Saturday, March 2, 2013

Best.Swim.Ever.


I can honestly say that last Thursday was my best swim ever!

Typically when I prepare for a swim workout, I have a motive.  Either #1 (68% of the time) - I'm doing the next scheduled workout for Blue Iron Swim Team. #2 (24% of the time) - I am trying out a new workout for the team.  #3 (8% of the time) - I am doing my own Time Trial or other race-specific workout.  Last Thursday I left the house without a plan.  Ugh.  Ugh.  Time to get creative!

When I arrived at Washington Park Natatorium, I decided to do a continuous swim for 60 minutes alternating between three of my favorite drills:

200 DPS (Distance Per Stroke)
200 Thumb to Thigh
200 DPS
200 Four Corners
Rest, but only enough time to take two sips of my sports drink.
Repeat

My goals was to finish 3,000 yards in the 60 minutes.

Historically, the workouts I write are not continuous.  There are drills, easy intervals, speed, hypoxic or technique intervals, rest intervals, etc.  This makes for a very focused and structured workout, however it is tough to determine how far one can swim in an allotted time period.

When I completed 3,000 yards and my Garmin alert had not sounded yet, I was thrilled!  Have you ever tried smiling with your face underwater?  Try it!  It's fun!  I finished the 60 minute interval with 3,150 yards under my belt. I was thrilled!  Why?  Because it proved I can swim, a good distance at an easy-moderate pace, doing a combination of drills and average 1:54 per 100.

Attention Blue Iron Swim Team: This will be a future workout!  I've named it "Distique", which is a combination of Distance and Technique.

Stay wet, my friends!