Category: Huntsman Senior Games 2026

This is not the post I expected to be writing a week before the Huntsman World Senior Games.

After months of training, race-specific workouts, endurance swims, breaststroke work, and a gradual taper, I have withdrawn from the swimming competition scheduled for October 7–9.

I did not make the decision lightly. I have been looking forward to Huntsman for months, and the training has gone extremely well. But sometimes the risk-versus-reward calculation changes, and when it does, continuing simply because a goal has been on the calendar for a long time is not necessarily the right decision.

What Changed

Last weekend I unexpectedly passed out and fell. I was fortunate that the fall itself was not more serious, but I did end up with a fairly large skin abrasion on my knee.

That may sound minor compared with everything else that has happened this year, but it matters when swimming is involved. A large area of missing skin and a public swimming pool are not a combination I am willing to take unnecessary chances with. I want the abrasion to heal properly before getting back into the water rather than risk turning a simple injury into an infection.

I rested Monday and did not swim. On Tuesday I did a 5K speed walk instead of getting into the pool. For now, swimming is on hold while the knee heals.

The Larger Decision

The knee abrasion by itself would probably only have changed a few days of training. The bigger issue is that I have had several recent health-related developments, and I also have medical procedures scheduled in the very near future.

With all of that happening at once, I had to ask myself a fairly simple question: what is the reward for racing next week compared with the potential risk?

For me, the answer changed.

I was beginning to spend more time worrying about whether something might happen on the pool deck than thinking about the races themselves. The possibility of being taken from a meet to a hospital is not how I want to approach a competition that is supposed to be enjoyable.

Once I reached that point, withdrawing became the more sensible decision.

The Training Still Counts

Scratching the meet does not erase the work that went into preparing for it.

This training cycle produced some of my best swimming of the year and gave me clear benchmarks that I can carry forward.

Event	Best Recent Training Time	Pace
200 m Breaststroke	3:22.52	1:41.26/100 m
800 m Freestyle	12:35.12	1:34.39/100 m
1500 m Freestyle	24:04.84	1:36.32/100 m

Those times are real progress. Huntsman was the goal that gave the training structure, but the improvement itself does not disappear because I will not be standing on the starting block next week.

Knowing When the Goal Changes

There is a difference between quitting because training gets difficult and changing course because the circumstances around the goal have changed.

I did the training. I got faster. I built endurance. I worked on breaststroke. I learned a great deal about pacing, recovery, tapering, and how my body responds to different kinds of swimming.

But none of those things create an obligation to race when I no longer believe the risk is worth the reward.

What Happens Next

For the immediate future, the priority is simple: let the knee heal, take care of the medical issues already on the calendar, and stop treating next week’s competition as a deadline.

I am not making any long-term decisions about swimming or fitness right now. After the upcoming procedures, I plan to sit down with my doctors and review what makes sense for future exercise, fitness training, and swimming.

That discussion will help determine what the next version of my training looks like. It may mean returning to the same kinds of workouts, making some changes, or setting different goals. I do not need to answer those questions today.

For now, Huntsman 2026 is off the calendar, and the focus shifts from preparing for a race to taking care of what needs attention next.

The Takeaway

I hate withdrawing this close to the meet, especially after putting so much work into getting there. But athletic goals are supposed to add something positive to life. When the balance changes and the concern starts outweighing the excitement, it is reasonable to reassess.

I would much rather finish this training cycle knowing I made substantial progress than force one more week simply because I had planned to race.

The Road to Huntsman did not end the way I expected, but it was still worth traveling. The next step will come after the medical issues in front of me are addressed and I have a chance to discuss future swimming and fitness with my doctors.

Today’s swim continued the gradual reduction in training volume as September comes to an end. After swimming 2,200 meters yesterday, I came back with an even shorter 2,000-meter session today.

This wasn’t designed as a race-distance test or a particularly hard workout. Instead, most of the session was continuous swimming while alternating freestyle and breaststroke. With only 10 days remaining until my first event at the Huntsman World Senior Games, the objective was simply to swim, maintain some endurance, and continue bringing the overall workload down.

Today’s Workout

Total Distance	2,000 m
Duration	36:08
Average Pace	1:49/100 m
Normalized Pace	1:48/100 m
Training Stress	42 sTSS
Intensity Factor	0.89
Average Heart Rate	136 bpm
Maximum Heart Rate	159 bpm
Calories	547

Compared with yesterday’s 2,200 meters, 52 sTSS and 0.94 IF, today’s 2,000 meters produced only 42 sTSS at an IF of 0.89. That is exactly the direction I want the overall training load moving during the taper.

A Simple Two-Set Workout

The FORM data shows that today’s workout was unusually simple. Rather than a collection of short intervals, almost the entire swim consisted of one long continuous set followed by a short finishing set.

Set	Distance	Structure
1	1,700 m	850 FR / 850 BR
2	300 m	150 FR / 150 BR

The opening set was 1,700 meters continuous, alternating between freestyle and breaststroke. It worked out to exactly 850 meters of each stroke. After a short break of approximately 46 seconds, I finished with another 300 meters—again evenly divided between freestyle and breaststroke.

That gave me exactly 1,000 meters of freestyle and 1,000 meters of breaststroke for the day.

More About Rhythm Than Speed

Today’s 1:49 average pace shouldn’t be compared directly with the much faster freestyle numbers I’ve been producing recently. Half of today’s distance was breaststroke, and the purpose of the workout was very different from the race-oriented efforts I’ve done during the last several weeks.

The long opening set gave me continuous aerobic work while regularly changing strokes. Freestyle provided the faster portions of the set, while breaststroke naturally brought the overall pace down. That made the session useful without requiring another hard race-distance effort.

At this point, I’m much more interested in maintaining feel for both strokes than trying to prove that I can still produce another personal-best training time.

The Taper Is Becoming More Visible

The progression over the last week makes the taper increasingly obvious.

Date	Distance	sTSS
Sep. 21	2,600 m	65
Sep. 22	2,400 m	58
Sep. 23	2,200 m	51
Sep. 24	No swim	—
Sep. 25	No swim	—
Sep. 26	2,200 m	52
Sep. 27	2,000 m	42

The reduction hasn’t been perfectly linear, nor does it need to be. What matters is the larger trend. Distance and training stress are coming down while I continue getting regular time in the water.

TrainingPeaks Continues to Show Increasing Freshness

TrainingPeaks now shows Fitness at 57, Fatigue at 43 and Form at +16.

I’m not trying to drive those numbers toward a predetermined target. Fitness in TrainingPeaks is a representation of recent accumulated training load, not a direct measurement of how fast I can swim. During a taper, some decline in that number is expected as training volume decreases.

The more important objective is to shed accumulated fatigue without losing the swimming I’ve developed over the last several months.

The Race-Distance Work Is Already in the Bank

One reason I don’t feel any need to turn every remaining workout into a test is that the major race-distance benchmarks are already established.

Event	Best Recent Training Time	Pace
200 m Breaststroke	3:22.52	1:41.26/100 m
800 m Freestyle	12:35.12	1:34.39/100 m
1500 m Freestyle	24:04.84	1:36.32/100 m

Those performances tell me considerably more about the work I’ve done than another hard test this close to the Games would.

