTER THAN VIDEOS

2008-07-07T14:06:00.003-05:00

3 x 200 (100 crawl, 50 backstroke, 50 breaststroke) 13:43 minutes
100 crawl (with zoomers) 1:54 minutes
100 crawl (w/out zoomers) 1:55 minutes
50 fly (with zoomers) 0:55 minutes
50 fly (w/out zoomers) 0:58 minutes
100 breast
200 (100 crawl, 50 backstroke, 50 breaststroke)
=======
1200 m (approx. 30 minutes)

Last night and this morning I was ogling videos of Alexander Popov and Mark Spitz. Today I had the pleasure of sharing my lane with a guy who looked like a hybrid of these 2 guys, and also had a very nice smooth stroke, as well as a considerate pleasant demeanor in the lane.

Doesn't get any better than that!

TO NAP OR TO SWIM

2008-06-25T07:43:00.002-05:00

200 (100 crawl, 50 backstroke, 50 breaststroke)
100 crawl with zoomers
25 back with zoomers
25 fly with zoomers
50 breast stroke
100 crawl
=======
500 m (approx. 12 minutes)

Today I planned on swimming around 1pm. However when 1pm rolled around, I mainly wanted to roll over and take a nap. So I asked myself, "Do you want to swim or do you want to swim?" and forced myself to go swimming. As I went around finding my gear, wallet etc. it had become 1:11 pm before I started the car to go the pool.

I was in the water by 1:25 pm and could see that if I was going to be at my son's school at 2pm to pick him up for the dentist, that I probably couldn't swim the kilometer that I ususally swim. Got out of the water by 1:37pm was showered, dressed and in my car by 11:51pm and made it to my son's school with time to spare.

However I think taking a nap might have been a better decision.

CRAZY DAY

2008-06-17T09:09:00.002-05:00

5 x 200 (100 crawl, 50 backstroke, 50 breaststroke)
=======
1000 m (approx. 25 minutes)

Had a crazy day running about attempting to replace my residence/work permit which was stolen along with my wallet (a couple of years ago).

It was great to get into the water and have a nice relaxing swim.

There was a woman in the lane next to me who was swimming when I arrived, and swimming when I left. Her swimming style indicated that she was probably partially paralized or had cerebal palsy or a similar handicap. Respect to her for chugging along with her own style and racking up the meters.

No toys this time - I had some problems with my back after my last swim, and don't want to risk anything. I really should see my physiotherapist.

BRAND NEW TOYS!!

2008-06-03T14:55:00.003-05:00

5 x 200 (100 crawl, 50 backstroke, 50 breaststroke)
=======
1000 m (approx. 20 minutes)

I recently ordered a bunch of Finis training products and tried them out today.

My first 200m was a warm-up set.

Set 2 was using the Zoomer Z2 Fins. These are short stiff fins (for your feet - you'll understand why I write this in a moment) that are quite fun to use. You swim really fast and high in the water while using these. They give you power in both the upward and downward movement of your kick. I could see how you could get addicted to these babies. Afraid of a cramp, and just trying to be sensible, I only used them for 150 meters.

Set 3 was using the Forearm Fulcram. This is a tool of torture, that forces your arm into the proper position for your stroke. Normally if you're kind of tired, or just kind of wimpy, your hand will sometimes take the path of least resistance in the water rather than taking the path that will give the greatest propulsion and requiring the greatest effort. This training tool makes you use your full exertion on every stroke. A bit weird feeling around the wrist, but I think it might be good. I tried to use it for the breast stroke as well, but it was too painful - probably because it's designed for crawl only. ;)

Set 4 was using the Hydro Hip. This is a belt with two fins placed on your hips. It's used to encourage swimming on your side and making a faster and stronger hip snap as well as to time your stroke with your hip snap. Fun tool the fins make you snap your hips really fast. However with the power involved the belt started slipping while I was using it. Not sure if I should be wearing it higher or lower. I tightened it as much as I could. I'll be investigating their website for some tips on it's use.

Set 5 was without toys.

Unfortunately I didn't have a watch with me. My Baby G's solar powered battery isn't doing so well. One day the time was suddenly off by *hours*. I haven't reset the time yet, and am worried it's just going to give me more problems.

Great to be back in the water - it's been too long.

