As a life long swimmer, swimming is therapy for me. It's my outlet to think about future Trimarni creations, for the right words and sentences for my articles and also my happy place to just be alone with my body and mind.
Unlike running, swimming is non-weight bearing and for my body, swimming is an opportunity for me to recover in the water and also to push in the water.
Unlike most sports, you can be moving for a long time but the distance you cover leaves you with the same sights as when you started. But, your body still knows you covered a specific amount of distance even though you are just swimming 25 yards at a time.
I really appreciate my good health when I swim.
I love how my muscles work to keep me moving. Stroke after stroke, they contract and relax to help me power through my strokes. Sometimes my muscles get tired and boy oh boy do I feel it, but then I really appreciate my good health in knowing that with a little rest I can still repeat my effort in the next 24-48 hours in the water.
And you better believe I can't wait until the next swim session is on my training plan from "coach Karel".
My lungs and heart are so important when I swim and I do not take them for granted. You never realize how much you love oxygen and the simple gift of breathing, until you jump in the water. Short breaths every 3-5 strokes and a constant build up of carbon dioxide until you finally get to rest at the wall. And then you get to do it all over again until the warm-up, main set and cool down is complete.
With the human body being so complex in its physiology, it's absolutely amazing how the body just knows what to do in the water. Here at 6 months old, I was a pretty happy baby. But nothing made me happier than being in the water....and my parents started me young with the baby swim sessions. Just plop the baby in the water type of "lesson." Without even knowing the skills to swim, I remember when my mom and dad took me to my first swim lesson and I just loved how free I felt in the water.
Plus, it was super fun to just be in the water and my parents always knew that when we went to any type of pool for fun, that it would be a struggle for me to agree to leave when it was time to go home. I remember always telling my parents, "just a few more minutes..pleeeeease???"
In honor of my love for swimming and all those years of my dad driving me to swim practices at 4:30am and then my mom taking me at 4pm the very same day, I created a great set that has a mix of strong and steady efforts for every type of swimmer.
Strong-steady swim set
1000 warm-up - mix it up (include drills, fins, kick, pull, etc. - stop as needed)
Main set #1:
6x's (with 20 sec rest in between, continue repeating until the 6 rounds are complete):
150 strong (~90%)
100 steady (~80%)
(if your form suffers, take extra rest and for less experienced swimmers, you can shorten the set to 100/100 OR 100/50 and keep the same effort and extend the rest interval as needed)
200 EZ
Main set #2:
6 x 50's (odd ~80%, even ~90%) w/ 10 sec rest
(if your form suffers, take extra rest)
200 EZ
Main set #2:
6 x 50's (odd ~80%, even ~90%) w/ 10 sec rest
(if your form suffers, take extra rest)
200 EZ
Total: 3200 yards
Just keep swimming, just keep swimming.....