10 Days to Huntsman

Tomorrow brings the countdown into single digits for the first time. My four Huntsman events remain spread across three days.

Date	Event
October 7	200 m Breaststroke
October 8	100 m Breaststroke
October 8	800 m Freestyle
October 9	1500 m Freestyle

The 200 breaststroke has already received a very good race-distance effort this week with the 3:22.52 swim on September 23. The 800 and 1500 freestyle also have strong recent benchmarks, while the 100 breaststroke remains the shorter secondary event in the program.

There isn’t much fitness left to build in 10 days. The work from here is mostly about preserving what is already there while allowing the accumulated training load to come down.

Today’s Takeaway

Today’s 2,000 meters was deliberately much less about the stopwatch than many of my recent swims. Half freestyle, half breaststroke, almost entirely continuous, and only 42 sTSS—it fit well with where I am in the taper.

The last several weeks have already provided the fast swims and race-distance benchmarks. Today’s job was simpler: get in the water, swim both strokes, keep the workload controlled, and continue letting the volume come down.

September is almost finished. The heavy training is behind me, the benchmarks are established, and tomorrow the countdown to Huntsman reaches nine days.

After two unexpected days away from the pool, I was back swimming this morning. There was nothing wrong with me on Thursday or Friday—we had contractors at the house installing our new air-conditioning system, and I couldn’t leave to go swim.

At this point in the Huntsman taper, I wasn’t interested in making up the lost distance. I had already reduced my workouts from 2,600 meters Monday to 2,400 Tuesday and 2,200 Wednesday. Two additional days without swimming simply provided some extra recovery before today’s workout.

I returned with another 2,200-meter session today, and the results suggest that the extra recovery didn’t cost me anything in the water.

Today’s Workout

Total Distance	2,200 m
Duration	37:18
Average Pace	1:42/100 m
Normalized Pace	1:42/100 m
Training Stress	52 sTSS
Intensity Factor	0.94
Average Heart Rate	136 bpm
Maximum Heart Rate	160 bpm
Calories	587

This was almost the same overall workload as Wednesday’s 2,200-meter swim. Wednesday took 37:40 and produced 51 sTSS at an IF of 0.93. Today took 37:18 and produced 52 sTSS at an IF of 0.94.

The more interesting information, however, came from the individual sets.

A Strong Opening 10 × 100

I opened with 10 × 100 meters alternating freestyle and breaststroke. After two days out of the pool, this provided an immediate check on whether I still had both speed and consistency.

Freestyle 100s

Rep	Time
1	1:31.34
2	1:33.15
3	1:29.36
4	1:32.24
5	1:33.54

The five freestyle 100s averaged approximately 1:31.93. Four of the five were between 1:31.34 and 1:33.54, while the middle repeat dropped to 1:29.36.

That’s a useful combination during the taper. I could access a faster gear, but the surrounding repeats remained controlled and consistent rather than falling apart afterward.

Breaststroke 100s

Rep	Time
1	1:48.22
2	1:48.93
3	1:48.42
4	1:48.70
5	1:53.11

The first four breaststroke 100s were remarkably consistent. Only 0.71 second separated all four, with each one landing between 1:48.22 and 1:48.93. The fifth slowed to 1:53.11, but the overall set still gave me exactly what I wanted: repeated breaststroke at a solid pace without turning the workout into another race test.

Speed Was Still Available Late in the Workout

The workout continued with mixed freestyle and breaststroke, including a mixed 400-meter segment in 6:56.95 and shorter work later in the session.

Even later in the workout I recorded a 1:47.06 breaststroke 100 and a 1:38.53 freestyle 100. That was encouraging because the quality wasn’t limited to the first few hundred meters after two days of rest.

I finished with shorter 50-meter repeats rather than adding unnecessary distance. At this stage of the taper, there is very little value in adding meters simply to make the workout total larger.

Two Days Off Helped the Taper

The last week now looks considerably different from the higher-volume training I was doing earlier in the preparation.

Date	Training	Distance
Sep. 21	Swim	2,600 m
Sep. 22	Swim	2,400 m
Sep. 23	Swim	2,200 m
Sep. 24	No swim – contractors	—
Sep. 25	No swim – contractors	—
Sep. 26	Swim	2,200 m

I didn’t plan Thursday and Friday as part of the taper, but there is no reason to treat them as training that needs to be replaced. The work has already been done. At this point, recovery is becoming increasingly valuable.

TrainingPeaks Is Showing the Unloading

The two days away from the pool are clearly visible in TrainingPeaks.

Date	Fitness	Fatigue	Form
Sep. 23	60	53	+8
Sep. 26	57	41	+18

Fitness has fallen slightly from 60 to 57, but Fatigue has dropped much more sharply, from 53 to 41. Form has consequently increased from +8 to +18.

I’m not trying to make any of those numbers reach a particular target before Huntsman. The more important observation is that TrainingPeaks shows increasing freshness while today’s actual swimming shows that I can still produce good speed in both freestyle and breaststroke.

A Better Way to Read the Psych Sheet

The Huntsman swimming psych sheet was released this week, and I’ve been looking more closely at what the listed times actually mean.

One important clarification is that the 1500-meter freestyle was the only event for which I was asked to provide a time when I registered. The psych sheet lists times for all four of my events, but I did not personally submit the listed times for the 100 breaststroke, 200 breaststroke, or 800 freestyle during registration.

That makes me more cautious about interpreting the other swimmers’ listed times as well. I don’t know how every time on the psych sheet was established, so I’m treating those numbers primarily as seeding information rather than verified current performances.

The psych sheet is still useful. It tells me who is entered and how the field is ordered based on the published seed times. What it doesn’t necessarily tell me is exactly how fast each swimmer is capable of swimming in October.

My own entries demonstrate why that distinction matters. My recent training performances are substantially different from several of the times appearing beside my name on the psych sheet.

11 Days to Huntsman

There are now 11 days until my first race at the Huntsman World Senior Games. I’m entered in the 100-meter breaststroke, 200-meter breaststroke, 800-meter freestyle, and 1500-meter freestyle.

Date	Event
October 7	200 m Breaststroke
October 8	100 m Breaststroke
October 8	800 m Freestyle
October 9	1500 m Freestyle

My 3:22.52 200 breaststroke from September 23 has already checked off one of the four race distances I wanted to swim before September ends.

That leaves the 100 breaststroke, 800 freestyle, and 1500 freestyle. I still intend to touch all three before the end of the month, but there is no need to force them into consecutive workouts.

Tomorrow Depends on the Pool

I plan to swim again Sunday, but I’m going to continue making the decision based on how I feel and what the pool looks like when I get there.

A 1500-meter continuous swim is difficult to do properly on a busy weekend when I may have to share a lane, so I’m more likely to save that one for a weekday when I have a better chance of swimming uninterrupted.

That makes either the 100 breaststroke or 800 freestyle a better possibility for Sunday. If the lane is crowded, the 100 breaststroke is easy to fit into the workout. If I have enough room and feel good, the 800 freestyle is another option.

Either way, I don’t need to do both. The objective is to touch each race distance before September ends while continuing the taper—not squeeze every remaining test into the weekend.

