Sunday Swim Workout

I've decided that I don't do enough distance swimming. At class and club 400yds is typically the longest we swim. Then the day I swim by myself I typically get hung up on doing technique stuff and never do much over 100.
Well that is history. My Sunday workout will now start with the Total Immersion Drills. Perhaps a few other technical drills and kickboard. Then I will always finish with a 1600yd or longer swim. I figure this will just totally eliminate any lingering doubt about the Mooseman swim distance.

I did the 1600yds today. It has already brought a few new thoughts to mind.

1) I always breathe on the right side. I just haven't made myself breathe left as breathe every 3 just isn't enough air for a distance swim. (for me anyhow).
So the fix is going to be to breathe right on odd laps, breathe left even laps. As for the open water swim where there is no lap. I will probably switch every 20 strokes. I will attempt to make this coincide with my sighting stroke.

2) I felt more out of breath during the first 400 than the last 1200. I feel that this is due to the fact the blood just isn't loaded into your upper body yet, so you have to compensate by breathing a bit harder. (or feeling like you need to). So I'm thinking at the beginning of the Mooseman realize that this is going to happen, don't lose confidence, just relax and it will probably even out after about 8 minutes.

3) I really wasn't out of breath at the end today. Which makes me think that it's possible to put more into it and get a better time. I'm not sure how to go about this though. Is it better to just go at it harder right from the start and keep at it? Is it better to turn it on at the half way mark? Or maybe every 40 strokes?
I'll ask the coach to see what his answer is but I'll probably just try them all out and keep a record of the times.

Lastly, my total immersion balance drills were a disaster compared to last week. I actually went back to the original drills instead of moving ahead. Just goes to show how different your feel can be I suppose. I look forward to the day that I find these drills completely effortless. To see some of what I'm talking about check out the videos on their website.
TI Website
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