last night's swim

. . . was really hard. I'm hoping it's more on the "need more sleep/ must clear lungs of smog" variety, as opposed to the "five pastries a day for two weeks/ lost all conditioning" side. hmmm.

This is how I remember it.
Warm-up (400m): 400 reverse IM, kick/ swim/ pull/ swim.
Technique (600m): 8x75 IM order. 25 kick hard, 50 sprint. Tried the first fly, then did breast on the second. Felt like crawling up on deck and curling into a tiny ball.
Turns: several, mixed. Was completely winded.
Starts: 4. felt okay.
Race strategy (400m).* 100m, :25; 100m, :25; 200m. Thought I was going to hyperventilate and pass out. Went out too hard in the first 100; second 100, couldn't keep pace; third 100, could only think about trying to finish/ talking myself out of quitting; last 100, couldn't wait till it was over.
Cool down (100m). Swimming to survive.
===1500m+

*Things to think about as race strategy. [Julie--please add/ correct. As above, I was pretty out of it at this point!]
1st quarter: position self to race. For example, if you're 3-4 body-lengths behind the crowd, you're very unlikely to catch up or be competitive.
2nd quarter: compete. Stay at pace.
3rd quarter: is when mental blocks set in. Do whatever it takes to get over your obstacles. Use keywords to push through.
4th quarter: give it everything you've got left.