Today’s Takeaway

Thursday and Friday weren’t planned rest days, but they fit the taper surprisingly well. I returned today with lower accumulated fatigue and was immediately able to produce consistent freestyle and breaststroke swimming.

That is exactly what I want to see now. The total workload is coming down, freshness is increasing, and the speed I need for Huntsman is still available.

With 11 days remaining until the first race, there is nothing to make up. The focus now is on preserving what I’ve built, touching the remaining race distances, and arriving in St. George ready to race.

There was no swimming today. We had contractors working in the house and I couldn’t get away to the pool. With my taper now underway, I’m not concerned about trying to make up the missed distance. As it turned out, there was still some important swimming news today.

The 2026 Huntsman World Senior Games swimming psych sheet has been released, which means I can finally compare my seed times and recent training performances with the actual swimmers entered in my Men 60–64 events.

There is an interesting pattern in my entries: I am seeded fifth among the Men 60–64 swimmers in all four of my events. My recent training times, however, suggest that the seed position doesn’t tell the entire story.

My Four Huntsman Events

Event	Seed	Men’s Seed Rank	Training Best
100 m Breaststroke	1:51.03	5th	~1:42
200 m Breaststroke	3:49.03	5th	3:22.52
800 m Freestyle	13:30.09	5th	12:35.12
1500 m Freestyle	25:47.06	5th	24:04.84

The seed times were submitted before several of my strongest recent training swims. In every event, my current training performance is faster than the time beside my name on the psych sheet. The size of that difference varies considerably by event.

200 m Breaststroke – The Most Interesting Comparison

The 200-meter breaststroke immediately stands out. Just yesterday I opened my workout with a 3:22.52 training 200. My submitted seed time is 3:49.03.

Seed Rank	Swimmer	Seed Time
1	V.B.	2:57.09
2	G.C.	3:38.07
3	T.P.	3:38.07
4	J.P.	3:39.00
5	Christopher Molnar	3:49.03

My 3:22.52 training time is 26.51 seconds faster than my submitted seed and would fall between the first and second seed times if the training performance were inserted directly into the psych sheet.

The first seed at 2:57.09 is still in a distinctly different range. The more interesting comparison for me is the group seeded second through fourth at 3:38.07 to 3:39.00. My recent training swim is approximately 15½ to 16½ seconds faster than those submitted times.

That doesn’t mean I expect a particular finishing place. Seed times are entry times, not predictions of what another swimmer will produce on race day, and a training swim isn’t the same thing as racing at Huntsman. What it does tell me is that my fifth seed understates where my current breaststroke performance appears to be.

100 m Breaststroke

The 100 breaststroke hasn’t been one of my primary training targets, but I am still racing it at Huntsman. Here the psych sheet shows a different competitive picture.

Seed Rank	Swimmer	Seed Time
1	J.P.	1:29.00
2	G.C.	1:30.06
3	O.K.	1:43.00
4	J.S.	1:50.00
5	Christopher Molnar	1:51.03

The first two seeds are well ahead of my recent training level. After them, however, there is a large gap to the third seed at 1:43.00. My recent training level of roughly 1:42 falls into that second group and is considerably faster than my submitted 1:51.03 seed.

I haven’t emphasized the 100 breaststroke enough in training to treat that comparison as strongly as the 200. I still intend to swim the 100 race distance before September ends, which should give me another look at where that event stands before Huntsman.

800 m Freestyle

The 800 freestyle has a deeper group of faster seeds. My submitted time of 13:30.09 again puts me fifth among the Men 60–64 swimmers.

Seed Rank	Swimmer	Seed Time
1	K.E.	10:40.00
2	R.P.	12:00.00
3	J.W.	12:00.01
4	T.P.	12:12.05
5	Christopher Molnar	13:30.09
6	S.H.	14:00.00

My current 800-meter training best is 12:35.12, set on September 19. That’s 54.97 seconds faster than my submitted seed.

Unlike the 200 breaststroke, the improved training time doesn’t move me ahead of the four faster seeds. It does make the gap to fourth much more manageable. T.P. is seeded at 12:12.05, putting my training best 23.07 seconds behind that mark.

Behind me, the sixth seed is 14:00.00. My current training best is 1:24.88 faster than that submitted time. Based on the psych sheet, the 800 looks like a race where my current performance sits most naturally around the fourth-to-fifth portion of the field, while recognizing that everyone still has to swim the race.

1500 m Freestyle

The 1500 has a similar pattern. My submitted 25:47.06 again places me fifth among the Men 60–64 swimmers, but my current training best is substantially faster.

Seed Rank	Swimmer	Seed Time
1	K.E.	20:15.00
2	V.B.	21:09.06
3	T.P.	23:10.00
4	J.W.	23:39.04
5	Christopher Molnar	25:47.06
6	S.H.	28:00.00

My 24:04.84 training best is 1:42.22 faster than my submitted seed. That still leaves me fifth when compared directly with the submitted times, but the gap to J.W. in fourth is only 25.80 seconds.

Spread over 1,500 meters, that difference is approximately 1.72 seconds per 100 meters. T.P. in third is another step ahead at 23:10.00, while the two fastest seeds are considerably farther ahead.

As with the 800, there is also a substantial gap behind my current performance. The sixth seed is 28:00.00, nearly four minutes slower than my current training best.

What the Psych Sheet Changes

Until today, I had been comparing my training primarily with the 2025 Huntsman results. The psych sheet gives me something much more specific: the actual 2026 field and the times everyone submitted when they entered.

The most interesting discovery is that being seeded fifth in all four events doesn’t mean the same thing in all four races.

In the 200 breaststroke, my recent 3:22.52 training performance would move me well ahead of the second-through-fourth submitted seed times. In the 100 breaststroke, my recent training level puts me near the third-seed range. In both distance freestyle events, my current best still falls fifth against the submitted times, but the gap to fourth is now relatively small compared with the times I originally entered.

Current Competitive Picture

Event	Seed Rank	Current Comparison
100 m Breaststroke	5th	Near 3rd-seed time
200 m Breaststroke	5th	Between 1st and 2nd seed times
800 m Freestyle	5th	23.07 sec from 4th seed
1500 m Freestyle	5th	25.80 sec from 4th seed

None of those comparisons is a prediction of finishing place. Seed times don’t tell me how another swimmer is currently training, whether the submitted time represents that swimmer’s best ability, or what anyone will do once the race starts.

What they do provide is context. My submitted times are now clearly conservative compared with several of the performances I’ve produced during the final weeks of training.

No Swim Today – And No Need to Make It Up

I didn’t swim today because we had contractors working in the house and I couldn’t leave. Tomorrow may present the same problem. That’s okay.

I had already begun deliberately reducing my training volume this week, going from 2,600 meters Monday to 2,400 Tuesday and 2,200 Wednesday. Wednesday’s workout included the 3:22.52 opening 200 breaststroke, so I’m not looking at today’s forced day away from the pool as lost training that needs to be recovered.

I plan to swim Saturday and Sunday. I won’t be adding extra distance simply to compensate for Thursday or potentially Friday. At this stage, the goal is to preserve the fitness and speed that are already there while allowing fatigue to come down.

