I totally rocked workout today. Finally, they are leaving the tarps off the pool - and not too soon either, with high's in the mid-90's the water will stay warm all night. Learning how to catch myself in the middle of negative thinking and turn it around - it's so cool! WHY!?! didn't I know how to do this as a kid? It might have made all the difference. Was swimming the last of my 300's this morning, feeling grumpy that we weren't getting as much rest as I would've liked, and coming in to the wall on the 2nd 50, I was telling myself that it was like the 200 mark in my 400, only 200 left to go! Then when I flipped, something changed in my head & I was good! Caught the girl in front of me (who I had given a 15 sec lead) and nearly passed her completely on the last bit there. It wasn't until later that I realized what I had done (mentally) & it is just so cool - I remember as a kid, and even in my 30's, talking trash to myself & I would talk myself right out of the race. If only I had my 16 year old body & speed again, who knows what positive thinking might accomplish? Anyway, workout today: 500 back/free 2 x 300 P w/15 sec rest between each 400 Reverse IM 100 easy 4 x 300 on 4:40 200 easy 400 Kick w/zoomers 20 x 50: drill, build, drill, fast - five times thru - last one from a dive - UNfortunately, the digital clock had been put up by this point, and the four of us doing this were clueless as to our times, but I'm sure we were AWESOME! Felt like it anyway! 400 done as: 50 Breast, 50 Free, 100 Breast, 50 Free, 50 Breast, 100 Free Total: 4800 LCM
LCM@FGCU Aquatic Center Air temp 74, Water temp 78 Sunny, humidity at 72% Warm Up Dryland bands 1800 FR Swim 4(200 Steady SPL-28, 100 Strong SPL-32, 100 Steady SPL-28, 50 Fast SPL-34) ---200 Kick w/fins *Set 1* 3(4x50 FR on 1:20) w/agility paddles-fins, #1 ABPT BC-3, #2-3 Fast *31-30 *29-29-29-28 *29-29-28-28 ---200 BK Swim *Set 2* 1500 FR Swim 3(200 Steady, 100 Strong, 100 Fast, 50 Steady, 50 Fast) *Set 3* 2(3x50 FR on 1:20) *33-33-32 *33-32-32 Warm Down 2x300 on 2:00 rest, FR Smooth SPL 26-28 Comments The workout today was the best one in several weeks. I still have to see how I handle swimming mid range distances on intervals, but at least my speed is coming back. In Set 1, I kept my stroke long and smooth on the 28s rather than max out for a 27. However with Set 3, I started out tired and should have done a warm down swim after set 2. But still satisfied, as I could have revved up and descended into a 31, but instead tried to go as fast as possible with the long smooth stroke. For most of the workout today my legs performed well with a driving kick, and my arms could hold on the water when changing pace from smooth & steady to fast and smooth. I am hopeful for continued progress this week. When I left the pool after the warm down, I was not exhausted or worn out, and could have done more swimming.
Drylands Lite: RC/scap ex, 20 min (did 15 min last night too) power wheel roll outs, 2 x 15 back extensions w/plate, 25 x 2 x 15 flutter kicks on bosu, 100 captains chair leg raises, 25 knee tuck jumps, 10 resisted track start jumps, 35 x 1 x 10 explosive leg press, 150 x 1 x 15 med ball slams w/15 lb ball, 10 foam rolling/stretching, 20 min ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Did drylands lite today -- just some core work and explosive stuff. I had intended to get to the pool, but ran out of time. Tomorrow, back to long course!
