Sometime after the beginning of the year I decided that a Ironman distance swim time trial on Presidents' Day would be a good thing, and on to my training plans it went. After all, it was in late February...and it wasn't even the longest swim I had done yet. It would be fine, right? [one year I decided to do 100x100 yards on MLK Day (bad idea) and one Friday before Labor Day I swam 5K, but neither was about time.
My swim coach (Doug) put it in averaging 2:15/100 yards. My tri coach (Matt) knew I was just hoping for under 2:30/100. I had been working on some longer blocks and they had been in the 2:10-2:15 range, but I hadn't done this kind of continuous swim in a while.
Then it was the long weekend and it was GORGEOUS! Friday afternoon I did a swim, but it wasn't fast. Saturday I ran a hard 10. Sunday afternoon was lovely and I went for a 50K ride outside on the new Trek. I also ended up lifting with my trainer (Shannon). And I got sucked into subbing for the bowling league and bowling two games. All fun and games, but then...it was Monday and it was Presidents' Day and time to do THE SWIM.
I drove through the fog (literally) to the Y at Fort Ben to swim in their lap pool. I picked the second lane because their gutter lane is and weird and the pool wasn't crowded. Pushed start on the watch and swam. I decided to swim it in 5 mental blocks - 4 x 1000 + 225. Each 1000 I would look at the watch to confirm the distance. This meant I was counting lengths, but there's something reassuring about that. I decided to treat the first 1000 as a kind of warming into it set. The second set I just swam. At 2100 yards I did check my time and it was 47 minutes (+ some), but I was fine with that. Some time after 3000 yards a guy got in the gutter lane and was doing weird deep water something o other. Then the guy on the other side was swimming fast. I decided I just needed to focus on what I was doing. Right as I finished 4000 someone asked to join my lane. I didn't say much (time was still going) but moved over. I was able to swim the last 225 pretty strong feeling, but I never saw the lady. Turns out she knew the guy in the lane next to me and just joined him. I apologized for not being chatty after I was done, explaining that I was doing a time trial. I stopped the watch. 1:36:10. Not too bad, I swam breast stroke to get back to the shallow end and get out of the pool.
I have been saying since the beginning that I would like to get my IM swim time below 90 minutes. 20 months out and I am only 6:10 short of that. I know that I still have a lot of work to do and that the race swim will be in the Ohio River, but it's a start.
Certainly faster and less cranky when I got out than I was after the 100x100, but I was so slow then that it took forever and I had no business doing it.
Today I still caught myself saying, "real swimmers..." in my head. But at the same time if you can swim 4225 continuous, you probably are a real swimmer.
My swim coach (Doug) put it in averaging 2:15/100 yards. My tri coach (Matt) knew I was just hoping for under 2:30/100. I had been working on some longer blocks and they had been in the 2:10-2:15 range, but I hadn't done this kind of continuous swim in a while.
Then it was the long weekend and it was GORGEOUS! Friday afternoon I did a swim, but it wasn't fast. Saturday I ran a hard 10. Sunday afternoon was lovely and I went for a 50K ride outside on the new Trek. I also ended up lifting with my trainer (Shannon). And I got sucked into subbing for the bowling league and bowling two games. All fun and games, but then...it was Monday and it was Presidents' Day and time to do THE SWIM.
I drove through the fog (literally) to the Y at Fort Ben to swim in their lap pool. I picked the second lane because their gutter lane is and weird and the pool wasn't crowded. Pushed start on the watch and swam. I decided to swim it in 5 mental blocks - 4 x 1000 + 225. Each 1000 I would look at the watch to confirm the distance. This meant I was counting lengths, but there's something reassuring about that. I decided to treat the first 1000 as a kind of warming into it set. The second set I just swam. At 2100 yards I did check my time and it was 47 minutes (+ some), but I was fine with that. Some time after 3000 yards a guy got in the gutter lane and was doing weird deep water something o other. Then the guy on the other side was swimming fast. I decided I just needed to focus on what I was doing. Right as I finished 4000 someone asked to join my lane. I didn't say much (time was still going) but moved over. I was able to swim the last 225 pretty strong feeling, but I never saw the lady. Turns out she knew the guy in the lane next to me and just joined him. I apologized for not being chatty after I was done, explaining that I was doing a time trial. I stopped the watch. 1:36:10. Not too bad, I swam breast stroke to get back to the shallow end and get out of the pool.
I have been saying since the beginning that I would like to get my IM swim time below 90 minutes. 20 months out and I am only 6:10 short of that. I know that I still have a lot of work to do and that the race swim will be in the Ohio River, but it's a start.
Certainly faster and less cranky when I got out than I was after the 100x100, but I was so slow then that it took forever and I had no business doing it.
Today I still caught myself saying, "real swimmers..." in my head. But at the same time if you can swim 4225 continuous, you probably are a real swimmer.
Real swimmers are not riding and running like you either!
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