SAD SLOW SWIM

2008-03-19T14:30:00.002-05:00

2 x (200 crawl, 100 backstroke, 100 breaststroke)
200 crawl
=======
1000 m (a long time)

Had an argument with my husband in the evening and wasn't feeling good, but decided to swim anyway. Was freezing cold the first 200M and couldn't swim relaxed, but finally loosened up. Rather good gliding considering the circumstances.

GIMME SOME SUNSHINE

2008-03-06T01:24:00.002-06:00

5 x 200 (100 crawl, 50 backstroke, 50 breaststroke)
=======
1000 m (22:34 - I think)

Had a nice swim. Unfortunately my solar powered watch is a bit on the fritz - either that or I've just been keeping it in dark places too often. Although I timed the swim, my watch went into power saving mode on the drive home, and when I finally woke it from it's slumber the next day, my time on the timer had been deactivated.

TRAILER

2008-02-27T21:26:00.001-06:00

4 x 200 (100 crawl, 50 backstroke, 50 breaststroke)
=======
800 m (approx. 20 minutes)

Went for a swim before going out for a movie. Nice swim. Very little lane traffic.

LONG TIME, NO SWIM

2008-02-20T14:28:00.003-06:00

2 x 200 (100 crawl, 50 backstroke, 50 breaststroke)
1 x 100 crawl
=======
500 m (12:49)

It's been *forever* since I've been in the pool. Glad to finally have decided that I'll swim on Wednesday evenings. Without a scheduled time, I find it impossible to find the time to swim, as my time is sucked up by all of my other responsibilities.

Swam early, around 5:30 pm and the pool had pretty heavy traffic - at least 4 people in every lane. I'll try swimming closer to closing time and see if that helps.

I treated myself to a new pair of goggles, and it was a nice treat. Just plain silicon goggles, but after the scandalous SEAL goggles it's great to have regular ones that don't leak.

A decent swim, but I could definitely feel in my shoulders that it has been awhile, so I limited myself to 500m.

Actually remembered the skin lotion this time.

GOODBYE SUMMERTIME

2007-10-28T10:17:00.000-05:00

5 x 200 (100 crawl, 50 backstroke, 50 breaststroke)
=======
1000 m (approx. 20 minutes)

Had a nice Sunday morning swim just as the pool opened. There was a line to get in, but luckily I had prepurchased my tickets and could just breeze through the locker room, being the first to shower and get into the water.

Had a lane to myself for the first 250 meters and then was joined by my neighbor who I used to swim in a club with. He got out to be with his kids (he didn't realize it was me), and then another woman joined the lane - great swimmer faster than me. Than my neighbor's wife (who's also my neighbor) joined the lane as well (without noticing it was me).

I talked to my neighbors afterwards in the kiddy pool and they had a bit of a laugh about us all choosing the same lane.

Good swim - nice to be back in the water.

BACK TO ROUTINE

2007-09-06T15:04:00.000-05:00

2 x 250 crawl
50 breast
50 back
2 x 200 crawl
50 cool down (butterfly and back)
========
1050 m (approx 26 minutes)

After a triumphant swim around Christiansborg!!! I'm back in the pool in Værløse.

Before my swim my Baby G would not awake from it's powersave mode - so I thought the poor little solar rechargeable battery had gone kaput! Now that I bought a fancy new Speedo swimsuit with orange trim while I was in London, there was no way I was going to swim without my matching orange watch, even if it wasn't working. Secretly I hoped that bringing it back into it's wet element would be like a babtism, bringing it back to life.

The swim went well - the pool was crowded when I arrived, but settled into a lane with 2 women close to my age (i.e. middle-aged ladies) They were swimming rather slowly, but when I got into the lane and started swimming, I noticed that the one swimming crawl started to pick up her pace, and wasn't too crazy about me passing her. Later she swam a lane of butterfly, so when we both stood to take a break, I complemented her on her swimming. Turns out she's American as well! :-)

Anyway when I got out of the water, I noticed that my watch was working again! Hurray!

Being back in the pool for the first time after the swim around Christiansborg, I can really understand why some people become openwater addicts. All of the turns were annoying, the chlorine was irritating, everything was so bright and so confined. Don't get me wrong, I had a great time, but I did sort of miss the blowing wind, the wide canals and the clean fresh chlorine free water, the long series of strokes and the everychanging scenery.

