Swimming in it...

Here's one for all the comeback triathletes.

I haven't trained seriously for a race since 2002 when I competed in Ironman Florida. The last eight years have been workouts for fun and maintenance, mostly social or to escape from work pressures and get out to enjoy the weather when Chicago allows.

Given that the Lake Zurich Triathlon is July 11, I've begun training, but in a smarter fashion than in the good old days when I got by on sweat and testosterone. Step 1: I went to LifeTime Fitness for a cardiopoint assessment. The results are not alarming, but slightly concerning.

My heart rate zones are only a few beats off the results predicted by the book "The Heart Rate Monitor Guide for Cyclists" by Sally Edwards and Sally Reed, but my VO2 max and recovery rates are dismal. That's what I get for 18 years of smoking. OK, I'm also eight years older and at 42, I'm encouraged. Also, I'm wondering what effects all this medicine have on my cardio abilities, if any.

So workout 1 was a swim on Tuesday, April 27 @ 4:25 am. There is a crowd of regulars at the pool between 4:30 and 5:30, all shapes, sizes and ages of swimmers, all of whom I admire for their tenacity, resilience and dedication to training. I've been there long enough now that I'm one of them and it feels quite natural. For me, living with bipolar disorder, socialization and interpersonal harmony are hard to come by, but this feels right, as swimming always has.

Swimming with a heart rate monitor forced me to realize why I'm always the slowest guy in the pool. Seriously, I haven't passed anybody in eight years, yet I call myself a triathlete. Regardless, I did two 5 lap warmups and realized that my average swim rate is at a heart rate of 122 BPM, below the Zone 1 threshold.

Swimming along, I daydreamed about the day I would finally pass someone and realized that it might take six months and lots of coaching, which gets really expensive. Nevertheless, It's a goal and will only happen if I stay at it. Then I saw my heart rate. Switching into zone 2 for several laps, then shifting up to zone 3 for one, I actually passed the person next to me.

Imagine that, what seemed like an expensive, long-term, day-dreaming goal, I achieved in less than ten minutes for free. To be honest, the person I passed was a 240 pound woman doing the backstroke, but it counts. So the day was a victory.

In addition to practicing smart, meeting a goal and beginning a routine, this day is memorable because it was the day I met Ms. J.