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I had a decent meet today.
First up the 500. Self inflicted pressure on this one. I was 6:11.38 in Greensboro last year.
31.94
34.94 1:06.88
36.15
37.05 1:13.20
37.39
37.58 1:14.97
38.12
38.30 1:16.42
38.72
37.06 1:15.78 6:07.25
Absolutely thrilled with this. As you can see my pacing is not very good. This is the fastest I have been since 2010.

Next was the 200 back. I really wanted this one. Entered with 2:38.96 from last year.
37.26
39.83 1:17.09
40.04
39.57 1:19.61 2:36.70
Again I think this is the fastest I have been since 2010. I think I was a little too relaxed on this race and probably could have pushed this a bit more.

50 free. I never swim this except for relays. I never heard the "take your mark" command. EVERYONE was gone before I realized what was going on. Ended up with a 29.17. No further comments except two others had the same issue in other events.

Mens medley relay, went backstroke. Not my best event.
Previous best 50 bk is 36.22.
Went 33.75 NICE!

Mixed medley relay, went backstroke two heats later.
Went 34.04 The 33.75 wasn't a fluke.

50 back went another 34.04

200 IM. Was 2:34.66 in Greensboro last year.
34.76
40.07
46.58 Piano always falls here
35.87 2:37.28

Was too relaxed and went out way too slow and never got going. It was race number seven of the day but I am better than this. No complaints and I am glad the day is over. I am happy with my swims and my crazy 50 gave us something to talk about.

SC SCY state meet starts tonight with the mile. Usually before a big meet I send out some sort of message to my teammates to try to pump them up a little. This year I went cheesy with this little message. Keep in mind it was done quickly with not much thought.

'twas the night before race day and all through the house not a swimmer could sleep not even there spouse.
I had packed up my swim bag and it lay by the stair.
Extra goggles, caps and my racing suit with a small tear.
My children were all asleep in their beds.
While 14 races played out continuously through my head.
14 races, have I completely lost my darn mind?
All I can do is hope the stroke and turn judge will be rather kind.
I trust my coach and all of the work I have done.
Hangin with my teammates is the best kind of fun.
Should I check my bag AGAIN to make sure its all there.
I glance through it quickly with a very intense stare.
Will my body make it through race one, the unforgiving mile?
Would I get the "mercy clap" cause my race took quite awhile?
13 races still to follow that beast.
Social Sat night with friends to enjoy a grand feast.
Two of my favs come on Sat, the 500 and the 200 back.
Thankfully they are not scheduled to be back to back.
In the 4IM I made to the fast heat.
But seriously doubt there is anyone there I will beat.
In that race I will be swimming in lane eight.
Maybe "outside smoke" is the nickname I will soon take.
If I make through that one I will feel very proud.
And know that my two girls will be cheering so loud.
I have swum these races over and over in my mind.
I'm sure the championship trophy we will soon find.

Yes I know it is goofy and slightly on the cheesy side, but who cares.

Swam my usual 1650 race/warm up for the rest of the weekend. The mile and I don't like each other much. A teammate and I took turns drafting of each other and cruised the entire way. So I guess I can't really count this one as a race.

Last team practice before our SCY state meet. Short, fast stuff tonight. Went a little some like this.

400 mix up
8 x 50 @ 60 25 dr/25 build
-went IM order

4 x "100" done as
-50 stroke at 90% r/10, 50 free ez r/30
4 x 100 choice w/perfect form @ 1:50
-went IM ,bk ,br, fr
4 x 50 choice descend @ 60
-went bk

10-15 min of turn work

4 x 25 sprint r/10 , 75 float @ 3:00

start work and hot tub

Nothing exciting here. Just a little speed work and feeling fast.

400 mix up
100 swim
300 3 stroke burst off walls (alt. fr/stroke by 50)

2 x through , rest 10 between everything
4 x 50 drill
50 build
100 build
200 build
4 x 50 drill
50 build
100 sprint
50 EZ
100 sprint
50 EZ
masters min
**went back for round 1, br for round 2 (ouch!)

turn practice and starts
hot tub

Getting ready for our meet this weekend. I don't have a large enough base to taper from but will rest a little bit this week. No dryland this week, only some stretching and we will see what happens.