Less Than Two Weeks to Race Day

The psych sheet makes Huntsman feel considerably more real. There are names beside the times now, and for the first time I can see exactly where my submitted seeds place me within the 2026 Men 60–64 field.

The numbers are encouraging, particularly in the 200 breaststroke. They’re also a reminder not to change what I’m doing simply because the psych sheet is available. There is no reason to chase someone else’s seed time in training or add workload during the taper.

I still want to touch each of my four race distances before September ends, but the objective remains the same: arrive at Huntsman rested, healthy, and prepared to swim my own races.

Today’s Takeaway

On paper, I’m the fifth seed in all four of my events. In the pool, my recent performances suggest a more complicated picture.

The 200 breaststroke appears particularly competitive based on my recent 3:22.52. The 100 breaststroke puts me near another group of swimmers around the third seed. The 800 and 1500 both show fourth-place seed times within reach of my current training performances while also showing significant separation behind me.

But the psych sheet doesn’t change the job. Seed times establish the starting order. The actual places will be decided in the pool.

The gradual taper continued today with another small reduction in swimming volume. After 2,600 meters on Monday and 2,400 meters yesterday, today’s workout came down to 2,200 meters.

The reduced distance was intentional, but reducing volume doesn’t mean eliminating quality. Today’s workout provided a good example of what I want from the taper: less total work and lower training stress while continuing to swim fast enough to maintain race-specific speed.

The most encouraging result came immediately. I opened the workout with a 200-meter breaststroke in 3:22.52, my fastest recent training 200 and approximately five seconds faster than my previous 3:27-range efforts.

Today’s Workout

Total Distance	2,200 m
Duration	37:40
Average Pace	1:43/100 m
Normalized Pace	1:43/100 m
Training Stress	51 sTSS
Intensity Factor	0.93
Calories	548

The overall pace isn’t particularly important today because the workout mixed freestyle and breaststroke. The individual sets tell a much more useful story than the combined 1:43/100-meter average.

Opening 200 Breaststroke – 3:22.52

The workout began with five alternating 200-meter breaststroke and freestyle repeats. The very first 200 was breaststroke, and I completed it in 3:22.52, or approximately 1:41.26 per 100 meters.

Rep	Stroke	Time	Pace/100 m
1	Breaststroke	3:22.52	1:41.26
2	Freestyle	3:10.39	1:35.20
3	Breaststroke	3:43.19	1:51.60
4	Freestyle	3:13.93	1:36.97
5	Breaststroke	3:45.36	1:52.68

The opening 3:22.52 is approximately five seconds faster than my established 3:27.54 training benchmark. I also swam approximately 3:27.30 on September 18, so today’s result is another meaningful step forward.

I’m not interested in repeatedly testing the 200 breaststroke between now and Huntsman. Today’s swim accomplished what I needed. The speed is available, and with the race getting closer, preserving it is more valuable than continually trying to prove it in training.

200 Breaststroke and Huntsman

The 200-meter breaststroke will be my first race at Huntsman on October 7. Comparing today’s training swim with last year’s Men 60–64 results provides some useful perspective.

Benchmark	Time	Difference
Today’s Training 200	3:22.52	Current
2025 Silver	3:38.74	16.22 faster
2025 Bronze	3:39.92	17.40 faster
2025 4th	4:00.27	37.75 faster

Training and competition are different environments, so I’m not treating those comparisons as predictions. What today’s result does show is that my breaststroke speed remains available as training volume begins to come down.

Freestyle Speed Was Still There

The freestyle portions of today’s workout were also encouraging. The two 200-meter freestyle repeats were 3:10.39 and 3:13.93, only 3.54 seconds apart.

Later in the workout, three 100-meter freestyle repeats were even more consistent:

Rep	100 m Freestyle
1	1:31.85
2	1:31.98
3	1:33.10

Only 1.25 seconds separated the three 100s. That’s useful speed for me to retain while reducing the overall amount of swimming.

Controlled Breaststroke After the Fast 200

The later 100-meter breaststroke repeats were 1:52.95, 1:54.80, and 1:54.23. Those weren’t attempts to reproduce the intensity of the opening 200. Instead, they provided additional breaststroke work later in the session while remaining very consistent, with less than two seconds separating all three.

That combination worked well today: access the faster swimming while fresh, then continue the workout at a controlled effort rather than turning every set into another test.

The Taper Is Taking Shape

The last three workouts show the gradual reduction I wanted to begin this week.

Date	Distance	sTSS	IF
Sep. 21	2,600 m	65	0.96
Sep. 22	2,400 m	58	0.95
Sep. 23	2,200 m	51	0.93

Over those three workouts, distance has dropped by about 15 percent and training stress has dropped by more than 20 percent. At the same time, today’s opening breaststroke showed that reducing the workload isn’t taking the speed away.

I don’t intend to continue reducing every workout by exactly 200 meters. This isn’t a mathematical countdown. Some upcoming workouts may be similar in length, some may be shorter, and rest days will fit wherever they make sense around recovery and everything else going on outside the pool.

TrainingPeaks

TrainingPeaks currently shows Fitness at 60, Fatigue at 53, and Form at +8. Fitness has remained essentially unchanged while the recent swimming has brought Fatigue back up.

I’m continuing to use those numbers as information rather than targets. I’m not trying to preserve a particular CTL number, nor am I trying to force Form to a particular value. The purpose of the taper is to reduce accumulated workload while retaining the swimming ability I’ve already built.

Today’s workout is a good example of why the actual swimming matters more to me than any single TrainingPeaks number. The workload came down again, but I still opened with a 3:22.52 200 breaststroke.

14 Days to Huntsman

There are now exactly two weeks until my first race at the Huntsman World Senior Games. I am entered in four events: the 100-meter breaststroke, 200-meter breaststroke, 800-meter freestyle, and 1500-meter freestyle.

Date	Event
October 7	200 m Breaststroke
October 8	100 m Breaststroke
October 8	800 m Freestyle
October 9	1500 m Freestyle

Checking Off the 200 Breaststroke

I wanted to swim each of my four Huntsman race distances at least once before September ends. After today’s 3:22.52, I consider the 200 breaststroke checked off that list.

There’s no reason to schedule another hard 200 breaststroke test simply to see whether I can reproduce today’s time. I know the speed is there. The remaining job is to maintain it while continuing to reduce fatigue.

I still want to touch the 100 breaststroke, 800 freestyle, and 1500 freestyle before September ends. Those don’t all need to be maximum-effort time trials either. The goal is race-distance familiarity, pacing, and confidence rather than accumulating additional training benchmarks.

Today’s Takeaway

Today’s 2,200 meters continued the gradual reduction in volume and training stress that began this week, but the opening 3:22.52 breaststroke provided an encouraging indication that the speed I’ve developed hasn’t gone anywhere.

That’s exactly what I want to see from the taper: less work, less accumulated stress, but the ability to swim fast when I ask for it.

Fourteen days remain until the 200-meter breaststroke at Huntsman. At this point, I’m increasingly interested in preserving what I’ve built rather than trying to build something new.

After taking Sunday completely off, I returned to the pool today without a complicated training objective. My plan for this week remains simple: work around a busy schedule, listen to how I feel in the water, and avoid turning swimming into another source of stress.

