The first swim

I hit the pool at the YMCA last night instead of today because we are expecting strong storms in Houston all day today and tomorrow, and I knew the pool would more than likely be closed since it is outdoors. I swam a total of 500 meters (20 laps at 25 meters per lap) by alternating each lap between breast stroke and freestyle. I suppose I surprised myself because I never stopped, and instead of pushing off the wall each time, I merely turned around and went back the other direction each time. I figured by doing that I'm truly swimming the 500 meters and not getting the benefit of a push-off which obviously will not occur in an open water swim. I did not time myself because I would not have known how good or bad I did anyway. I figure I'll give it another week and then start timing myself once a week or so. After the swim, I went in and worked out on the machines, then rode the stationary bike hard for about a half-hour. I did finally figure out how to get my heartrate up, and I'm not sure why this makes a difference, but using the stationary bike where I have to sit straight up rather than the one where I am sitting down reclined makes a huge difference. On the straight up one, I can get my heartrate up to a bit over 140 after about 20 minutes of hard pedaling, but on the one where I recline, the same effort barely gets me above 110. I'm not sure why that is, but I won't be doing the reclining one any more.