Qualifying times

For me, there is something to be said for swimming frequently. Tonight I felt awesome in the water, hours after debating whether to take the evening off. I'm very happy I didn't.

The coach - without advanced warning and without calling them anything out of the ordinary - had us swim a consecutive series of all-out 50m, 100m, 200m and 400m. We also had a super easy repetition of each distance in between with lots of recovery time too.

Whatever was in the water worked for everyone else too. Times dropped across the four lanes.

I swam a mid-30 50m, a 1:22 100m, a 2:44 200m and my first Sub 6 400m: 5:58. There's something to be said about swimming fast regularly.

It's a sign - yet another reminder - that being focused with training and consistent with it does translate into improvement, sometimes unexpectedly, even when you think you're having a low energy day.

I swam hard and I know that I can swim with still greater effort.

The 200m time is a personal best and it's beneath the 2:47 that I would need to have in a meet to qualify for that event at the Montreal Worlds 2014. I swam a 3:09 in this event at the swim meet at UBC in the fall.

As for the 400m, it's what I consider to be my first real Sub 6 effort. About a month ago we did a 400m TT to start the year and I swam 6:52. I wasn't impressed and I let the coach know that I wanted some additional advice. To her credit, I got it.

I had two years ago swum a 6:18 and then got stuck.

What do I think I've done to improve:

I've slowed down my arm rotation. I've stopped trying to teach the water a lesson with each stoke. My reach is significantly more extended. I'm actually catching and pulling myself through the water. I'm flip turning and streamlining. I'm 'trying' to breathe every third stroke. I'm doing all that I can to be aero in the water. I am swimming in the 'box' that a previous coach sketched for me.

While I've been thinking of a Sub 6 for more than a year, I hadn't expected to achieve it this week. I swam a second TT in late January of 6:32 and at the meet on Sunday I swam 6:30 (with a goggles malfunction).

I always want to go faster. It's part of who I am, though I realize that it's not something that can be rushed.

The Sub 6 though is huge and here's why. If I can - over the next few months - swim that pace at a slightly easier level of effort then a 1-hour Ironman swim comes squarely into focus. I'd be seriously impressed with myself in reaching that level.

I would see a 1-hour Ironman swim split as a sign that I've reached a new level in the sport. My fastest swim split is 1:03. I've dreamt of a 1-hour or slightly faster time for a decade.

And so now I'm more motivated than ever.

In addition, I've now moved within reach of the qualifying standard of 5:50 that I would need to enter this event at the Montreal Worlds. Four days ago that time seemed so far out of reach that I'd put it out of my mind. Now, it's front and centre.