I need more......

.... workouts like this morning. I did a swim this morning knowing that Saturday would be a rest day due to a work commitment. I also skipped a swim earlier in the week so this was also a make-up swim.

I didn't want to do too much since Aimee and I will be running on the Buckeye Trail Sunday. So I decided to put in 3000 yards. I warmed up 1000, did 10 different drills for 1000, then finished off with a 1000 time trial.

The drills were designed to help me focus on some changes recommended to me from my swim analysis in December. As I waited at the end of the pool to start the TT, I tried to focus on what I needed to do. I wanted long extensions/reach and a strong pull all the way back.

It is very easy to loose focus during a swim session since it does become repetitive and boring, but loosing focus at this point can lead to bad form, slow laps and disappointment. Focus is definitely something that all endurance athletes struggle with.

I started my 1000 yards strong but reserved. I couldn't go out too fast since this would be a long TT. I checked my splits after each 100 to see how close I was to my desired pace. The frequent time checks also allowed me to keep my focus because I would do the math and estimate what my next time check would be.

Up through 500 yards I was doing well. I could tell my arms and lungs were starting to fatigue. I switched from alternate breathing to my three breath, switch, three breath, switch race stroke.

During the last 500 I focused even harder on maintaining the long reach, glide, catch and pull. I would glide until my recovery arm almost entered the water. I was keeping pace and knew I would be happy with my finish time.

When I reached the wall for the last time I hit my split watch and.......

wait.for.it....

14:44 for 1000 yards.

Now that was a satisfying swim. That's a 1:29 average per 100 yards. I stood at the wall panting from the effort. My upper body was flooded with blood which makes my not very impressive chest look like it actually has muscles....muscular man boobs. Unfortunately that doesn't last very long.

So I need more workouts like this one. High quality with noticeable results. Now I have to focus on that aspect for each workout. No junk workouts, quality workouts. Sometimes for the quest to reach certain mileage or yardage markers we sacrifice quality for quantity, which leads to poor form, poor results and sometimes injuries......something I did last Sunday during a long run.

Now I just have to remember how I got my Game On for this workout and apply it to future workouts.