Long Swim Day

Today, Tuesday, I got in the water and swam- hard. I mean, I had 30 minutes and had to get in a good workout. I was reluctant to just jump in and swim 2000 Meters, but I thought that I hadn't done that in a while- swim a set distance for time, that was longer than 1 mile. So, I gave it a shot.

The weather was absolutely beautiful today- about 60 degrees and sunny. The water in the pool that I swim in is fairly warm, but today it felt cooler than usual. Perhaps because I usually swim at night and the air temp is cooler. Anyway, the water was perfect and I had the pool all to myself. Not even a lifeguard no duty.

So, I jumped in, hesitantly as always, and took off. I looked at my watch and 3:05 had just shown up. I wanted to swim a total 2000 Meters- 40 laps, or 80 lengths. My first 500, I set out pretty fast. I thought I would slow it down, just a little. I hoped to swim each 500 in about 7:30, which is my 1:30 100M Interval pace. I am a very consistent swimmer, and cyclist/runner for that matter. I am actually too predictable and I find it sometimes hard to negative split or swim descending sets.

But, I felt good today. I had to get in and out- so no messing around. Perhaps that is why I was swimming so well. After my first 1000, I was at my pace perfectly. Just at about 15 minutes. I wanted to swim the last 1000 in under 15, so that I could do a sub-30 minute 2000 Meter swim. Nothing really to write home about, but a fairly good effort I thought for an afternoon swim alone at a cold pool on a sunny day.

So, I was on my last 250 and thought I would pick it up as fast as I could. I did end up finishing and I looked at my watch- 3:34:28. So I did negative split my 2000 and I felt pretty good about that. Very good swim, very good swim. Glad I made the effort to get into the pool after being out for 4 days. It has been very cold lately, and quite rainy. But, not that that was keeping me out of the pool- but making it quite uncomfortable and cold. If you can, at least try to get into the pool for one long swim a week in addition to your Master's Swim workout or your other Set workout so that you can get a feeling for what a hard, long effort feels like.

Have Fun Training!