I'm afraid that there's no video this time... but, who wants to watch me swim a 500 Free anyway? That's right... my mom does.
Sorry, Mom.
Anyway... I swam another meet this past weekend. I wanted to give some longer events a try, so I did the 500 Free and the 200 IM. I wanted to do more events, but it was a long weekend already with a day of DS-ing at Wilmington and a house guest for the weekend, so I kept it to just those two.
It's been about 20 years since I swam the 500 Free in a meet, and at least 17 years since I've done the 200 IM. So... I was a tad nervous. And excited.
The excitement is clear from my insane first 100 in my 500. I went out in a 1:03. HAHAHAH! What the HELL was I thinking???
The second 100 was a 1:09, and the rest were steady at 1:10-1:12. Not exactly the splits that I had in mind, but I met two important goals with the event as a whole and my stupid starting 200. I completed the whole event in 5:49... well under the 6 minute mark for which I was shooting.
AND... I managed to grab THREE National cuts in one event. The 100 Free (just barely, but I got it), the 200 Free, AND the 500 Free. Woot woot. More options for next year at Indy! YES!
The 200 IM was more fun than I remembered! I LOVE this race.
I felt super strong and very comfortable on the Fly... taking it out in a 31.72. No doubt that I can shave at least a second or more off of that first 50.
In typical Porkchop fashion, my Backstroke and Breaststroke legs were... well, horrific. I'm determined to get some speed back in those two strokes, and have already begun focusing on them in practice. I'm certain that between the two 50s, I can drop another 5 seconds or so... but, it's going to take some time.
I brought it home in a 33.61. Meh. OK for the last 50 of a 200, but again... I think I can make that a better split.
In short, I was absolutely thrilled to look up at the board and see that I'd gone sub-2:30 with a 2:28.75 in this race. That was WAY more than I expected. And, I'm excited to look at the splits and see that while they're solid, there's much room for improvement.
I have a feeling that this race will, once again, be a favorite of mine. The big end goal is to be under 2:20 by Indy next year.
I'm excited for the next meet, though I'm unsure when that will occur. And, I'm really having a blast being back in the water every day. I'm stoked for the summer months when I can up my mileage from 3500 yards a day to at least 5000.
Til next time, kids.
Cheers!
