Nope, no fancy gizmo for me. I'm a Luddite compared to the lot of you with your i-pods and Garmins and... other stuff. I have a heart rate monitor & watch. Period. So how do I ever manage to count my laps?
I tell organized stories. Mini life histories. For example, a 600 consists of every teacher I had grade 1-12. For the first 25 of each lap, I think of the teacher. I say his/her name at the flip turn and then think of my classmates/academics/important events of that grade level for the last part of that 50 yards. Next 50 = I've been promoted a grade. Yep, totally geeky. But I rarely leave the pool wondering if my time for the 600 can be trusted.
A 500 is my whole family - from Dad to Baby Bro. Man, do they have a lot to say! And I'm a captive audience to each of them for one whole 50...
- Dad tells me to take it easy. (Why am I doing triathlon again??) I interpret that to mean he wants me to have a very relaxed, rolling recovery.
- Mom tells me to be tough. I hear Mom a lot toward the ends of my workouts. She's also the second lap of timed 100s. I hear her saying, "GO!" (BTW, hubby is the first lap of the 100 - even he's not quite as tough as Mom.)
- Eldest Brother makes Popeye faces at me. Yep, he's reminiscing about our childhood, but he's also prompting me to breath as Popeye speaks - out of the corner of my mouth. To minimize how much of my mouth has to come out of the water to draw breath. Eldest Brother has an ulterior motive; he can only complete the swim portion of our annual family triathlon if he has a noodle - and he doesn't want to have to share that noodle with anyone.
- Second Son Brother cheers me on and tells me I rock. He's just proud I'm in the water. In this lap I remember why I'm a triathlete. For the plain old joy of moving smoothly.
- Strong Sister reminds me that we are runners - and I'd better be kicking like I mean it. Consistent, tight little kicks are what she demands.
- Sweet Sister reminds me to stretch, R-E-A-C-H and maximize all the height I have on her.
- I tell myself to put it all together. Be the Backhoe!
- Little Brother tells me to watch my back. Next year he's finding a "good" triathlete to challenge me at the family tri. I spit back at him to get off his ass and challenge me himself. (I really ought to time just this lap - my adrenaline is surging even as I type this!)
- Little Sis would really like to help me out with some swimming tips but have I heard what happened to her??? OMG, you are never going to believe it...!
- Baby Bro reminds me to position my head correctly and press my chest into the water. Use that natural "buoyancy" that runs in our family to advantage.
11 comments:
ingenious! i've been struggling with counting lately. I can count 50s okay....1 1 1 1 1 1 all the way up 1 1 1 1 1 back down 2 2 2 2 2 all the way up 2 2 2 2 2 back down. but when i do 100s, i forget sometimes where I am in the 100 (was that the first 50 or the second 50?). I need something clever like what you do!!
Cool way to break it up too! Then it doesn't look insurmountable. My only thoughts are: "Dont drown dont drown dont drown" Glub.
So you ready for spring yet TT?
Great way to count laps. My pool is 20 yards so for each 100 I'm at the opposite end of the pool. I use my watch and take splits at the 100's. Sometimes my split reminds me that I have gone 100.
Wow... that is a lot to think about. Not sure I could stay focused.
Okay Mrs. speedy. Since I'm not nearly as fast, I count "1 Missippi" or "1 can of beer on the wall" works good also to count my laps.
The funny things is I'm looking to get a lap counter. I need my gizmos.. I try not to think about my brother when I swim, because he drives me crazy.
That's a clever way to keep track of the laps. I just use a lap counter. That's about as advanced as I get. No heart rate monitor, no garmin, and I hardly ever wear a watch.
I'm investing in my first gear to count laps. http://www.swimtowin.com/cart.php?target=product&product_id=1586&category_id=178
I used to be able to keep track, I think pregnancy has sucked out all of my brain capacity and I can no longer keep count past about a 200 yards.
jbmmmommy I have one of those counters and they totally rock. Since I suffer from adult ADD :) I can't keep track of laps at all. I could never do what you do Triteacher, I would get so caught up in my family I'd definitely lose count of the laps. For awhile I was doing the alphabet, every word I could think of that began with a, then b, then c, yeah, I got confused. The lap counter works for me as long as I remember to push the button :)
I only count laps for short sets. For long sets I estimate 2:00 per 100 and figure my total time. If I'm doing 500 yards, that's 10:00. I know I swim faster than that, so I get as close to 10:00 as I can without going over, finishing on the same side of the pool of course.
Very cool. I've never struggled with counting but on a day when I do I may try a similar technique!
And I thought it was odd that I tried to do trigonometry while swimming.
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