Aero Swimming

I finally got a chance to play with my new aerobars! I finished wrapping them last night and had to get an unusual evening ride in since I skipped the previous day. I also picked up taller spacers for the arm rest to bump me up a bit higher.

Immediately my shoulders felt much better. The wider stance of these aerobars allowed my shoulders to not sit against the 'inner edge' of my joint. The relief from the pressue was welcomed, however while my back and shoulders felt great, the pain moved to my wrists lol! Not so much pain, but a strange lack of range of motion. The angle in my wrist needed to grab the pars is just a bit beyond what my wrists comfortably can do. I played a bit with my wrist positions but haven't given up yet. I think I'll stick with this setup for another week before making adjustments, I have to consider it is because I am  not accustomed to the new riding position. Oh and I did screw up one other thing on the big parts order - I purchased a riser kit for my aero bars except the bars I bought came with all the different sizes already in the package. Soooo now I got a bunch of spacers that I'm not using. At least it was cheap lol!



Since TP Likes Cats so much.... :)



Doubling up on the workout, I hit the pool as well. When we got into the water I was beside two other triathlete regulars. Just before the workout began the two of them discussed what tonights workout consisted of for them. The one guy was like "8x200 4 x 400, 2 minute rests blah blah blah" as did the other guy. They turned to me and I responded with a simple "1 x 3500m". They looked perplexed. The one guy knows I don't stop so he kinda scoffed at that method but I assured him I'm almost doing the same as them, except I dont stop between 'sets'. I will sprint the 400 but I will follow it up with an easy 50-100 at a lower effort, instead of coming to a complete stop. There is no bottom to stand on in a race, so why sprint hard and come to a stop in practice? Part of the challenge for me is to use the active-recovery laps to conciously bring my heartrate down all while still producing a forward motion. Not your typical swimmer's training technique but just the same - Ironman is not typical swimming. Most 'real' swimmers train for short intense bursts, thus the intervals are used in training. Triathletes take on this swim training structure but is it necessarily appropriate for the lengthy sustained output for a long-distance swim? I don't think so. I live and die by "What you do in practice, is what you will do in a race". Dont stand, dont kick off the wall, no stopping. Anyhow, obviously all the top trainers and programs incorporate these drills and I'm sure it works for them and may even have some science to back up the reasons why its better to train that way. Maybe I'll even adopt that method. In the meantime though, I'll stick to what works for me. The fun part - when they sprinted there 400's I would deliberately catch and pass them, even after they had a rest. This lead to the most intense swim session Ive ever had! I do this all the time, but this time I took little to no rest since I was playing that game with the both of them. So It was pretty much non-stop 85% perceived exertion. Lots of fun! :)

TRAINING:

Bike - 0:50hrs on New Aerobars
Swim - 1:00hr Speed session