There should be. It would make my life a lot easier.
So today we started the Wednesdays at the big pool. No more 60 minute sessions, we get the whole 90. No more 25 yard lengths, with lots of turns, it's back to 50m stretches. All this goes together to produce a very tired boy. Or it could be that I got moved up a lane (not a permanent move by any stretch, just for today). See, after warm-up and drills, we got into some long sets. The rest of my lane had raced on the weekend (or was pregnant) so they were going to be keeping the pace down. Coach asked me how I was feeling, "OK, I guess", so I was told, "Get on the feet of the last person in the next lane". And I did. And I survived a set of 4x500m descending, by drafting like I was in a team TT. Some of the others were using pull buoys, I swam the whole way. I tried not to be excessive about the drafting, and actually did the third set mostly on my own. But after that, I knew I'd have to draft to keep the pace for a faster set, since that almost blew me up. I was fighting in that last set, but tried to keep things from falling apart, even though I could barely get a decent breath for the last 200m.
All in all, good things came out of today's swim. My form was pretty much on for the whole morning. I proved I could hang (barely) in the next lane. I did 500m in 9:25-9:30 without a draft, which considering I was struggling with sub-2:00/100m for anything Monday was a nice feeling. It's not 1:45/100m for a 2k TT, but it's better than I can usually do. I'm not going to set any records at Grimsby, but if I can manage 14:00-14:30, I'll be golden.
Now I need a nap.
Swim: w/u - 200m each free, non-free, pull
200 as 25 finger drag/25 ez free, 10"
200 as 25 10&2/25 ez free, 10"
200 as 25 thigh scrape/25 ez free, 10"
4x500 descending free, 1' (9:57/9:50/9:25-30/9:25-30)
c/d - 200 ez non-free
Total: 3400m
Run: 5 miles @ 7.5 mph + 4 strides
One of your comments in there brings up an interesting point... I don't think I've ever "blown up" swimming. This is probably because I only ever competed at sprint distances (nothing over 200m in serious competition) and during training I was a lazy ass.
ReplyDeleteCycling on the other hand... has taken me to worlds of pain I never knew existed...
I need to train harder in the pool. Time for a "Harden the F*ck Up" bracelet.
What I'm equating with "blowing up" when swimming isn't exactly the same as running or cycling. Simply put, I can't push hard enough to get THAT out of breath while swimming, because my breathing options are limited. More specifically, it's point where I can no longer do bilateral breathing (more oxygen required), and can't keep the pace that I was when I was forced into that position. But there's siginificant slowing if I'm forced to hold that for more than 50m.
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