Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Triathlon Training: Week 7 - Wednesday Swim

Wowsers! This was a tough workout. Possibly the toughest to date for me.

Here is the swim workout Chad and I knocked out today

Week 7 - Wednesday Swim(Swim Workout #2)

For some reason this does not look like much on paper and for the most part most of this was not too bad. However, the 7 x 200 threshold intervals about caused me to drown. Let's break it down from the beginning for my own sake.

Alarm went off at 4:20. I fell back asleep until 4:54 jumped out of bed scrambled to the Y and was in the pool a little after 5:00. The pool was packed today. A few lanes went to circle swimming. A lot of action.

Warm-up went well. Shoulders were sore and tired from a combination of Monday workout and also I have been adding push ups each day during basketball practice. It took a while to loosen up. They were more tired than sore.

Drill set went well working on 6 count, shark fin, one arm swim, and pull.

Then the nightmare came. 7 x 200 with 45 second rest. I had to pace myself and despite not swimming very fast I was at my threshold. I always found the first 125 yards good, but the last 75 yards were super hard. By the time I was at the last 25 my arms were dead, my legs where shot and it was just survival to the wall. I tried different mental approaches to break up the 200 yard splits. By the third set I was gassed. I had to fight through it. I don't know what they put in the water, but the fourth set I got some water in my goggle and it just burned my eyeball the entire time. I made myself deal with it because this could happen come race day and I am going to have to prepare myself for things not being perfect. I am pretty sure that whatever is in the water cured my vision and killed off any cataracts forming. The last three sets were all mental. Just learning to keep my breathing relaxed and fight through the fatigue. I was so relieved to have survived this set. It was a great for helping my swim, but a great indicator I have a long way to go. I completed each set around 3:10 - 3:15. I was consistent which is good. I had a five second increase on sets 5 and 6.

We moved next to the 4 x 25 swim sprints. These were not as bad, but it is amazing how much you can rev your heart rate in 25 yards. I was dialed in right around 16-17 seconds for each of these.

Kick set went well working on kicks with the board and fins and also on my back. I switched each 50. I still cannot get my legs on top of the water while on my back. The only to do so is to not extend my feet which is not what I want.

Last, I finished up my cool down with 100 free, 100 pull, and 100 free with fins. I knocked out the 2500 yards of workouts in about 60 minutes. It felt good to accomplish this.

I cannot thank Chad enough for joining me on the training. He really helps me fight through my mental weaknesses when I think I can't do another set and he tells me to get ready. He is much faster than I so it helps to have someone to push myself against. I know I must focus on myself, but there are days when you need some external motivation. I have come a long way, but without him joining me on these workouts I might not be quite where I am right now. Also, the instruction from Zapolski has helped me as well. She sees the end of my workouts when she comes in to swim at 6 and is able to break down more of my swim stroke. She has give me some more food for thought today to help me improve my swim. I appreciate her coaching. Without her giving me guidance and telling me what I am doing wrong I would never get better because I am not knowledgeable enough to distinguish right from wrong in the pool.

I never did get the sprint workout in from yesterday. I would be lying to you if I said it does not bother me. Actually, it eats me up to miss a workout. I know it is stupid to try and squeeze it in, but I am trying like mad to let it go. You would think it would be easy to just move on, but being who I am and how I analyze everything I cannot let it go.

Lastly, I went back to Kaminski again last night. Dr. Walden works wonder. This guy has magic in his hands. I told him about some knee problems I am having while riding on the bike and the soreness that occurs afterwards. He did some Active Release Therapy on my quad and kneed and BOOM! the pain was gone. Crazy stuff. He helped my middle back which is still my weak spot. He has a few more things to straighten out next week and then I will only need to go every few weeks. I cannot thank him enough and am so glad I ventured out and gave this a try. It has really helped me in only two sessions with my right shoulder, right knee, and middle back.

I feel like I am back on track and look forward to finishing this week nice and strong.

P.S. Thanks to everyone who has offered some ideas on the nutrition post. I love reading about what others do. I am going to try the chocolate covered coffee beans and see how that works. You can read my post here and leave a comment if you wish.

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