Well I've done a terrible job keeping up with this blog since my Ironman almost 3 months ago. I figured as a good way to #1 catch up and #2 wrap up the year, I'd "try" to do a post a day for the last three days of the year. Naturally a post about swim, bike and run. Today is SWIM!
At the beginning of the month I went to Arizona for swim camp and extra Ironman training. Swim camp schedule was officially Friday-Sunday and I stayed until Wednesday. I've talked several times here about how I constantly feel like I'm banging my head against the wall when it comes to swimming. For many many months (probably since the spring) I haven't been very happy with where I've been with my swim and as a result I've had a negative outlook on swimming. I asked Katie before I left Arizona what I did as an athlete that drove her crazy. Her only response was that when I have a bad swim it's like it's the end of the world. Ok I don't think I'm that bad but yes I've gotten pretty down on myself when I have a series of bad swims and my times have gotten worse since the spring.
I knew I had lots of room for improvement in swimming and I needed to change my outlook. On top of that, going to Arizona to train with Katie for almost a week was a great opportunity. I'll admit the pool I swim in at home is very blah so I was happy to swim in some awesome outdoor huge pools despite it not being very warm outside. I thought Phoenix and Tuscon were supposed to be warm, not the same temperature as Greenville. While in AZ I swam 5 days in a row for over 22,000 yards. That's way more than I normally swim in a week.... or at least up until that point. That has certainly changed recently. Swimming was a variety of things... sprinting, descending breaths (ug the worst!), threshold, long recovery, and so on. I spent the first day sharing a lane with Katie and a former competitive swimming and killing myself with paddles trying to not get lapped and I survived. I spent most of the other swims either splitting a lane or having my own lane because my pace was slower than those two but faster than the others at camp. It was a fun challenge while I had feet to chase though.
I also got a swim analysis but another coach/pro that came along for the trip. She even had me try a snorkel which felt awkward af while doing laps and not having a mask that covers my nose. Very different than the snorkeling I do in the ocean. She gave me several thing to work on and I immediately saw an improvement in my pace. Ever swim I do I'm still trying to reinforce the changes. Always working on improving. That's the way it should be.
I was happy with the work I did at camp however I didn't have a good idea of how much that week had improved my swim until I got home. Those were all yard pools and I swim meters at home. I was so happy to get back into my pool and see all of my times drop. Not just time trials but simple things like sets I do during warm up and my "critical swim speed". I'm no longer afraid when I see the harder send offs. Before there would be a sense of panic because I'd convince myself I wouldn't make them. Now I take on the challenge every swim with an open mind. I've also learned the power of coffee before my morning swim and wheeeeee does that light a fire under my ass. I've had fun trying to keep up with the boys in my pool during my hard sets. Some even gave me a look like where the hell did this come from and made comments. I've had lots and lots of good swims since I've been home. Many swims that were tough but I did well because I kept my head in the game. I've also had a handful of bad swims where my body felt dead tired and everything was slow and I missed send offs. And you know what? I was totally ok with it. I'm in Ironman training and my body is exhausted and sometimes that means I can't swim my best. It's ok.
It's been an interesting year from swimming as it certainly hasn't been linear progress. I got better in first few months when I was swimming a lot. Then I got worse. Then I got worse again while training for my first Ironman when I was exhausted all the time. And now, finally, I'm getting better again. I know I can't always get better but damn it feels good right now.
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