ROUND CHRISTIANSBORG

2007-08-25T13:36:00.000-05:00

1900m - crawl
=============
1900m (46:51)

In the weeks prior to the swim I hadn't been training much, or rather not at all. I managed to get into the pool and do some serious swimming one time while I was on the vacation in the US - one month before the race.

Two weeks before the race I did some testing with the wetsuit I received for my bithday and I discovered it wasn't going to be comfortable enough for the distance. As the water temperature had been mearused to 21 degrees that day, I wasn't worried and decided to swim without it.

I was terribly nervous on race morning, cold grey weather and only 18.5 degrees celcius in the water. About 75% of the participants had wetsuits and I started to get worried...

Did a full body insulation with vaseline and decided not to chicken out. Water was cold at first, but not too bad. After a nice easy start and passing the harbour I was finally warmed up. However I discovered that vaseline and goggles don't mix...they started sliding on my face and filling with water. After treading water and adjusting them twice they were so covered with vaseline that I couldn't see anything. Considered just dumping the damned things in the canal, but swam with them on my forehead instead. Suddenly things were a *lot* more visible and it was much easy to stay oriented in the water.

Soon I saw the heat that started 5 minutes before me, and started passing the green swim caps one after one. I stayed mainly on the right (wide berth) to avoid swimming collisions. About 3/4 of the way through the race, I knew that I could pull off my original plan of swimming butterfly for the last few strokes before the finish line.

But as I approached the finish my plans changed. Suddenly there was a woman with a white cap (a heat or two after mine) on my left, and there was no way I was going to let her pass me. So the race ended with an all out sprint between the two of us! I was pretty sure I touched the floating pontoon before she did (even if her time was 5-10 minutes faster than mine) until I actually saw the pictures.

Here's a play to play with images!

My heat right before entering the water. The race start was in the water with one hand on the floating dock. I'm the 2nd from the left in the image. I decided to take a wide berth to stay away from the traffic as it narrowed in to take the first corner (route was counter clockwise). Happy I did that - turned out I was in the middle of the field following the first corner, but was convinced that I was at the tail end of the heat.

Around the first bend...

Gotta get ahead of all of these silver caps.

Green caps ahead, better pass them.

Easing in to the finish.

Fast forward to the last 200 meters of the race...

Ooh...look at all of those green swim caps I just passed. (green heat was prior to silver heat). Wait, oh no! What's that! A white swim cap! And it's approaching fast.

Oh..oh..she's gaining on me!

Can't let her get by!

Tension mounts! Who will get there first!

Aargh...I think she did!

Anybody who finishes this race clearly needs their head scanned!

Goggles (quite clear (or not so)) why I had to remove them, swimcap and medal!

DENMARK'S GROSSEST LOCKER ROOM

2007-07-09T05:20:00.000-05:00

5 X 200 CRAWL (approx. 20 min)
100 breast
100 back
========
1200 M (approx. 26 min. - forgot my watch)

They've got cleaning problems at Værløse Swimming Pool. This time it's not just a bunch of 3-year olds missing the toilet before their swimming lesson - it's just accumulated grime and mildew from insufficient cleaning. Just plain ol' gross.

Anyway it was great to get back into the water, the pools switch to summer hours and general problems with family scheduling kept me away. Glad I finally made it today. Great swim, and I had the lane to myself. Luckily the pool itself wasn't gross.

PIMP MY BLOG

2007-06-12T13:35:00.001-05:00

4 x 300M (250 crawl 50 back)
100M breast
==========
1300M (29:44:42)

I mentioned this blog on another site, so it will be exciting to see if I get any new readers (who are welcome to place a comment - as are old readers)

An OK swim. Some triathletes were training in the lane next to me, so I tried pushing it a bit more than usual. No shoulder problems, and I also remembered the moisturizing lotion afterwards!

SIMPLE

2007-06-05T06:36:00.001-05:00

1000m crawl (21:18:41 minutes)
That was an easy program to remember! :-)

TAKING IT EASY!

2007-05-29T12:07:00.000-05:00

50 crawl
50 back
50 crawl
50 breast
50 crawl
50 butterfly
50 crawl
50 back
50 crawl
50 breast
========
500 m (approx 13 minutes - forgot my watch)

I'm still taking it easy on the shoulder. Today I was tired because I was up late last night doing my taxes, so I took a nice easy program with a lot of variation.

