Finding Hope in the Pool

Yesterday was my first day back in the pool in over two months. I was dreading finding how out of shape I was but ended up being pleasantly surprised. While I did feel pretty out of shape, I felt considerably worse when I started swimming back up last year. My pull felt weak but nothing that some technique work can't fix. After some drills and kicking I did 5 x 100 at a moderate pace and was happy to see times that I was holding over the summer when I was in peak training. At the end of the workout I did a 100 for time just to see where I'm at and was shocked when I put up a 1:09. I don't know if I ever went faster than a 1:08 over the summer.

Those are not my Crocs

I've been running a few times a week but have hardly seen any progress. The paces I'm holding are more than a minute per mile slower than normal. After a few weeks it's pretty defeating. I've been trying to remain optimistic that my speed and endurance will both come back before Cherry Blossom 10 Miler but to be honest it's getting difficult.

I can't begin to explain how happy I was with my swim yesterday. After two solid weeks of doubting everything, seeing that I haven't lost everything restored my faith that my running fitness will come back. It was also a reminder to focus on the big picture. Cherry Blossom is not a goal race for me and while I don't like doing races just for run, I think I will be okay with not PRing. Seeing those paces in the water got me really excited for what I will be able to do in the summer, when it really matters.

This was also proof that all the strength training I've been doing has been working. It's easy to do the strength work and assume it will work because everyone and their dog says it's beneficial. It's a complete other thing to experience first hand those benefits. Although I had no intentions of stopping lifting any time soon, I am going to be even more religious about not missing a trip to the gym.

Here's the workout I did. I've been asked to share what workouts I do in the pool so here ya go!
200 warm up
6 x 50, 25 swim/25 kick @ 10 seconds rest
6 x 50, count strokes @ 10sr
200 drill
5 x 100 moderate @ 10sr
200 drill
6 x 50 kick @ 20sr
1 x 100 for time
100 cool down