Swam 3000 SCY this am details on Fort's HIT forum. Workout #3 I did the 5 x 100 set as BR and then FR with fins. PM Drylands: I do a super set of plyo-intensive stuff, 4 times through, minimal rest between stations: 1 x 8 pull ups/chin ups (2 rounds pulls/2 rounds chins)1 x 10 box jumps1 x 15 plyo press ups (with a clap)1 x 10 star-jump burpees ( i take my hands up beyond star-jump to a streamline position)1 x 10 med ball squats1 x 10-15 med ball press throws--think BR recovery1 x 10-15 med ball pullovers--aggressive motion from overhead to arms infront of torso (guys, keep hold of the ball if you do this one) Take a minute between rounds. To let your HR come down,take a sip of water, and ask yourself exactly why you decided to do this set Finished off with little extra ab work. 1min plank, 20 crucnches, 10 reverse crunches, 10 pelvic raises (engage your core don't use your thighs). I AM DEAD.
Updated May 22nd, 2013 at 04:28 PM by SwimStud
Swam w/ Sam, Dave, Dave and Carlile. Felt pretty good today w/ a decent pull and some good stroke sets. SCY 600 Warm up 4 x 100 - 1:30 (50 Kick/50 Free) 50 Easy - 2:00 4 x 100 - 1:25 (50 Stroke/50 Free) 50 Easy - 2:00 4 x 100 - 1:20 (25 Stroke/75 Free) 50 Easy - 2:00 4 x 100 - 1:15 50 Easy 16 x 25 - :40 I did these as 4 rounds of (No breath, Stroke-IM Order, Kick-IM Order, Free) 400 Timed pull (4:18) Had some lousy turns on the last 100. Could have been closer to 4:15 if I had straightened up a little. 50 Easy 100 Pull w/ paddles/100 Pull w/o paddles/100 IM/100 Kick 100 Easy 4 x 50 Free - 1:00 4 x 50 IM Order - 1:00 4 x 50 Kick w/ Fins - 1:00 4 x 50 Kick w/o Fins - 1:00 4 x 25 Free - :20 4 x 25 Stroke - :25 4 x 25 IM Order - :30 4 x 25 Kick w/ fins - :35 4 x 25 Kick - :40 100 Cool down (5150 Total)
I arrived back from Houston last night pretty late. My original flight was scheduled to get back to Dallas at 7pm but because of the storms did not land until 10.30. By the time I dropped the guys I was traveling with back at the office it was midnight by the time I went to bed. The alarm went off pretty hard this morning at 4.30am and it was tough getting out of bed.mi made it to the pool early which was weird, and actually had a pretty good practice all things considered. I think I am still feeling some of the positive affects of my taper, because my stroke feels strong in the pool. Warm up 400 free with snorkel 6x50 catchup drill on 45 10x50 kick 12.5, swim 12.5 by 25 on 50 4x200 on 3 mins getting heart rate up alternating IM and fre Main set 4x(2x50 on 35 with fins, 50 back on 35 with fins, 100 kick on 1.30 with fins) 12x100 free on 1.20 holding under 1.05 Warm down 200 easy The 200s in the transition set were pretty good, holding 2.20s on IM and 2.07s on the free. The 50s with fins I always find harder than it should be, but felt good today holding 25-26s on the free, 30 on the back and 1min on the kick. The pace 100s felt easy and I held 1.02-1.04s. Overall a good workout and no I'll affects from my lack of sleep last night.
