My goal was 4500; I went 4550, holding 1:19s. My training partner pulled away at 3000 and finished with 4625; I didn't try to stay with him. The first 2500 felt great (effortless?), but after 3000 I began feeling hungry and didn't want to bonk (we swam at 7am so there was no prerace meal other than my usual latte). Surprisingly, my time at the 3000 mark was only 15 seconds slower than my 3000 Postal time in November. My breathing pattern for the first 3500 was two breaths on the left, one on the right--which worked well. Looking forward to tapering (and shaving) at the end of the month for the Charlotte meet where I'll be squaring off with the Geek (and my training partner) in the 500. One of my college coaches used to say that the 500 is a sprint. Now I believe him.
I think I have adequate conditioning. I need to focus on technique and race pace swimming.
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Former Member
Awesome swim Kristi!! Congratulations! You are tough. :applaud: I feel a bit better knowing that super strong free swimmers (like you!) also have to power through it and "gut it out."
Yea - as a kid I would cry and whine so as not to swim anything over a 200 (and I really did prefer 100s and 50s - 200s were getting into too long of a race for me). So, things haven't changed too much. Just trying something new to get in better shape (and trying to disprove that sprint OR distance mentality) -and attempting not to cry (as much) about it. It's funny that missing out on the distance stuff as a kid, I really missed out on a huge part of the sport!
I mentioned to my coach that distance free is like a completely different sport. There appears to be prolonged pain?! :dedhorse: :dedhorse: :dedhorse: When first getting into a bit of distance last year I was really like, "How do people do this?" It's better now. . .
It would be great to practice with eachother. But, your being in Idaho. . . Do you find yourself with mostly boys/ men as your training partners? That's what I have here in GA. They are frustrating at times (although I've found a good group now), but I'm thankful for it come competition time.
Thanks for posting! I hope to have the guts to try it again next year.
Awesome swim Kristi!! Congratulations! You are tough. :applaud: I feel a bit better knowing that super strong free swimmers (like you!) also have to power through it and "gut it out."
Yea - as a kid I would cry and whine so as not to swim anything over a 200 (and I really did prefer 100s and 50s - 200s were getting into too long of a race for me). So, things haven't changed too much. Just trying something new to get in better shape (and trying to disprove that sprint OR distance mentality) -and attempting not to cry (as much) about it. It's funny that missing out on the distance stuff as a kid, I really missed out on a huge part of the sport!
I mentioned to my coach that distance free is like a completely different sport. There appears to be prolonged pain?! :dedhorse: :dedhorse: :dedhorse: When first getting into a bit of distance last year I was really like, "How do people do this?" It's better now. . .
It would be great to practice with eachother. But, your being in Idaho. . . Do you find yourself with mostly boys/ men as your training partners? That's what I have here in GA. They are frustrating at times (although I've found a good group now), but I'm thankful for it come competition time.
Thanks for posting! I hope to have the guts to try it again next year.
