Thursday, February 28, 2008

The Breakthrough I've Been Waiting For!

Just when it seemed like things were down and out...the knee bothering me, lack of swim mojo, etc...things have come full circle this evening. Tonight's swim was a 1500 yard straight swim, capped off with five 100 yard sprints. It started good with the 1500 yard swim. After the first 500, I went to hit my lap button (I count up to 500 yards - about as high as I can go without losing track) and saw 9:46 on the watch. For me, anything under 2:00 per 100 pace for longer swims is a good thing. Then I swam another 500. This time, my watch read 9:36. I felt great...something I haven't felt while swimming in a while. The last 500 split came in at 9:35. By far the best swim I've had since starting my swim training. Then came the 100s - 3 hard, with 2 easy mixed in. Even the easy 100s came in well under 2:00. And the hard 100s were well under my PR. I was ecstatic.

I'm pretty sure it was a combination of a few things. For one, I slightly changed my recovery and pull technique. Not sure how to explain it, but apparently it worked. Let's see if I can replicate it next swim. For now...its a happy time in swim land.

2 comments:

  1. Hey there. Sounds like you're really on-track!
    Question: what kind of watch do you use?
    I swim a lot but have no way to track things other than to memorize where I am..and would rather focus on my stroke form, know my splits, etc.
    Thanks
    bri

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  2. I just use a basic Nike lap watch for swimming. Its got a small profile and easy to use buttons so it doesn't get in the way of my stroke.

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