Updated May 22nd, 2013 at 08:44 AM by StewartACarroll
This was a recovery/breaststroke day. Recovery for my shoulders and elbows, but major leg work. I'll be walking funny today. 500 free 500 free kick w/zoomers 20x50@:10RI Breast drills and skills #1-4 pull w/paddles & zoomers #5-8 scull drill w/snorkle #9-12 Pull w/zoomers get the dolphin motion #13-16 accordian drill w/snorkle #17-20 swim 400 breast kick 200 free EZ Total 2600 meters
Tuesday 5/21 PM only SCY 300 swim 300 pull w/ buoy only 200 swim 200 kick w/ board 100 swim 100 I.M. 2x 4x25 @ :10 rest FL drill 4x25 @ :30 FL swim 200 @ :10 rest 50 FL drill/150 FR 4x25 @ :10 rest BK drill 4x25 @ :30 BK swim 200 @ :10 rest 50 FL drill/50 BK drill/100 FR 4x25 @ :10 rest BR drill 4x25 @ :30 BR 200 @ :10 rest I.M. FL/BK/BR drill/50 FR 100 EZ The following test set done as "best average" straight through with no extra rest: 6x25 @ :30 FL (held 13.1-13.8) 4x50 @ :50 BK (37.0, 37.0, 36.8, 36.6) 4x50 @ :50 BR (35.9, 35.7, 36.0, 35.4) 5x100 @ 1:10 FR (1:04, 1:05, 1:05, 1:05, 1:03) 150 EZ Total: 4900
LCM@FGCU Aquatic Center Air temp 73, Water temp 78 Sunny, humidity at 78% Warm Up Dryland bands 200 FR 200 BK 200 FR as CU 400 FR w/fins, snorkel *Set 1* 12x50 FR on 1:00 w/agility paddles-tube-buoy *39-37 ---200 BK Swim *Set 2* 3(4x100 on 2:15, 1:00 min rest) under 800 M target pace 1:20/100 *1:18, 1:19, 1:18, 1:17 *1:19, 1:18, 1:17, 1:17 *1:16, 1:17, 1:17, 1:16 Warm Down 5x200 FR smooth on :30 rest w/fins-snorkel-agility paddles Comments Warm up swimming feels smooth with good stroke form. The first 50 of the 100s is steady and efficient, but the second 50 is awkward, laborious, and tiring. I needed all the rest just to be ready for the next one. HR would drop to 110-100 within 15 seconds, it was my legs and arms that needed time to recover.
Actually got a pretty good night's sleep, but it didn't carry over to a strong workout. My arms were worn out and a little strained - not from swimming, but from all the softball throwing I did for my daughter's team last night. Could feel it in my arms all workout. I have rubbed off on Keith - he had started a big ladder when I got there. I joined in and held up pretty well through the ladder (3200 yards), but it was tough after that. I was just slower on everything. Ladder - 50 to 400 by 50's and back down (only 1 400 at top) :45 per 50 200 Kick 4x100 Alt Back and Free w/paddles on 1:30 200 kick 4x200 Back w/paddles on 3:15 200 kick 6x50 Alt Free/Back on :50 200 Kick 100 Free 5600 yards 109 minutes
I met up with Speedo at Oak Marr today for a swim. He arrived sporting a dinged up shoulder from failure to yield to a tree in his last bike race. Ouch. He is gearing up for mountain bike nationals in July. But he promises he misses swimming! Swim/SCY @ OakMarr: 10 min hottub 600 various 200 scull w/agility paddles 8 x 25 shooters w/fins @ :40 Main Sets: 12 x 25 burst + cruise @ 1:00 -- 8 dolphin, 4 fast hands 100 EZ -- After a couple bursts himself, Speedo went a 24 in a 50 free from a push. Fast for being so rusty. Good thing he didn't go 23 or certain people (e.g., Water Rat) would be gnashing their teeth. 8 x (25 AFAP w/fins + 75 EZ) @ 3:00 -- odds = free, 10s -- evens = back shooter, 9s 50 EZ 8 x 50 w/agility paddles @ 1:00 odds = DPS free evens = DPS back 100 EZ Total: 2700 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I am still tired from "too much too soon." Thanks, long course, just another reason to hate you. So I dialed it back and worked on "platinum" speed today. I had my parachute out, but resisted the urge to use it. Perhaps tomorrow. I'm going to bag most drylands until after Zones. I think it's too much to add back in both drylands and long course.