FRESH MEAT

2007-05-21T12:52:00.000-05:00

2 x 200 crawl
50 back
50 breast
messing around in the warm water bassin (approx. 3 minutes)
===========
500m (13:45:49)

As you might guess I forgot to push my stopwatch when I finished my swim. Only as I was entering the locker room, did I realize that I had forgotten. So the above time reflects both the swim and messing around.

Unfortunately I've been having some shoulder pain, which is why I skipped the last 2 Tuesdays.
I went to my physiotherapist a week ago, and she told me that I better take things easy. Since I've proved to myself that I will be able to swim the distance of the race in August, I've decided to take her advice. I've got some pain in the rotater cuff (classic "swimmer's shoulder") but having soon reached age 40, I'm also at a higher risk for "frozen shoulder" (adhesive capsulitis), which is a condition that you really can do little about, and whose etiology is unclear.

Anyway the swim went fine, but since I was feeling some pain, I decided it was best to stop after 500m. My physiotherapist had done some controlled damage to the rotater in order to get it to start the healing process, and I don't want to spoil her efforts.

Swimming at a different time than usual was nice. Really fast swimmer in the lane next to me. Nice not to be the fastest person in the pool for the change. Motivation is much easier if surrounded by really good swimmers.

SHOULD I STAY OR SHOULD I GO

2007-05-01T13:16:00.000-05:00

1000 m crawl (21:21:86)
50 m back
50 m breast
==========
1100 m

I was really in doubt as to whether I should go swimming or not this evening. I was pretty tired from gardening and just tired in general. I decided to just swim a kilometer nice and easy and see if I could do it all in crawl without stopping. I could and I was glad that I decided to swim after all.

I went right as the pool was closing, and I was the last one in the pool. So nice. When I finished my swim, I decided to tease the lifeguards who were walking around finishing up all of the small tasks needed to close the pool. I swam underwater across the lanes right by the edge of the pool to get to the ladder on the other side rather than jumping out at the end of the pool. Suddenly I was silent and invisible. When I surfaced from the water, I could see that one of the lifeguards had walked over to see where I was.

Anyway that's about the extent of my swimming pool humor repertoire.

PAR FOR THE COURSE

2007-04-24T06:33:00.000-05:00

1000 (250 crawl, 50 backstroke, 250 crawl, 50 back, 400 crawl) 18:44 minutes
Pause 15 sec.
100m breast
100m back
200m crawl
Pause 15 sec.
100m breast
100m back
300m crawl (perhaps more)
=========
1900 m (44:43:37 minutes)

Decided to swim the whole course length to see what kind of time I could do it in. Well under the 55 minutes that I put on the form as my expected time. The first 1000 m were SMOKING!!! I took it easy on the last 900m.

Swam in the morning today as I took a day off to work because of doctor's appointments for my kids. Nice to be in the locker rooms, showers and bathrooms without all of the chaos there normally is on Tuesday nights because of swim lessons. Get a bunch of 3 year olds gathered with only 3 toilets, and no floor drain and you get some pretty unsanitary conditions pretty fast.

Anyway great swim!

ONE MILE

2007-04-17T13:39:00.000-05:00

4 x 250m (200 crawl, 50 backstroke)
4 x 25 m kick
100m breast
100m back
200m crawl
100m breast
50m back
=========
1650 m (42:06:37 minutes)

Tried out my new SEAL swim goggles. They were great for vision and no leaking or fogging, but I'm not quite sure about the comfort. There was a bit of a conflict with my swim cap and top seal of the goggles and afterwards several marks on my face and pressure on my nose. I'll have to keep experimenting and see if I like them

Good swim. I was a bit worried when a large group of boys started invading all of the lanes, but I talked to the guy supervising them and convinced them that it was best if all of the boys were in one lane. Actually there were so many that they ended up in 2 lanes, but at least the adult swimmers were separated from the kids. For me swimming is my sanctuary and the fewer people I have to deal with in my lane the better.

Convinced the woman in my lane to split the lane rather than keeping to the right so that I didn't have to pass her all of the time or worrying about swimming into her while swimming backstroke.

