Update to Yesterday’s Swimming Update

I’m just gonna complain for a minute, so if you’re not into that, cool, but you might want to pass on this post.

I put in 3500 yards yesterday on top of the 3600 I put in on Tuesday. I felt really good on Tuesday but did not have my best stuff yesterday. The speed work I attempted absolutely did not come off. I’d planned to do 15 x 100 @ 1:30 as my main set. Instead, I did this:

Warm-Up (2x):

• 200 @ 3:00
• 2 x 100 @ 1:30
• 100 kick

10 x 50 @ :45, breathing every third

Main Set (2x)

• 6 x 100 @ 1:30
• 100 kick

100 easy

400 pull

100 easy cool down

It took me quite a while to settle in. Like I said, I didn’t feel like I had my best stuff, and I needed quite a bit of ingrained muscle memory and sheet experience to finally make my body round into form. I pushed a bit through the 50s @ :45 and then even more on the ensuing set of 6 x 100 @ 1:30. Really struggled to hold 1:15 on those.

Decided to slow it down on the second set and just try to ride it out with an easier, more efficient stroke. This proved to be both easier and quite a bit faster, so that I averaged 1:14/100 and felt good doing it.

Stupid is as stupid does, I suppose.

Anyway, I feel like absolute shit right now, here on Friday morning. My shoulders ache in the most familiar way possible. Haven’t slept particularly well this week,. And with all the pollen in the air, my head felt like a brick when I woke up this morning. 

I’ve been stretching on the train this morning, which has me feeling all the knots in my upper back and people on the train staring at me. But I feel looser, which is good, if more exhausted without all those tight muscles holding me quite so rigidly.

Sigh. I love swimming. When they eventually make a movie of my life or turn my book into a Netflix series or whatever, I really want to make a point of showing the audience how it takes grinding, relentless days, week, months, and years of practice to be good at sports.

Happy Friday, friends.