Some of the greatest advice I’ve ever been given came with an Ikea bookshelf. You don’t have to follow the instructions, just make sure you’ve read them. After decades of diving straight into things, I’m proud to report: I’m learning. The first thought in planning this swim was, “I’ll just do what everyone else did,” working under the assumption that Of Course other people had completed this swim, after all it’s only a 12 mile crossing at minimum. As Christmas 2012 approached, my research had turned up only six successful crossings and over eighty-five failed attempts. What was more shocking is that only three of those attempts took place after the Strait-swimming heyday of the 1950’s. It was clear that I would not simply be hiring the same captain as the last guy. A quick disclaimer: There is no guarantee that what I list here is comprehensive, but everything that follows, unless stated otherwise, is as found in primary source newspapers from back in the day. Citations are proudly available upon request. If there is something you know that shakes up this timeline, I want to correct it. Let me know. The first recorded attempts on the Strait took place by three unnamed men in October 1933. And then no one followed. Not until August 1954, did Florence Chadwick show up to give it a go, and start the race to be first across. It would be almost a full year and sixteen other attempts before the first person was successful, Bert Thomas of Tacoma, WA on 8 July 1955 in eleven hours twenty-two minutes on his second attempt in two weeks. Throughout the 1950s, the route was declared as either Victoria, BC to Port Angeles, WA, or reverse, a distance of 18.3 miles. The route was not set by the swimmers themselves. The route was also not set by amateur oceanographers using the straight-line ruler on Google Earth, with tide forecasts, Excel spreadsheets, and CAD drawings spread out across a Starbucks table. No, these routes were set by the local papers who were giving out cash prizes to the first swimmer to reach the other side, or to the closest, or to the four closest, or to anyone at all who could draw readers and sell papers. Douglas Rivette told the Montreal Gazette before his 1955 attempt, “I thought I might as well turn the hobby to a cash basis if I’m lucky.” For her swim, Marilyn Bell was given $20k by the Port Angeles Chamber of Commerce just for showing up, plus a $10k (1950s dollars!) bonus if she made it. Right? I, too, want to live in that world. Another interesting thing about Douglas Rivette: he was a “deaf-mute linotype operator” who started swimming as therapy for the polio he had at age two. Yeah. Every one of the swimmers I’ve read about in connection with this swim has a wild story. There are the recognizables of course: Florence Chadwick, Marilyn Bell, and Cliff Lumsdon. There were a few regulars: Ben Laughren (1 for 12), Amy Hiland (1 for 4), and “Bill Muir, the Saanich surveyor” (0 for 8, and that’s what the papers always call him). “Big Ben” Laughren weighed 274lb and ran a burger joint in Victoria where kids heard their first Dave Brubeck. Rev. John Donelon was a Roman Catholic priest from Toronto. Marilyn Bell is constantly referred to as a “Toronto schoolgirl” despite her impressive resume. Then there was a guy who jumped in and gave up after 40 minutes because of the cold. The spectrum of backstories is broad. Just a bunch of regular people doing crazy impressive things. Come to think of it, this is still the rule in marathon swimming. By the end of 1957, three men and two women had made it across. And in 1957, as abruptly as it began three summers ago, the attempts ceased. One more try in 1966, this time by Robert Cossette, was abandoned after two hours thirty four minutes. Then silence. Did the papers just give up in 1958? Did they spend the whole century’s swim budget in three summers? Did the swim really just fall off the radar like that? Seemingly out of nowhere, legendary marathon butterflier Vicki Keith, takes on the Strait in 1988 in her traditional style, and wins. Her 14 hour swim was epic, and not just because it was butterfly. Hoping to learn everything she knew about Juan de Fuca, we spoke by phone this past March. She told me she chose her route, the traditional Victoria to Port Angeles route, not because of the money (of which there was none by this time), but to follow the route Cliff Lumsdon took over thirty years earlier. A stranger to cold water by no means, the end of her swim is a glimpse into a marathon swimmer’s dedication. As she neared the US coast, she recalled what her crew later detailed: she’d take one stroke of butterfly and then stop, unconscious in the water. Moments later, her movement resumed and she’d take another stroke. Then stop again. She laughed