Towards the end of the swim there were 2 guys in the lane next to me. One was an old guy (about 70 years old) who was swimming at a fairly good pace despite a rather odd form, the other was about my age, tall and also swimming fairly quickly. If both of them had just a few pointers on technique they could blow me out of the water speedwise.

All in all a great swim!

TRAINING FOR OPEN WATER

2007-04-10T14:25:00.000-05:00

1 x 500m (2 x (100 crawl, 50 backstroke) + 200 m crawl - approx 11 minutes)
1 x 100m breaststroke
4 x 25m "tarzan" crawl
1 x 100 breaststroke
1 x 100 crawl
=======
1000 m ( approx 24 minutes)

Despite wearing my watch, I forgot to set it for the first part of the swim, so all of the timings are approximate today.

I plan on competing in the open water swimming competition "Christiansborg Rundt" at the end of August, and the training started officially today.

The course is approx. 1.9 km long but can be divided into 4 x 500 if you have a relay team. I've attempted to get my colleauges to form a team, but it does not look promising so far. The first 500 m of the swim was without stops to get a general idea of the time.

Then some "Tarzan" swimming to train orientating myself in open water and a bit of breast swimming.

Good swim.

NO SHAVING IN THIS LANE

2007-03-20T15:30:00.000-05:00

4 x 150m (100 crawl, 50 backstroke)
1 x 50m breaststroke
1 x 50m backstroke
=======
700 m (17:00.00 minutes)

When I left the showers to get into the pool, I was feeling kind of hairy, since I haven't shaved my legs for *a while*. However once I got into my lane, I stopped feeling that way, as the guy in the lane with me was *really* hairy.

Good swim, especially since it has been a while.

:-)

DAMNED TEENAGERS!

2007-02-20T13:31:00.000-06:00

5 x 150 (100 crawl, 50 back)
50 breast
=====
800 M (19:18:03)

It can be difficult to choose which lane to choose when the joint is pretty busy. Usually I go for the lane with the most room and the least perceived hassle. Today I had a different strategy. 2 teenage girls were hogging one lane, swimming side by side, making it undesirable for anyone to try to swim there.

Fuck that! I thought. As soon as my wake hits them, they'll exit the lane.

Nope they just kept acting dumb, and then I'd growl at them and they'd begrudgingly move out of my path. I told them if they wanted to splash about they could go to the kiddy pool, but if they wanted to swim, they'd have to swim in a ring. They started to do the typical Danish teenager thing arguing their position, and I just didn't listen to their bullshit, but pushed off the wall and kept swimming. The little whiners even started complaining to the life guard. Unfuckingbelievable!

Despite the annoying teenagers, I had a good swim and a good time.

FUN WITH THE FAMILY

2007-02-12T11:28:00.000-06:00

4 x 150 (100 crawl, 50 back)
=====
600 M (untimed)

Went to the swimming pool with my brother and his 2 kids. Had a nice swim and enjoyed seeing my niece do some diving. Got the lifeguard to lower the climbing wall and gave it a shot as well. I was *hopeless* at climbing.

ERRATIC!

2007-01-16T12:41:00.000-06:00

4 x 200 (100 crawl, 50 backstroke, 50 breaststroke kick)
100m relaxed
=======
900 m (approx. 25 minutes)

Sort of an odd day. I was up since 5:15 am and have been a bit tired all day. When I arrived for my swim the lane traffic was a bit erratic, so I ended up choosing a lane with some slow folks. I decided to take it easy and not use my stopwatch, as I knew that that would cause me to try to swim faster than by body could really handle.

All in all an OK swim

WHEEE!

2007-01-09T15:30:00.000-06:00

3 x 150m (100 crawl, 50 backstroke)
1 x 50 m breaststroke
=======
500 m (11:27.17 minutes - split)
4 x 25 m (crawl: technique, sprint, technique, sprint)
100 m (IM)
==========
700m (18:21:62)

The first 500 went really well, so I decided to swim a bit more. Although I could certainly have swum even more, I decided to stop at 700m. My cardiovascular fitness has really improved. I think it is due to my commute to work that besides the train ride has a 7 minute bike ride plus an 18 minute brisk walk each way.

Remembered the moisturizer today! :-)

SHAVED A SECOND!

