What fresh hell is this?

I like my swim coaches, I really do. They're good people, but sometimes they're downright cruel. Today was one of those days.

Our assistant coach was running the show again, and she comes from a competitive swimming background, and the workouts reflect that. She has stuff in her arsenal that I hear about from swimmers, but triathletes don't normally do these types of workouts. Hopefully, this will make us faster than those triathletes who miss out on the "fun".

After some warm-up and drills, we did a couple of 50 yard sprints. Although I'm trying not to work too hard, I gave a solid effort on the sprints, but immediately regretted that decision. The main set of workout was sets of 100, using the combined time from the two sprints (let's call it A). The first four 100s were leaving on A+25 seconds, the next four A+20, the last four A+15. Let me say that this was not a good chance for me to work on my easy pacing. This was hard work, with only about 5 seconds rest after each 100 (but 60 seconds after each 4x100). By the last time through, I was struggling, so at least I'm practicing the "don't let it get this bad" feeling.

Swim: w/u - 200yd free, 4x25 drills (2xhead-up, finger drag)
4x50, 20" as sprint/moderate/sprint/moderate (sum sprint times as A=~85 seconds)
4x100 free on A+25
4x100 free on A+20
4x100 free on A+15
100 ez non-free
7x50 pull, 15" alternate 3 strokes/breath, 5 strokes/breath
2x50 ez free, reduce stroke count (45, 40 strokes)
Total: 2250yd

Oddly, I'm getting kind of excited about the Muskoka Chase now. Three days ago I was considering pulling out of the race and doing the duathlon instead. Now, I want to go in and dominate the swim. Not against other people, they'll beat me. But I want to swim the best I can, and prove that I can do this. I want to prove to myself I can control what happens to me in the water. I will own my race, and that will get me further to being a part of the actual race.