A beautiful day for a swim

I had an optional 40 minute ride on the schedule this morning. I opted against it because the wildfire that started burning yesterday just down the road was still making the air smoky. I didn't think it would be good to get out there. Yesterday I could see ash coming down and the smoke was really thick. The fire is not too far from here. Highway 98 between Fairfield and Blue Angel was closed for a while yesterday because of the smoke. Anyway, I thought it would be best to not be out any more than I had to.

I had a swim lesson this morning. It was great! First we did a race recap. John loves to hear race reports. I told him that I really enjoyed the triathlon and all the volunteers and told him pretty much everything. He says I should tell everyone about my experience in the hopes that it will spark interest in people. You know, spread the love! After that we got in the pool and swam. He videotaped me with his camera and pointed out a few things that I was doing wrong. Among other things, I have to concentrate on bring my elbow up and lead with that and let my hand dangle, rather than lead with my hand. Do we did a few drills to practice that.

Then we decided to head out. While I was in the pool, a bunch of kids came in and started goofing off. I was a little irked because that kind of stuff belongs outside, not in the lap pool. Anyway. John challenged a few kids to a race across the pool. A few accepted his challenge. He started out doing the backstroke and going slower than I knew he could do and then took off at the end and smoked them. One of the kids wasn't even halfway across. John said that he tried to make it interesting. I think he should have blown them out of the water.

Next we went to the sound to swim the course again. The sound was nice and flat and glassy. Just the way I like it. So we recapped the drills in the pool and I need to concentrate on "being long". He hit the watch and off we went. He gave me a quit tip on how to exit the water a little quicker and my time was 7:55. Awesome! Let's see if I can keep that up for next month's tri. He pointed out that I took the long way around the boom and that I should stay closer to it and that will not only shave some time off, but it will save me from having to swim more than necessary.

All in all, another great lesson!