Today’s workout fit that approach well. I swam 2,600 meters, with the centerpiece being a continuous 2,000-meter freestyle. It wasn’t intended as a 1500-meter time trial or another attempt at my 800-meter best. Instead, it gave me a long, uninterrupted aerobic swim while maintaining the endurance I will need for both freestyle events at Huntsman.

Today’s Workout

Total Distance	2,600 m
Duration	43:07
Average Pace	1:40/100 m
Normalized Pace	1:39/100 m
Training Stress	65 sTSS
Intensity Factor	0.96
Average Heart Rate	127 bpm
Maximum Heart Rate	162 bpm

The Main Set: 2,000 m Continuous Freestyle

The main endurance work was a continuous 2,000-meter freestyle completed in 33:09.61, an average pace of approximately 1:39.48 per 100 meters.

Segment	Time	Pace/100 m
0–400 m	6:27.65	1:36.91
400–800 m	6:37.02	1:39.26
800–1200 m	6:34.87	1:38.72
1200–1600 m	6:41.50	1:40.38
1600–2000 m	6:48.57	1:42.14
2,000 m Total	33:09.61	1:39.48

There was some slowing over the final 800 meters, but this was also a swim considerably longer than either of my recent race-distance efforts. I wasn’t trying to hold 800-meter race pace for 2,000 meters. The objective was continuous endurance, and averaging essentially my calculated CSS pace for the full distance made this a productive aerobic session.

A 1500 Inside the 2000

FORM puts my first 1,500 meters today at approximately 24:40.33. That’s slower than my current 24:04.84 training best, but the comparison needs context. The 24:04 was a dedicated 1,500-meter effort. Today I continued another 500 meters without stopping.

For that reason, today’s 1,500 split doesn’t replace or challenge the 24:04.84 benchmark. It is better viewed as evidence that I can continue working around the pace required for the 1500 while extending the swim well beyond race distance.

Huntsman Freestyle Benchmarks

800 m Freestyle

Benchmark	Time	Difference
2025 Silver	12:16.56	+18.56
2025 Bronze	12:32.85	+2.27
My Training Best	12:35.12	Current
2025 4th	12:56.76	21.64 faster

Friday’s 12:35.12 remains my current 800-meter training benchmark. Today’s longer swim wasn’t intended to change it.

1500 m Freestyle

Benchmark	Time	Difference
2025 Silver	23:39.43	+25.41
My Training Best	24:04.84	Current
2025 Bronze	25:04.75	59.91 faster
2025 4th	25:06.88	62.04 faster

Four Days Back, Then a Rest Day

The last several days have given me a much better picture of where my swimming stands after eight medically restricted days out of the pool. I returned on September 16 and swam four consecutive days through September 19. That stretch culminated in a new 800-meter training best of 12:35.12.

September 20 was a complete rest day. Today’s 2,600 meters therefore started a new training week with considerably more recovery than I had during the four-day return block.

Date	Training	Distance
Sep. 16	Return Swim #1	2,650 m
Sep. 17	Return Swim #2	2,600 m
Sep. 18	Pool heat limited	1,600 m
Sep. 19	800 m training best	3,000 m
Sep. 20	Rest	—
Sep. 21	2,000 m continuous FR	2,600 m

TrainingPeaks

TrainingPeaks currently has my Fitness at 60, Fatigue at 51, and Form at +12. I’m continuing to watch those numbers, but I’m not going to structure the next week around trying to achieve a particular CTL or Form value.

The more important information right now is coming from the pool. I have been able to reproduce my breaststroke speed, set a new 800-meter freestyle training best, and now complete a continuous 2,000-meter freestyle at about 1:39.5 per 100 meters. Those are useful indications that the eight days away from training did not erase the conditioning built over the summer.

16 Days to Huntsman

I am entered in four events at the Huntsman World Senior Games: the 100-meter breaststroke, 200-meter breaststroke, 800-meter freestyle, and 1500-meter freestyle. The 200 breaststroke, 800 freestyle, and 1500 freestyle remain my primary training focus, while I will also compete in the 100 breaststroke.

Date	Event
October 7	200 m Breaststroke
October 8	100 m Breaststroke
October 8	800 m Freestyle
October 9	1500 m Freestyle

The Plan From Here

This coming week is going to be busy outside of the pool, so I’m deliberately keeping the swimming flexible. I don’t want training to become another source of stress simply because the competition is getting closer.

Between now and the end of September, I intend to swim each of my four Huntsman race distances at least once: 100 breaststroke, 200 breaststroke, 800 freestyle, and 1500 freestyle. They don’t all need to be maximum-effort time trials. The objective is to touch each race distance before moving into the final days before Huntsman.

Beyond that, I’m going to continue taking the week by ear. If I feel good and have time, I’ll swim. If time is limited, a shorter purposeful workout is enough. And if life outside the pool needs the time, taking another rest day isn’t going to undo the work already completed.

Today’s Takeaway

Today’s 2,000-meter continuous freestyle wasn’t about setting another personal best. It was about getting back into the water after a rest day and maintaining the endurance needed for the 800 and 1500 without forcing the workout.

With 16 days remaining until my first Huntsman race, the objective is becoming less about building more fitness and more about preserving what I’ve already built while arriving in St. George rested and ready to race.

Today I finally got the distance workout I was looking for.

After yesterday’s swim was cut short because the pool was ridiculously warm, I went to a different VASA Fitness location today. The difference was immediate. The water temperature was almost perfect, and I was able to put together a full 3,000-meter workout.

More importantly, I opened the workout with a continuous 800-meter freestyle in 12:35.12 — my fastest recorded 800-meter training swim so far.

Today’s Workout

Metric	Result
Distance	3,000 m
Swimming Time	49:13
Average Pace	1:39 / 100 m
Normalized Pace	1:38 / 100 m
Average Heart Rate	124 bpm
Maximum Heart Rate	171 bpm
sTSS	76
Intensity Factor	0.98
Calories	705

The workout included 1,850 meters of freestyle and 1,150 meters of breaststroke. At 3,000 meters, this was also my longest workout since returning to the pool following eight medically restricted days without training.

A New 800-Meter Freestyle Training Best

The most important part of today’s workout came first.

I swam a continuous 800-meter freestyle in 12:35.12, averaging approximately 1:34.39 per 100 meters.

My previous 800-meter training best was 12:40.25, so today’s swim improved that mark by 5.13 seconds.

800 Freestyle	Time	Difference
2025 Silver	12:16.56	+18.56 sec
2025 Bronze	12:32.85	+2.27 sec
Sep. 19 Training Best	12:35.12	—
Previous Training Best	12:40.25	-5.13 sec
2025 4th	12:56.76	-21.64 sec

The number that immediately stands out is 2.27 seconds. That’s now the difference between today’s training swim and the 2025 Huntsman bronze-medal time.

There are still important differences between a training swim and competition. Today’s 800 was done from an in-water training start. At Huntsman I’ll have the benefit of a starting block, electronic timing and race conditions.

For the training log, however, 12:35.12 becomes my new 800-meter benchmark.

A Note About FORM Splits and Race Starts

I don’t want to overanalyze individual first-length splits from the FORM goggles.

