As Tuscaloosa fast approaches I find myself realizing how fast the swim is going to be. This has the potential to be the fastest/toughest swim i've ever done in a race period. There are faster swimmers here (McLarty, Dye, Collins, Fleischmann, the list goes on) than the worlds cups i've done in a smaller/diverse field making it harder to hide in the pack. Looks like one loop from what I can gather with a straight shot 600m to the first bouy. All these aspects are gonna make it strung out and ON!
That being said, each swim workout leading up to this race takes on added importance to be done correctly and made the most of. At the beginning of this week I noticed one set in partiuclar on the program that caught my attention as the key to the key sessions, 8x300m Z4 (1500m TT pace). Mon-Wed held some key workouts as well, all making this set seem that much more important to be done with some fatigue.
Yesterday I found myself saying to myself...'8x300m its not that bad, if you get tired you can always use the crutch and pull a couple' Letting this thought enter my mind was one flaw, but actually believing it was worse. Later that night I went back on myself and stated 'What are you thinking? No, no pulling, even if you've sunk to the bottom your swimming that set througout. And dammit your gonna swim it well!'. The crutch had been removed. No crutches.
So, this morning after a good warmup, the ever positive DWL and I hit the set with a focused mindset to GET THE WORK DONE AND DO IT WELL! Although we did not have the ideal set up of swimming side by side there was a definite connection during the set that fueled both of us. Even though I saw Derek only at turns and for 20s at the wall each rep I knew as I swam that there was a guy 10m ahead in the same situation doing the same work.
It was no surprise that throughout the set this connection grew. When all was said and done we had completed perhaps the most consistent endurance set for both of us this year.
Money in the bank and laughing all the way there....
1 comment:
Lots to be said for doing your sets well instead of just going through the motions. Dude you are a fireball, and a fast one at that. Stoked to see what you can do at Tuscaloosa.
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