Becoming a Shark?

If you have told me 5 years ago I would look forward to my swimming workouts more than running or biking I would have looked at you like you were high on drugs.

Yet that is what has happened to me recently. While my running has been significant and my cycling rather stale, my swimming has been improving. Getting up at 5:00AM to hit the Y pool hasn't been hard at all. I don't know if people have been going to a new Y that opened up or what but there have been times that I am the only person in the pool. I swam for 40 minutes one morning before another person came in.

Thursday was by far one of my best swim workouts in the past several months. Here is what the workout looked like:

Warm Up 600 choice
Swim 10 x 60 yards- drill/swim/drill
Swim 4 x 500 yards
1-Negative split
2-easy/hard by 100
3 &4- race effort
Cool down easy 200

3400 total yards in this workout. After Ironman, I've been finding that anything under 3000 yards isn't worth getting in the pool. Every once in a while I will have a straight 2500 yard swim, but usually it's around 3500 which makes for a good 1 hour workout. I've also found that I have to get in that 600 warmup in order to attack the main sets with good form and attitude.

So I wasn't sure how the swim would be. My legs were still recovering from a 15k on Sunday (I still have to finish the race report). So I set out looking to make the best of the workout. Everything was feeling great.....until the last two sets of 500. Take a look at these splits per hundred yards and total time for 500:

500 race - 1:27 / 1:32 / 1:29 / 1:30 / 1:28 - 7:26
500 race - 1:24 / 1:28 / 1:28 / 1:30 / 1:28 - 7:18

Oh, I'm sorry. Did you think I was going to say my workout went to hell in a hand basket? That I went from a great workout to shit? Au contraire mon frere (that's for you Bold).

IT WENT FROM GREAT TO F'IN FANTASTIC!!!!!

I've always strived for the 1:30 hundred. Break 3 minutes for 200, achieve 6 minutes for 400, and so on.

My Game was Soooooooooo ON. I reached, I glided, I pulled back to my hip, I rotated. I was a shark. When I reviewed the splits on my watch I couldn't believe it. I was totally jacked up about this. Nice to know something is feeling good in my workouts.

I tried to ride the high from the swim workout into my trainer ride that evening. An hour on the bike with 8 two minute pushes in the big ring/small cassette/hard resistance (MASHING) into my Zone 3.

I got on the bike and my bike legs were ready to work. I hit the trainer ride on the money as well. It was great to have two good workouts on Thursday. The mojo took a break on me and I think he's returning from vacation or something.

With the warmer weather starting to creep back into Northern Ohio I'm thinking the mojo will be stronger and the workouts will get better.

I'm a swimmer.....I'm a cyclist.......I'm a runner......Most of all.....I'm a triathlete.

Game On.