Long distance training ... kind of.

For most people, finding motivation to do things is usually hardest on Mondays. Not for me, though. I tend to fall apart by the end of the week and after taking a breather during the weekend, I look forward to starting my weekly exercise goal on Mondays.

Today, however, I did get off to a late start. I had to take my car to get the windshield replaced at 9 a.m., so I didn't get to the Roy Recreation Center until about 11:15. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays I will usually run, bike and swim, but given my late start, I skipped the run and bike and hopped straight in the pool (lap swim only lasts until 1 p.m.).

Roy Recreation Center pool, my home away from home

I'm currently training for the South Davis Masters Swim Meet in November and it will be my first official swim meet since I was in high school. Although I've been swimmming a lot during the past 6-7 months and have already competed in a few open water marathons (1 mile and 5k), I'm still incredibly nervous and feel somewhat unprepared.

My events are the 1,650-yard freestyle on the first day of the meet and the 500-yard free and 200-yard free on the second day. All three are short distances compared to what I've been doing (1-2 miles per swim), but my speed and technique are a major concern, not to mention I haven't done a start or a flipturn in almost nine years.

Anita -- a lifeguard at the Roy Rec Center, who also happens to be the Roy High swim coach -- gave me a few workouts to increase my endurance over short distances, as strange as that may sound. My long-distance endurance isn't too bad, but to cut out two-thirds of my normal swim and increase the pace ten-fold, it requires a different type of training and endurance.

Here's what I did today.
Warm up
400 free
Core
500 free broken set time: On the 8:00 rest 10 seconds after each distance
200 free
150 free
100 free
50 free
500 free broken descend time from above time
200 free
150 free
100 free
50 free
4x50 pull 25 head out, 25 two breaths only
4x50 free 25 hard, 25 easy on the 1:00
Cool down
200 free

Eventually, I'm supposed to be able to do the 500 broken sets three times, but right now, I can only pull off two and still finish the other sets. I did the first 500 in 7:58 and the second barely a second faster at 7:57. The 50 pull, head out, 25 two breaths only completely gasses me. Sprinting and swimming at a much harder pace is something I'm certainly not used to. Low and slow is usually my game. We'll try it again tomorrow.

Total distance: 1.7 miles