After the recovery run, I had some time left and decided to go hit the pool for a swim session. On the way over, I debated on what I should do - extend the distance again (to 1.5 miles?), do something like 1 or 1.25 miles but break it up into 100 yd sprints with rest in between, or just do the same distance I did before?
I decided that my whole outlook on swimming is prioritizing form over any sort of speed work or fast splits - and since I recently found a mechanical alteration that may be beneficial, I should probably attempt to sink that into muscle memory first, before trying to do faster splits which would only lead to fatigue and compromised form. So, I'd do the same 2250 yd workout I did the last time. With a little luck, I'd recapture some of how I felt last time, which was sleek and fast in the water.
Unfortunately, I wasn't as lucky today. To start off with, I got water in my goggles in the first 50 yds (I think the pair I have is slightly too large, because it happens often enough to be annoying). Not a huge problem, but it'd mean I have to stop and pause to fix it - and I'm still getting used to the SportCount timer thing and in the past when I've tried to pause it, I ended up recording multiple extra super-short laps. I managed to pause the thing this time, fixed my goggles, and started off again, but then found after a couple more laps that the SportCount was only on lap 3. WTF? Something got missed - either it didn't capture my first couple laps, or it started over when I paused it. Neither option was sounding quite right. Oh well, I'd continue on with the count it was giving me.
Then the problem became that I was somewhat flustered, and if there is one thing that screws up swimming, it is when you are not relaxed. I am finding that when I am more relaxed, I move through the water more quickly and easily, but when I am not relaxed, I get short of breath, which leads to further tension, and it becomes a cycle that I have to consciously break out of. So, needless to say, this swim was not starting out very well. I was thrown off my game, flustered, and trying to play catch up by the time I hit 500 yds.
I eventually did sort most of it out by the time I reached 20-something laps. Most of it. It took until the mid-high 30's before I started really feeling like I was in a zen state again with the water, and by that time the session was just about over.
So in the end, not my best swim performance - but then again, when it comes to form, sometimes having to suffer through those trying times are what provides your brain and muscles with the contrast necessary that allows you to achieve a higher standard of mechanical motion next time.
Oh - at the end, I looked through the laps and realized what happened - I never quite hit the button between lap 2 and 3 - so they got combined into one lap. End result was that I did an extra 50 yds. I like the SportCount, but it is frustrating that I still have yet to use it when something doesn't go wrong - either accidentally clearing out all data, accidentally having an extra lap at the end, or somehow missing the button and two laps get counted as one.
2300 yds - 41:14
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