Today, I finally felt closer to myself and “normal” speed. The past several weeks had been just sucky. I was getting slower and slower until, on Tuesday, I couldn’t even sprint a 100 in 1:25. Well, there was no sprinting period. I was out of town on Wednesday and didn’t swim, but, Tuesday’s workout and the twinge in my right leg told me my breathing and timing was off. So, yesterday, I worked on the breathing/timing. Miraculously (ha!) swimming got easier and I could swim that 100 on the 1:25 without a hard push.

So, today, I took that knowledge and continued to work on my timing/breathing. Imagine my relief/joy when my first 100 of the main set was a 1:23. Not that that’s particularly fast for me normally, but these however many weeks I’ve struggled to even get that. My second round was even faster. (1:21-1:23, but mostly 1:22.) The sprint 100s were 1:17. I was just hoping for a 1:20.

Oh, and those 25 head up free (I never kick when I do head up free because the position hurts the knee I blew out 7-8 years ago.) were an easy :20.

Timing/breathing makes a big difference. I was breathing too soon, which required me to lift my head, which, in turn, pushed my body down and out of position, and made everything harder to do. Sometimes, we just need breaks, but, sometimes, we need to analyze our stroke and figure out what we’re doing differently than before. There’s no question I still have work to do, that a lesson with a coach would help me, but, in the meantime, I can work a bit on my own.

55-minute swim workout, sprint day

500 warmup (~7:30 min)

Warmup set (600 yds, 11 min)
4 x 25 on :30
Odds: 2 breaths/25
Evens: head up free

4 x 50 on :50

8 x 25 on :30
Odds: 2 breaths/25
Evens: head up free

2 x 50 on :50

Main set (1800 yds, ~30:50 min)
Set 1 — 2x (1800 yds, ~30:50 min)
4 x 100 on 1:30
4 x 50 on :45

50 easy on 1:30

All out 100

50 easy on 1:30

All out 50

50 easy on 1:30

200 warm down

Total yards: 3100

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