324 days until Ironman Arizona.

So, um, yeah, swimming. Have I told you guys about my swimming? It’s not pretty. When I finished the swim leg of the Nathan olympic-distance triathlon last September—my first time swimming in open water ever—I remember thinking, “okay Fat Triathlete, the hard part’s over.” If I had stubbed my toe and DNF’ed in T1, I still would have felt like I accomplished something extraordinary. After all, a scant few months earlier I couldn’t swim 25 yards without standing up in the pool.

I mean, I know there are probably a lot of people who think they suck at swimming, so let me put it in perspective for you: I’m the guy that makes those people say “Damn, I used to think I sucked at swimming, but I saw this fat red-headed guy at the pool today, and you know what? I’m not so bad!”

I, on the other hand, have never been able to say that about another swimmer. I’m just that guy. Don’t get me wrong—just like being fat, I’m okay with being a terrible swimmer. I’ve owned it. I just thought I should point this out before I start posting swim workouts as some of you will no doubt be astounded at just how slow my 100 splits are.

Think I’m joking? In my first triathlon last year—a sprint-distance—I swam 750 meters in 17+ minutes. Or the aforementioned olympic-distance triathlon last September? 1500 meters in 46:06. Nope, that’s not a typo, I swam over 3:00 per 100 in a race.

So.

For various reasons, today was the first day back swimming in three months. I stopped swim training after the olympic-distance race to focus on bike training for the El Tour de Tucson, and when I went back in late November, the pool was closed for renovation. Given this, I’m mostly pleased I didn’t flat-out forget how to swim.

• Swim: 1200 yards of balance and bilateral breathing drills.

I’m going to be focussing on technique drills for at least the next 11 weeks. According to the book until I can do a 1,000-meter TT in 18:30, I should be drilling and not working on speed.