Triathlon Training: Week 9 - Monday Swim 2600 yard workout

I woke up at 4:30 feeling pretty good while laying in bed. I was quite comfortable and it took some willpower to get going this morning. I was working out until a little after 10 pm last night and Ava was awake at 11 so I only captured about 4.5 hours of sleep last night.

I knew going into the Y this morning that Chad was not going to swim. He is taking a short break from swimming and going after the weights and some workouts on the bike. He also added some sweet art to his body over the weekend so the pool is out while his new tattoo soaks in or whatever it does.

Here is the workout for today



For the warm up I did the standard - 100 yd free, 100 kick with fins and board, 100 pull

I moved right into the Swim Base Intervals. I swam the first 100 at 1:40 and took off with the 5 sec rest. I realized while swimming that a 5 sec rest does not really do much so I decided to just go out and swim the next 700 yards all at once and when I caught my breath on the wall here and there my rest would be counted. I was able to knock out the 700 yard swim 13 minutes. I hope I did not miscount my laps, but I felt really good swimming this little base workout.

I gathered my breath and moved on to the Swim Lactic Intervals which I knew were going to be tough. I had a hard time finding a pace that I could maintain for 8 sets, but still push myself. I dialed it in at 1:20 on the first set and that seemed like a good time for me. I was tired, but able to recover in the minute rest. I was able to hold this time for the first five sets. Midway through the 5th set I hit a wall both physically and mentally. I pushed through, but had to dig deep to swim three more sets. When you are alone it is crazy how powerful the mind can be(either good or bad). My brain kept telling me to quit. I overcame those thoughts and swam. The last two sets my legs were burning, I was breathing very hard and just had to really push through to get them done. I was able to complete all 8 sets in the 1:20 time frame and this was a big breakthrough for me. I was glad I did not quit. I kept thinking about the "small talk" I do every practice with my basketball team about toughness and made sure I was living by the words that I preach to them. I will be sure to share this story with them tonight before our game. I always start each day and game with "small talk" where I focus on one theme or idea for the day.

The kick set I switched between 50's with fins and the board and 50's on my back with fins.

For cool down I swam 150 yards with the pull buoy, 100 free with fins, and 50 with the board.

This was a great workout. It was tough, but I walked out feeling good about myself. I am interested to see how I do Sunday at my first triathlon when I compete at the Try Melon Indoor Triathlon in Muscatine. I feel like I am ready to push myself and see what I can do.

2600 yards in 53 minutes.

Body is tired and a little sore from the workouts, but that is a sign that my body is adapting to the workload. Hopefully, I can get back on the bike tonight. We will see how the day goes.