I got back in the pool today for a good swim. My training plan called for 30 minutes of swimming, and I hit that almost exactly by swimming 1,000 yards in 29:58.
I was hoping to get a few hundred more yards in, but at the 500 yard mark decided to change my workout up a bit. The first 500 yards were done in 100 yard increments on a 2:15 interval. After the fifth 100, I gave myself 3 minutes rest and then began a set of ten 50s on a 1:30 interval. After the fifth 50 I gave myself 2 minutes rest and then finished the set out.
I decided to change the workout midway because I know from experience that doing the same thing over and over again (all 100s, or all 500s, for example) is not the best way to improve. Adding variety to my swim workouts helps, so I changed my plan of twelve 100s on a 2:15 interval to five 100s and ten 50s.
Overall I was very pleased with the workout, and I'm not even unhappy I didn't hit the yardage I'd planned on. It was a great workout. For the first time since I started training for triathlon, I got out of the pool feeling faintly like I was going to throw up, which for me is a good sign. That feeling is how I judge if I've worked myself hard enough in the pool or not. I had it almost daily when I was swimming in high school, so I know when I get that feeling that I've done well in the water. My high school swim workouts were the most grueling I've ever done, so to get that feeling again today was a bit of a victory, even if I didn't hit my planned yardage, because it let me know I really worked myself.
As I was doing the workout I was a bit disappointed that I wasn't getting all the yardage I wanted in, but now that it's done and I've had time to reflect I'm not disappointed at all. It was a good workout, and that's what matters most.
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