Swimming Time and Boredom?

Back in the pool - another 4,000 yard "IronMan" swim today. I believe this is my fourth time completing this distance - I completed the 80 laps in 1:25:12.5 - just a little slower than my last outing back in March (1:24:22). Wow, has it really been almost six months that I've last done this swim distance? Here are my 500 yd splits:

• 1st 500 yds: 10:40
• 2nd 500 yds: 10:39
• 3rd 500 yds: 10:19.5
• 4th 500 yds: 10:41.5 (42:20 for the 2,000 yards)
• Water/AccelGel break: 0:34
• 5th 500 yds: 10:32
• 6th 500 yds: 10:35
• 7th 500 yds: 10:39
• 8th 500 yds: 10:32.5

I'm happy that the pace stayed pretty consistent through the entire swim. And the 42:20 time for the Half-IronMan swim is respectable in its own right.

My friends often ask me "Isn't it boring to just do laps in a pool for over an hour?" and when I think about it I can hardly believe that I can truthfully answer "No, it's actually quite relaxing."

There definitely are some days when the long swim is tough to do, but it is more because of tiredness (from lack of sleep or overtraining) rather than boredom. Once I get into a groove, I'm literally lost in thought - using the time to figure out a recent problem, mentally organizing my schedule and to-do list, or psyching myself up for the next race. (Don says he uses the time to figure out [computer/web/mobile application] code - if all my technical knowledge hadn't been lost to "managementality", I'd probably be doing the same.)

It's the same as running without an MP3 player. Note: I am not one of those anti-iPod Nazi's. When I was in college, I didn't run with an iPod because I usually ran with other people and headphones didn't allow for conversation. Now, since I can't run with headphones during a triathlon I don't think it would be wise to train with one. And I've really grown to like it. Even when I'm running alone, I enjoy looking at the scenery and the rhythm of my stride. Maybe I'm weird, but I think if I was listening to music, it would just "numb" that experience.