Apparently [Iron Mike's Marathon Swims » Iron Mike's Marathon Swims --]

Apparently you can get faster by going slower. Never knew that.

During my entire time in Africa, I swam pretty much LSD. Every once in a while I’d “push” it a bit, but rarely. Didn’t really do anything fast except when I was doing those timed swims.

Before I deployed, whenever I did USRPT, my 100 repeats would be 1:38 on 2:00 interval. And I could do 12 or so before failing one. Most of my 100s were 1:35-1:36. And I’d fail completely by 18 or so.

Since getting back I’ve been doing USRPT once a week. Same pool as before I left. But now, my repeats are 1:24-1:28. I even did some on 1:50. But mostly on 2:00. But really, I get back to the wall and wonder Who is swimming here?  Cutting 8-11 seconds per 100?

The only answer is consistency. I swam 5-6 times a week in Africa. And here so far I’ve managed 4-5 times a week, and at least 2000 to 2500 yards per 40-min reservation.

I swam 151 miles in Africa, more than most 6-month periods in my life. That has to be the reason my 100 times have gone down. All I know is, I’m happy, and will continue to try and get that 100 down even further.