I've been working on my mental game plan for this Saturday's 750m swim. 750m...no biggie....I can practically do it in my sleep and I think I may actually HAVE done it in my sleep during an early morning swim. At the last race, I went out too fast and spent a few moments floating and regrouping. My plan this time is to literally think about going out as slow as I can, and gradually build speed as I am able to do without crossing over into the land of hyperventilation.
I had a workout on Tuesday that was three sets of 300y, with #1 and #3 "fast" and #2 "easy" on a 5:45 cycle. I soon realized that the difference between "fast" and "easy"is not all that much and it's not worth the extra energy expenditure to try for "fast". (Funny how "fast" and "easy" can mean the same thing when describing a disreputable woman...)
I remember a workout before last fall's marathon with a long slow swim, where I did 27 laps, one for each mile I would be running. I think that was the first time where I felt like I could swim forever. So I'm going to lock into that feeling and ENJOY the swim, ENJOY the water, and keep it positive. I also refuse to break out of freestyle, I'm just not giving myself the option.
Jim recently posted this video analysis of my swimming. MUCH improved from a year ago, but lots of fun continuing to tweak it!