400m of death - The 600th Post

The schedule kind of got shifted around a little. Last week was the distance set, and today became the test day. But I wasn't too sure if we were up for the test, with all the changes. Imagine my surprise when I check the board during the warm-up and see that on the menu.

A few weeks ago, I had an horrible swim, and my confidence had been shattered since then. My last time in the test, I did 400m in 7:00, and on that day, I couldn't do 300m in better than 5:26. I've spent the last few weeks really working on the basics, and hoping that things will fall into place, but without any good timed sets to compare. So my goal pushing off the wall today was to match my 7:00 if I could, maybe pick up a second or two. But things didn't go quite as planned.

My first hundred I got into a hard but manageable rhythm. Finish the stroke, roll the body. That's all I could think about. Go as fast as I can while doing things right. As I finished that 100m, I quickly glanced at the clock. 1:30. I was a bit worried I may have knocked off my goggles when my eyes bugged out. "Umm ... OK ... settle down, Sparky." Since there's no way I could keep that going for long, I tried to ease off the throttle a little, but keep making good strokes. Two hundred metres in 3:15. That's a more manageable pace, as long as I don't blow up. To balance out the lanes, I had been moved up to Lane Two, so I was among faster swimmers. I didn't notice myself really gaining or losing to any of them, so I must be doing something right. 300m, 5:00. I can beat my PR with anything less than two minutes, and I should be able to do that. Things started falling apart in the last 100, but I tried to keep it together as best I could. It was a bit of a MacGyver mission holding things together with bubble gum and elastic bands, but it held. I had a bit of a panic attack in the last 50 when I couldn't remember if I was finishing or at 300m. Oxygen deprivation does that. Luckily, it was the end, and I touched the wall for the last time at 6:43, crushing the PR.

I guess that bad day was exactly that, and not an indication I was regressing. That's good to know.

Then we did some cooldown, easy work, and some paddles to finish the day. Now I'm exhausted, but also a bit elated. (It's an E word day, apparently.) Between sets the coach congratulated me on some big improvements, from 7:13 in December, to 7:00 in January and 6:43 now. I ended up beating two of the regular members of Lane Two. Maybe I'll get called up soon, maybe I'll continue to lead my lane.

Three hours later, I'm still pretty chuffed. I still need a nap, too.

Swim: w/u - 200m each free, non-free, pull
100 free as 25 hard/75 ez, 15"
100 free as 50 hard/50 ez, 15"
100 free as 75 hard/25 ez, 15"
100 ez non-free, 90"
400m TT (1:30/3:15/5:00/6:43)
200 ez non-free, 30"
4x200 ez pull, 30"
3x(200 pull w/paddles, 30"
100 ez non-free, 15")
c/d - 200 ez free
Total: 3500m

Weights:
Chaosbringer - 2x4/65
Chins - 2x10,10
Reverse flye/Lateral raise - 2x8,10/15
Side plank w/abduction - 2x12,13
Supermans - 2x12,14
Reverse curl - 1x11/48
Diamond pushup - 1x15/20