I love to swim but there's something so special about swimming in the Kona ocean. While you always see brightly colored fishes swimming happily around you, it's not uncommon to see a pod of dolphins or a cute little dog on a boat, waiting for salty kisses. Oh the things you see in the bright blue waters of Kona.
After IMWI, I was itching to race again. I am actually still wanting to do another race (half Iroman) but my options are limited due to our upcoming travels and other events. Earlier this year, I signed up for my 3rd Hincapie Gran Fondo here in Greenville, SC which will officially conclude my 2018 "racing" season. However, I still have one more event approaching - the 2.4 mile Hoa'la training swim on the Ironman World Championship swim course. While a fun event for everyone who participates, it's still a tough event in the unpredictable ocean, along with a couple hundred other fit and fast athletes.
Because I am not yet ready to stop training (mentally or physically), I am maintaining my fitness with some intense run workouts along with joining Karel for a few of his IM Kona prep rides. I made sure to take good care of myself post IMWI and to be honest, this was the fastest and best that I have recovered from an Ironman. I am looking forward to a deserved off-season in early November (when Karel takes his off-season) but for now, I'm continuing to enjoy training at a much higher intensity than when I was training for the Ironman.
Karel has given me some tough swim workouts this week so I thought I'd share a few of the main sets with you. These are PPF and Tower26-inspired swims. Karel and I typically swim the same workout but lately we have had different workouts.
Total distance this week: 18,100 yards (My typical swim days are M, Tu, Wed, Fri, Sun).
Workout #1:
MS: (all with 10 sec rest)
100 EZ, 100 fast, 100 EZ (with buoy), 100 at Ironman (IM) effort
100 EZ, 100 fast, 100 EZ (buoy), 200 at IM effort
100 EZ, 100 fast, 100 EZ (buoy), 300 at IM effort
100 EZ, 100 fast, 100 EZ (buoy), 400 at IM effort
100 EZ, 100 fast, 100 EZ (buoy), 500 at IM effort
100 EZ, 100 fast, 100 EZ (buoy), 600 at IM effort
Workout #2
MS 2x's:
300 strong endurance
30 sec rest
6 x 50's fast w/ 10 sec rest
6 x 25's very fast w/ 10 sec rest
300 pull (buoy/paddles)
Workout #3
MS 3x's:
2 x 50's fast w/ a deck-up after each 50 (quickly get up out of the pool, touch the wall and get back into the water) w/ 10 sec rest
400 build to strong
6 x 50's w/ buoy and paddles w/ 10 sec rest