Swim with Purpose

Today's swim was a good experience. I started out with 100m mixed & 200m drills. Chose to focus on arm entry & high elbows for 3/4 of the drills and did underwater switch for 50m as well. This was a totally different experience then it has been because I was thinking about the line of my arms being at shoulder width instead of along the centerline. I felt like my catch and pull were more reliable. I also felt that this week my swim workouts have been very beneficial on the "calm" front, especially when compared to my freak out last week.

Ten minute straight swim easy with sighting 3x every 50m. I kept my arms at shoulder width, focused on reaching over the barrel, kept my head down and thought about being a cylinder in the water. I allowed myself to easily glide through the water and thought about returning to neutral as quickly as possible after a sighting. Sighting was easier than I expected, though I'm sure I can economize more by lifting my head less.

Second set consisted of 5x50 at medium-hard. The suggested pacing was 55s. This is fast. I did the first two on 55 (with zero rest time) and the third came it at 55, but I waited 10 seconds to start the fourth set. Four came in at 58, five seconds rest and fifth came in at 55, but I was really beaten for it. I wanted to make sure that I felt the fatigue come into play, I also wanted to make sure that I relied on my training and form to keep me going strong, the more tired I got, the more focused on form and maintaining the "cylinder" I tried to be.

Final set was another 10 minute straight swim, with sighting 3x every 50m, but this one was supposed to be at race pace (medium). I feel like I accomplished this. Well, except for the sighting. I kept forgetting to sight. I probably practiced sighting 5x in the whole 10mins. Nevertheless, I felt like my speed was within range and my form was good. I felt like I allowed the fatigue to catch up to me and then I swam through it. I got to the wall at exactly 9mins and felt good about giving that last 50m the last of what I had. Knowing that I would be cooling down after it was over gave me an extra boost.

Overall, I felt like I accomplished a lot of what I set out to accomplish in this swim. I feel like I was able to swim calmly and think about my kick being efficient and my arms being part of my body, as opposed to operating on their own. I kept my elbows high and my head low. I let the fatigue catch up to me and I didn't freak out. One thing I do want to get better at is counting my laps. I have no idea how far I swam today.