Post Alaska week, and a 1000 yard TT in 21:39

Thursday SWIM 1500, with 1000 y TT 
Friday COMMUTE

I haven't written in the Alaska week yet, LOTS to say and update on! Later.

I didn't run again Thursday, I promised myself I'd take at least November off, and in my mind this week was included as November. The right leg is SO MUCH better - the peripheral knee pains are gone, most of the hip pain is gone. Remaining are the occasional sit bone-region pain, sometimes bilateral. And remaining is the right calf tightness, as if something is locked up or refuses to stretch. More time. 

Every time I get injured, I think it will never heal. And over time, it does. But in the Alaska week my strength training and PT and flexibility work fell off. Get back on!

Now for the swim! I haven't been to the pool since...Weds before Alaska? This TT was the final workout in the #MakeItWet [awful name, by the way] 1000y Beginner Swim Plan from Speedo. My re-introduction to swimming. I realized later I was probably more Intermediate level. The difference was pace, so I kept going with this one. 

So I had some concerns going into this. First, the plan had me doing only up to 300 yard intervals, how was I supposed to bridge them together without rest? I thought maybe I'd only let myself rest at every 200 or 250 or something. Second, being out of the pool for well over a week, what did that mean for muscular endurance, form, and all else? 

In the end, these seemed to be protective mental tricks -- thought measures created to prevent a feeling of failure or not-good-enough. And in the end, I just started the TT with no plan except to keep it Easy, Steady, and Calm. 

It worked!! I maybe only paused for an extra breath a few times, but I never stopped. I never got out of breath or sloppy. I never winded or felt out of air. I never felt my back and arms starting to burn or fade out. I did have some lower back tightness and subsequent fatigue and light pain the rest of the day, and the next day, but I felt that in the kick sets of the WU, not from the TT effort. 

I nailed it! And the split was perfect, a 500 at 10:46. The overall average pace was a 2:09 min/100y.

I think I'll put this swim into the first week of every month?