Saturday, January 3, 2009

2009 and Swimming

I've been wanting to see how my swim has progressed over the last few weeks and was afforded the opportunity today.  I went to the pool and did a set of 6x500 yards.  I alternated swimming each 500 with pulling (with paddles and a pull buoy).  I only took 30 seconds rest in between each 500.  I was really happy with the results.  I averaged 1:38 pace for the 500 swims and 1:35 pace for the 500 pulls.  My effort was easy to moderate for the entire workout.  I felt like I could have easily done another 1000 yards at the end.  What is remarkable is that a year or two ago, this pace would have been hard and I would have been challenged to maintain the pace, for 4x300, not even 6x500!  The key has been keeping my form intact.  The neat thing is that I wasn't even at my best today, as my stroke count was a little high.  My confidence, however, is quite high.  With World's in October being a 3Km swim, I know that I'll be regularly able to maintain this pace, or perhaps an even faster pace, for 8x500 by the end of the summer.  I actually put in over 10,000 yards this week, which is an all-time high for me.  I keep visualizing what it will be like to start off with a great swim at the California 70.3.  As I've noted before, my goal is to do that swim in the 30 to 33 minute range.  Thirty minutes would typically put me close to the best swimmers in my age group.  This is exciting!  Hard work does pay off.  

I've been on vacation for a few days and trying to get in extra sleep (yeah!).  It really does help.  I can't say that I'm looking forward to going back to work on Tuesday.  I think, no, I know, that I'd rather continue to just work out, rest and spend time with my family.  Well, life must go on.  Hopefully, this week puts me in a really good place going into the season.  I've got 4 weeks to go prior to the Surf City Half Marathon.  I've been running well the past couple of weeks.  I even got to get outside a few times and have managed to keep 8:30-8:45 pace in low Zone 2.  Can I maintain 7:00 pace or less at sea level in 4 weeks?  I'm sure going to try!

Life is all about perspective.  We can only do what we enjoy and enjoy what we do.  The results will be what they are.  I'm just fortunate to be able to do this stuff.  But it is fun to challenge our body and our mind to see what we can accomplish.  Well, time to get back to the couch!

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Now that was good story telling. It also tells me that the body works in mysterious was when the mind tells it to.

By telling all your secrets, the next person will beat you.

Oh well, I know you do all this for the fun of it. Right?
Your Dad