first water

Fred Hatfield would be proud. Well, that’s probably saying too much. But morning workouts are my thing now. Today I swam in the UCSB short course. It’s the kiddy pool, sure, but I’m working hard (seriously) and feel my day at the big boy pool is close. Sundays are the exception. The fish that show up for mid-week morning swims are fast. They don’t show up at 11:00 on Sunday. That’s when I do long course work. My day is coming though. Today saw my 100m times around 1:15. I’m not going to say that’s not bad. But it’s not horrendous. The super motivating thing about the UCSB pool is there’s always a population of strong swimmers there, at least in the morning, and the two pools are about 30′ apart. And most mornings there’s a team taking up most of the long course lanes, which is good and bad. The good part is I get to see their work outs. The bad part is they make me feel like a wanker.

the numbers:

• 300m free
• 10 x 100m free @ 3:00
• OK, 3:00 is a lot of rest. My focus here though, is to be fast. I believe fast sets promote good technique. When learning (or re-learning) strokes, or developing technique in general, I believe a swimmer needs to feel fast water, and feel all the tiny adjustments that reduce drag and stretch out a stroke.
• 100m times here were between 1:15 – 1:20.
• 100m fly drill 
• 100m free kick
• 100m free/fly kick w/ short fins, alternating