Recovering Lost Water

I swam 3500m starting at 10:30. The pool was 29 degrees C.

4x [400 Fistglove, 400 open-hand] hold SPL.

200 KK w/ zoomers, focus on kicking from hips.

100 FR ez

COMMENTARY

Last week one late night I suddenly came down with a fever and nausea and was in bed aching for a whole day. Then my wife got it and she was down for another day so I was on kid-duty rather than resting in bed like I needed to also. It kinda ruined Mother’s Day too since we were both an exhausted mess. In all I was out of swimming commission for several days, so this was the first day back.

Today then was about getting back in and loosening up again. I lost some ground, errr… water- both my lungs and muscles felt weaker than usual. I was more needy of breath than usual on the FG and I had a harder time holding a consistent SPL pattern. Even focusing was a challenge- both physically and mentally I have been strained lately.

But even in my post-sickness state, I was aware that my body was finding it’s ideal endless swimming pace, adjusting to today’s conditions. It was slower but it was efficient based on the resources I had available. I could have kicked it up a notch, but I knew I would also start to decline quickly as a result, further frustrating my focus and my form. But if I stayed near that threshold (which SPL holding sets do well) slowly the threshold would stretch out further and further and I will increase my pace, sustainably. This is what I call, easing into speed, rather than barging into it. Even under strained conditions there is a better path to improvement than just blasting the water.

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