28 November 2021
I live in a place that is literally called "Snow Valley," so I shouldn't be surprised when it is almost December and the snows have started. Today's seems to be a gentle steady flow all day. The accumulation doesn't look all that great in my picture from inside the warm and completely empty LA Fitness pool, but I'm pretty sure that, by tomorrow morning, I'll be breaking out the snowblower before my Monday morning swim.
I'm not sure if it's the snow, holiday shopping or omicron that are keeping people away, but, other than about 10 minutes, I had the pool entirely to myself for 80 minutes and 4,500 yards, repeating the weekend check-in I've done the last three weeks on my 400 IM test set:
Warmup (1,750 yards)
1 x 400: IM kick-drill by 25s
4 x 100: on 1:20, free descend w/snorkel, 1:12, 1:10, 1:06, 1:03
4 x 100: on 1:45, IM kick on back descend, 1:33, 1:29, 1:26, 1:25
6 x 50: on 0:55, #1 and #6 cruise, #2 to #5 IM order strong, 0:34, 0:35, 0:39, 0:30
8 x 25: on 0:30, odds IM order fast, evens easy
1 x 50: easy
400 IM Test set (2,100 yards)
8 x 50: on 0:55, 2 each stroke, build the odds and make sure the evens are at target 400 IM race pace
My dream splits would be 29+ fly, 31+ back, 36+ breast, 29.0 free
10/10/13 - 29, 30+, 36-, 28-
01/26/20 - 34, 35, 40, 32
08/03/20 - 34, 35, 42, 32
09/21/20 - 37, 34, 42, 31+
10/02/20 - 32, 34, 40, 31
11/21/20 - 31, 32, 38, 29
11/13/21 - 32, 33, 39, 29
11/21/21 - 31, 32+, 38, 28
11/28/21 - 31, 32, 39, 28+
1 x 50: on 1:40, drill/cruise with snorkel
4 x 100: on 1:40, do as 100 IMs, descend to target 400 IM race pace divided by 4, ideally starting on #1 no slower than 12 seconds above that
(In the old days), my SCY target would be to descend from 1:14+ to 1:02
10/10/13 - 1:11+, 1:10, 1:07, 1:03+
01/26/20 - 1:22, 1:18, 1:14+, 1:10
08/03/20 - 1:27, 1:20, 1:15, 1:13
09/21/20 - 1:25, 1:21, 1:18, 1:15
10/02/20 - 1:22, 1:18, 1:14+, 1:11++
11/21/20 - 1:17+, 1:14, 1:10+, 1:07
11/13/21 - 1:21, 1:16, 1:12, 1:07
11/21/21 - 1:20, 1:16, 1:10, 1:06
11/28/21 - 1:20, 1:15, 1:09, 1:06
1 x 50: on 1:50, drill/cruise with snorkel
2 x 200: on 3:00, build each stroke on #1, try to make #2 at target 400 IM race pace divided by two (e.g., 2:05+ in SCY back when I dreamed of going 4:11)
10/10/13 - 2:28, 2:13+
01/26/20 - 2:42, 2:27
08/03/20 - 2:57, 2:37
09/21/20 - 2:48, 2:37
10/02/20 - 2:45+, 2:31
11/21/20 - 2:42, 2:25
11/13/21 - 2:40, 2:24
11/21/21 - 2:44, 2:20
11/28/21 - 2:43, 2:24
4 x 50: active recovery on 0:45, 0:50, 0:55, 1:30
1 x 400: IM on 5:30, hard
10/10/13 - 4:36 (1:05, 1:09, 1:20, 1:02)
01/26/20 - 5:05
08/03/20 - 5:30
09/21/20 - 5:18
10/02/20 - 5:09
11/21/20 - 4:58.7 (thanks Garmin Swim 2 watch for timing me!)
11/13/21 - 4:57
11/21/21 - 4:54+
11/28/21 - 4:55
4 x 50: active recovery on 0:45, 0:50, 0:55, 1:30
Kick It to Close (650 yards)
1 x 400: dolphin-flutter by 25s kick w/board, was 6:03 (an improvement over last week's 6:09)
5 x 50: active recovery on 0:40, 0:45, 0:50, 0:55, 1:00
During my warmup, I actually thought I felt a bit fresher, but, as I got into the test set, I could definitely feel that the 8KM of hiking/walking I did yesterday had taken a smidge of a toll on my legs.
This was my last longer, harder workout before I start my two week taper for the New England Masters Short Course Meters Championships. I am completely stoked to get back on the blocks and really race again. I'm trying hard not to set any expectations for myself, just aiming to go into this event for the joy of racing and as a "setpoint" for a new baseline.
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