2006-12-19T13:03:00.000-06:00

3 x 150m (100 crawl, 50 backstroke)
1 x 50 m breaststroke (actually 30 breast, 20 crawl)
=======
500 m (12:07.46 minutes)

Woot! Shaved a second off my time!

Actually a bit of a milestone, as I was able to swim while my son was at Jujitsu lessons. Finally he feels secure enough that I don't need to sit outside of the training room.

Skipped last week as I had been to the physiotherapist the same day and didn't want to risk messing up the muscles she had just massaged into place.

I still haven't dare to increase my the length of my swim program, as I'm afraid of injuring myself. And while I'm still in charge of taking care of the baby during the day, I can't risk not being able to lift him. Luckily Friday is my husband's last day before he takes parental leave, and then I won't need to worry so much. He'll be the primary baby lifter.

Forgot the shampoo and skin moisterizer again.

12 MINUTE WORKOUT

2006-11-28T13:06:00.000-06:00

3 x 150m (100 crawl, 50 backstroke)
1 x 50 m breaststroke (actually 30 breast, 20 crawl)
=======
500 m (12:08.84 minutes)

I was feeling really good after the first 450 meters and considered swimming for a full 20 minutes. However I felt something funny on my right side while doing the breast stroke. Since that's still the problematic side of my pelvis (have problems sometimes with outward rotations of the hip joint), I decided to play it safe and just crawled the final 20 meters, and left the pool. Actually remembered to stretch out afterwards in the shower. Now I just need to remember to bring some shampoo and skin moisterizer with me.

AND SHE'S BACK

2006-11-21T12:39:00.001-06:00

3 x 150m (100 crawl, 50 backstroke)
1 x 50 m breaststroke
=======
500 m (12:35.87 minutes)

Boy it's been a while. The problems with my pelvic joints kept me out of the pool. Today was my first swim after giving birth to the baby and it was great! I'm sure I could have swum much further, but don't want to risk injurying myself. So a nice easy build up is my strategy. I was very surprised that I was able to swim breast stroke without any pelvic pain, so all in all things are looking great!

SAME OL' SAME OL'

2005-08-16T05:53:00.000-05:00

4 x 150m (100 crawl, 100 backstroke)
=======
600 m (18 minutes)

Hmm...perhaps I'll be able to swim twice this week. Got in the water at noon and it seems like a great time to come. Nobody around.

I might pick up Emil early some days (school gets out at noon, and then he has an after-school program in the same building) and get him swimming. Lessons just aren't working for him, but I don't want to give up on getting him to learn to swim.

BØRING

2005-08-12T07:59:00.000-05:00

4 x 150m (100 crawl, 100 backstroke)
=======
600 m (approx. 18 minutes)

OK swim considering the circumstances.

SI SWIMSUIT EDITION

2005-08-05T06:04:00.000-05:00

4 x 150m (100 crawl, 100 backstroke)
=======
600 m (untimed)

Not SI as in Sports Illustrated, but rather SI as in sacroilliac joint.

Mine is already unstable due to pregancy. The day after my last swim, I ended up having incredible pain in my SI joint. I was afraid that it might be due to swimming, and my fears were confirmed today.

I could immediately tell that my SI joint is unstable as soon as I got in the water today. So breast-stroke was immediately ruled out. I could also tell that the normal rotations of the hip I do with backstroke and crawl were also a really bad idea. So I did this terrible flat on my stomach crawl using mainly my arms to drive me forward. Same thing on my back.

Grumble grumble grumble

WHY I'M LACKING ENERGY

2005-07-21T10:20:00.000-05:00

3x200: (100 Crawl, 50 Back, 50 Breast)
------------
600 m (17:24.12)

Figured out why I had no energy for the last swim. Nearly immediately after my last blog, I took a pregnancy test, and found out that I'm pregnant.

Since we have been trying for quite a while, it was a shock when it actually happened. So I've been a bit of a slug while I have adjusted to the news and begun to feel the full symptoms of the first trimester of pregnancy.

It's rough - believe me.

It was nice to have a decent swim, although it was one of them where I was using technique alone and no real exertion.

