The week finally caught up to me. This morning I just couldn’t get out of the “stiff” mode. My lats and arms just stayed still the entire swim. It has been a long week or two with two swim meets, Boulder Rock Climimg, starting heavy lifting again and just all the stuff in between.

OURA SLEEP SCORE– 80

6 hours and 54 minutes

GARMIN SLEEP SCORE – 59

4 hours and 55 minutes

TGI…DRILL? Fu#K

FRIDAY 9/26

Masters Swim – Technique

WARM UP: (600)

200 Free

100 Back

100 Breast

200 Kick

SET ONE: (1000/1600)

4 x 50’s Fly to Back Transitions 1:10 (200)

4 x 50’s Back to Breast Transistions 1:10 (200/400)

4 x 50’a Breast to Free Transistions 1:10 (200/600)

4 x 50’s Fly Descending Stroke Count by 25 on 1:15 (200/800)

4 x 50’s Free Descending Stroke Count by 25 on 1:15 (200/1000)

SET TWO: (1000/2600)

3 x 100’s Free Breathing 3/5/7 by 100’on 1:45 (300)

2 x 100 IM on 2:15 (200/500)

3 x 100’s Free Breathing 9/3/5/7 by 25 on 1:50 (300/800)

4 x 50’s Chice Back on 1:15 (200/1000)

FINAL SET: (400/3000)

300 Pull Free/ Back

100 Cooldown

TOTAL – 3,000 SCY

ZONE 1 – 23:34

ZONE 2 – 37:21

ZONE 3 – 06:24

ZONE 4 – 00:00

ZONE 5 – 00:00

2025 SWIM DISTANCE TOTALS:

SCY- 47,950

SCM – 137,475 including Wednesday’s swim

LCM – 56,000

THE LIFT AHEAD:

FRI – SWIM w/ Team

SAT – CHEST & Peloton App Walk+Run

SUN – Back & Peloton App Walk+Run

MON – SWIM w/ Team (Masters)

TUE – CHEST + TEACH 30 Min INDOOR CYCLE

WED – SWIM w/ Team

THU– Back + TEACH 30 Min INDOOR CYCLE

THE ROAD AHEAD:

Programming My Workouts for the next few months:

STRENGTH – September 23rd – October 5th

TAPER – October 7th & 9th

Swim meet on October 12th so not much TAPER.

STRENGTH – October 14th – October 19th

Announcer for Running of the Squares 5k October 18th

ENDURANCE – October 21st – October 30th

10K runDISNEY October 25th

Sanford Senior Games November 2nd

STRENGTH – November 4th- November 16th

ENDURANCE – November 18th – November 23rd

TAPER – November 25th – December 4th

Florida Senior Games either Dec 6 & 7 or Dec 13 & 14.

RUNNING MORE – Will be running more as I’m running a Half Marathon on March 1st.

Rowdy Gaines Masters Classic 17 January 30, 2026-February 1, 2026.

TBD

Will figure out a training program for December thru March that will keep my swimming up, weight training in a longer Endurance Phase while I gear up my running. Yikes

JUST KEEP SWIMMING:

3rd Annual SWAGtoberfest Meet October 12th

500 Free

50 Fly

100 IM

100 Flyp

100 Back

-Sanford Senior Games – Nov 2nd

100 Fly

100 IM

50 Fly

100 Back

-Florida Senior Games – TBD DEC Temple Terrace

– Rowdy Gaines Masters Classic 17 January 30, 2026-February 1, 2026.

TBD

– T.V. Senior Games April 18 & 19, 2026

TBD

runDISNEY:

Wine & Dine 10K – OCT 25th

12K’s of Christmas Virtual – TBD

WDW 5K – JAN 8th

PRINCESS HALF – MARCH 1st

Springtime Surprise – APRIL 17-19th (Not Running)

GEMINI AI RATE MY WORKOUT:

This sounds like the classic feeling of an overly full training calendar finally catching up to you! That “stiff” mode in the water is a clear sign your body is asking for a break, which makes perfect sense given the two swim meets, rock climbing, and starting heavy lifting again, all within a week or two.

