Yesterday(Sunday) I had hoped to get three things accomplished
1. Swim Clinic
2. 40 Bike Ride
3. Basketball
I was able to complete 2 of the 3. I woke up Sunday morning with some fatigue in my lower portion of my legs. The long run and bike ride Saturday caught up to me. It was nothing major, but my legs were tired. I also opted to sleep in Sunday causing me to lose my morning workout time where I planned to get my long ride in.
Over the course of the we had things going on off and on and I was not able to get my bike ride completed. However, looking at things from today I think it was a good decision to not force it because I think it would have been too much.
At 11:00 on Sunday we had our swim clinic. It was another large group with many new faces willing to give up some time on the weekend to make themselves better. It was another quality workout and I still realize that I need more work on my kick. Things are really coming together, but I still have a few deficiencies that need improvement. I need to really focus on my kick over the next few weeks and get that dialed in to improve my swim efficiency. We did a variety of drills. We tested our DPS and I was able to get 13 strokes. When I started I was at 18-20. Now if only I could keep this stride when I swim my workouts I would be very happy, but I usually drop to 14-15. We also completed 4 x 25’s swimming all out and getting out of the pool in the deep end to dive back in. This really caused the heart rate to spike. This was a great little set that challenged me. I was glad I made the effort to go because I thought about skipping to get my bike ride in. However, I needed to see how to get better and this time was better spent in the pool.
The rest of the day I never could carve out time to get my ride in. Finally, around 5:00 I knew it was just not meant to be so I quit worrying and driving Amanda crazy with my bike talk and let it rest. I knew I really wanted to play basketball that night and with my lower legs a little sore I knew it was best not to do all three.
Basketball was great. I have not played in a long time. It felt good to get up and down and do a workout that was very different from my weekly workouts. I felt amazing cardio wise. I never tired, but my body was not used to the stop and go, jumping, etc. I came home around 10:10 feeling a little tight and not able to sleep. Finally, around 10:45 I headed to bed to lay there for a while. Next thing you know it was 4:25 and time to rise for swimming. I had a hard time getting out of bed. My body was very sore from basketball. My back, abs, and limbs were all sore. I felt about 68 years old.
I finished writing up the workout and realized that for a “recovery” swim week this was a hard workout. I was slated for a 3300 yard swim workout. I got it done and feel very proud with my swim times.
Warm Up
300 free – I ended up doing 150 free and 150 pull as I was cramping big time in my hamstrings. I was worried about the workout ahead if I was cramping already. Luckily, giving my legs a short rest helped out. I stretched in the pool afterwards.
300 Kick – I changed things up a little bit as Chad was in the pool and he wanted to swim some of the 100’s so I modified my warm up to make sure he could get the 100’s in while he had time. He was immersed in another crazy Trifecta workout. This set I kicked with fins and board for 50, 50 kick on my back, 50 kicks with hands at my sides working on turning back and forth in the water(I forget the name of this drill) and finished with 150 free.
I was to do one more 300 warm up, but I moved it to the end to get to the 100’s
Main Set
6 x 100 @ T-Pace – :01 with 15 sec RI
I put my T-Pace at 1:30 so 1:29 was my goal for these sets.
Set 1: 1:23 (way too fast so we scaled back)
Set 2: 1:28(much better)
Set 3: 1:29(perfect)
Set 4: 1:28
Set 5: 1:28
Set 6: 1:28 – I was gassed by this set. The 15 second rest felt like 2 seconds. Without Chad I don’t think I would have pushed to make these times. It helped having him around.
100 easy – We kicked with fins and board because I worried about cramping so I decided to do this instead of a free to help my legs get loose again. (1:57)
4 x 100 T-Pace – :03 with 15 sec RI
This put my goal at 1:27 for this round.
Set 1: 1:23(way too fast for the first round again)
Set 2: 1:26
Set 3: 1:26
Set 4: 1:24 – I was once again breathing heavy, but these four felt so much better than the first six. I really found a nice path and flow in the water. It felt much more relaxed and easy.
100 easy – Another kick set to help with cramping(2:03)
4 x 100 @ T-Pace -:04 with 25 sec RI
This put my goal at 1:26
I did not have Chad for these, but I was very focused and stayed the course.
Set 1: 1:23 – fast again and I knew it would come back to get me and it did…..
Set 2: 1:27 – I missed my mark, but I also forgot that this set was 25 sec rest and I went after 15. I had nothing on this set. I was empty.
Set 3: 1:22 – I tried to make up for lost time. I felt great on this set with that extra 10 seconds of rest.
Set 4: 1:23 – A great finish to the set.
I was dead tired by this point. I had a major decision to make. As tired as I was with some cramping issues I knew stopping now would not take away from a great workout, but I also knew I was not done. I toughened up and got things done. I took my 300 warm up that I did not do at the beginning and added it to my 2 x 300’s I had left. Here is what I designed while in the pool.
300 kick with board – I focused completely on kicking from the hip and pointing my toes. I made myself do nothing but think those two things over and over. I also focused on keeping my legs close together. As I tired I had to stay focused. I could feel my legs start to go around 200 yards so this was a good set to help me work on my kicking while tired. (5:53)
300 pull – I went opposite of my kick to give my legs a break. I focused on really reaching and rolling while really grabbing the water. This was a great set for me because I was dead tired and had to really focus. (4:42)
300 free – With the two sets behind me I wanted to do the last one bringing it all together. I was not worried about time, but focused on technique especially while tired. This was a good way to end this workout. (4:48)
200 Cool Down – 50 kick with board, 50 kick on back, 100 free with fins (3:50)
Total Time 55:12
Total Yards 3300 **This is now my biggest swim beating out my previous of 3200**
The best part about this whole thing is getting out of the pool feeling energized. My body felt tired, but great with all soreness disappearing. A great start to the week.
Time to hydrate and refuel for the week.
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