450 (100 fr/50 stroke)
100 ez kick
6 min kick
-30 sec ez, 20 sec sprint
-IM order

2 x through
50's at 90%, pulls are cruise with perfect form
2 x 50 @ 45
100 pull @ 1:45
4 x 50 @ 50
200 pull @ 3:30
6 x 50 @ 55
300 pull @ 5:00

Hot Tub

We had another set to do but worked on starts instead. I felt better today than I have the past couple of weekends. This will help my confidence level leading into our state meet next weekend. I am starting to bet excited about next weekend and am happy with the spacing of my events. I think that I only have two events each day that will be back to back. Time to go to work to make a little extra cash for our Sarasota trip in June.

300 w/bouy and snorkel
200 kick w/fins (various ez SDK body positions)

30 x 100 done as
5 x 100 free @ 1:35 build
3 x 100 backstroke kick r/20
2 x 100 free @ 1:30 strong swims, work walls
3 x 100 IM @ 1:45 slow and steady, perfect stroke
4 x 100 fly kick r/20
3 x 100 IM @ 1:35 sprint best stroke
4 x 100 free @ 1:25 maintain effort and pace
2 x 100 kick r/20 3rd 25 underwater AFAP
4 x 100 free @ 1:25 descend

200 w/d

3700

I liked this one. Mostly because we were mixing up the 100's. I don't think that those sets of 100 x 100's are for me no matter how much switching up there is. Huge difference between 30 and 100 anyways. Everything felt good tonight except breaststroke. I need to get it under control (in my head) for my IM races that are coming up soon.

500 mix up
6 x 75 @ 1:30 w/fins
--50 sprint kick
--25 sprint swim
--went fl,bk,fr by 75
100 cruise

2 x through (focus on form and turns)
2 x 50 fly r/10
100 bk r/10
2 x 50 br r/10
100 free r/60
100 fly r/10
2 x 50 bk r/10
100 br r/10
2 x 50 fr r/60

Talked to coach for a few about my stroke

2 x through
200 @ 3:20 even split
2 x 100 @ 1:40 negative split
4 x 50 @ 55 descend
--pulled round one and went back on two

100 w/d

3950

Felt pretty good tonight. The stroke set was nice to work on form and turns while not stressed with a interval. On the last set I should have pulled on a faster interval but did well on the the backstroke round. Backstroke is feeling really good latly. I have been working on my pacing and I think it is paying off.

500 mix up
6 x 50 kick sprint @ 1:30
*1-4 w/board
*5-6 no board w/fins

6 x 250 done as
*200 build r/5
*50 stroke sprint r/30

16 x 50 choice @ 1:00
*1-4 hold 200 pace + 2
rest extra 60
*5-8 hold 200 pace + 1
rest extra 60
*9-12 at 200 pace
rest extra 60
*13-16 hold 200 pace - 1

200 w/d

3300 in and out quickly

I liked the workout but I didn't have any impressive swims today. Sat morning practices have been a little off for me lately. I think I have just been worn out from the week. No more crying the blues today.

With our state meet coming up in a couple of weeks we have decreased our yardage and increased the rest for added speed a little. Pretty easy one here and felt really good through out.

600 mix up

5 x 50 SDK @ 60 with fins AFAP
300 cruise w/perfect stroke
4 x 50 breast @ 1:15 start at 44 and descend
4 x 50 back @ 1:10 start at 41 and descend
300 cruise w/perfect stroke
5 x 50 SDK @ 60 with fins AFAP
4 x 50 br same as above
4 x 50 ba same as above
300 cruise w/perfect stroke
4 x 50 sprint, only two to a lane so we took turns going and ended up doing them on the 2:00. Went fl,ba,br,br and felt awesome!
200w/d and hot tub

I signed up for our meet for a bit more self inflicted pain

Fri 1650 Will use this as a strech out swim not a race. It worked for my last meet.

Sat
500
50 Free (Coaches request)
200 BK
50 Bk (Possibly one of my worst events)
200 IM

Sun
4IM (Thankfully it is first)
50 Br
200 Fr (Have't done this in a LONG time)
200 Br (Not my thing but I think it helps with my IM's that I love)

After last nights swim I decided to shake my tail out of bed and swim a little before taking our girls to school. Nothing too exciting here.

300 IM (K,DR,SW)
200 w/bouy breathe 3,5,7,3 by 50
4 x 50 build @ 50

2 x through
100 drill r/20
200 build to sprint r/30
4 x 50 build @ 60
round 1 back
round 2 breast

some backstroke starts while I had a lane to myself

200 float

1900

Note to self, work more fly in on these solo swims.

Since we needed to hop out of the pool early on Sat, coach wanted us to finish up with the set we cut short.

