02/04/03 - 5,000 in 1:15

Man, getting this February Fitness Challenege going the week of my first swim meet in many years may have not been the best idea. I'm going to pay for this one.The practice this morning was supposed to be based all on the 1:30 per 100, but I decided to really see what I could do, so I alternated between a 1:15 per 100, and a modified 1:15 on the swims that weren't an even 100. Anyway, the entire set took less than an hour and fifteen minutes, but it was around there somewhere.It's a ladder set... 50, 100, 150, 200... etc... up to 500, then back down. Without repeating the 500, it's exactly 5,000 yards.Anyway, on the swims that ended with a 50, I added either :05 or :10 seconds to make sure I left on a round number to make it easier to calculate when I was supposed to leave.Long story short, I made the entire set, however, it was not easy. I figured I could hold around 1:10's for the whole thing, but I got closer to just hitting about :05 to :10 seconds before I had to leave. So it was pretty much a 5,000 with just a little rest.I would vary between 13 and 14 strokes per lap, and had good rhythm the entire way. I could have kept it going, but it was starting to get tougher towards the end to change gears, or pick up the pace at all.it was a good practice, and does show me that I'm getting in better shape.