Sometimes You Just Need a Swim Companion

My swim buddies and I just completed our annual 10,000 yard workout to celebrate the new year.  We did 100 x 100 on Thanksgiving, so we opted for something different this time.  We decided to do a main set of 5 x 1600's on a 1:20 per 100 base sendoff, broken up as follows: 

A difficult set physically for sure, but also mentally difficult.   I was really glad to have my Firebelly to help me through the set.  On the 1600 and the 800's I used the distance tracking feature to announce how many yards I had done along with the cumulative time after each 100.  It was nice not having to worry about miscounting.  Coming into the wall and not having to raise my head and look at the clock, remember when I left, and (ugh) do the math helped reduce the stress as well.  I just listened for the time and focused on getting ready to go again.

Perhaps the best thing about having Firebelly there is less easy to describe.  It was like having a swim companion cranking out the yards with me - lap for lap, stroke for stroke.  Firebelly always cheerfully gives me my times and encourages me to keep going :-)

Happy New Year everyone!  Tell us about your great swim accomplishments in the comments!