There can be a small delay while the goggles recognize that a set has started and another delay when they recognize that it has ended. Those effects tend to offset one another reasonably well when looking at the complete set, so I consider the total recorded time much more useful than trying to adjust it by a second here or there.

That also matters when comparing training with competition. Coming off a starting block, the first length of a race should naturally be faster than the following lengths because of the dive, streamline and breakout. A faster opening length therefore doesn’t automatically mean the race was started too aggressively.

For my distance events, what matters more is how quickly I settle into sustainable swimming and how consistently I maintain that pace through the middle and closing portions of the race.

Breaststroke Stayed Consistent

After the opening 800 freestyle, I continued with mixed freestyle and breaststroke work. A 10 × 50 breaststroke set produced times of 50.04, 52.34, 53.08, 51.13, 50.84, 50.40, 49.33, 51.29, 49.88 and 51.94.

The average was approximately 51 seconds per 50 meters, but the consistency is more interesting than the average. There was no progressive collapse through the set. In fact, one of the fastest repetitions — 49.33 — came on number seven.

That continues to support what I’ve seen since returning to the pool: breaststroke speed remains available.

Freestyle Speed Under Fatigue

Later in the workout I completed 10 × 50 freestyle after already accumulating considerable distance.

Those repetitions ranged from 39.15 early in the set to 45.25 on the final repetition. There was a gradual slowdown, but this wasn’t fresh speed work. It came after the continuous 800 and additional swimming.

Even the slower repetitions remained considerably faster than the sustainable pace required for my 800- and 1,500-meter races.

Late 100s Were Encouraging

One of the better endurance signals came late in the workout during alternating 100-meter freestyle and breaststroke repetitions.

Stroke	Times
Freestyle	1:33.73, 1:33.97, 1:35.87
Breaststroke	1:54.24, 1:51.65, 1:56.75

The first two freestyle 100s were separated by only 0.24 seconds, and all three remained strong despite occurring after more than 2,000 meters of previous swimming.

That is more useful to me right now than chasing an exceptionally fast isolated 50. I already know the short-distance speed exists. Sustainable speed is what matters for the races I’m preparing to swim.

Yesterday Really Was About the Pool

Today’s workout also provides some useful context for yesterday.

Friday’s workout ended at 1,600 meters because the pool temperature was simply too warm for the distance work I wanted to do. Today I changed locations, found much better water conditions, and completed 3,000 meters without the same problem.

That makes it pretty clear that yesterday’s shorter distance wasn’t a fitness limitation. The environment was the limitation.

Four Days Back

I have now swum four consecutive days since returning from the medically restricted break.

Date	Distance	sTSS
Sep. 16	2,650 m	66
Sep. 17	2,600 m	65
Sep. 18	1,600 m*	39
Sep. 19	3,000 m	76
Total	9,850 m	246

*September 18 was shortened because of excessive pool temperature.

TrainingPeaks currently shows Fitness 61, Fatigue 49 and Form +19. Four days ago the biggest question was how much swimming fitness had survived the interruption. After almost 10,000 meters back in the pool, I’m getting a much clearer answer.

September Training Total

Today’s 3,000 meters brings my September swimming total to 25,250 meters and 605 swim sTSS. September 8–15 remain recorded as Medical Restricted – No Workout.

18 Days to the First Race

The countdown is getting short.

Huntsman Event	Date	Days Remaining
200 m Breaststroke	October 7	18 days
800 m Freestyle	October 8	19 days
1500 m Freestyle	October 9	20 days

The 200-meter breaststroke is the fourth event on Wednesday’s schedule. The 800-meter freestyle comes Thursday after the scheduled break, and the 1,500-meter freestyle follows Friday after that day’s break.

I’m still not interested in trying to recover the eight days of training I missed. Those days are gone, and cramming extra workouts into the remaining time would accomplish very little.

Instead, I’m continuing to judge each day by how I feel and what the previous workout tells me.

What I Learned Today

Wednesday showed me that my speed survived the break. Thursday showed that I could come back and swim well on consecutive days. Friday was compromised by pool temperature.

Today finally gave me a good look at the distance side of the equation.

A continuous 12:35.12 800 freestyle, five seconds faster than my previous training best and only 2.27 seconds from the 2025 Huntsman bronze time, is a much better result than I expected to have four days after returning to the pool.

There is still work to do, but I don’t think that work is about finding more raw speed.

It’s about using the speed I already have efficiently, maintaining it longer, and arriving in St. George rested enough to use it when the times actually count.

Eighteen days until the 200 breaststroke. Nineteen days until the 800 freestyle. Twenty days until the 1,500 freestyle.

The Road to Huntsman is getting very real.

Today’s workout ended considerably earlier than I intended, but not because I was tired from the previous two days of swimming.

The pool was ridiculously warm.

I had planned to get some distance work in, but the water temperature made sustained swimming increasingly uncomfortable and, more importantly, inappropriate for the kind of workout I wanted to do. Rather than force the distance simply to put another number in the training log, I stopped at 1,600 meters.

There are now 19 days until my first event at the Huntsman World Senior Games.

Today’s Workout

Metric	Result
Distance	1,600 m
Swimming Time	26:40
Average Pace	1:40 / 100 m
Normalized Pace	1:40 / 100 m
Average Heart Rate	128 bpm
Maximum Heart Rate	152 bpm
sTSS	39
Intensity Factor	0.96
Calories	390

The workout included 700 meters of freestyle and 900 meters of breaststroke. Despite the conditions, there were still some encouraging performances in both strokes.

A Fast Opening 200 Breaststroke

The most interesting result came early in the workout.

My first 200-meter breaststroke was approximately 3:27.30.

My established 200-meter breaststroke training benchmark is 3:27.54, so today’s opening 200 was essentially identical and technically about a quarter-second faster.

200 Breaststroke	Time
Current Training Benchmark	3:27.54
Sep. 18 Opening 200	~3:27.30
2025 Huntsman Silver	3:38.74
2025 Huntsman Bronze	3:39.92
2025 Huntsman 4th	4:00.27

I am not replacing my 3:27.54 benchmark with today’s result. This wasn’t set up as a 200-meter race simulation, and there is no reason to manufacture a new benchmark from a workout that had a completely different purpose.

What it does tell me is that my breaststroke speed appears to have survived the eight-day interruption in training remarkably well.

Freestyle Was Consistent

The longer opening portion of the workout alternated 200-meter breaststroke and freestyle repetitions.

Rep	Stroke	Time
1	Breaststroke	3:27.30
2	Freestyle	3:05.49
3	Breaststroke	3:44.91
4	Freestyle	3:07.47
5	Breaststroke	3:45.97

The two freestyle 200s were separated by only 1.98 seconds. The first averaged approximately 1:32.7 per 100 meters and the second approximately 1:33.7.

That continues a pattern that has been evident since I returned to swimming this week: freestyle speed is readily available. The bigger objective between now and Huntsman remains converting that speed into controlled, sustainable 800- and 1,500-meter pacing.

The Temperature Changed the Workout

Under normal conditions, I would be interested in the difference between the opening 3:27 breaststroke and the later 3:44 and 3:45 repetitions. Today, however, there is an important variable that makes that comparison less useful.

The water was simply too warm for the distance workout I wanted to do.

