Raining & Swimming

Workout:
60 min. swim; 1250 yards

Imagine doing a lap around the track with only one functioning leg. Only one leg that powers you forward, while the other just drags lifelessly behind...holding you back more than helping you. That's what the last two laps of my interval training set felt like.

My main set was 600 yards broken down into:
6 x 50 @ 1:30
Translation: each lap is 25 yards. So 6 x 50 means I complete two laps in 1min., 30sec....and then do that FIVE more times. I was completing each 50 (or, 2 laps) in just over a minute...so, I would have almost 30 seconds to hang out on the wall and catch my breath before I had to go complete two more. But as I became more tired...I took longer, and as a result, had lest rest time before it was time to go again. Then...
12 x 25
     - 4 @ :45
     - 4 @ :40
     - 4 @ :35
* take extra rest between each set of 4 *
Translation: Four laps in a set, each lap in under 45 seconds. I finished the first one in a little over 30 seconds, and had a whopping 15 seconds to recover before I completed the second, also in 45 seconds, and again and again. Then, rest for 2 min. But guess what!? In what seems like a cruel joke, as I became more and more fatigued, I took longer and as a result had less rest time. But the next set of 4 had to be completed in even less time! Until by the final set left me with only a few seconds to catch my breath before leaving for another lap.

    Taken from my slow lane, 49:54 into the workout.

It was the last two of these; of the 4 laps in 35 seconds that I was really only using one arm to pull me through the water. Because instead of breathing every third stroke and rotating sides, I was breathing only on my right side every time, swinging my right arm up and over with force and then just dragging my left one along. I was aware of it, and it felt weird...but it was all I could do to finish. At the end of that set, I immediately took off my goggles, moved my swim cap up over my ears (I can't hear, and the glasses make me feel claustrophobic) and gasped for air on the wall, happy to be done. Right then I noticed it was starting to rain. After I caught my breath, I put my goggles back on and did a slow 2 laps as a cool-down. My ears and face felt cool in the water, as if I was too hot or maybe even sweating a little. It was difficult to make it through that interval and it felt so good to finish.

    Kieth and his umbrella. Workout finished! Week two down!