From the end of September through mid-December I only swam sporadically. Logged only ~20k yards for the whole 4th quarter. Then I got a flu with symptoms that lingered into mid January. Finally got back at it regularly last week. Took only a couple workouts to get the feel back*, and while my endurance is still poor, my speed is starting to come back already. Yesterday I felt confident enough to start dabbling in other strokes. Here was my workout:
-"Standard Warmup" (200 pull, 200 kick, 4x50 build swim on 1:00)
-
"1000y IM Pyramid of 25's" -16 x 25 on :45 (4 fly, 4 back, 4 breast, 4 free), RPE 6
-1 min extra rest
-12 x 25 on :45 (3 fly, 3 back, 3 breast, 3 free), RPE 7
-1 min extra rest
-8 x 25 on :45 (2 fly, 2 back, 2 breast, 2 free), RPE 8
-90 seconds extra rest
-100 IM for time (1:15)
-300 choice recovery
-2 x (4 x 25 free on :45 @ 100 free race effort) with 1 min extra rest between
-100 EZ cool down
2200 yards
I averaged :14.3 on those 25's sprints at the end. In peak shape, I'd be ~:13.9 on that set after that main set.
*I got a set of
FINIS Agility Paddles for Christmas which really seemed to help me get my stroke back in tune quickly. Often, after a layoff, it's a bit of a struggle for me to find the right stroke path to retain the catch with my right arm. These paddles force you to get a decent spear and catch, and will let you know in a hurry if you're dropping your elbow on the pull. In general, I haven't been a big fan of paddles, but I like the way these work.
"They're made of latex, not nitroglycerin"