No running nor taekwondo for a while - back to a pure swmmrgrrl blog - goodbye rnnrgrrl, goodbye kckrgrrl

KINDA TIRED

2005-07-07T05:54:00.000-05:00

4x200: (100 Crawl, 50 Back, 50 Breast)
-------
800 m (19:36)

I was kind of tired, so only did a short swim.

Second lane of traffic

2005-07-02T14:28:00.000-05:00

I did the same running program as the other days. Not quite as far as last time, but I'm satisfied. My mother-in-law has some acute health problems, so I spent yesterday getting the guest room ready for her (which took longer than usual because we are renovating other parts of our home, so the room was filled with moving boxes etc. from the utility room and shed). Did about 6 machines of laundry as well, so I've been on my feet all day.

I could use a swim to relax. ;-)

RELAXED

2005-06-30T02:44:00.000-05:00

5x200: (100 Crawl, 50 Back, 50 Breast)
-------
1000 m (1000m 24:49)

Really nice relaxing swim. Did each 200m at 5:00 minute intervals.

Had a great sauna afterwards. I can really only take a sauna in the summer, which might sound weird for some people. But my skin drys out too much in the winter for saunas, and I don't really enjoy the cold showers in the winter.

Coming out of the sauna and standing under an ice cold shower (always remember to let the water hit your head first) is just a great feeling. I actually prefer a cold water bath to the cold showers. Completely immersing your body in the cold water has a much nicer effect than the shower.

Nasty surprise: When I put my hand in my bag to get my shampoo out, I saw a big spider. It didn't make me scream, but it still freaked me out a bit. So I asked another woman if she was afraid of spiders, and she said just a bit, and she grabbed it with toilet paper and flushed it. I really could have done it myself, but I kind of like having a few weaknesses, cause I have to be so strong most of the time.

DISTRACTED

2005-06-27T06:03:00.000-05:00

6x200: (100 Crawl, 50 Back, 50 Breast)
-------
1200 m (1000m 27:11)

Good swim, but my mind was apparently elsewhere (or perhaps nowhere) during this swim. After the first 200 m, I realized I had forgotten to start my stopwatch. Numerous times I found myself swimming the wrong stroke in the program. When I thought I had swum a total of 800 m, I looked at my watch and it said 22:10, which is my normal time for 800 m, but the first 200m weren't included in that time. So if I had only swum a total of 800 m my time would have been awfully slow. Since I planned on swimming a total of 1000 m, I swam 200 meters more, and checked my stop watch to see how long it took. Since it took my average time of approx. 5 minutes/200m, I deducted that I must have swum a total of 1200m.

10% improvement

2005-06-26T13:12:00.000-05:00

I went for another run today. Same principle as last time. My goal this time was to follow the same route, but to make it all the way accross the bridge over the highway. I did it - in 4:45 seconds, turned around and ran halfway accross the bridge before the time ran out. A whopping 45 meters extra.

It wasn't nearly as painful this time as it was last time - thank goodness! But still quite the strain.

I might be posting my weight here too. Just to try to stop me from eating so much.
But it's too early for that. But I'll let you in on that I'm going for a target weight of 67 kilos. Very realistic goal.

RNNRGRRL

2005-06-22T13:01:00.000-05:00

I went for a run today. Planned on running for 5 minutes in the wood, and then walking back home.

I met my goal. Using a special arial map, I plotted my path and it looks like I covered a whopping 450m!! Woot! (The walk to my starting point was 500m, and the walk back was 900m)

Stretched out, and things seem to be fine.

Not quite sure if I like my new running shoes, I think my feet will have to get used to them.

WET AGAIN

2005-06-17T09:50:00.000-05:00

4x200: (100 Crawl, 50 Back, 50 Breast)
-------
800 m (about 20 minutes - forgot my watch)

I have been swimming for a while because I started TaeKwonDo lessons with my son in May. There's summer vacation now, so it's time for me to get back in the pool.

Great swim.

CRANK IT UP

2005-05-03T11:07:00.000-05:00

1x175: ( 75 Crawl, 50 Back, 50 Breast)
3x200: (100 Crawl, 50 Back, 50 Breast)
-------
775 m (17:19)

Started on the wrong side of the pool, thus the crazy distance. Remembered to bring my watch (Orange Baby-G) for a change, so I could actually time it. Lessons went well for my son, and I got some complimentary tickets to the swimming pool's 'Relax Department' from a friend who works there.