Had a child safety seat refresher course out of town today. So after driving and sitting in class most of the day I finally made it to the pool. I had not swam since last Thursday. And I could tell. Arms burned right away. Rythm was off, form was sloppy, and I felt like I had to keep taking large heaving breaths between strokes. I thought if it is this hard to swim after five days, what will be like running after several months.
Swam 1000 yards warmup. Mix of breast and free.
Next 1000 I alternated between free and breast every 100 yards. I decided just to go out hard and when I felt I could not hold pace any longer I would back off. I just wanted to feel fast for a little while. Turns out not only did I hold pace for the entire 1000, but I set a new PR (17:39.68) for this swim. I have always used this particular swim as a guide to where I am fitness wise. Today was a 10.06 seconds improvement. My average pace per 100 was 1:45.96, which was 1.01 seconds better than my old best. A lot of this had to do with having fresh arms.
Cooled down 1000 with another mix of free and breast. Took this very easy.
3000 - 55:18.97
Almost forgot. Went for a bone scan yesterday. The technician could barely see the stress fracture. She said it definitley was less noticeable than my last scan. Go to the doctor on Thursday for his opinion. I am sure running is still 2 or 3 months off, but I am glad to know the healing process is moving forward.
15 minutes - aqua jogging | 