Counting the Meters

I’m back to working my way up to 25,000 meters per week after my first attempt had to be dropped because of work obligations. I’m also well into my off-season weight program, something I find particularly tiring when done in combination with the rapidly increasing kilometrage. At least I have a better idea of what I’m trying to do and how to go about it. Given a career where serious training can’t be carried out from the latter part of March pretty well through June, I’m left with the months July to early March to properly train and compete in. I’m targeting December to early March as my racing season which leaves only July to November inclusive for off-season training. Five months isn't enough so I’m trying to cheat a bit and have started my full training in late May instead. I’ll see how I manage. I’m also feeling the pressure to start early because of the upcoming USMS LC Nationals in early August right smack in the middle of my training. With a weight program requiring rotation through five cycles (each of four weeks training and one week rest) it’s difficult to squeeze them all in and leave enough time to properly taper for the Nationals. Hopefully I’ve calculated everything correctly and I’ll be reasonably fresh for some good times in August (well, at least to see good progress in my training) and ready to race in December. One positive is summer swimming for Hyack Masters means endurance work which is sorely needed. All that speed work in the fall when I first started was really hard on the old ticker!

End Note: today was also weigh-in day. I lost the kilo I had put on last month plus a little bit more. Distressingly, even if understandable, I’ve also put on an extra inch around my girth - 1⅓ kilos muscle gone to fat since the end of March because of relative inactivity. The sad fact seems to be I will lose muscle in about the same amount of time it took to so laboriously create it in the first place. No wonder middle age spread is so difficult to fight off.