Yesterday I attempted a 12,000 meter swim. I say attempted not because I failed, but because I ran out of time.

The school’s pool is open some Saturdays for “Family Splash.” Normally it is a time of kids and parents all over the place, splashing around having fun. It was nice and sunny yesterday, so there weren’t as many kids or families as usual, which worked out great for me, except for the fact that I missed out on a sunny day. (I’m writing this on Sunday, where I can report that it is again sunny and beautiful. I see a nice long bike ride in my future!)

A few weeks back I did a nice 10,000 yard workout, based on Evan Morisson’s awe-inspiring 25,000 meter workout. My 10,000 version is simply his cut down to 40%

400
4×100
400
2×200
600
2×300
600
3×200
800
4×200
800
2×400
600
2×300
400
2×200
400
4×100

The embassy pool is super-short yards; I did the above workout in 3:07. I wanted to add an hour to that workout, but knew I couldn’t do 13,000 meters in 4 hours. 10,000 yards is 9144 meters. 10km would have taken me around 3:30.

So I added 2000 meters to the above for the swim at the school pool, which is SCM. I thought if I started immediately when they open at 13.00, then I’d be done when they close at 17.00.

I got to the pool early, started chatting up the coach and mentioned my big workout today. “What? Are you serious?” Yes, I responded, asking if I could go claim a lane even though it was 10 minutes till Family Splash started. “Go get started. The lifeguards are here.”

So I got to start at 12.53. (I had to explain to two lifeguards who came up to me that yes, the coach said I could start already.) So I began this:

400
4×100
400
2×200
600
2×300
600
3×200
800
4×200
1000
2×500
800
2×400
600
2×300
400
2×200
400
4×100

The first hour went great, and I was just finishing 3100m when hour two started. Then I began to slow down. I wasn’t hurting anywhere, I just got tired. I hit around 5800m at hour two. At that rate, I might not make this.

The 1000 felt really good. You know how sometimes you feel like you could swim forever? Like you are still breathing in after your face returns under water, like your lungs are still filing with air? That thousand felt like that. It went by really quickly. The 2×500 after that actually felt fast. Those three sets got me through hour three.

But boy oh boy, that 800 after that sure was tough. I was extremely tired. Didn’t want to quit or anything like that. But my arms were so heavy, I couldn’t wait for hour four to be done.

The 600 felt great. I got a second wind. Felt strong and clean through my pull. Wow, I could swim forever. But that wind only lasted through the 600. The 2 x 300 took forever.

Then a third wind through the 400 and 2×200. Even the next 400 felt great, but it was getting closer and closer to 17.00. I ended up having to cut the last 400 to a 300, but it was a nice, strong 300, even with some sprinty-like lengths. I stopped at 16.58, total time of 4:05 for 11,500 meters.

Even though I didn’t succeed with the 12km I set out to do, I feel like it was a successful swim. Two long swims 23 days apart. I have a 10K swim up near St Petersburg in 36 days. And 20 Bridges in 71 days. Might have to squeeze another 4 hour swim in there somewhere. Hmmm…