In Drag

A drag suit, that is.  We are now in week 16 of Ironman training, and it’s a recovery week, which also means, for us, testing of mile markers.  On the plate this week were a timed mile swim and hour bike ride.

The interesting twist on the swim mile marker was that we were to wear our drag suits (a/k/a loose swim suit over a women’s suit, or board shorts, intended to add drag in the water, and make the swim more challenging) for the first half mile, then quickly strip it off, while in the water, and continue the second half mile without the drag suit.  The coaches also decided that we would be snaking back and forth throughout the pool lanes, for a total of 72 laps.  When trying to conceptualize what they expected of us before we started, I was convinced it would be a disaster.  However, the coaches clearly have more experience with this sort of thing than I do.  

Our start was very similar to the NYRR Sprint start – every 10 seconds there is a take off- though at our timed mile groups of 3 or 4 took off at once.  I was in the second group.  For most of the first ½ mile I was right on one of my team mate’s feet, tapping him way too many times, but not going quite fast enough to pass him before hitting the wall and going under the lane marker.  The swimming, even with the drag suit, was going well.  Pretty soon, it was time to take off the drag suits, find out how I was doing, and catch the boy whose feet I’d been on (the coaches joked with me that maybe instead of talking with them, I should try to catch him – challenge on!).  That happened within one lane, and he politely let me pass him for the second half mile.  

And that second half mile flew by!  Without the drag suit holding me back, I felt like a dolphin shooting through the water.  At that point we had merged with quite a few of the people who were still in drag, and had to figure out how to navigate lanes with slower bodies  headed to the opposite end of the pool, while still being respectful of their processes.  Before I knew it, the mile was over.  JP had timed me at 32:20.  Since I didn’t check my send-off, I was happy to accept his time.  Entering it into the spreadsheet, I noted that my average time per 100 remained the same – 1:47, even with the addition of the drag suit for half my swim.  I wish I had caught my half mile and final splits, so that I could know how much slower the drag suit made me.  Oh well.

Then today I was scheduled to do my first bike timed hour – warm up for 20 minutes, then ride at hardest sustainable pace for an hour (at correct rpm’s), preferably on a course that has loops.  Um, hello Central Park.  I love riding in Central Park, and my usual timeslot of 8:00AM or so is pretty nice, if you can discount that super-aggro downtown bound cars, and the runners in the bike lane.  Oh, and the lights that you have to stop for.  Actually, the lights aren’t too big a deal unless you’re doing a time trial.  Fortunately, I’m not one to get my panties into too much of a twist over having to stop at a few lights, even if it means that my time is an itty bit slower than it would have been otherwise.  

While I initially planned on skipping Harlem Hill on my loops, I decided to buck up and do it properly.  All told, I managed to fit 18.1 miles in to that hour, almost three whole CP loops, into that hour.  Comparing times to last year, it was nice to see that I wasn’t pulling those numbers until late June – when I was nearing the peak of my fitness.

It’s nice to see that I’m slowly clicking along, and making the progress I need to make.  I think I’ll reward myself by signing up for a trapeze class!