Blog

Los Angeles

We got into Los Angeles yesterday morning. We got up at 4:15 AM to catch our 6:45 flight out of JFK. We never get to sleep at a “reasonable” hour the night before we travel – Wednesday, we finally went to sleep a little after 1 AM. Three hours of sleep, sweet way to start our vacation. Elizabeth had a couple work meetings and we spent most of the first part of the day running around town. I was scheduled to try doing an easy 30 minute run, but my hip was bothering me a bit and I had some work to get done, so decided to skip the run and give myself another couple days off it.

Last night, Seth had a fundraiser for Harmony Through Education, the non-profit that he set up after coming back from India last Fall. The organization’s goals revolve around helping mentally and physically challenged kids in India. Their first project is establishing a special school for kids in Dharmsala, where Seth spent most of his time when he was in India. Elizabeth’s parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles all came, along with a bunch of the Shaffer’s family friends and some of Elizabeth’s friends. Seth gave a great speech about what the organization is doing. After the event, we went out for a few minutes with some friends, but by 10, we were both about the collapse and came back to the hotel and passed right out.

Today I popped up at 7:15, got ready and drove to the Hollywood 24 Hour Fitness. That’s the closest lap pool to the hotel and a friend of Elizabeth’s who works in their corporate office was kind enough to provide us with some comp passes. I had called ahead and was told the pool was 25 yards (actually, when I asked if the pool was 25 yards, she checked, came back and said “Yes, 25 yards, Olympic-size”) and that it was four lanes wide. I got to the pool and was happily surprised to find that the pool was outside and that it did, in fact, look like it was 25 yards. It was also empty. The air was a little chilly this morning, but the pool was nice and warm and parts of it were getting sun.

I did my warm-up, some kicks and drills and started in on the main set, 5×500 at a “moderate” pace. I was feeling good and swimming pretty strong and my hip wasn’t really bothering me. I could feel a little twinge in some kicks, but it wasn’t painful and nothing like how it felt during my swim on Wednesday morning. During the first 500, I was counting strokes like I normally do and noticed that most lengths were taking me 21 or 22 strokes, which was a bit strange because normally I’m consistently in the 18-19 strokes per length range. I thought that maybe I was tight or sore and just needed to extend the stretch a bit more. But when I looked at my watch after I finished the first 500, I was shocked to see the time – 9:10, which was 30-60 seconds slower than I expected. It was then that I figured out that the pool must be 25 meters, instead of 25 yards. This explained both my stroke count and the difference in time. I thought about trying to convert the rest of my sets to yards, but decided that that was more trouble than it was worth and just decided to do a longer swim. In the end, I did about 3,700 meters, which I have since figured out converts to just about 4,050 yards – my longest swim yet (by about 400 yards) and the equivalent of around 2.3 miles, just short of the Ironman swim.

After my swim, Loren picked me up at the hotel and we drove down to Santa Ana to meet my parents, Aaron and my grandparents for lunch. It was great to see them all and a nice surprise to see my brother, who I hadn’t expected to make the trip. Then Loren, Mom, Dad and I went to a Magritte exhibit at LACMA. Tonight, I think we’re just going to take it easy.

Swim – March 2
Distance: 4,050 yards (3,700 meters)
Time: 1:30