First: I didn't swim last week. A chest infection and a runny nose made it hard to go up and down stairs without losing my breath, let alone swim for an hour. It lasted a week. I missed swimming a great deal. Being in the water, cutting through it, swimming my hardest, gives me a sort of release that I can't seem to find anywhere else. I get to be alone, and focus on whatever I need to. Sometimes, it's just working on my strokes, making them better and stronger, trying to get faster, especially if we're working on drills. But if I've had a bad day, or a lot of things on my mind, I can focus on those, and let my body go on autopilot for swimming, without anyone interrupting. Sometimes I find that I don't always have to think about my swimming to improve it. If I'm focusing on working my anger or frustration out, then I usually push myself harder.
I also weighed myself last weekend: 173.0 lbs. That's a pound and a half loss, which considering that swimming is only twice a week and I have been missing. I'm sure if I weighed in more often, I would see more fluctuation. Maybe I'll start weighing in more often.
Tonight: Tonight was freestyle night.
Here is what we did.
400 SKIP (100 of each)
4x50s Catch
3x200s 6-3-6 with flippers
3x100s Freestyle on the 1:30
2x200s Catch-up
200 Backstroke
3x100s Freestyle descending on 3:00
200 cool down
The only drill I don't believe I've described before is Catch. Tonight was the first time I've done it, and it was definitely difficult. You float face down in the water, and propel yourself forward, simply by pushing your arms through the water at the same time, at 90˚ angles, and picking your head to breathe. It is supposed to strengthen your upper body, and work your abdominals.
I definitely felt that tonight. I'm still recovering from my chest infection, but at the end of the night, I definitely felt like my stroke was stronger, and I was definitely exhausted.
I think Wednesday night is Butterfly night, which I'm dreading, but I will just have to deal.
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