Journey to Kona Day 186: Finding My Groove

Today's swim was more about staying loose for tomorrows run than anything else, but it was also an opportunity to test out what I learned this week about my swim stroke and to practice it.  I got in the pool and swam 500 yards with a light focus on having a strong and synchronized left hand entry and left kick.  I say "light focus" because I didn't want to overdo the focus of my swim.  I also wanted to swim comfortably, at a pace that I felt I could keep forever.  I did both and ended up swimming the 500 at a 1:45 pace, which, if I could maintain this consistently, would be an improvement from where I've been.  I took a short rest and then set out to swim 500 yards "fast," but steady, hopefully at a pace that I could repeat for several more 500's.  Whether what I did is repeatable remains to be seen, but I swam the second 500 at a 1:39 pace.  I felt like my form held up.  I can definitely see an upcoming swim set of eight to ten of these.  Only then will I know where I am headed with my swim.  Wearing a swimskin and having salt water to increase my buoyancy, and this pace could be as fast as 1:30 by the time Kona comes around.  That's a 1:05 ironman swim, of which I can only dream about.  To date, without a current (like Chattanooga), my best ironman swim time was 1:08 in New Zealand in 2014.  On the other hand, my Chattanooga swim that year was 52 minutes, which I'm going to guess would have translated to somewhere in the 1:05-1:08 range.  All I know is that it would be cool to swim under 1:10 in Kona!  The crazy thing is that the guys who qualify for Kona in my age group aren't necessarily the best swimmers.  In fact, looking at last years results, a 1:08 swim would have been right near the top 10 of men in my age group.  It's too bad I won't be able to start with my age group, at least I'd be coming out of the water with some of the best athletes in the world in my age group.  Even more ironically, it looks like a 1:08 swim is pretty much right in the middle of everyone at Kona (per last year's results).  Anyway, enough of that, on to more about my swim groove.

I went on to swim some fast 25's, and finished my session with a fast 25 and a fast 50.  The fast 25 was in 17 seconds, and the fast 50 was in 36 seconds.  These are important numbers to me, because they're beginning to set the tone for some swim pace goals that I am planning to set for myself.  What's crazy is at 17 seconds for 50 yards, the comprehension of a one minute 100 yard swim actually enters one's brain.  That's because you need to be able to swim 25 yards in 15 seconds to even begin to think about swimming 100 yards in a minute.  Now, I'm not getting ahead of myself, and I'm definitely not thinking that I"ll ever swim 100 yards in one minute. It's like trying to run at the pace a runner holds for a 4 minute mile.  On the other hand, if I can swim 25 yards in 17 seconds with good form, as I get stronger, perhaps I can get that down to 16 seconds.  Similarly, if I can swim 50 yards in 36 seconds, with practice, strength and improved endurance, perhaps my 50 yard time can come down to 34 seconds.  This is where it gets interesting.  My best 100 yard time as of late is right around 1:20.  That's swimming each 25 in 20 seconds.  Based on the progression that I've laid out, I can see shooting to get my 100 yard time down to 1:12, which would essentially be pegging my 25's at 18 seconds each.  Even at my best a decade ago, I only think I hit 1:14 once.  I love having a goal, and ultimately, getting my 100 time down to around this level should then correspond to better 500 yard times.  Right now, my best 100's are right around 1:20, and I'm swimming my 500's comfortably at 1:45 pace.  Getting my 100's down to 1:12, should help me swim my 500's comfortably in at least 1:35.

Swimming is about form, to a degree.  Once you've mastered the form, you MUST get stronger using the improved form. That's something I never really comprehended or felt until now.  My strength will improve when I'm actually using the right swim muscles and technique on a regular basis.  Only then will I truly find my groove!