As the workout continued, the pool temperature became the limiting factor. That makes today a poor session for drawing conclusions about sustained endurance or interpreting the slower later repetitions as a loss of conditioning.

Interestingly, my average heart rate was 128 bpm, slightly higher than either of my first two return swims despite today’s workout being much shorter.

Date	Distance	Avg HR	sTSS
Sep. 16	2,650 m	123	66
Sep. 17	2,600 m	126	65
Sep. 18	1,600 m	128	39

That reinforces why today’s numbers need to be viewed in the context of the pool conditions rather than simply compared with the previous two workouts.

Three Days Back in the Pool

Today was my third consecutive swim since returning from eight medically restricted days without workouts.

Date	Distance	sTSS
Sep. 16	2,650 m	66
Sep. 17	2,600 m	65
Sep. 18	1,600 m	39
Total	6,850 m	170

That’s enough swimming to begin answering some of the questions I had when I returned Wednesday.

The clearest answer so far is that speed survived the break. I’ve seen that repeatedly in both freestyle and breaststroke. I’ve also been able to handle three consecutive days in the pool.

What I still haven’t had a good opportunity to evaluate is sustained distance endurance. I hoped to learn more about that today, but the pool conditions made this the wrong day to force the issue.

September Training Log

Today’s 1,600 meters brings my September swimming total to 22,250 meters and 529 swim sTSS. The September 8–15 period remains recorded as Medical Restricted – No Workout.

Date	Training	Swim Total
Sep. 1	Swim – 1,800 m	1,800 m
Sep. 2	Swim – 2,500 m	4,300 m
Sep. 3	Swim – 2,700 m	7,000 m
Sep. 4	Swim – 2,500 m	9,500 m
Sep. 5	Swim – 3,400 m	12,900 m
Sep. 6	Outdoor jog – no swim	12,900 m
Sep. 7	Swim – 2,500 m	15,400 m
Sep. 8–15	Medical Restricted – No Workout	15,400 m
Sep. 16	Swim – 2,650 m	18,050 m
Sep. 17	Swim – 2,600 m	20,650 m
Sep. 18	Swim – 1,600 m*	22,250 m

*September 18 workout shortened because of excessive pool temperature.

19 Days to Huntsman

There are now 19 days until the 200-meter breaststroke on October 7, 20 days until the 800-meter freestyle, and 21 days until the 1,500-meter freestyle.

With less than three weeks remaining, it would have been easy to convince myself that I needed to finish today’s distance regardless of the conditions. But there is nothing useful about forcing a long workout in a pool that is too warm simply because a competition is getting closer.

I am still playing these first few days back by ear. Today the pool made the decision for me.

I didn’t get the distance test I wanted, but I did get another useful piece of information: three days after returning to swimming, the speed is still there. The opening 200 breaststroke was essentially equal to my best current training benchmark, and the two freestyle 200s were both strong and remarkably close together.

The distance work can wait for better conditions.

Nineteen days to Huntsman.

Yesterday answered the first question after eight medically restricted days without training: could I get back into the pool and still swim reasonably well?

Today’s question was a little different: how would I respond to doing it again the next day?

The answer was encouraging. I swam another 2,600 meters in 42:52, almost duplicating yesterday’s overall workload while actually averaging slightly faster in the pool.

There are now 20 days until my first event at the Huntsman World Senior Games.

Today’s Workout

Metric	Result
Distance	2,600 m
Swimming Time	42:52
Average Pace	1:39 / 100 m
Normalized Pace	1:39 / 100 m
Average Heart Rate	126 bpm
Maximum Heart Rate	153 bpm
sTSS	65
Intensity Factor	0.97
Calories	627

The workout was almost evenly divided between my two competition strokes: 1,275 meters of freestyle and 1,325 meters of breaststroke.

Back-to-Back Return Swims

Yesterday was my first swim after the eight-day medically restricted period. Today’s workout was remarkably similar in overall workload.

Metric	Sep. 16	Sep. 17
Distance	2,650 m	2,600 m
Time	43:49	42:52
Average Pace	1:40	1:39
Normalized Pace	1:39	1:39
Average HR	123	126
sTSS	66	65
IF	0.97	0.97

In two days I’ve now completed 5,250 meters and accumulated 131 swim sTSS. More importantly, the second workout didn’t show an obvious drop in performance after the first.

Freestyle Speed Is Not the Problem

The same pattern that was developing before the break showed up again today: I have plenty of short-distance freestyle speed.

A 6 × 50 freestyle set produced the following times:

50	Time
1	38.09
2	39.74
3	40.90
4	41.24
5	43.49
6	41.95

The average was approximately 40.9 seconds per 50 meters.

That is considerably faster than anything I need for either the 800- or 1,500-meter freestyle. But the progression from 38.09 to the slower repetitions also reinforces a lesson that has been following me throughout this training cycle.

Finding more speed isn’t the priority. Learning to distribute the speed I already have is.

Breaststroke Was More Controlled

The corresponding 6 × 50 breaststroke set was more consistent:

50	Time
1	48.14
2	51.55
3	50.65
4	50.72
5	50.58
6	51.68

After the faster opening 48.14, the remaining five repetitions stayed in a very narrow range between 50.58 and 51.68.

That’s the kind of repeatability I want to see as I work my way back toward race-specific training.

The 100s Show the Fatigue Curve

The longer repetitions gave me a better look at what happens as the workout progresses.

The freestyle 100s progressed through approximately 1:26.95, 1:28.21, 1:29.29 and 1:31.23. The breaststroke 100s similarly moved through approximately 1:46.89, 1:48.80, 1:49.45 and 1:51.85.

Both strokes gradually slowed as fatigue accumulated, which isn’t particularly surprising on only my second workout after eight days without training.

The encouraging part is that neither stroke suddenly fell apart. There was a gradual decline rather than a dramatic one, and the freestyle times remained considerably faster than the pace I need for my distance races.

TrainingPeaks Is Beginning to Respond

TrainingPeaks now shows Fitness 60, Fatigue 40 and Form +23.

Date	Fitness	Fatigue	Form
Sep. 7	72	94	-25
Sep. 16	60	36	+29
Sep. 17	60	40	+23

The eight days without training reduced the modeled Fitness number, but they also removed a considerable amount of accumulated fatigue. Now that I’m swimming again, Fatigue is beginning to rise and Form is moving back down.

I’m watching those numbers, but I’m not going to let them dictate what I do over the next several days. How I actually feel after each workout is more important right now.

September Training Log

The September 8–15 period remains recorded as Medical Restricted – No Workout. Those weren’t missed workouts to be made up later.

Date	Training	Swim Total
Sep. 1	Swim – 1,800 m	1,800 m
Sep. 2	Swim – 2,500 m	4,300 m
Sep. 3	Swim – 2,700 m	7,000 m
Sep. 4	Swim – 2,500 m	9,500 m
Sep. 5	Swim – 3,400 m	12,900 m
Sep. 6	Outdoor jog – no swim	12,900 m
Sep. 7	Swim – 2,500 m	15,400 m
Sep. 8–15	Medical Restricted – No Workout	15,400 m
Sep. 16	Swim – 2,650 m	18,050 m
Sep. 17	Swim – 2,600 m	20,650 m

September now stands at 20,650 meters of swimming and 490 swim sTSS.

