2250 yd swim - 10/13/11

WOW!

It's swim workouts like this that are dangerous.  They get me thinking I'll have no problem with working up to 2.4 miles.  They make me think I could swim all day long and barely lose pace over time.  They make me think I've got this swim form thing licked!  It's like when you get a hole-in-one in golf and think 'What the hell did I do different this time that made it so easy?  Nothing!  So I should be able to do it again!'  Then you hit a five on a par three.

I decided to start extending my swim distance today from the typical 36 laps (about 1 mile) that I normally do.  I decided to start with an extra 1/4 mile, for a total of 45 laps.  I figured I'd be feeling like my form would get sloppy around the 20's (as it usually does), and that I'd just suck it up and tack on another nine laps.  In anticipation, I started out a little slower than normal - I usually try to keep from starting out too fast, but usually after a few laps that somehow always seems to go by the wayside.  Not that I go all out - I stay around six or seven out of 10 on the effort scale (as opposed to the two or three for the first few laps) - but the effort jump is still significant.

But to my surprise, I had knocked out nine laps before I even really knew it.  I felt like I was still warming up.  That nine turned into 17, then 25, then 31.  For whatever reason, I was cruising right along.  I briefly considered adding yet another nine laps to make it a full 1.5 miles, but decided against it, for good or bad.  If my plan was to do 1.25 miles, that was what I was going to do.

So I don't know what it was - maybe it was the burrito I had at lunch (more fuel), maybe it was the chia seeds and cacao nibs I had this morning on my way to work, maybe it was the few sips of mountain dew I had on the way to the pool, maybe it was the rest from the taper, maybe it was the almost 10 days since my last swim, maybe it was the slight mechanical adjustment of keeping my elbow high and spearing my arm forward (as I discovered in my last swim post).  I have no idea what it was, but whatever it was - I want more.  I may not have been any faster than a typical swim, but it was certainly easier - and when talking about the prospect of doing a 2.4 mile swim - I'll definitely take it. 

2250 yds
39:44