Ouch.  Getting old is tough.  I’m actually really not that old… 30 to be exact.  But this has definitely been a challenge.

I used to be very active as a kid, but somewhere along the line (around 15 years old) I fell off that path.  And even though I’ve managed to remain relatively fit, my long, lost “fit”ness has definitely become something that I continue to seek.

This has been a week of ups and downs.  I started the week very strong.  I went from about 10 laps to 24 laps within one pool training session.  The next day I hit 9 straight laps without stopping (beating my personal record of 5 straight laps from the day before) and finished off with 30 laps!  Awesome! Right?  That’s a 200% increase in performance in 2 days.  I felt unstoppable and knew that I would ace the swim by June 27.

I then got tired.  Very tired.  The body is a strange thing.  I took one day off and went back to the gym, envisioning another record-breaking day.  Instead, I struggled to barely make 18 laps.  Wow, I was exhausted.  Nonetheless, I packed up and figured I was just having an off day.

I went back the next day.  I hit the pool first and barely made 9 laps!  What was happening.  Cmpletely exhausted from drowning in the pool, I gave up and did 6 miles on the stationary bike.  Another really tough day.

I figured that I needed more rest and took 2 days off from training.  I resumed tonight and had a better day in the pool, but it was a tremendous struggle - 27 laps in 25 minutes, lots of resting….

So how can I go from a 2 mile run and then 30 laps in the pool and still have energy left to just 9 laps in the pool?  I have no idea.  If anyone is reading this :-) and has any advice, please send it my way.  I’m definitely starting to lose a little bit of confidence.

T-minus 30 days and counting:

Thurs: 2 mile run-17 minutes; 24 laps-30 minutes

Fri: 30 laps-25 minutes

Sun: 18 laps-25 minutes

Mon: 9 laps-15 minutes; 6 mile bike:20 minutes

Getting old sucks.