One last push: the accidental 4,850-yd. swim

Don’t you love the last hard workout before a big event?

The last long swim or speed workout before a race is almost as climactic as the event itself, and it carries the promise of something wonderful ahead: well-deserved rest.

Last night marked my last hard swim before the 2-mile Chris Greene Lake Cable Swim in Charlottesville, Va. on Saturday, and I breathed a long sigh of relief — and exhaustion — upon finishing. The 4,850-yard workout followed a long session in the gym working on core and  stability stuff, which means I am one tired swimmer today.

Here’s the funny thing: I hadn’t intended to do anything this intense. I set out to do a 3,500. But my husband and I had a swim date, and when he arrived later than I did, I lengthened my workout just a bit to give him time to finish. He usually swims for about 30 minutes, so I timed my workout accordingly, throwing another 300 at it … and then another … and then another. Homeboy just kept on swimming! After a random 200 IM so slow, I had to call it a cooldown, I called it a day.

Here’s how the workout went down:

Timed 1,650 w/pull buoy: 25 minutes even (ehhh)

3X400 IM (1,200)

5X300 free, first seven strokes over every 50 hard (1,500)

6X25 sprint, 6X25 no breath (300)

200 IM cooldown

I’ll swim once more before Saturday, a short, easy effort on Wednesday. My arms are already grateful for the break.

Next up: I plan to run with Pacers Fun Runners both tonight and Thursday, as I *finally* have an appointment with my running doc on Friday to check out my not-so-sore-anymore hip. I’m using this appointment to gauge my readiness to start my Marine Corps Marathon training plan in earnest, so I don’t want to baby the hip too much beforehand. It’s no good if your car stops making that noise before you bring it to the mechanic, right?