600 Z4, check!

I had a great swim last night. We had a test set where we were supposed to go 600 yds Z4, ie. a longish way at a hard effort, and then 600 yds Z2, ie same distance easy pace.  I seeded myself a little poorly in the lane and was right on the person in front of me's heels for the Z4, but finished it in about 9:40, for a pace around 1:37/hundred.  I wasn't actually as tired as you should be at the end of a long hard set, so I'm pretty sure I could've gone faster, at least a little.  The Z2 set was slow enough to be comical. I can't remember how long it took, maybe around a 1:50/hundred pace.

The point of the set was supposed to be that, in a race, the extra exertion of swimming hard is not worth it because you only gain a bit of time.  I sort of hope we do this set again sometime though because I feel like I have a faster Z4/Z2 set in me.

Later in the practice was 5 100's working on something or other. I decided to work on the something while going fast for the 100 where I led the lane, and tapped the wall around 1:30 for the hundred.

I can't remember exactly how fast I was supposed to be going while being one of the worst swimmer on the college team, but I feel like doing 100's on a 1:30 interval would've been less embarrassing than what I was achieving. Certainly in grad school masters swimming, I would've felt pretty good about that pace.  The point of this paragraph is "Go me! I'm getting better at swimming again!!"

Also, the snowpocalypse has started here in DC. NOAA says 20-28 inches expected this weekend.

PS. Seriously, snowpocalypse! Here's an exceprt from the newest NOAA Winter Storm Watch thingy:

* ACCUMULATIONS...WIDESPREAD STORM TOTAL ACCUMULATIONS OF 20 TO 30
  INCHES...WITH SOME LOCATIONS IN EXCESS OF 30 INCHES.

* VISIBILITIES...WIDESPREAD VISIBILITIES AROUND ONE-QUARTER MILE
  ARE EXPECTED TONIGHT IN HEAVY SNOW. STRONG WINDS WILL COMBINE
  WITH THE SNOW ALONG THE MARYLAND CHESAPEAKE BAY AND TIDAL
  POTOMAC RIVER TO REDUCE VISIBILITIES TO WELL BELOW ONE-QUARTER
  MILE...PRODUCING NEAR-BLIZZARD CONDITIONS TONIGHT THROUGH
  SATURDAY MORNING.

THIS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS STORM IS EXPECTED TO PRODUCE RECORD
SNOWFALL FOR THE BALTIMORE AND WASHINGTON DC METROPOLITAN AREAS.
TRAVEL CONDITIONS TONIGHT ACROSS THE REGION WILL BE EXTREMELY
HAZARDOUS AND LIFE-THREATENING. HELP YOUR LOCAL AND STATE
GOVERNMENT FIRST RESPONDERS AND TRANSPORTATION AGENCIES BY STAYING
OFF THE ROADS.