With the up coming Ingonish Triathlon fast approaching, it is certainly time to get some open water swims in. I have previously gotten into the local lakes twice before yesterday, though to be realistic, it was more about surviving the cold temps and general open water anxiety than really getting in a solid work out.
Well yesterday was sunny, and warm out. So I headed to Chocolate Lake for a real open water session.
It was obviously not a great traditional beach/swimming day when I got there, as I was the only person willing to enter the water. I think the water temp was probably 14-15C or so. Chilly getting in, for sure, but doable. I also had a wetsuit (sleeveless) and neoprene swim cap, so that made all the difference.
I picked a course that was about 150 meters or so in one direction. My first swim across was really a warm up and attempt to get breathing and nerves under control. Accomplished. From that point on I could actually workout and did a total of 3 trips back and forth for 900 meters.
As I am working on sprint triathlons at the moment, 900 meters was enough of a hard set for me for the day. I also didn't want to tweak my shoulder again before this weekends duathlon (last week was a bit painful).
My pace was slow but pretty much where I assumed it would be based on my pool swims. I am a 2:00min per 100 meter swimmer at the moment, but hopefully with some more work I can get that speed up, without killing myself.
My other main goal with this workout was to get my sighting worked out. After a few misadventures I think I got it down. If I sight after every 4 breaths, I can keep a pretty tight line.
A few more open water sessions and I think I will be on track to beating last years time in the Ingonish swim.
No comments:
Post a Comment