It's Ladder Monday!

Tonight was a great night for Rush Hour with temps finally lowering to a much more pleasant level than it has been since Spring.  I was surprised that there wasn't a huge crowd out at the track tonight but those that were there got in a great workout. 

I was running late getting out of work and felt very stressed as I headed out to the track.  I stopped off to change into workout clothes and was excited to get to wear a short sleeve shirt instead of a tank.  Yes, it was as if a cold front had come in...short sleeves! I got stuck in traffic for soccer practice and that increased my stress.  I like to get in a long warm up of 1 1/2 - 2 miles and I knew that I wouldn't have the time for that tonight. 

I got started on my warmup and said hi to all the regulars.  The mood on the track was light and you could tell that people were enjoying the cooler temps and overcast sky.  After a 5 lap warmup, Mike called the group in for the workout description.  Anytime the weather turns cooler, he rewards us with a tough workout.  Tonight was no exception!

Tonight we got to do a ladder and we went up then down the ladder. 
400 m at current 5K race pace
800 m at current 5K race pace
800 m at current 5K race pace
1000 m All Out pace
800 m at current 5K pace
800 m at current 5K pace
400 m at current 5K pace

The rest interval was 60 seconds following all of the intervals except for the rest after the 1000m...we got a whopping 3 minutes rest after that one.  And I enjoyed every second of the rest tonight.  The interval distances weren't all that tough but the combination of effort added up as the workout progressed.  After the 1000 m interval, my times picked up a little bit since my legs knew the faster pace that they had just done on the 1000 m.  That final 400 m included some bits with a super quick pace and left me feeling very proud of the workout.

I finished up the night with a couple cool down laps to end at 5 miles for the night.  I was super excited to see my average pace for the 5 miles was around 9:36 per mile including my warm up and cool down distances at a slower pace.  I'll take the cooler weather any day if it keeps helping my pace like it did tonight.  Don't get me wrong, I finished up the workout covered in sweat and worn out from a tough workout. 

I guess it was Ladder Monday since my lunch time swim also was a ladder.  Today we did a 500 m ladder as part of our main set.  This is a fast ladder that is a great workout.  It involves the following: 25 fly, 50 back, 75 fly/back/breast, 100 IM, 100 free, 75 fly/back/breast, 50 back, 25 fly.  I make some modifications since I'm still working on building strength and capability to swim strokes.  For example today I did: 25 fly, 50 free/back, 75 free/free/breast, 100 IM, 100 free, 75 free/free/breast, 50 free/back, 25 fly.  This lets me do 25 of each stroke before the 100 IM and then get some recovery after the IM.  This was just a part of our workout main set.  We followed it up with some 100's and I got in 1800 m total for my lunch swim. 

Overall, today was a good day for Monday ladders!