A 10K swim . . . Yeah, I'm Interested

Doesn't a 10K swim sound AWESOME.

Last night at masters the idea of a 10K open water swim and a 10K pool swim were brought up to me.  A woman asked if I was interested in it.  

I answered "Yeah, I'm interested, let me know the dates and I'll see if it works with the Ironman training schedule"

Then I got in my car and here's the thought process I went through:

Ok, so how much time commitment are we talking about here, A 10K is a little over 6 miles.  Last year at Ironman I swam 2.4 miles in 1:17.  So I would think I could do 3 miles in about 1:45.  But then put in fueling, a  slower speed due to the longer distance, I would probably be able to do 3 miles in 2 hours.  OK, so then I will probably be swimming for at least 4 hours.   Ok, when can I do a 4 hours swim this summer that won't interfere with my bike/run schedule . . . . WAIT, 4+ HOURS OF SWIMMING  . . . Ok, so if you are going to do this you need to start building up your swimming distance also, so if your going to do that you will get bored.  So you should invest in a water proof MP3 Player.  Ok, great! Another thing to buy.  But really how cool will it be to have a water proof MP3 player.  The 10K is the perfect excuse to buy a new toy! Ok, I'm starving, what's for dinner . . . .   

Today reality set it:  I e-mailed coach to ask her if I could do it.  Here was the e-mail chain:  

                

                  From: Harper, Tory
                  Sent: Thursday, April 28, 2011 9:52 AM
                  To: 'Elizabeth Waterstraat'
                  Subject:

        Would you be ok with me doing a 10K swim?         

                  From: Elizabeth Waterstraat [mailto:XXXXX@yahoo.com]
                  Sent: Thursday, April 28, 2011 10:41 AM
                  To: Harper, Tory
                  Subject: Re:

                  No!

Wow, this what not the response I expected.  I thought for sure she would say yes.  I thought about e-mailing her and asking her why, but then I realized that her short response said more than enough.  The fact that she could so easily say no means that the distance is to long, that it will take to long to recover from and that their isn't room in the schedule to add more volume to get me prepared for that kind of distance.  If it had been anything close to a good idea she would have responded with something like "You can do it but you will need to make sure you recover hard after ward" or "You could do it, but I don't suggest it. It will really interfere with the training and you need to make sure you are ok with that". But she didn't say that, she made it clear with her simple, one work answer, "NO".  

In hindsight I think about 4 hours of swimming and it does actually sound pretty hard.  Swimming burns a ridiculous amount of energy.  In the middle of a college swimming season an athlete can eat something like 4,000-5,000 calories and not put on an ounce of weight.  I don't even know how I would fuel and stay hydrated for something like that.  

Sometimes the Iron mentality isn't so good.  The iron mentality is what I refer to as "nothing is to hard, it's all about getting in the right mental state to take on a solid training plan".  Becuase of this, when someone puts an idea in front of me, I rarely say no to it.  This also explains why I signed up for the American Triple T.  I just figure that I can work through the mental toughness and get it done.  

This story is another example of why I have and need a coach: to tell me no and keep me focused on the goal: Ironman.  

Maybe next year the 10K swim will be my goal.