TNYA workout!

Now that was an enjoyable swim; I guess I've been back in the pool enough over the last couple weeks to have reclaimed some technique and built a base of swim fitness. It was a bit of a hodgepodge of a lane, though with a very pleasant vibe - by about 20 minutes in, it was clear to me that I had better just give in and take over as lane leader, I am not very fast right now but I am always fairly steady and with a sensible head for the clock, and nobody else was faster!

200 warmup (every 2nd length back, every 4th kick) (truncated)

6 x 25 fly on :40
5 x 50 breast on 1:30
4 x 75 back on 1:45

60 seconds rest

3 x 100 free on 2:05 (given as 2:00, but I modified it based on my own difficulty the other day holding 2:00 for 4 x 100, and my feeling that I was the strongest swimmer in the lane - however I think I really could have done it properly today on 2:00, I was startled to see that I came in on 1:44 for the first one - I guess that the other day I'd had a pretty hard-effort run not long before, and perhaps hadn't taken the full 60 seconds of rest? - also, today the guy behind me was wearing fins, and even though he was swimming pretty slowly, it put the fear of god in me! Anyway that is good, something of a relief - when I was last swimming regularly, I certainly should have been able to do 6 x 100 on 1:55, or perhaps even on 1:50 on a good day with faster lanemates)

8 x 50 on 1:30, drill-swim by 25, 2 of each stroke in IM order (lots of rest on this one, but some are slow kickers!)

4 x 50 free on 1:10 as 25-45 (hard down, easy back)

1800 yards total

These workouts come in short, it is a 'tight' hour - you can't get into the pool until 6:00 sharp, lane swim opens at 7:00 sharp so you really need to be out very promptly, all it takes is being a couple minutes late getting into the pool and you really are under rather than over 2000 yards for the evening. But there are no 90-minute workouts in the Columbia pool, alas - I think that for convenience these Tuesday and Thursday evening ones are unbeatable for me, it is a whole extra commitment to go on the subway to one of the team's other workouts.

As I walked home (1.5 blocks!) I thought about how really I should just stick religiously to these two workouts, if I just do them and one long easy swim on my own each week I am basically totally covered as far as my iron-distance training goes. That said, alas, I have work obligations on both of those evenings next week that will prevent me from attending!

It has been interesting, just in this two and a half weeks of IM training, to see the ways in which the Gale Bernhardt training schedule is at odds with the natural shape of my week. On the principle that one should always minimize willpower/pain and suffering, if it can be done without losing work, I am going to make some changes as I make up my own version of the next training block.

Next week's a recovery week, and I'll be in South Carolina from Friday to Sunday too, but really I often have both family and work (i.e. prepare for Monday classes) obligations on a Sunday, so it really doesn't make sense to stick to Saturday-Sunday as my two big days. The worst of my work week is over Wednesday night, Thursday is a day when I am basically still too tired and frazzled from the school week to get a ton of stuff done (and often with meetings and other commitments on campus), but if I do Friday as long swim-long run day, I can use the Chelsea Piers pool without the weekend crowds and get a leg up on my training weekend; then ideally I do the long bike on Saturday daytime, but it leaves Sunday as a backup if weather is terrible or what have you. Anyway, this is what I'm aiming to do this week - I'll swim in the morning tomorrow, quick refuel and digestive interval, then head out for my run. Not sure what Saturday's weather will bring, it still seems pretty rainy and cold on the whole here so I will do it indoors if I need to (or perhaps, sensibly, ride for an hour in Central Park first and then go to Chelsea Piers for 10-12 spin as the sequel). Then a recovery bike-run workout (1hr bike, .5hr run) on Sunday to make up the two workouts I lose by reshuffling in this way, and meetup with my dad for lunch and Macbeth in Brooklyn!