Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Swim it out



Woke up this morning with the virus still in the lead. For a few brief moments I waged the internal battle: "Stay home and rest? Go to swim practice?"

But, cold or no cold, my next triathlon is less than two weeks away, so I dragged myself to the Y, wondering how I'd possibly be able to breathe while swimming laps.

The first 500 meters wasn't easy. I was gasping, adding extra breathing strokes and utilizing the deck drains (gross, I know, but that's what they're there for, right?)

Then, our instructor, obliging my request from the previous week to add more speed workouts, gave us another 500, made up entirely of 25-meter sprints. My initial thought was that it would be challenging on a good day, but possibly impossible while sporting a hot air balloon for a head.

To my surprise, not only did I make it through the entire sprint set, but I felt much better afterward--I could breathe again and my headache was gone. It was like some kind of holistic hydro-therapy session. I worried the effect might be temporary and I would later pay the price for taxing my system that way. Turns out, with the exception of a mild headache that made a brief late-afternoon appearance, I have continued to feel better throughout the day.

So, when in doubt, swim it out!


Today's workout: 2000 meter swim (Swim workout #16)

Warm Up (500)
500 choice, easy

Set 1 (500)
Sprint every 25; 5 sec rest at the wall

Set 2 (500)
Kick, choice

Set 3 (300)
300 Pull

Cool Down (200)
100 IM, easy
100 Free, easy

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