Wednesday long swim

SWIM: 4500y in 1:45; MS of 10x300

RUN: 3.05 miles in just under 30 mins, ave HR 123bpm

DH and I started the day late, not leaving for the gym until almost 730. Damn it feels good to sleep in sometimes. But it also means I get to work late. Plusses and minuses.

I wasn’t super psyched about swimming but I think I start most every swim that way and warm into it. For whatever reason, the water seemed cooler today making me even less eager. But the temp is always the same there, so that’s a mind trick.

My buddy D was there—he just finished his 10K OWS and I was excited to hear about it! Amazingly, he ate only 1 gel at the 5K turnaround!

My set for the day was a 1000y WU with 400s, 200k, and 400p. I skipped the kick to rest the legs—they are pretty beat up from trackwork yesterday. Then the MS was 10x300. This both sounds long and sounds easy at the same time. 10 replicates ain’t all that much, and a 300 is only 6 laps. But it adds up to a 3000y! 

I broke the 10x300 into a 5x[2x300] by swimming the odd 300s and pulling the evens. Then I set goals of smffms (slow, med, fast) or ssmmff or smfsmf for each 300, doing whatever I did in the swim set also in the pull set. The time flew by! I was sloppy today but ticking right along. I also did the pull sets with a “skipped” breath, breathing every 4^th stroke.

Right away though I had a sharp pain in my upper left chest, in line laterally with my shoulder. It only happened when I took a deep breath during an open turn. It wasn’t from using the shoulder on the turn (I tested that) but rather just that I took my deepest breath at the turns. This continued with no other symptoms for the first 2000y or so of the swim. Then my right ITB hurt for awhile, then my triceps, then…mind tricks again! It’s hard to know what’s real and what’s fake sometimes. But a sharp pain in my chest got my attention. A rib? My heart? A rib muscle? My lung? Should I keep swimming or HTFU? Writing this hours later--no sign of the pain at all. 

The last 700y of the CD was a mix of drills and kicking, and finally I just broke down due to a lack of time and just pulled the rest. It was satisfying to see “90” on my lap counter! J

The run was an EASY and SLOW run to work as I did last week, again using the camelback to carry stuff. I did today’s run in the same time and ave HR as before.

My legs were tight and sore last night. I did a few rounds on the foam roller to see what would come of it. I’m wondering if I finally know what a knot feels ilke—I have some painful areas to roll, especially in my quads close to my hips. But the left knee issue from yesterday is gone. But I’m keeping an eye on things. A very close eye. Maybe too close.