1000y Swim Time Trial

One of my imaginary online triathlon friends mentioned performing a monthly 1000 yard time trial to measure swim progress.  This seemed like a great idea so Friday I decided to go ahead and give it a shot.  It probably wasn't the best time to do so as I had completed an FTP test on the bike the day before and my body was wrecked.  Fortunately swimming muscles are pretty different from bike and run muscles so I don't think my intense week of training had an adverse effect on the test.

I went with my normal warmup:

200y easy swim
200y kick
200y pull
8x25 v-sprints

1000 time trial

Time - 17:44
Pace Per 100 - 1:46

My 25y times were pretty inconsistent and varied from 21 to 30 seconds with most falling in the 24-26 range.

I couldn't be happier with my time and was glad I used my watch as, per usual, I lost count and would have finished a lap early.

I'm coming to the conclusion that part of swimming is getting used to being uncomfortable.  After the first 200 yards or so I was out of breath and wasn't sure I would be able to finish.  Strangely that feeling never got any worse (didn't get any better either).  Once I became accustomed to the discomfort I was able to keep plodding along.  I felt like I could have done another 500 or 1000 yards at a similar pace.  That might be a bit optimistic, but it gives me some hope for coming out of the water in a decent position this season.