5,500 Meter Swim

I kicked off my President's Day Monday with a challenging 5,500 meter work out from Coach Bonnie. This is a workout that will establish some base times so that I can start interval training. 

Francis and I dragged ourselves out of bed at 5:15, and headed to the West Side YMCA. I wanted to have the most accurate times that I could, so Francis graciously agreed to sit on the side of the pool and time the sets that needed timing. He looked like quite the coach with his stopwatch, TYR jammers, and clipboard! I was so glad that he was there, and felt really guilty since he did not have Monday off. It helped to see his face on the turns and have someone there in case something went wrong. I have a great swim caddy :)

I swim in a 25 meter pool, so a 100 is 4 laps. Multiply all sets by 4 for the number of laps:

800m Warm Up. Include at least 200 yards of kicking and mix in some stroke (breaststroke, back, and fly).

10 x 100m Free with 10 seconds rest to see what time you can hold.  Get times. 
-Basically 10 100m Freestyles with a 10 second rest between each set.

2 x Broken 1500m (1500 is a mile) Get times.

1) Build up
100m (Rest 10 seconds)
200m (Rest 15 seconds)
300m (Rest 20 seconds)
400m (Rest 25 seconds)
500m (Rest 30 seconds)

2) Try descending these
500m ( Rest 25 seconds)
400m (Rest 20 seconds)
300m ( Rest 15 seconds)
200m ( Rest 10 seconds)
100m

10 x 25m (These make me feel like a dolphin!)
Odd under water
Even sprint

200m Cool Down

There were a few moments of "and why am I doing this again?", but for the most part it felt awesome! The worst part of winter training is not getting those long swims in quite as easily. Pools are really boring when you have swam by the sights of Coney Island and NYC. Plus, no waves, current, or salt water. 

One funny mishap! One the first 300 of the Build Up set, I miscounted and still had 4 to go, which Francis very kindly reminded me of. Then, on the same set, my goggles came off and I finished the last 25 meters with my eyes closed. 

The best part of the day thought was getting to replenish those calories at Eataly with my roommates and some friends. Nothing like food well earned and well prepared! 

Hold Fast,
Laura