Friday, April 06, 2007

Two and Under

"Two and Under" is a phrase many parents like to hear. Especially when it is followed by the even better phrase "eat (stay/ride/play/etc) free." Any parent can tell you that paying anything for a toddler to eat is pretty much liking throwing money on the roullette table. A pure gamble. Perhaps you get your money's worth, perhaps you lose big.

Today, I experienced another wonderful "two and under." Only this time, it came in the pool during a time trial. Part of Coach Mike's program is regular time trials to gauge performance and improvement. This is the third or fourth time trial I've completed, and each has held big suprises.

Today's was huge, in Iron Pol terms. For the first time, I averaged under 2 minutes per 100 yards. I completed a total of 1075 yards in 21 minutes, 20 seconds. In addition to breaking 2 minutes average, I managed to keep every 4-lap set under 2 minutes (our pool is 24.4 yards). In the past, early lengths have been a bit under 2 minutes and later lengths fell well over that pace. Today, there was only 6 seconds between the fastest and slowest 100 yard sets.

Now some might look at that pace and know it is, by comparison, pokey. At the same time, they would acknowledge the HUGE improvements from just a few short months ago. While I am a long way from keeping up with many of them because of their dolphin like movement through the water, I am pleased with my progress. It turns out that "Under Two" is, in fact, possible in the pool.

For those of you out there struggling with the swim, I invite you to look at my prior posts about swimming. You will quickly learn that swimming is truly my weak discipline. You will also note that things like "2m 30s/100 yards" and "will never swim under 2m/100 yards" were common threads. As with every discipline, training and experience have paid huge dividends. The simple act of putting the yardage in has led to these improvements. No former US Olympic coach in the pool with me. No hours plodding through drills. Just swimming the sets assigned by my coach. Who, by the way, has posted his own comments about improving your swim.

Under Two. Who'd have thought it possible?

11 comments:

a.maria said...

HHHAAAAAaaaaaa... i didn't know what "two and under" meant until i was half way through the second paragraph.

wow. i'm so not channeling the mom in me lately.

and that is NOT a bad thing!

Bigun said...

great job, there, flipper! you'll be 150 and under in no time.

Papa Tweet said...

Great job Pol. This truly is a story of work, and you will succeed. You have put in the time and the energy, now you are seeing the results. That is one thing that I love about triathlon. A finish, or a certain time is not something that you can buy or be given. It is something that you, and only you, have to earn. In this case, you have earned the results. Nice job Pol, very nice job. You are morphing into an Ironman as we speak.

Spokane Al said...

Congratulations. I am right there with you although I am not at the two and under level just yet. But with practice, hope springs eternal.

Dances with Corgis said...

Yay, Pol! Glad to hear you had a break through. And I know all about the "two and under" for toddlers just from babysitting my nieces and nephews... although I guess it's nice being able to give them back at the end of the day! :)

Anonymous said...

congratulations! DEFINITELY a new benchmark...

Robyn said...

Congratulations! While Rachel has been "under two" for years, Robyn just got there this week! Had to check the watch several times, thinking it must be a mistake. Hooray that it wasn't!

nancytoby said...

Well done on the swimming!! I only have ONE sub-minute 50-yard lap in my logbooks. I'm impressed!

Di said...

2 and under cingrats! does that mean you get to swim for free now? LOL

Anonymous said...

Rock on Iron Pol! Nice work. So..looks like we need to establish new goals for you? 1:55 by May 30, and 1:50 by June 30, and 1:45 by race day? ;-)

Mike Ricck

Comm's said...

I have seen my times go down and up and up and up and sometimes down. Good for you and heres to them staying at two and under.