Pure Austin Open Water Race Series, September 2015 race report.
I actually didn't intend to do this swim. Our Tuesday runs have moved from earlyearly morning to afterwork (so much warmer, but less humid, and we often get post-run popsicles), so I expected to be running Tuesday night. Then Karen had a board meeting that evening, so moved our run to the earlyearly morning again. So I could swim. Did I want to swim? I wasn't really sure. But it was probably my last chance to do this swim this year, so I went.
I hadn't swam since Thursday, and while I'd run twice (including hills that morning), and felt decent doing so, I hadn't really used my arms. I got in the water early and warmed up, and .. my arms felt pretty rough. Tired, sluggish, sore. But I warmed up for 15 minutes, then headed back to the start.
MUCH smaller turnout this time, and I lined up 2nd row at the front, just figuring I'd see what happened. We started, and I began battling with everyone else. Amusingly, even though this was the smallest start group we've had, it was also the most aggressive and took the longest to spread out. I didn't really feel like I wasn't swimming on top of people until we got to the first dock.
Then I suppose I settled in, but I never really felt like I settled in. The whole swim felt difficult. I tried to stay as strong as I could, but I just felt like I was flailing the whole time. My form felt wrong, my arms felt tired and bad, and I just couldn't find any sort of rhythm. I wondered whether I'd even consider stopping after one loop, but I didn't feel THAT bad, so I just kept trying my best.
It seemed to take forever to swim those two loops, and I never really warmed up or felt better, but I got through it. Came out of the water at 26:04 on my watch (no official results yet), which is a full minute slower than last month, 1:04 slower than July. Given how consistent my last two were, I'd say it's pretty telling that this was an entire minute slower. However, I can't be at all upset about swimming a 26:04 out there, given that my slow and steady laps are still 15 minutes each, so yay!
In case I wonder in the future whether it's a good idea to do a swim race 5 days after swimming 10k? Yeah, maybe not. My arms and entire body felt worse the next morning than they had after the 10k. Definitely some resting in order now. Well, for my arms anyway. Marathon training continues!
I hadn't swam since Thursday, and while I'd run twice (including hills that morning), and felt decent doing so, I hadn't really used my arms. I got in the water early and warmed up, and .. my arms felt pretty rough. Tired, sluggish, sore. But I warmed up for 15 minutes, then headed back to the start.
MUCH smaller turnout this time, and I lined up 2nd row at the front, just figuring I'd see what happened. We started, and I began battling with everyone else. Amusingly, even though this was the smallest start group we've had, it was also the most aggressive and took the longest to spread out. I didn't really feel like I wasn't swimming on top of people until we got to the first dock.
Then I suppose I settled in, but I never really felt like I settled in. The whole swim felt difficult. I tried to stay as strong as I could, but I just felt like I was flailing the whole time. My form felt wrong, my arms felt tired and bad, and I just couldn't find any sort of rhythm. I wondered whether I'd even consider stopping after one loop, but I didn't feel THAT bad, so I just kept trying my best.
It seemed to take forever to swim those two loops, and I never really warmed up or felt better, but I got through it. Came out of the water at 26:04 on my watch (no official results yet), which is a full minute slower than last month, 1:04 slower than July. Given how consistent my last two were, I'd say it's pretty telling that this was an entire minute slower. However, I can't be at all upset about swimming a 26:04 out there, given that my slow and steady laps are still 15 minutes each, so yay!
In case I wonder in the future whether it's a good idea to do a swim race 5 days after swimming 10k? Yeah, maybe not. My arms and entire body felt worse the next morning than they had after the 10k. Definitely some resting in order now. Well, for my arms anyway. Marathon training continues!