Tri Class #15: track workout and swim

I actually didn't go to the workout last night, but I got the scoop from the coach as to the workout so I could do it on my own.

The run involves a warmup (~ one mile) and then three one-mile repeats around the track with 2 minutes rest in between. Each repeat should be run slightly faster than your 10k pace. Follow this with a 20 minute cool-down jog.

The swim: 45 minutes to one hour. The first half as drills and the second half just swimming.

I did the swim part today, well 36 minutes of it, and I had meant to do the run after work, but my car died unexpectedly this morning, so I'm dependent on my husband today. Dealing with the car takes precedence over the workout, so I doubt it's going to happen.

The swim was ok. Did 1200 yards (~1100m). I started doing my first flip turns today. On the very first one, I got a ton of water up my nose. Very uncomfortable. I learned pretty quickly that you breathe in right before the flip and exhale out your nose as you rotate. I'm starting to get the hang of it, but I have this strange feeling that my butt is out of the water for rather a long time while I'm doing the flip part.

I did finger-drag, fist-swimming, and catch-up drills. I counted strokes a bit, and I seem to have dropped from 25 strokes per 25 yards, to 24 strokes. It doesn't seem like much, but it's going to happen one stroke at a time, so I'm happy.

In contrast, I counted the fellow in the lane next to me who seemed to know what he was doing, although his wearing board shorts belies this. He took 19 strokes, in spite of the shorts. Maybe he's intentionally causing drag.