The sorta failed 12x100 test

SWIM 1hr and 2400y, MS of 12x100

This was Wednesday's missed swim, rescheduled for today as I figured that not having another session today would allow me to focus here. I was focused, alright. Focused on finishing, no matter what.

Stubborn vs Determined. The Blerch vs The Bee.

I started off OK with the 400 swim, 250 pull, and 250 kick. But the pool and air above it seemed cold, again, and it was starting to wear on me. Once again it was 3F outside (as the overhead radio reminded us) so why can't the pool at least be a little more comfy? Whiiiiiinnnne.

So by the time I came to the main set (12x100 at race pace with 10s rest), during which I was supposed to collect time and interval times, I wasn't into it. My form was sloppy. I was distracted by a few things, not the least of which was the woman sharing my lane and swimming past me so fast it was depressing. But mostly the fact that I wasn't letting myself push off the wall, so as to rest the arches in my feet. Assuming that my wall pushes had anything to do with my arches. Deciding that meant that my 100 times wouldn't be "real" times, and that fed into my mental "this doesn't count/this isn't real" decline.

I wanted to just quit. I'd already fought off a Blerch attack at the lockers when he said that I was already running late (not really, only 30 mins or so) and that I should save time by just leaving with a quick shower. Now he was back, telling me that since this swim "wouldn't count", it wasn't worth doing.

Now here I was hanging on the wall, wanting to do the swim anyway. The first interval was 2 mins, my usual 100 time + 5-10 seconds. I reminded myself about the lack of wall pushes, and started the 2nd. Same time. The next 5 or so 100's clicked away with awful form that continued to degrade.

I was Determined, but it was turning into Stubborn. Things were falling apart yet I couldn't stop.

My intervals fell to 2:05 and 2:06. The woman alongside me must have been laughing between her fast sets.

Around interval 6 I forced myself to wait longer than 10 seconds. Stop for 30s, 60s, just stop and regroup! Be Determined, not Stubborn!

I ended up repeating this longer wait every few intervals, and while I'd feel good the first 25 any semblance of good form didn't last. I tried to be long in the water, torpedo-ish, tried to get my butt up to the surface, tried to find my catch...no luck. This was getting awful.

But I stubbornly continued. Dead set on doing this set to the finish. The final sets were still just over 2 mins, ranging in the 2:02 to 2:05 range. I'd like to think that my wall pushes could make up the difference. Am I kidding myself?

On a good note, my feel felt great today. I wore my Born shoes yesterday and today, they don't seem to have obvious arch support but they feel good all day anyway. This is a huge improvement over Wednesday!