Triathlon Training: Week 4 Recovery - Wednesday Swim

My regular routine is a bit skewed this week due to Christmas and traveling back home to Indiana. I needed to get my second swim of the week in before Friday as I have runs planned for both Thursday and Friday. We hopped in the pool today hoping for a much calmer atmosphere and no signs of the old crazy lady with the gold chain(although I was secretly hoping she would show up to make things more interesting).

The pool was very calm and not busy this morning. Chad and I went through a 2000 yd workout that was great for loosening up the legs and still providing a couple sets that were challenging.

To start off we did 500 yds of warm-up with 300 being free. This was my first time swimming more than 100 yds. consecutively. I went very slow to warm the body and to also find a pace that would allow me to not be drained. I found the pace. It was slightly faster than a turtle, but at least I was actually moving forward.

The kick set was pretty easy compared to Monday when we had 75 yds in 1:30. This helped knock out any soreness in the legs from running.

The next series I found tough swimming 100 - 75 - 50 - 25 while increasing speed each time. The 20 second rest is amazing at how fast it goes by. This was a challenge for me. My HR was increasing and I was trying to find ways to keep my breathing and stride relaxed.

The 4 x 100 pull was good. I really was able to focus on lengthening my stroke. I hope things are starting to fall into place. I feel better in the water, but it is so hard to determine whether I am actually making improvements or not.

For the cool down we ended up doing 200 yds to even out the workout at 2000. I also swam this consecutively and felt pretty good. I am feeling more relaxed in the water. I feel better and better about things with each workout that I finish.

Next week I am going to put my body through some tough workouts where I will be focusing on endurance. I have a couple plans almost ready. I want to test my 600 yd. swim to get a gauge of my time and continue to monitor my progress at this distance.



We are back outdoors again tomorrow morning for another 6 mile run. I look forward to another great group showing up again. Friday I will run again with the guys training for Leadville. This will be a great finishing run for the week before I leave for Indiana and take two days off. I look forward to two days of nothing. I have not rested since Dec. 4th and it is time to give my body a break. This will be very important as I look to push my body during the week 5 training.

Just wanted to let everyone know that we will be out running again Thursday morning at 5:00 am. We will meet up at the Y and head out from there. We are going to get in another 6 mile run. Great run Tuesday and look forward to another one tomorrow.