Tuesday morning was a 4:45 am wake up for a Team Rogue Run. I really like my coach. John Schrupp is very attentive to his athletes. He is aware of everybody's needs and injuries which I think is very important. I am coming off an injury and am coming back to running very tentatively. I do not want to get hurt again. I hate being injured! I had the absolute pleasure of running with my friend and former coach Amy Andersen that morning. Our workout was supposed to be a 60 minute run with 10X50 meter hill sprint repeats. Amy and I only did the 60 minute run and I am so glad I did. I got to catch up with my friend who I have not spoken to in quite a while.
Later on in the day I got in a nice swim at UT. It was a mile total in distance with a 400 m warm up. 800 m of kick and pull drills followed by a 400 m cool down. I love swimming at UT and one big reason is that if I get a good swim in it keeps me awake for my last class of the day.
Wednesday I was planning on visiting my friends who just welcomed a little baby girl into the world. The father is also my swim coach/massage therapist. We worked out a trade where he would do a little body work and kinesio taping if I helped install a pull up bar. Score. He told me the tape would wear off if I swam so I should get in a workout hard enough to necessitate a few recovery days afterwords. That wasn't a problem. I was already at school and looking for a break so I headed over to the UT pool.
I got in a did a 400 m warm up followed by alternating 25 m sprints and recoveries for a total of 200 m. About halfway through the sprints is when the jaw dropping part of this entry takes place. I am not the slowest swimmer in the pool but neither am I the fastest. I am comfortably in the middle and getting stronger with every swim. I was resting near the lane ropes when I hear a conversation between the guy in the lane next to me and a girl who is getting ready to jump his lane. I look up and at first notice that she is definitely an athlete. Then I notice that on her swim cap is her name under an American flag. Lastly I see a little tattoo of Olympic rings on her hip before she dives into the water and proceeds to blow us all away. It may sound cliche but her stroke looked so effortless and she was just screaming down the lane back and forth. I was awestruck. There are always faster swimmers than me in the pool but this was different. This was a level of technique and speed that you usually only get to see on TV. Actually she competed in Beijing in 2008. Her name is Kathleen Heresy and she was awesome. You don't tattoo Olympic rings on your body unless they are well...real. Hers were real. It's not everyday you get to swim next to an Olympian.
Total recovery day for me today and then a run and hopefully a ride tomorrow.
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