Increasing the Mileage

    I made up a new game at the pool today, I named it "Pursuit."  It only works when there is someone else swimming laps, and preferably someone who is at least a tolerable swimmer. So in my case, this won't happen often, since I am usually the lone lap swimmer. Anyhoo, it goes like this: after 1000 yard warmup, I let the guy in the other lane get 25 yards ahead, then I have 200 yards to catch him. Then 100 yards each breast stroke and backstroke for recovery. Repeat 4 times. 500 yards to cool down. The point behind this was to swim a hard 200 yards, at about 90%, long strokes, good form, and pushing hard enough that the last few yards were tough. Okay, really the point was to have fun, take some of the tedium out of lap swimming and get in some High Intensity Interval Training. Also, as I have admitted before, it is really hard for me not to race the swimmer next to me. No matter who they are, or how fast/slow they swim, I want to race them. Slow swimmers I will see how quickly I can lap them. Decent swimmers (like today) I try to either pace them or outswim them. It is easier to gauge my progress if I have to try and catch them. Besides, then they don't know they are being raced. Funny thing today; I could catch the guy in about 190 yards, but once I was alongside him he would put on a little heat and not let me pass. This proves my point: we all race the swimmer in the lane next to us, at least on some level.
    I am increasing both the number of times a week I swim, as well as time and distance of my swims. My "regular" after work evening swims are now closer to 90 minutes, and have a weight lifting workout before and an aquatic leg workout after. I have added two "nooners" to the weekly rotation, Tuesday and Thursday. Shorter swims, 45-60 minutes, but with higher intensity and speed work. Swim coaches will tell you it is better to do 5 shorter swims a week than 2 or 3 long swims. I want to get my weekly mileage up, as well as daily miles. I have started tracking my mileage, actually writing it down. yeah, I usually have a decent idea of where I'm at, but I want to have it literally in writing.
    I have my Eyes on The Prize: The Portland Bridge Swim. And need to train accordingly. If I can manage to add just a modicum of excitement to the endless miles, that is a total Win for me. Playing "Pursuit" is just the tip of the iceberg, time to start getting creative