Lately there have been a couple of old guys showing up at the pool in the mornings... (I'm sure they will laugh if they happen to be reading this that I am calling them old- to us they are old. Like 50ish I'm guessing? They think Nalani and I are puppies... Lol.) Anyway, both these guys are ex-collegiate swimmers who happen to be rather out of shape at the moment, but even when ex-collegiate swimmers are out of shape, they are still faster than everyone else around them.
They have been sort of making fun of Nalani and me for working so hard in the pool and doing such 'long' workouts. Which is funny, because we haven't hardly gone over 3000M lately- but these guys just swim like 2000M easy and then get out and call it a day. Anyway, they are hysterical guys who have a great sense of humor and are fun to joke around with.
So this morning they ask about our set... What are we doing? They want to know... I tell them they wouldn't be able to handle it. Ha! Try us, they say...
So I tell 'em the set (a bunch of 100's, some moderate, some very hard, none easy) and we get started. Mark is immediately asking for more rest on what I consider to be quite a roomy interval already. Ha! No rest for the weary, Mark. 5 seconds. Let's GO! They are crushing Nalani and me to the wall every time but they are panting like I've never heard swimmers pant...
Half way through the set Brett busts out, "I haven't done a set this hard in 10 years!" Ha! I laugh. Nalani and I worked this hard last Friday. I start watching the piano fall on Brett's back and mark him as my target for the second half of the set. I pull up next to Brett and start feeling solid as I'm finally warmed up and ready to go hard. The four of us are swimming side by side in the middle of a long course pool with no lane lines and are creating a tsumani that runs all the little old ladies out of the water.
Last one fast one... all out sprint! Here we go... I think I'm gonna crush Brett on this one because he's just been getting slower and slower as the set progresses... but suddenly his ex-collegiate swimming genes come out of hiding and the guy is flying through the water. Seriously. He must have put 10 seconds on me in the last 100. I couldn't even get a draft he was so far ahead! Where did that come from??? Years and years of crazy hard collegiate training- that's where that came from. This guy is a complete bad ass. It also tells you a little something about the role our brains play in causing fatigue way before it is actually physically necessary for us to slow down.
At the end of the set Brett scolded the lifeguard for not guarding his life... he said the lifeguard should not let him do sh*t like that. Lol.
So we had an absolute blast this morning swimming with those guys. They made us laugh. They lightened up the workout. They made us raise the bar for ourselves. And they are coming back on Wednesday for more. :) Funny how I don't mind these guys swimming with us... not even for a second... maybe because they are just funny swimmers (not dorky triathletes, right, Angela? Ha!) and because they actually make our workout better by joining in. And I think it's good for Nalani to have people to push her in the water because I cannot do that anymore- she is so fast... We are both stoked about our new training partners. :)
7 comments:
Yikes!!!!! You guys are amazing. It's funny about older people though. During this past winter (and my hiatus from running in general) I was a regular on the elliptical. I would be giving myself a little pat on the back for keeping up what I thought was a good constant pace, and then I look over and there's a guy in his 60's going faster than me and not looking nearly as tired! It's the same at races. The 'olds' (as my parents refer to their age group) are kicking butt! :) and inspiring ours at the same time.
That's awesome. I bet they took the whole day off work to recover though. You? You went home to be super mom and go about your day. :o)
What fun! And watch it with the "old" being 50! Hubby is almost there.
It's nice when you meet cool funny people while training. Doesn't happen much here, but when it does, it's great.
I am just laughing, because 85% of Team Roll is the 50+ crowd and those bikers are freaking fast and stronger. They moan and groan about their aching joints, but they can ride us younger bucks under the table.
Fun... I know what a difference it makes to swim with people. I love my masters group and am consistently humbled by the young bucks and older folks who kick my butt on a daily basis. Glad you had some fun!
That sounds only like a blast right when you're finished with the workout! Nice hard work! I love getting those in!
Those guys sounds great - I wish they'd been in Memphis! Okay question, there are no lines on the bottom of the pool or just no lanes? I'd kill myself.
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