I did the Masters workout this morning.

In the course of the workout I did 3 X 100 meters @ 1.35 seconds per stroke. My times were 2:11, 2:11, 2:13.

I also did 6 X 50 meters @ 1.20; 1.25; 1.30; 1.35; 1.37; 1.38 seconds per stroke. My first repeat took about 57 seconds and 45 strokes. I did pretty well sticking to about 45 - 47 strokes per length on the other repeats. My time ended up being somewhere around 1:03.

We also had to put on fins and do a bunch of 50 butterfly / 50 backstroke. We did the fly as long as we could. I did my best fake of butterfly for as long as 25 meters. Wearing the full size fins obviously made a huge difference. But, I had no idea of how to time my kick or breathing. It was still fun pretending that I was doing butterfly, though.

I hadn't looked at the spreadsheet to see what my worktout is for today. I thought it was only a swim. So, I came home and had breakfast after the swim. Once I looked at the spreadsheet I realized I was supposed to do fifteen minute Zone 2 run. I gathered my gear while I was letting my food go down and headed out the door about one hour after finishing breakfast.

I had my metronome and my heart rate monitor. Unfortunately, the strap on the HR monitor is pretty much shot. So, I had to keep fiddling with it to put it back in place. I decided that my major focus was going to be the arm swing. I also had to keep reminding myself to relax my shoulders.

The fifteen minutes went by quickly enough. I was dressed a bit too warm, though. It's snowing right now and I guess I overcompensated just a little bit.

All in all this was a most excellent start to my 30 week program. The swim workout was much more effective and enjoyable having had a few days off. I think it was definitely the right call to scale back the frequency of my swimming.

For the time being, I will maintain restraint and just stick to the workouts as specified in the program. I'd rather make it through the program being undertrained and not make as many gains as I otherwise could have, than overdo it and injure myself. I won't complain if I find the "Just Finish" program to be too easy. Next season I should be in good shape for the Intermediate program. Stay tuned throughout this season to see if my opinion of how "easy" this program is changes.

p.s. As surprising as it may seem, I'm actually wondering if I should consider finishing up the season with a full IM. I got an insert with the shipment of my Trisuit for Tri for a Child and I could actually get into Boulder IM if I become a member of the Tri for a Child IRONMAN team. I'll need to pledge to raise $5000 dollars though. IM Boulder is one week too early anyway. There aren't any official Ironman IM distance races listed for the following weekend. There is the half IM Distance in Michigan.