01/21/03 - 200's free

Still feeling pretty good in the water, but for some reason, my left knee was giving me a little problem this morning during warm-up. I then decided to just focus on my freestyle.800 warm-up200 free, 200 pull, 200 kick, 200 swim6 x 50 - 50 free on :50, 50 kick on 1:05continuing warm-up4 x 200 free 1-3:00, 2-2:45, 3-3:00, 4-for timeJust started out feeling good, but trying to make sure I was grabbing the water with my right arm. I felt myself really laying out on that arm during warm-up, which would cause too much glide and loss of speed. Went about 2:20 on the first one, and felt pretty good. Held just under 2:20 on the next 2, then went a 2:07 on the last one. Tried to alternate my breathing pattern, but as I got more tired, I ended up breathing only on my right, which is my natural side.100 easy kick6 x 150 pull 2-2:10, 2-2:05, 2-2:00Basically just a decending interval making it a little tougher through the set to make keep the stroke consistent. Basically, just held the pace around 1:45, and worked on the rhythm of my stroke. Felt pretty good.50 easy free8 x 100 swim, 2-1:20, 3-1:25, 3-1:30Swimming through them, holding around 1:12's as I started to get tired. One of the "younger" swimmers switched to backstroke for the last 4 or 5, and was starting to go faster. So I started to kinda cheer him on to get him to go faster, and he proceeded to get them under 1:10, and on the last one, I told him to stay with me and I'd try to get him under 1:05. It's nice to be able to "choose" to go under 1:05 again. He swam great, and we both went around 1:04. I am SO careful to ONLY promise pacing someone when I'm sure I can deliver. I would feel bad if I told him I was going to do something, then come in at 1:08, so I felt good I was able to control it and hit it right on. It's coming back to me now.Easy 2002 x 50 breast on about 1:15both from a push, and trying to pick up some speed. The first one was just a strong effort, and I came in almost exactly what I thought I was going... :32. The second I wanted to go about a :30 but not SPRINT. I felt good, but still feel very low in the water, but hit right on :30. What this tells me is that I'm no where near ready to sprint, but I'm also getting the feeling of "how fast" I'm going back.Controlling your pace is a very important part of swimming. Over swimming races, can be extremely painful, and non-productive. I'm going to try to avoid this pain at ALL costs.