500 mix up
4 x 50 @ 1:00 200 pace
100 sprint @ 1:45
200 cruise
2 x 50 @ 1:00 200 pace
100 sprint @ 1:45
2 x 50 @ 1:00 200 pace
200 cruise
100 sprint @ 1:45
4 x 50 @ 1:00 200 pace
200 cruise

12 x 100 @ 2:00
-#2,4,6,9,12 were descend from 85% to 100%
-others were choice cruise
100 EZ

6 x 100 with paddles r/10 done as
-25 back, 50 free, 25 breast

broken 500 (sprint all of it)
25 r/30
25 r/10 + 50 r/45
25 r/10 + 50 r/10 + 75 r/60
25 r/10 + 50 r/10 + 75 r/10 + 100

100 w/d

4500

I did MUCH better than I did on Sat. This didn't look too bad on paper but if you really put the effort in it was painful. I kept my stroke together but the legs weren't all there tonight. I blame it on work Sat after practice and yardwork all day on Sun. Plan on doing some solo stroke work tomorrow am.

As much as I love to swim, I didn't feel like going today. Maybe because I had a rough week at work and needed to work after practice today. I wish I had my mind and body in it today since this workout was right up my alley.

500 mix up
5 x through
-100 IM kick @ 2:10
-50 fast free kick @ 1:00

6 x 50 @ 60
-odds, fly @ 90%
-evens, free @ 70%
4 x 100 back @ 1:40 (work walls)
6 x 50 breast @ 1:15
-2 w/1 UW pullout
-2 w/2 UW pullouts
-2 w/3 UW pullouts
4 x 100 pull w/snorkel @ 1:30
-50 moderate, 25 build, 25 sprint
3 x 300 IM @ 4:45
-50 fl, 100 ba, 100 br, 50 free
4 x 50 @ 60 at 200 pace
100 sprint
150 w/d

4000

We needed to get out early so the youngsters could warm up for their meet. Nothing too tough today, I just had a poor attitude which is unlike me.

Coach must have seen some sloppy, fish tailing strokes in the pool lately. We slowed it down and the entire workout was focused on getting our hips and core involved. After our road trip back from Atlanta I was worn out and happy to have something less painful to work on. I'll get back to some serious pool work tomorrow.

500 mix up
6 x 150 r/10 done as
-odds, 50 k/ 50 alt 1 arm swim with other in streamline position/ 50 DPS
-evens, 50 k/ 50 alt 1 arm swim with other arm at side/ 50 non free

On the following 1650, no rest just change equipment and go. (80%)
450 pull
150 swim w/fins overkick
450 pull
150 swim w/fins overkick
450 pull

10 x 50 on coachs whistle
-odds, drag feet with good rotation
-evens, swim with overkick and good rotation

100 w/d

3650

It was kind of nice to just have somewhat of a "drill" day.

150 swim
100 IM
6 x 50 sprint kick @ 1:30
--hold fastest 50 free swim + 15

4 x 200 back @ 3:10 neg split
2 x 100 recovery r/20
4 x 200 breast @ 3:25 work 3rd 50
3 x 100 recovery r/20
4 x 200 IM @ 3:10 steady swim w/strong kick
4 x 100 recovery r/20
100 sprint off blocks
--went breast

Didn't warm down because I was in a hurry to get home. We need to hit the road to Atlanta for a gymnastics meet. A little stiff after working out and a road trip.
This was one of my favorite workouts we have done in awhile. Back and the IM's felt great. The set of breaststroke swims was a bit harder for me to hold together.

500 mix up
8 min kick done as
-30 fast, 30 ez, 15 fast, 15 ez, repeat
8 x 50 @ 60
-odds 25 right arm, 25 left arm
-evens 3/4 catch up drill

2 times through
50 @ 50 sprint
50 @ 50 ez
100 @ 1:30 sprint
100 @ 1:30 ez
150 @ 2:15 sprint
150 @ 2:15 ez

50 ez while a couple of lanes finished

6 times through
75 IM @ 1:15 (went fl,bk,br & bk,br,fr)
100 @ 1:30
**concentrate on perfect stroke and good turns

50 ez again

18 x 25 @ 30
-odds stroke choice sprint
-evens free ez

100 w/d

4300

Another night of feeling sloppy but swimming decent. Still don't know what to make of how I feel. I think I will just try not to dwell on it. It must be better than feeling great and swimming slow.

A teammate of mine booked our families a place to stay in Sarasota today. They have really good deals on some houses to rent. Less than a 5 min walk to the ocean, less than 5 miles from the competion pool and cheaper than most of the hotels.

Typical Monday at work. A little more physical than usual. This might be the reason I felt so tight through the following.