No Catch-Up Training

One thing I don’t intend to do is try to recover the eight days that disappeared from the original September training schedule.

Those days are gone. Trying to compress them into the remaining three weeks would probably accomplish little other than rebuilding fatigue very quickly.

For now, I’m continuing with the approach I decided on yesterday: play the next few training days by ear.

If I feel good and want to swim, I’ll swim. If I feel like doing less, I’ll do less. If I need a day off, I’ll take one. After a few more workouts, I’ll have a much better picture of how much sustained endurance returned with me and what race-specific work makes sense before tapering.

20 Days to Huntsman

There are now 20 days until the 200-meter breaststroke on October 7, 21 days until the 800-meter freestyle, and 22 days until the 1,500-meter freestyle.

Yesterday showed that I could return to the pool after eight days away and still swim well. Today showed that I could come back the next day and do it again.

That’s probably the most important result from today’s workout.

Two days back. 5,250 meters completed. Twenty days until the first race.

The Road to Huntsman is moving again.

After eight consecutive days without training, today I finally returned to the pool.

September 8 through September 15 were medically restricted days with no workouts. That wasn’t planned recovery and it wasn’t a normal break in the training schedule. Training simply had to stop for a while.

More importantly, I now have my doctor’s clearance to compete at the Huntsman World Senior Games. So the Road to Huntsman continues.

There are only 21 days until I swim the 200-meter breaststroke on October 7, followed by the 800-meter freestyle on October 8 and the 1,500-meter freestyle on October 9.

First Swim Back

I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect from today’s workout. Eight days without swimming isn’t an enormous amount of time, but it is long enough to wonder how the water will feel and how much of the conditioning from the previous training block will still be there.

The answer was encouraging.

Metric	Result
Distance	2,650 m
Swimming Time	43:49
Average Pace	1:40 / 100 m
Normalized Pace	1:39 / 100 m
Average Heart Rate	123 bpm
Maximum Heart Rate	173 bpm
sTSS	66
Intensity Factor	0.97
Calories	594

The workout included 1,575 meters of freestyle and 1,075 meters of breaststroke. That gave me enough work in both of my competition strokes to get a useful picture of where things stood without making today’s swim a race-distance test.

The Speed Didn’t Disappear

One of the first things I noticed in the data was that my short-distance freestyle speed was still there.

An early 4 × 50 freestyle set was remarkably consistent:

50	Time
1	41.64
2	41.77
3	42.22
4	41.62

Only 0.60 seconds separated the fastest and slowest repetitions.

That is particularly encouraging because pacing consistency was becoming one of the major themes of my training immediately before the break. I have repeatedly demonstrated enough raw freestyle speed for the 800 and 1,500. The challenge has been distributing that speed efficiently instead of starting too fast and gradually giving it back.

A later 6 × 50 freestyle set followed a similar pattern for the first five repetitions: 43.51, 44.47, 43.70, 44.29 and 44.48 before the final 47.24. There is still some endurance to rebuild, but the underlying speed appears to be intact.

A Better Endurance Check

The short repetitions tell me that speed is available, but they don’t tell me whether I can immediately reproduce my pre-break endurance. I don’t expect them to.

A continuous 350-meter freestyle during today’s workout was 5:41.13, approximately 1:37.5 per 100 meters. My current 1,500-meter training best averages approximately 1:36.3 per 100 meters.

I am not treating the 350 as a race prediction or using it to change my 1,500-meter benchmark. It is simply encouraging that on my first day back in the water I could settle into a sustained pace reasonably close to the pace of my best 1,500 training swim.

Breaststroke Is Still There Too

Breaststroke accounted for 1,075 meters of today’s workout.

An early 200-meter breaststroke was 3:38.67, or approximately 1:49.3 per 100 meters. That isn’t intended to replace my 3:27.54 current 200-meter training benchmark, but it was a useful first indication that the stroke remained comfortable after the time away.

Later breaststroke repetitions also remained reasonably consistent. Two late 50s were 52.42 and 52.74, only 0.32 seconds apart.

As with freestyle, I’m more interested right now in how the stroke feels and whether I can repeat it consistently than in forcing a new best time during the first workout back.

Eight Days Off Changed the Training Numbers

TrainingPeaks shows the effect of the interruption very clearly.

Metric	Sep. 7	Sep. 16
Fitness	72	60
Fatigue	94	36
Form	-25	+29

The modeled Fitness number declined, which isn’t surprising after eight days without training. At the same time, Fatigue dropped dramatically and Form moved well into positive territory.

Today’s workout is also a reminder that a change in a modeled fitness number doesn’t translate directly into an equivalent change in swimming ability. The first swim back showed that a considerable amount of the speed and conditioning from the previous training block remains available.

September Training Log

The eight days between my September 7 swim and today’s return will remain in my training log as Medical Restricted – No Workout. They aren’t missed workouts that need to be recovered.

Date	Training	Swim Total
Sep. 1	Swim – 1,800 m	1,800 m
Sep. 2	Swim – 2,500 m	4,300 m
Sep. 3	Swim – 2,700 m	7,000 m
Sep. 4	Swim – 2,500 m	9,500 m
Sep. 5	Swim – 3,400 m	12,900 m
Sep. 6	Outdoor jog – no swim	12,900 m
Sep. 7	Swim – 2,500 m	15,400 m
Sep. 8	Medical Restricted – No Workout	15,400 m
Sep. 9	Medical Restricted – No Workout	15,400 m
Sep. 10	Medical Restricted – No Workout	15,400 m
Sep. 11	Medical Restricted – No Workout	15,400 m
Sep. 12	Medical Restricted – No Workout	15,400 m
Sep. 13	Medical Restricted – No Workout	15,400 m
Sep. 14	Medical Restricted – No Workout	15,400 m
Sep. 15	Medical Restricted – No Workout	15,400 m
Sep. 16	Swim – 2,650 m	18,050 m

September now stands at 18,050 meters of swimming and 425 swim sTSS.

The Road to Huntsman Continues

The biggest news for me isn’t today’s pace or any particular split. I have my doctor’s clearance to compete, and I intend to be at Huntsman.

What I am not going to do is try to cram eight days of missed training into the remaining three weeks.

For the next few days, I’m going to play the training schedule by ear. If I feel like swimming, I’ll swim. How far I go and what I do in the pool will depend on how I feel that day. There is no reason right now to force a predetermined distance or pace simply because it appeared on a training schedule written before the interruption.

After a few workouts, I should have a much better idea of how quickly my endurance is returning and what kind of race-specific work makes sense before tapering for Huntsman.

21 Days to Huntsman

Three weeks from today I will swim the 200-meter breaststroke at the Huntsman World Senior Games.

The 800-meter freestyle follows in 22 days, and the 1,500-meter freestyle in 23 days.

The training plan has taken an unexpected detour, but the destination hasn’t changed.

Today’s 2,650 meters wasn’t about proving that eight days away from training didn’t matter. It was about finding out what was still there when I got back into the water. The answer was encouraging: the strokes felt available, the speed was still present, and I was able to put together a solid 43-minute workout on my first day back.

For now, that’s enough. Tomorrow I’ll see how I feel and decide what comes next.