dhampyresa

In France we do "poisson(s) d'avril" -- "April fish(es)". So I went swimming.

The other day, I'd looked at the Fédération Française de Triathlon table of triathlon distances:

6 distances

Triathlon	Swimming	Cycling	Running
Distance XS	400 m	10 km	2.5 km
Distance S	750m	20 km	5 km
Distance M	1.5 km	40 km	10 km
Distance L	3 km	80 km	30 km
Distance XL	4 km	120 km	30 km
Distance XXL	3.8 km	180 km	42.195 km

Based on which, on average, 1km swim = 30 km cycling = 8km running. So the 1325m I swam today are like running 10.6km or cycling 39.75km. Neat.

I have to admit that while there is something saddening about having the same guy go past you multiple times in the same swimming session, there is something intensely satisfying about outlasting said guy. I swam 2,1km in 72 minutes. Longest swim in both time and distance since my injury!

That's a consistent speed of 1,750km/h. I checked my time at 1km, 1h and 2km on top of the total and they all match up equally. I used to have a speed of one knot -- one nautical mile (1,852km) an hour -- almost there again! It is pretty slow afaik but I'm going for endurance, not speed, so that's fine.

Honestly I mostly wrote this post to link to this interview of a North Korean defector who swam to South Korea (~6km in 3 or 4h, at night!)

And the question is: how many 25m pool lengths did I swim today? And, having swum those 1050m, I have swam more than the 16km that crossing the Strait of Gibraltar would take! And though the Strait of Gibraltar and its 16km/10 miles are the shortest, they are still part of Oceans Seven. open water swimming themed heist when

When I swim, I tend to recite the following song to myself:

Watch on YouTube

I watched Space Jam the other day. It's a really fun movie and I was very impressed by how good the animated characters in 3D land or the live-action actors in cartoon landscapes.

I watched it with A Basketball Expert TM, who explained to me some much needed context like "Yes, Michel Jordan really did quit basketball to play baseball after he won 3 championships and before he won another 3" or "that's Muggsy Bogues, the shortest NBA player ever, he's 1,60m" etc -- which lead us to the conclusion that Larry Bird is to the NBA as Eric Clapton is to the Rock'n'roll Hall of fame: Bird is the only person yo have been MVP, Coach of the Year and Executive of the Year while Clapton is the only one to be inducted thrice into the Rock Hall (as part of The Yardbirds, as part of Cream and as himself).

Also I kind of feel bad for Jordan the character post-movie because he literally broke the limits of the human body and now he can never go back. He knows that however many more championships he wins, he will never again play a game as important as this one, will never be That Good once more. I've always thought knowing that a given moment was your best was a terrible burden to bear -- once you know it's all downhill from there, what's the point?


Anyway. I tried a new pool today and there was no one there? Literally. I had a lane all to myself, the lanes never all had someone in them and I was at one point the only person in the pool. Which, wow, ok.

I haven't had a lane to myself in years so I have no turn technique left AT ALL. Even beyond that, I am less than a third as good as I once was, by any metric: could only manage 1100m (of which only 500m crawl), a speed of 1,3km/h, barely 20s of dynamic apnea. I also managed to aspirate some water because I missed a step and fell into the water. urgh i am a complete failboat.

On the other hand, I learned that the swimming part of an Olympic triathlon is only 1,5km (which surprised me as I used to easily do at least twice that). For an IronMan it's 3,8km (which I was pretty close too). For an Enduroman, it's 33,8km minimum because it's a fucking Channel crossing (because the Enduroman is absolute banana pants). I neither bike norvrun though so triathlons are neither here nor there, lol. I did find several open water races in my general area and I might be tempted by those once both the world and I are in better health.

Me, at the pool in the first time in forever: yay i can still breathe in properly when doing crawl
Me, an absolute dumbass: ...what do you mean breathe out?

(Swam 500m.)

Swimming: While I know rationally 1km is a nice swimming distance, it still emotionally/irrationally feels like frustratingly few lanes. Not helped by me getting the sun in my eyes here and ramming my bad shoulder into a wall while blinded. Finished the 1km on my back just using my legs.
Today: 1000m.
Past total: 51 000. Current total: 52 000 / 585 689.

"Marvel Studios' Captain Marvel - "Big Game" TV Spot" (Watch on YouTube)

PRETTY EXCITED I HAVE TO SAY

As for the Avengers Endgame short spot, I am pretty meh. Nebula and Tony DIYing in space is about the only thing that interests me so far.

Word to the wise: If you invite a goth to a party, maybe give more than 12h warning that the party is themed "pink". I have literally not owned anything pink since age 5, but pale purple was deemed acceptable, yay. Great party, though! Even if I did end up having a dream best described as "Lovecraftian necromancy arms race" after.


Went swimming. Twas nice, mostly. Won a chocolate.
Today: 800m.
Past total: 49 300. Current total: 50 100 / 585 689.


I also saw the newest Astérix movie (Le Secret de la potion magique) and it was awesome! Really funny and I loved all the new characters introduced and how the old were handled. Pectine is the best kind-of-druid and the cutest and she is so so smart, I love her. Really like the character designs, too. Also, Roman Voltron.

There was barely anyone at the pool today, which is only to be expected given the givens. It was lovely. I wanted to swim much more than I actually but alas, my shoulder is what it is and i'm taking my recovery slowly -- my plan is to add 100m every week, no more, no less.

There was someone doing what I can only describe as back butterfly. First of all: why. But also: HOW

Today: 600m.
Past total: 48 000. Current total: 48 600 / 585 689.

1. I find it very hard to look at the internet right now. Well. I say "the internet", but I mean "the news". The news being currently all over the internet there is a lot of scrolling and peeking through my fingers happening.

2. I'm trying to do a thing where I try to say 'yes' to more things. Which has recently lead me to find a street in Paris that goes from n°12 to n°22. That's it. Which is super useful when you're meeting people at n°5.

3. ( Swimming )
Today: 600m.
Past total: 46 350 / 585 689. Current total: 46 950 / 585 689.

I should go back to tracking my swimming. I've swam three times I can remember since my last tracking post.
Swimming: 550 + 650 + 500. Past total: 44 650 / 585 689. Current total: 46 350 / 585 689

I need to remuscle my shoulder, damn. But also not push myself for fear of making it worse. It hurts some right now, but not a whole lot.