The Subtle Wear-Out From Swimming

I've had 2 really great swims this week. One was a nice open water swim (OWS) and the other was a fairly fast-paced swim in my sister-in-law's pool.

Because I hadn't done much swimming the week before, I was really looking forward to a hot Saturday and Sunday this weekend. (I get cold so easily.) So, with excitement, Gary and I went out to the lake.

A little background: I had gone to bed at 11:30 p.m. last night and slept in until 9:30 a.m., getting an extra hour, hour-and-a-half of sleep. I was still tired by the time the evening rolled around, but I was so excited about the opportunity to get in an OWS that I convinced myself that I wasn't as tired as I thought I was.

Mistake.

Right into my swim, I knew I should have listened to my body. I was really thirsty right into it and very tired a couple minutes later. Usually after a couple of minutes warming up, I'm ready to find my groove. Today, I couldn't have cared less about finding my groove or anything close to it. I wanted to find my way to shore.

So, while I only swam 13 minutes, I did take away some lessons. I need to listen more carefully to my body. I'm so afraid of coming off to myself like I'm making excuses, but I can't let that pride detract from what my body is really telling me. I also learned that I need to better hydrate before training. It was definitely an interesting day.