A cunning plan

Woke to proper Easter Bank holiday weather, grey skies and pouring with rain, so after a light breakfast figured I will be first in the pool to resume Swimathon training. No one else is going to be daft enough to venture out at 9:00 am in weather like this. Unfortunately when I arrive at the pool it opened at eight and there are quite a few people in there, including an aqua aerobics class which is using up 3 of the 8 lanes. Nevertheless find some space in the lane next to the bouncy ladies and run through my breathing meditation for a couple of minutes before starting my distance freestyle swim. Last Friday completed 1,000m in 2 x 500m repeats with a break for water between them, so today intend to swim a straight 1200m front crawl, (48 lengths).
Push off and adopt alternate 3 stroke breathing, but find myself going quite quickly, my body has obviously enjoyed its Easter holiday. After 8 lengths start to feel a little short of breath and so either have to slow down or get more air. Opt for the latter, and switch to breathing on my right side every second stroke. There is a penalty for the extra air, and that's a decrease in streamlining and efficiency, my stroke count per length goes up from 13 to 15. Still feel good though, and find that it's taking me 70 seconds to swim two lengths, the second sweep clock on the pool wall is visible as I breathe after coming out of the tumble turn at the far end of the pool, so able to monitor how long it takes. The significance of this is that if it were possible to maintain this, the 2.5k challenge, (100 lengths), could be swum within one hour. To put this in its proper context, Olympic 1500m swimmers are completing 50m, 2 lengths, in 30 seconds, more than twice as fast.
Unfortunately whilst thinking about this lose track of how many lengths have already been swum, but remember that it was exactly 9:13 when pushing off and calculate that if I allow 72 seconds per 50m, or 36 seconds per length, a 36 minute swim will give me 50 lengths.
Still swimming well, and maintaining a 35/36 second per length pace, settle down to it, and the lengths drift by as my focus is on rhythm, breathing and stroke count. When the clock says 9:49, finish the length and find 3 other people in the double lane with me and that the aerobic ladies have left and a life saving class is about to start. With so many people in the lane, and more arriving, we agree to swim in a clockwise rotation up one lane and down the other. So, after a long drink, push off to finish the eighty lengths planned, by swimming an easy 30 lengths backstroke. This will also loosen my shoulders after the long crawl swim. After ten lengths the life saving class starts and they need an extra lane, so our double lane becomes a single lane, and there are now eight of us sharing it. Backstroke is no longer sensible, so switch back to front crawl and just keep pace with the other swimmers, who all seem to be under thirty. Finish my swim and climb out of the lane to find the pool as busy as I have ever seen it, well over 50 swimmers in the 4 lanes not used by the lifesavers. As I get changed lots of families with young children arrive, the pool is the only place open on a wet Bank Holiday Monday. So much for my "cunning plan". Nevertheless it was a satisfying swim, as my body found an extra gear.
It isn't until I'm enjoying a drinking chocolate and a toasted hot cross bun in the cafe, that I realise that 36 seconds divided into 36 minutes equals 60. I have swum 60 lengths front crawl continuously, (1500m). Sixty per cent of the swim on the 28th of April, leaving me feeling rather pleased. Tomorrow is a running day and the forecast remains wet!