500 swim
400 pull
300 no walls , I hate these swims
200 IM kick
100 non free, went 50 bk, 50 br
5 x 50 @ 55, 3/4 catch up drill, Love this drill

7 x 50 kicking drills w/fins on coaches whistle
--coaches choice

swim @ 1:30 base
100, 200, 300, 200, 100
--hold constant pace throughout

rest 2 min

pull @ 1:25 base
100, 200, 300, 200, 100
--hold constant pace throughout

5 x 50 @ 55 stroke sprint/ez free by 25
--went fly, bk, br, bk, br

100 w/d and home to watch the game

4300

Although I felt really tight I swam pretty well. Getting better at pacing and "swimming" my own race at practice.

First blog of the year. I have been swimming a little but have just been busy with work and our usual running around. A bit of breaststroke work today with the team.

200 pull with bouy and snorkel
200 kick/drill by 25
4 x 75 r/10 done as
--25 3K, 1 pull
--25 2K, 1 pull
--25 1K, 1 pull
4 x 100 breast r/10 done as
--25 kick w/arms folded above head (I dream of Jeanie)
--25 breast pull

4 x through
3 x 100 free @ 1:30 descend
100 breast @ 2:00 perfect stroke
100 IM @ 1:50 rotate a 90% 25, other 75 is cruise
100 free @ 2:00 cruise

4 x 125 with fins done as
--100 free build to 100%
--rest 5
--25 stroke sprint @ 60

100 w/d

4100

I have actually been swimming fast for me lately but have felt VERY sloppy. I don't know exactly what to make of this. Hopefully it is just a "phase" and I can continue to move forward. I have about five weeks until our SCY state meet to get my act together.

I borrowed this one from Paul Smith and made some minor changes.

10 x 50 dr/swim r/10
8 x 50 kick r/15
-dec. 1-4,5-8

2 x 100 @ base + 15
200 pull cruise
4 x 100 @ base + 10
200 kick on back, work SDK off walls
6 x 100 @ base + 5
200 w/buoy and snorkel
8 x 100 @ base

200 w/d

3700

I took between 30 & 45 sec after the 200's waiting for the clock to hit the top or bottom. Descended the 100's but didn't really feel that strong. Although I don't usually like 100's or doing ALL free workouts, I liked this one. In and out rather quickly. I will say that my underwaters off the walls are improving. The plan is to mix in some core work this evening. Apparently, I am putting on my winter coat already with all of this holiday running around and not eating the best I could. But then James says that fast food makes him faster.

Short and quick one tonight due to a team social gathering afterwards. I decided that I have too much to do and opted to pass on this. I will leave my phone on a little later than normal in case any of them need bail money.

300 choice
4 x 100 fr/bk by 25 @ 1:45
4 x 100 fly/br by 25 @ 1:45
4 x 25 perfect stroke @ 45 IM order

4 x 150 r/15
-odds, 50 fl/kick,25 bk,50 br kick,25 free
-evens, 100 IM strong, 50 moderate free
4 x 50 @ 1:30
-IM order/free sprint by 25
4 x 150 done as
-50 fly,25 bk,25 br,25 fr rest/5, 25 free rest 15
**rotate the 50 stroke sprint

100 w/d

Only 2700

I had asked, and recieved, Wookie for some backstroke advice. Tonight was the first opportunity I have had to work on it. Tough to teach an old guy new tricks. However, coach commented that it looked much better and I think with some more work it may solve a couple of problems I have. Thanks Wookie!

500 mix up

3 x through
100 @ 1:40 10 yards under water off each wall
100 IM r/30 @ 85%
100 done as 75 sprint/25 ez r/30

9 x 50 @ 60 w/fins
-2 kick AFAP
-1 EZ swim

2 x 100 @ 1:40 10 yrds under water off walls
2 x 100 IM r/30 at 85%
4 x 50 r/20
-odds stroke AFAP
-evens EZ

8 x 50 @ 1:15 w/fins
-3 kick AFAP
-1 EZ swim

3 x 100 @ 1:40 10 yrds under water off walls
3 x 100 IM r/30 at 85%
3 x (25 stroke sprint r/10, 75 free EZ r/5)

6 x 50 kick w/fins sprint @ 1:15

100 w/d

4250

Even though there was plenty of rest with this one, it was a killer on my legs. I was surprised how far i could go under water without losing too much speed. The short IM's felt strong and I was quick on the kick sets. This was the largest group we have had in a few weeks. I still got my own lane because my intervals were different than everyone elses. I probably should have gone with the faster group but this was fine for today.