on the phone, remembering how disorienting it was to have to ask, back on dry land afterwards, “did I make it?” She did, or course. Another eleven years go by, and in 1999 Peter Urrea makes the next and most recent recorded attempt at the Strait. Getting in touch with Peter is a great example of how warm the open water swimming community is, but that’s another story. We also spoke in March because, although he did not complete his swim, he did last 14 hours in those cold waters. From a planning point of view, our conversation was not as helpful as I’d hoped. He hired a logging tug (the boats that pull hundreds of meters of floating logs down the Fraser and across the Salish Sea), but he advised against repeating it. He was a bit unclear on his tides, swim plan, and route. But his story! His story was just as amazing as the rest. His swim did not end because of a physical or mental breakdown. It stopped because of whales. It turns out, when you get surrounded by a pod of killer whales and can’t swim anywhere, you start getting cold fast. And when those whales start bumping you, and your captain loses confidence that the entire pod is salmon-eating whales, but may have some mammal-eaters in it…well, you get pulled out of the water. Nobody wants to be an Orca chew toy. The directions to successfully cross the Strait of Juan de Fuca are just as clear as that Ikea bookshelf’s. I know it can be done because it has been done before. I’m pretty sure I’ve got the right tools (they were all in that little baggy). But I’ll be damned if any of it sets me in the right direction. But I’ve got a general idea of what the final product should look like and learned a few of the dos-and-don’ts. Plus, I’m an engineer. Just a few exhausting hours and it will be all put together. Here’s to hoping it doesn’t collapse. Here’s the record book to date: 1. Bert Thomas - 8 July 1955 (11 hours 10 minutes) 2. Cliff Lumsdon - 17 August 1956 (11 hours 35 minutes) 3. Amy Hiland - 18 August 1956 (10 hours 51 minutes) 4. Ben Laughren - 18 August 1956 (10 hours 17 minutes) 5. Marilyn Bell - 23 August 1956 (10 hours 38 minutes) 6. Vicki Keith - 10 August 1989 (14 hours, butterfly) 7.
Updated May 21st, 2013 at 01:00 PM by andrewmalinak
Swam w/ Sam, Dave, Dave and my son, Carlile. Roger had told me yesterday that the summer swim team was looking for 15-18 year old boys. After talking w/ the coach, it seems that they are mostly interested in 15-18 year old boys that swim fast. My son took an interest in the challenge. They can't really teach him the strokes he doesn't know (butterfly and backstroke) and don't have room to accommodate him while he gets up to speed. So, for now he is going to swim with the old guys. The big test is whether or not he will wake up early in the morning. He was ready to go today. I think he did really well for his first time back in the pool in a couple years. Hopefully he will keep improving over the week and will be able to move on w/ the team soon. SCY 600 Warm up 3 Rounds of: * 25 Fly - :40, no breath * 25 Fly - :40, 1 breath * 50 Free - :40 * 100 Pull - 1:20 * 200 IM - 3:40 Up/Down Kick (:20) - add kick if more than :20s rest 1:00 Break Timed 200 IM Kick (3:30) 50 Easy 3 Rounds of: * 25 Free - :40, no breath * 25 Free - :40, 1 breath * 50 Fly - :40 * 100 Free - 1:20 * 200 IM - 3:20 Up/Down Kick (:20) 1:00 Break timed 200 IM Kick (3:23) 100 Easy 4 Rounds of: * 2 x 25 - :30 Hard, IM Order by round * 100 Pull - 1:30 50 Easy 4 x 25 No breath - :40 4 x 25 Kick - :35 4 x 25 IM Order - :30 4 x 25 Free - :25 10 x 50 Kick w/ Fins - 1:00, Odds underwater sdk 50 Cool down (5150 Total)
First day of "taper" - on the weights anyway. Made the mistake of doing weights on Sunday morning & not swimming to loosen up afterward - still feeling the lovely achy results of that this morning. It took me almost the entire 5000 yesterday to not feel achy, woke up this morning again feeling achy. Brother - you would think I would know better! So, yesterday we had an actual FUN practice - I don't remember all of it, but the main set(s) were: 8 x 150 @ 2:30, Free/Stroke/Free IM order 12 x 50 @ :55 & 1:05, 3 Free & 3 Stroke Today was "1/2" weights - meaning I went around the circuit only once, then off to the pool to loosen up. Pleasantly surprised to see Jenna & Ali there, but they were 85% of the way through their workout when I arrived, so I still swam solo: 7 x 300: back/free; pull no paddles, kick, drill, pull w/paddles, breast/free/breast, and 3 x 100 IM no free straight 2100 sorta easy, but just what I needed with achy shoulders. Applied Traumeel to the arms & legs & will get a massage tonight & should be good to go tomorrow. Now if only they would get the LC pool temp as cool as the baby pool! Something's wrong there. . . .
