In the Swim of Things

I didn't intend on taking nearly a week off of training after the tri, but I did. I finally got back to it on Friday with a late night swim with Coach Geoff.

I started off with a 200 meter warm-up while he finished with his other client. Then we chatted for just a moment about my swim last Sunday. He decided that it was time to put some speed in the training routine.

We made some small adjustments to my stroke. Apparently, I have been entering the water and then scooping my fingers up. How one establishes this routine, I do not know. So, I worked on entering the water correctly, fingers down without scooping. We also made some adjustments to my catch. I have been swimming with a full catch in order to correct my stroke and breathing issues. Now, one arm gets to leave just a bit before the other gets there. After practicing this, Geoff decided to incorporate some anaerobic work into my training.

Oh yeah, I paid attention in middle-school gym class. I know anaerobic means "without oxygen", which means I have to move it. He wanted me to do 6 x 25 as fast as I could, which quickly turned into eight, which quickly turned into twelve. Geoff mentioned once that he wondered if I would be talking to him after this. I would have if I could have actually talked between my feeble attempts to gasp air.

After 12 x 25 sprints. I did a heart rate check. It was around 190. Hello, I think the last time my heart rate hit 190, I was having a panic attack. I like it better when I know why my heart is beating out of my chest.