Monday Morning *cough* Swim

With the days of June almost at an end I figured I'd better get in another swim cold or no cold.  My goal this week is to swim today, Tuesday and Wednesday before I head up to Ojai on Friday for a Wedding.  This week will hopefully be my first week back at the gym in a few weeks.  Time to get back into dry land training and work on some muscle building. 

On Friday one of my coaches pointed out to me that my catch in my freestyle is really good but I really needed to work on my long axis.  Since I started to use paddles in my workout I've noticed that my catch is a lot better as using paddles has allowed me to work on my hand position and pull.  Now if I can only get some rotation and kick into it I'd be flying.  Or is that freestyling?  With that in mind my warm up today I did a 300 swim, 200 pull with paddles and a 100 drill.  The 100 drill was swordfish drill.  Swordfish drill is when you are on your side kicking with one arm in front while you are looking down.  You kick an x amount of kicks then pull switching to the other side.  It's a common drill called various other things.  It's goal is to get you to rotate.  As I swim pretty flat and don't kick it's one drill I need to work on.

After that it seemed our coach was reading my mind.  Our warmup set was a 125 kick with at least a 75 swordfish drill.  Then a 50 drill and then a 50 swim.  Somehow the lanes got a bit confused but we managed it.  Out of the 125 I did the first 75 swordfish followed by 50 kick with board which was the opposite of the other swimmers.  I found it amusing how many people gave up on swordfish and was pretty much swimming the portion of that drill. 

300 Pulling w/Paddles.  First 200 distance per stroke.  I took the whole 300 as an easy pull while working on hand entry and pull.  Pulling with paddles is such a joy for me. When I first started pulling months ago with paddles I found it a bit difficult then I started to focus on hand entry and the catch and over time it got easier and easier.  Somehow without thinking about the catch and pull it carried over to my swimming.  Now if only I could get that swordfish drill to carry over.

Then we went on to some pace work.  6x100's Freestyle swim on 1:15.  I was holding 1:08's.

500 SCY for time pushing off in the water.  I finished up with a 5:42.  At each one hundred I did my flip turn, stopped a moment and looked at the clock.  I am still working on the whole idea of pacing a swim.  Last week's swim meet was the first time the concept became a reality for me so I just gotta keep remembering to think about my swimming.  To know my pace and keep on it.  Before it was all a mad scramble to get from one wall to the other.  I will admit battling a cold and trying to hold a pace isn't easy.  My breathing was a bit labored and in the end.  I think if I had been feeling better my time would have been better.  But at least I was far ahead of anyone else.  Then again it was 6am and the uber "fasties" didn't show up.  Well one of them did but  he hasn't been swimming much so that doesn't count. 

After a 100 easy we did some stroke work kick/drill/swim.  After that we did a few 25's spring.  I think we did 6.  I did 4 fly, 1 back and 1 free.  I hate 25's.  I just get warmed up and it's time to stop.  The intervals were way to easy so my pattern of warming up and getting faster by each 25 wasn't happening.  I slacked off and then did a 100 warm down.

All in all not too bad considering I'm still hacking up lung.  I'm at the point of a cold that it's pretty much gone but still a little remains are lingering.