Another Wednesday and another swim session done.
I think it is a testament to the appeal of routine, as well as the strength of using the new Swim Smooth App and a tempo timer that without a squad I still found myself down at the pool doing a 5km session.
I woke up feeling a little bit flat this morning, I just didn't feel like I slept that well. I think at least part of that was from apprehension leading into what I knew would be a tough day of training today. Knowing that you have to get yourself through a tough swim set, and actually doing it are two completely different things.
Given that I wasn't feeling that great when I woke up, I was looking around for easy options. However, thankfully I had agreed to meet Dave Glass at the pool (fellow Daryl athlete and newly moved to Perth). Knowing that I had agreed to meet Dave got me down there.
Once I was there though, I still had to get myself through the session I had chosen from the app. I had chosen the session I did because I knew it would be a good one to do without a squad. The session was a double pyramid (100m, 200m, 300m, 400m, 500m, 400m, 300m, 200m, 100m twice through). It doesn't sound like a lot of fun, but it is the sort of session that is easy to tick your way through, 100 done, just a 200 now, just a 300 now etc. You plug your pace into the tempo timer, take the session one interval at a time and you find yourself at the end. I knew all that, but still I pushed off the wall at the start of the set, thinking, "Let's see how far I get".
To my surprise though I got through the whole thing. I got to the end of the first pyramid feeling tired but okay. The second pyramid is done at a slightly higher pace and I had my doubts about that. But once I got into it, and through the 500m in the middle, I found that I was still going okay. To the point where my last 300m interval was my quickest one. The trick with any long Wednesday morning session is pacing. Typically the sessions start out at an slower pace and then pick up. If you don't make yourself slow down and take that first part slower, you don't make the second part. I think that is part of what I got right today. Very happy with how it went.
I have been training at a slower pace than I usually would with the squad. In Swim Smooth speak I have slowed down my CSS by a few seconds. The reason that I did it is because swimming without the squad means I am effectively leading my lane all the time (which is slower). This may or may not have been the right thing to do since CSS is set without any drafting assistance, but based on how the sessions have been going, I think it has worked out well. I am hoping that the last couple of weeks spent without some toes to follow will make me stronger in the end.
So that is the swim done, which I am very happy about. The second part of my tough day of training is a run this afternoon, another solid one. This is just like the swim, I know the session must get done, in fact I consider it crucial. But I am still finding my feet with running and so every session gets built up in my mind into being a big deal. It isn't really. In the end I am just going out and running for a while in a very pretty location along the river. There are no sheep stations being bet on it (well none that I own) so no need to get myself uptight. But just like the swim, knowing that and doing that are different things. Still the run will happen. Whether it goes well or not, I will be stronger for it and afterwards I will be glad that I did it.
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