Thursday, April 19, 2007

Today's Workout

I think I'm getting faster in the pool but 2.4 miles still seems so far away. My form is definitely better, I can breathe on the left side while exposing only one eye and I can breathe on the right side (end of story). I find swimming to be tiring though and three months out the Ironman swim seems daunting.

Up at 4:30 today. Animal kingdom duties done, abs done, and I slipped in a protein shake. Normally I do not eat before I swim nor do I drink during the swim. I have found that I am slightly less tired if I do both, however, I have yet to find the magic formula that avoids stomach cramps all day. I'm fine while I swim, right now and for the better part of today I'll battle stomach pain. Perhaps I'm sucking in too much air.

Master's swim today which generally means a lot of legs. 300 side free kick. 100 back fly kick. 100 backstroke (I may have to put that in my arsenal as a backup stroke but to be honest I'm not real direct from point A to point B if I can't see where I am going). 700 swim with fins--everyone hated that, I loved it. 200 side fly kick, 500 free kick (thankfully there was a teaching moment in the midst of the 500 as my legs were burning and my tank was nearly empty), 100 swim with paddles, 200 one legged back kick (I thought my calves were going to seize), 100 fly kick with the board. The end of the plan for the day called for 100 situps (already in the bank), 40 scissor kicks and 30 pushups in the water at the pool's edge. These are pretty good because they give you some unexpected resistance. I had to ad lib because I thought the workout was a little short for me. I added a 500 pull and a 200 swim. Total meterage today: 3,000.

Tomorrow a mere one hour bike, I think. Overall a good pool day today but I'd still opt for floaties if I could.