Journey to Kona Day 137: Swim Breakthrough

I was excited by my swim lesson a few days ago, having swam 200 yards in 3 minutes flat for the first time in years.  When I went to the pool the next day and swam 200 yards, I did it in 3:14.  To say the least, I was a little disappointed.  So, today, I was patient.  I warmed up for about 10 minutes with swimming drills that reminded me of my key form foci.  I then swam some 50's comfortably, in about 44-46 seconds each.  I then did a couple of 50's faster, focusing on my form some more.  Now, was the moment of truth.

I rested for a short time and prepared myself.  I set off to swim 100 yards as hard and fast as I could, focusing on my "follow-through," especially with my left arm and hand.  Also, extending my hands after they entered the water, and keeping my fingers pointed down.  There's a fine line to quick turnover of my arms while extending my stroke.  There's also the challenge of going hard enough to go fast, but not so hard that I'll actually slow down.  Finally, there's pacing.  If I do the first 50 too hard, even my best efforts to maintain form during the second 50 will fail.

I nailed the 100 yard effort, feeling that my form held up and my pacing stayed consistent.  I was out of breath when I hit the wall, looking up at the clock to find that I'd swum 100 yards in 1:19.  I haven't done that in years.  Most importantly, it was a very steady, albeit "all-out" effort.  What next? Well, 200 yards, of course.  So, I rested until my breathing slowed down, about a minute, then swam 50 yards very slowly and leisurely to get my body relaxed and ready for the 200 yard effort.

I nailed the 200 yard effort, once again not really feeling the fatigue until the last 50 yards.  I realized that my left arm was getting a little "lazy" about half way through, and focused my efforts on slapping down and extending the arm.  Once again, I went "all-out," but was steady and consistent, really pushing in the last 50 yards and feeling like I had enough left to do so.  I looked up at the clock and saw 2:48.  I think that's the fastest 200 I've ever done. Ever.  What next?  Well, 300 yards, of course.  Once again I rested until my breathing slowed down, about a minute and a half this time, then swam 50 yards very slowly and leisurely to get my body relaxed and ready for the 300 yard effort.

I nailed the 300 yard effort, really trying to hold a steady pace for the first 200 yards and then increasing my effort over the last 100 yards.  Once again, I found myself needed to focus on the left arm, which I did.  The last 100 yards were hard, and definitely "all-out," but also consistent and steady.  I knew that I was right on target to hit a 300 yard time that I haven't hit in years.  I'd been looking back at my training logs from over a decade ago and saw some 300 yard repeats in ~4:30+.  I looked up at the clock and there it was, 4:27.

From a confidence building perspective, this was huge.  What's next?  Being able to hold these paces for repeated intervals, with decreasing rest in between.  That's the goal.  If I can keep this up, it bodes well for my Ironman swim time.