Just felt so good on my main set today. Could really feel the water and had alot more strength than I expected especially as I got further into the set. As I get older I find myself needing longer warmups and warm downs. Wish I were still young. 500 free 500 free kick w/zoomers 10x100@2:00 as 50free/50back w/paddles went 1:52, 1:48, 1:46, 1:46, 1:45, 1:45, 1:43, 1:42, 1:43, 1:42 500 free ez w/snorkle 400 free kick w/zoomers 100 free w/zoomers Total 3000 meters
Started this week with the goal of reaching 250 miles by the end of the week. 10+ miles - 4 workouts - should not be a problem. Got to the pool and synched in with Keith doing 100's. He stayed through the first set of 50's. Then I was on my own. 8x100 Free on 1:30 150 Back 5x200 Free on 3:00 (2:37; :37; :36; :37; :35) 150 back 350 Kick 10x50 5 - Fly/Free and 5 -Breast/Free on 1:00 100 Kick 5x200 Back w/paddles on 3:00 10x50 5 - Free 5 - Back w/paddles on :50 10x50 Alt Free/Back no paddles on :50 4x100 Free/back hard w/paddles on 2:00 (1:12;1:20; 1:15; 1:17) 50 Free 5500 yards 104 minutes
500 mix up 5 times through -3 x 25 kick (ez,sprint,ez) r/10 -50 drill r/15 -75 swim @ 85% -went odds br, evens bk 400 swim (cruise focus on fast turns) r/30 4 x 100 bk @ 1:50 300 swim (cruise focus on streamline off walls) r/30 4 x 75 br @ 1:30 200 swim (cruise focus on dps) 4 x 50 br @ 60 100 swim (cruise focus on perfect form) 4 x 25 fl @ 30 sprint 200 pull breathe 3/5/7/3 by 50 300 (50 fr,50 bk,50 double arm backstroke) 4000 First of all, my heart goes out to those in Oklahoma. We have hurricanes here but we have a weeks notice. Wow, what a tragedy! For the. first time in a long time I really felt strong in water today. Not exactly fast but strong amd powerful. only a couple more weeks to put it all together and hit the road for Sarasota.
Monday 5/20 AM only SCY 500 swim 400 pull w/ buoy only 20x25 @ :35 under H2O kick w/ fins 3 EZ/1 FAST 2 EZ/ 2 FAST 1 EZ 3 FAST 4 EZ 4 FAST 4x200 @ 2:40 D1-4 (2:14, 2:11, 2:07, 2:04) 4x100 @ 1:20 D1-4 (1:08, 1:05, 1:03, 1:00) 4x50 @ :40 D1-4 (:32, :31, :29, :28) 200 EZ Total: 3000
Swim/SCY/Solo: 600 various 4 x 50 scull w/agility paddles @ 1:15 50 EZ 8 x 25 shooters w/fins @ :40 50 EZ 4 x 540 caterpillar fly drill @ 1:10 8 x 50 odds = DPS free evens = kick 100 EZ Total: 1800 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I woke up after finally getting a good night's sleep ... and was exhausted. Dunno, I guess the combo of re-starting weights and long course simultaneously does not agree with my body. Or maybe I shouldn't have done 4 long course workouts in a row. So I just did an EZ swim today. I can't get to Mason tomorrow bc of an eye appt, so I guess it will be SCY again. I hope I wake up with more energy.
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