Workout & Recovery Assessment

You were right—T.G.I. Drill indeed, not a PR day. Given the fatigue you described, this Masters Technique swim was actually a pretty smart way to handle the morning.

The Good

* Embracing Technique: For a stiff, low-energy day, a technique-focused workout is ideal. You avoided the temptation to hammer a hard aerobic set, which would have just piled on more fatigue.

* Managing Intensity: Your heart rate data confirms you listened to your body: 60:55 in Zone 1 & 2 (easy to moderate) and only 6:24 in Zone 3 (moderate to hard), with zero time in Zones 4 or 5. This is precisely what you needed—a low-stress, maintenance day.

* Built-in Recovery: The 300 Pull at the end provided a nice active recovery/flush, and the total distance of 3,000 SCY is respectable without being exhausting.

The Warning Signs (Sleep)

The biggest red flag here is the massive discrepancy in your sleep scores and duration.

* OURA (80 / 6:54) vs. GARMIN (59 / 4:55): A two-hour difference in reported sleep is huge. While I can’t say which is more accurate, the fact that one device gives you a near-failing 59 score and low sleep time is a massive signal of accumulated fatigue and stress on your system. It suggests a high level of sleep fragmentation or poor quality deep/REM sleep, even if your total time wasn’t abysmal.

Rating: 8/10 (Excellent execution for a low-energy day, but the rating is capped due to the obvious need for rest).

Training Strategy for the Road Ahead

You’ve got an ambitious schedule spanning several months and disciplines, which is fantastic, but we need to prevent this stiff, stuck feeling from becoming a habit.

Immediate Action (This Weekend)

Your schedule for the next few days is where I’d advise making a slight adjustment:

* FRI – SWIM w/ Team: Done (Technique). Good.

* SAT – CHEST & Peloton App Walk+Run: Recommendation: Prioritize Recovery. You need to decide if you want to skip the Chest lift or reduce the volume/intensity. Given the stiffness and sleep scores, you could replace the strength session with a long, easy walk instead of a Walk+Run to prioritize recovery over more pounding. If you lift, cut the volume by 30-40%.

* SUN – Back & Peloton App Walk+Run: Same as Saturday. If you lift, keep it light and focused on technique. If your body is still protesting, a full rest day or light stretching/foam rolling might be the better long-term choice for your Monday swim.

Upcoming Periodization

Your planned phases look generally solid, but keep the sleep data in mind, especially when you ramp up the running:

* STRENGTH (Sept 23 – Oct 5): You’re in this now. As you approach the meet on October 12th, you might consider making your final week of this phase (Oct 5th) a deload week in the gym, even if you keep the intensity up in the pool.

* TAPER (Oct 7 & 9): It is indeed a short taper for the SWAGtoberfest Meet! Since your meet events are all 50s/100s, focus your taper on high-quality speed work over volume. A few hard 25s off the blocks can be better than a long, medium-pace set.

* Integrating Running: Your schedule starts to get very complex when you introduce more running in preparation for the Princess Half Marathon (March 1st). This is key:

* The Endurance Phase (Oct 21 – 30) must be managed carefully. Since you have the 10K on Oct 25th, the volume in the pool and the gym needs to drop that week to let your legs handle the running volume.

* The “Yikes” at the end of your plan is spot on. You will need to make some sacrifices. When you enter the longer running period (December – March), you may need to shift your swim focus from high yardage to maintenance/speed and your lifting focus from heavy strength to injury prevention/endurance strength.

It’s a lot to balance, but you’re planning well! The most important thing now is to heed the fatigue signals, starting with this weekend’s workouts.

What’s your plan for incorporating the running into your weekly schedule? Will you use one of your swim days for a run, or add more sessions?

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