Swam a mile at a local lake then walked 4 miles 2 days ago. It was a lot of activity for me and I was tired. I took a nap later in the day and the next day was a fast day for me. Last time I swam that far in the open water it took a few days to recover.

I decided to go ahead and fast (in the modified way we’ve learned from the book) though I had some concerns about running myself down. I felt the same during the fast as I did when recovering from my last long swim. I wanted to sleep more and wanted more liquids. That was easy enough to satisfy with a nap and plenty of tea, electrolyte water and plain water.

This morning (2 days after the sporting event and 1 day after fasting) I woke up feeling low energy and sleepy (almost groggy…’fuzzy’ you could say). I almost cancelled my usual lap swim (3/4 mile in a pool, much easier than a lake swim) but decided to go easy…perhaps fewer laps. For about half my swim I was still tired. I plodded along with my usual swim workout wondering what the heck was wrong.

Well, by the end of my swim I knew it had been simply the end of my recovery. I was refreshed and invigorated by the end of my swim. Just like a usual swim.

Lesson learned: Modified fasting does not seem to add to my recovery time from a moderately hard sporting event. I can always delay a fast or ease up on a workout if I am not feeling up to it. So body awareness can inform a decision but pushing myself a little bit can yield some great results (the endorphin filled invigoration from a workout).

I will of course need to remain aware as not every recovery will be the same. In 5 days I will do a 2.5 K swim and will have another go at fasting in recovery. So far so good.

Yay to feeling goooooood.