After a week of pretty punishing cycling workouts, I really was ready to hit the pool. Well, kind of ready. The last few times I've been in I was disappointed because I bonked way too early, and only got in a few laps. To me, 3 laps just isn't enough to be happy with spending time in the pool. Tonight I had hoped to get in a few more laps, maybe even double my previous efforts. What I did this time was set a time limit, I was going to spend at least 30 minutes in the pool, and just do laps as I could.
With this in mind, I got to the pool. Tonight, for a change, it was a quiet time and the pool was pretty empty. Getting a lane wasn't an issue, and I hopped in and got adjusted to the water (I mean, there's really only one way to adjust to water temp, and that's feet first!). Once I got in, I did a little bit of warming up, and took a lap. What I noticed first is that my form is horrible (something I'm really going to have to work on) and that I was tired after 25m. After the first full lap I was pretty darned spent. I was determined to not bomb out after 3 laps this time, so I rested for a little bit, and went out for another lap. At the halfway point I stopped to catch my breath, and this time instead of just doing freestyle on the way back I did a backstroke. I was still pretty darned tired by the time I got back, but at least I wasn't doubled over and feeling my heart attempting to leave my chest. It took a little less time to recover, so I went out again.
I repeated this same cycle for several laps, and realized I had gotten to 8 laps and still had over 5 minutes left to go in my 30 minute time period. I went out for 2 more laps going freestyle out and backstroke back, and still had just enough time for a last lap. I decided I'd encap the set with freestyle both ways, since it seemed to be the more exhausting of the moves for me (probably because my form was so bad). The way back wasn't easy, but I managed to complete the 11th lap. At the end I was tired, but also I also felt very accomplished. 11 laps is a number that I can be happy with completing, and to me it's a real starting point. I wasn't quite to "jelly arms" this time, but I think that's because I was working on a recovery strategy the entire time so I could go longer.
My hope is that as I work in more swimming into my routine I can see gains similar to my success in biking in the pool.
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