Faster = better? : 20 x 200m + swimming

20x200 @ slightly faster than 5k pace with 1min jog between. I took 1min walk after 10 to drink some water.

This workout reminds me of my high school workouts. Not that I used to do 20 x 200, but it was very close time-wise.
(At high school, I used to do all-out interval workouts with full recovery between intervals, which sometimes meant 10minutes. Therefore workout plus w/up, stretches, drills, strides, c/d would take me usually way over 2 hours)
Actually this workout today took me only 33min 38sec, but I had to make sure I am well warmed up so I was on a track for like 1.5 hours.

But I did something very bad and I promised to myself that I AM GOING TO BE MUCH BETTER ABOUT IT. It was supposed to be @ 45-46sec. I did all of them @ 43sec. Because 45 felt sooo slow (hm, ok, you got me. If I did all at 43 sec how do I know 45 is slow. Well, 43 felt slow, so 45 would feel slower, right?)

First of all, 200s are so short and therefore it is very easy to run faster/slower splits because you do not have time to check splits and adjust pace. And secondly, I have craved somewhere in my stubborn mind that faster=better. I know it is not true for these kinds of workouts. (Although I think it is true for workouts I used to do long time ago because I worked). Plus it sometimes feels so easy. I just need to be better about this.
I promise, I will try to do better pacing on Thursday. That's my second 200s workout this week...

Afterwards, I did some strengthening. And let me tell you, those "fast" 200s and strengthening trashed my legs. When I was going home from the track I definitely felt the soreness. But it seem that all that walking took care of it because no soreness now.

Since there are couple outdoor pools here, I wanted to go swimming today. But weather is not that good. (It was warmer in Michigan than it is in California! WTF?!? Why did I come here?) I still took my swimsuit, just in case. After the workout the sky has not cleared but I still went to check out the pool. And there were people there. So I was like, ok, I might as well treat it as an ice bath. I got into water and it was a freaking heated pool!!! This school is the paradise. Well, at least until school starts on Thursday.
I swam loops. It felt so good.
I think that I swam further than I have even swam before. Freestyle I mean. I once swam couple miles with breaststroke. But I am such a poor freestyle swimmer.
Actually, when I was a kid (like 14-15) I was one of the fastest "non-trained" swimmers in my region (I do not remember my times, but it might have been in mid-30s for 50m). It is probably because I had a very good lungs capacity and endurance from running. But I am sure my self-taught technique was horrible. Plus I would love to watch a video of me doing my self-taught flip-turn. I am sure it must have been hilarious:)
But I could never swim freestyle for a prolonged time. 50m was probably my max and anything beyond I would have drowned.
So today I did couple loops. I did not count. I already had enough counting those 200s. But of course I stopped each 25m at the wall. I did not do flip turns. I have not tried those in few years so I do not want to embarrass myself or drown someone.
I liked it, I might go back tomorrow since it is my off running day and bike is still not here.