Back in a routine for 2021

I've settled into planning 2 swims a week although I've missed the odd one and occasionally done 3 sessions. Last week was a one session week and I felt I noticed the lack of practice yesterday. I'd hoped to fell refreshed but actually felt tired and the timings reflected that.

Today I changed the rhythm by doing a straight 1000m. I kept thinking about technique, especially a roll, and low head and tried to put more effort in as I mentally counted through sets of 10 lengths. I didn't manage negative splits but the pace was generally uniform. I was very pleased to do the 1000m in under 25 minutes (24:42) at 2:28min/100m. Looking back at PB data:

It seems that I've largely returned to where I was 2+ years ago which is good after a 14 month break! I know that improving the pace by a few seconds is hard work but it feels achievable. My current main set of 1000m with every third length a bit faster does seem effective. Those lengths are commonly 2:25min/100m or better so I am able to generate that pace even after 20 minutes.

I finished the day with a handful of lengths of bilateral breathing. These were individual lengths at around 2:20min/100m. MY goal was to breathe out only gently as I wonder if I've been making too many bubbles and thus increasing the need to breathe in! I paused 10 to 15 seconds between each length so clearly not a sustainable endurance pace but perhaps also indicative of progress.

Varied sets

 This week I've done a long set with every 3rd length aiming to be faster, and today, negative splits within 300m sets. There's been mixed success, today especially my pace was affected by others in the pool so hard to check the numbers exactly. At least the effort was there. I've also kept a set or two of bilateral breathing and today managed 100m with a few cheated extra breaths. That seemed manageable after 4 steady individual lengths with bilateral breathing. I still feel 'short of breath' as I did years ago and suspect I'll never break this sensation at this point in my life.

I'm generally satisfied with progress as I'm increasing average pace,  distance per session and distance per week. Actually writing that down makes it sound like an injury risk. Let's hope not.