Swim Test # 4
With the focus as of late on my run and bike I have spent little time, dare I say neglected, my swim? I'm very aware of the hard work and time it took me to get my splits down to 1:28/100yds over the winter and spring months so heading into this morning's TT I had limited expectations. In reality my goal was to swim as evenly as possible and to maintain perfect form.
The warm up went well despite the crowded pool, senior aerobics/walkers in every lane. I then gave myself a once over, I was both mentally and physically ready for this TT. Hit the reset button on my watch, took a deep breath, hit start and went to work.
The first 100 I destroyed, which isn't a good thing. I practically laughed at the time because despite feeling great and relaxed I knew there was no way in hell I had made that much progress. As a result I once again dialed back my effort with the intentions of spreading it out evenly for the next 900 yards. My splits for my second through fourth laps were at an acceptable and sustainable pace. Enter walker and senior swimmer. This really annoyed me as I had to navigate these two for the next two laps (200 yards). In the middle of one lap I actually was cut off, stood up and gave a WTF? Quick choice, stop in the middle of my TT and start over, or let it ruin my focus and my TT, or suck it up and remember that swimmers will always be in your way during a race. I opted to treat the two wandering and drifting seniors as competitors and continued on with my swim. My splits for the last 4 laps dropped to an almost acceptable pace. At the completion of the TT there was no urgency to immediately check my splits as I knew my swim had slowed.
After a quick cool down and shower I sat down and wrote down my splits. There was certainly an obvious pattern to them. For the first 1/3 I was on target for an acceptable swim. The middle 1/3 however slowed drastically and the final 1/3 was just shy of the first 1/3. My average 100/yrds split for the TT was 1:31, obviously I'm 2-3 seconds slower than pre-babsiosis.
Before I sat down to reflect on my swim I told myself to remain calm and to not expect an epic performance. After about 10 minutes of reflection I started to get pissed and started to over analyze my swim. What if this? What if that? Should I have? Maybe if I? The bottom line is that I was out of the pool for 2 straight months, and for the past 6 weeks I probably haven't been in the pool more than 2 times a week. Reality Check. There is no way I would have even come close to my best TT with such a low volume of swim work.
Moving forward I will jump into the pool/open water an additional time each week to take some steps forward with my swim. My goal is to shave at least two seconds off per 100 before Miamiman. If I can achieve that goal ( I will achieve it) then I will be setting myself up for a solid and acceptable swim for Miamiman.
Onwards and Upwards
The warm up went well despite the crowded pool, senior aerobics/walkers in every lane. I then gave myself a once over, I was both mentally and physically ready for this TT. Hit the reset button on my watch, took a deep breath, hit start and went to work.
The first 100 I destroyed, which isn't a good thing. I practically laughed at the time because despite feeling great and relaxed I knew there was no way in hell I had made that much progress. As a result I once again dialed back my effort with the intentions of spreading it out evenly for the next 900 yards. My splits for my second through fourth laps were at an acceptable and sustainable pace. Enter walker and senior swimmer. This really annoyed me as I had to navigate these two for the next two laps (200 yards). In the middle of one lap I actually was cut off, stood up and gave a WTF? Quick choice, stop in the middle of my TT and start over, or let it ruin my focus and my TT, or suck it up and remember that swimmers will always be in your way during a race. I opted to treat the two wandering and drifting seniors as competitors and continued on with my swim. My splits for the last 4 laps dropped to an almost acceptable pace. At the completion of the TT there was no urgency to immediately check my splits as I knew my swim had slowed.
After a quick cool down and shower I sat down and wrote down my splits. There was certainly an obvious pattern to them. For the first 1/3 I was on target for an acceptable swim. The middle 1/3 however slowed drastically and the final 1/3 was just shy of the first 1/3. My average 100/yrds split for the TT was 1:31, obviously I'm 2-3 seconds slower than pre-babsiosis.
Before I sat down to reflect on my swim I told myself to remain calm and to not expect an epic performance. After about 10 minutes of reflection I started to get pissed and started to over analyze my swim. What if this? What if that? Should I have? Maybe if I? The bottom line is that I was out of the pool for 2 straight months, and for the past 6 weeks I probably haven't been in the pool more than 2 times a week. Reality Check. There is no way I would have even come close to my best TT with such a low volume of swim work.
Moving forward I will jump into the pool/open water an additional time each week to take some steps forward with my swim. My goal is to shave at least two seconds off per 100 before Miamiman. If I can achieve that goal ( I will achieve it) then I will be setting myself up for a solid and acceptable swim for Miamiman.
Onwards and Upwards
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