Consistency Part II

Will was so nice this morning. Wednesday is a 3-workout day, so he let this morning's workout be light. I think it was lighter than he had originally planned because I said I was tired and needed a nap, but we'll do more this evening. Zach and Bill were down there with us today, and Will's friend Natalie joined us, too. This was probably the worst morning for focus. At least the TV was off so there was one less distraction.

• Wall squat: 10 sets of 4 altitude drops with a break in between each set, during which I was supposed to visualize recovery. My fave.
• Push up: 10 sets of 4 altitude drops with a break in between each set, during which I was supposed to visualize recovery.
• Crate crunch: 5 sets of 40 quick-style reps with 30 seconds between each set.

Then I got my nap. Actually it was less of a nap (although I did sleep some) and more of just pouring my heart out to God. I don't know what my problem was this morning. I got up to go swim, and as much as I didn't want to go, I'm so glad I did.

• 200 warm up
• Something else
• 300 pull
• 10 sets of 50s
• 2 sets of 50s
• 1,100+

We were supposed to do a 50 and get about 10 seconds rest before we started the next 50 but keep the same time interval regardless. So I swim about 42-second 50s and was going on 55. I was third in line behind Heather and Leanne until I caught Leanne. We were doing well holding 55s until the last 3 or 4 when we went on 60. I went as close to 55 as I could without having to worry about catching Heather. I was consistently coming in between 40 and 42 seconds; I was thrilled about the consistency, but definitely have some work to do on time (33 seconds is an attainable goal, at least for one, and 28 seconds is an aggressive goal). Even though I wasn't doing consistent reps yesterday, I was swimming consistently today. The last 2 50s were actually supposed to have been part of another set of 10, but I had to get out. Everyone else put their flippers on and I went without, starting 5 seconds behind Leanne and trying to catch her.

I felt great the entire time. I wasn't getting tired, 10 seconds was plenty of rest, and I wasn't getting slower (neither was I getting faster) as time went by. I can't say I was thinking about chest up and good strokes, but I'm hoping that if I think about it all during the gym workouts, I won't have to think about it at all while I'm racing—I'll just do it right and well. Ginny mentioned this morning that they are considering putting together a Masters' Swim Meet for the adult swimmers at the local Ys. How cool would that be!

It's a good thing the swim was good, because the afternoon  workout was anything but. 100 altitude drops:

• Scapular pull up
• Glute ham
• Wall squat
• 1-leg squat (skipped)
• Bench press w/30-lb bar, then 2–3 min break
• Bench press w/20-lb bar

I skipped the 1-leg squat because I just couldn't do it. I did about 6 on one leg, stopped, started again, stopped, went into the hallway (I was at the CSY) to try to collect myself and refocus Will asked later if I was going out to sulk—hardly!), started again, and then quit. The bench press was extremely hard, even with only 20 lb. I might have been able to do only about 15 at a time, but I was determined to finish.

When I got home I went over to talk to Will. This is going to happen frequently and I needed him to know that. When I was doing just 3 days a week, I could do it and, if I wasn't doing well, just do it again the next day and do it right. But if we're working out every day, I can't save a workout for the next day because I can't do it that day. I don't know if he really understood/understands, but maybe.