Note: Don't get kicked again

Lots of new stuff in the pool this morning. We began with the warm-up we did a few weeks ago, as open-water practice (diagonal swimming toward targets) and followed that with some mass-start sprint practice. About half the group (~15 swimmers), treading water in the deep-end, then sprinting 50m before turning around and cruising back nice and easy. I know I'm fast approaching the start of my triathlon career, but I can say I'm not a real fan of this practice. When floating bodies go from vertical to horizontal, they take up much more space. And so, sometimes your head ends up directly above someone's feet. I'm happy to report I didn't start to bleed. During the last one, I got to experience what it was like to be swam (swum? swimmed?) over. A few strokes in, I take an elbow to the ribs. Next stroke, it's an elbow to the shoulder. One more, and it's the side of my head, and my goggles are dislodged. Rule for races: goggles UNDER swim cap.

Then we practiced drafting, in a paceline manner, which was fun, but a bit too easy when I wasn't pulling. Even a moderate stroke had me right on top of the person in front of me. After this, we did sprint-thrus. A group of people would swim slowly. After a few seconds, the second wave sprinted after them, and shot through the gaps to make a pass. Rabbit/sprinter was traded after each length.

The last part of the workout was more timed 100's. Our test workout, planned for Monday, has been pushed back to Friday, so we did a few today. Even after all the sprinting, I knocked out a couple of very good times. So good, in fact, that I beat everyone in my lane by at least 20 seconds, and would have been mid-pack among the next lane. Things are improving. I need to work on my pacing though. The last 25m are not as fast as the first 25. I'm not sure if "gun it and hang on" is the best strategy, but it's what works right now.

Swim: w/u - 500m open-water practice
4x50 mass start sprint/50 ez free (no ez after last sprint)
200 ez non-free
500 drafting free
500 drafting pull
6x50 sprint thru
200 ez non-free
2x100 free timed (1:37,1:41)
Total: 2750m

After work, I promise I'll do this ...
Run: 3 miles @ 7.2 mph