joel schmaltz

Another good day of swiming for me. Today had three of my favorite events (2IM,2BK,400). Entered with times from last year to compare with this year.

200 IM
Entered w/ 2:58.85 Went 2:56.70
-Happy and a good way to start out.

100 Breast (22 min later)
Entered w/ 1:32.54 Went 1:29.19
-Wow, another really good br drop. PB

200 Back (23 min later)
Entered w/ 2:59.86 Went 2:57.30
-I haven't had a good 2bk in awhile. Not a PB but will definitely take it.

200 Mens FR (10 min later)
-Low 31 I think. Not a sprinter but there were only 4 guys from our team there. Love relays!

200 Mixed MR (40 min later)
-Went bk and was a mid 38. 50 back is one of my worst events. Still love relays though!

400 (about 15 min later)
Entered w/ 5:45.31 Went 5:32.89
-Thrilled with this! Last of 14 swims and in my mind was ready to head home. PB

There was some great talent at this meet that made me look really slow. Very well run meet and friendly faces all around. Glad to be back at the beach with the family.

Time to prep for the SCY meet in Feb.

Two days down, one more to go. I am swimming well for me. I have only one small selfish complaint which will come later. I entered the same events as last year with the times from last year. I have my splits but left them in my truck and am too lazy to go get them.

Fri night 1500
-- This was not a race, strictly warm up for the weekend.
Entered w/ 23:07.43 Went 22:33.39

Sat **Self inflicted trouble
100 IM
Entered w/ 1:21.33 Went 1:21.15
Consistent

50 Breast (10 min later)
Entered w/ 42.14 Went 40.43
Personel best

100 Back (30 min later)
Entered w/ 1:22.74 Went 1:21.31
Personel best. Best part of this race was I went 39.??/41.??. I have never split a 100 that well.

Mixed 200 MR
-Was stuck going bk and was a low 38
State Record

200 Breast (25 min later)
Entered w/ 3:22.30 Went 3:21.11
Long glide with little effort. I'm sorry, but this is just a silly event. I am sure it is a difficult event if you swim it hard and correctly. Not me.

Mens 200 FR (40 min later)
-I actually anchored this one butdon't know what i went yet.

400 IM
Here comes my complaint. Ususally the take a quick break after the Relays. I was still in the pool from the relay when the first whistle was blown for the my heat to swim. REALLY?? I was so frusrated that I just floated through it. I was looking forward to this one.
Entered w/6:36.90 Went a mid 6:38

I really have no reason to complain. I swam well and I was the one that signed upnfor this mess. I just was expecting a small break.

Pasta √
Couple of beers √
next

This was the last workout before I will hit the road towards Columbia. With no base to taper from the best I can do is rest a little. No worries.

500 mix up
5 x 100 kick with fins @ 1:40 descend
6 x 75 @ 1:30 done as
-25 kick on front no board
-25 underwater arm recovery drill
-25 swim

4 x 50 free sprint @ 2:00 (29,29,30,30)
*I have never broke 30 from a push before
4 x 25 @ 40 2 scull, 2 ez swim
200 dolphin kick on back
4 x 50 stroke sprint @ 2:15
-went fl,bk,bk,br (35,35,36,41) OK for me
4 x 25 @ 40 same as above
100 EZ back
Starts and out of there.

2350 with lots of rest

I feel pretty good. Not in the best of shape but that is OK. Looking forward to this weekend.

Everyone around here is talking about a 16' Great White shark that is apparently traveling up the coast. Here is a good video of a shark taken a few blocks from our house.

[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcuYjDR2tSg"]The one that got away! / shark bait - YouTube[/nomedia]

We have our SCM state meet this weekend. Nothing too intense today.

300 swim
4 x 150 @ 2:45 (k,dr,swim by 50) IM order
6 x 50 @ 55 breathe 5/7/9 repeat

3 x thru
150 build @ 2:45
100 fast @ 1:50
Went RDs 1&3 back and RD2 breast

50 EZ

500 pull (25 sprint, 75 cruise)

4 x thru
100 build @ 1:50
50 fast @ 1:00
Went odds back and evens breast

50 EZ

About 20 mins. of turns and starts

Hot tub and shower
3150

I feel alright but am now wishing I had some more pool time logged in . I have signed up for the same events as last year and am looking forward to comparing fitness level or lack there of. Self inflicted rough schedule.

Fri night
1500 The will be just a "swim". Some of you distance swimmers may find this as disrepectful to the event and some sprinters may find it ludicrous. I call it warm up for the rest of the weekend.

Sat
100 IM, 50 Br, 100 Ba, 200 Br, 400 IM

Sun
200 IM, 100 Br, 200 Bk, 400

Only 91 entries. I love Columbia and the pool but have never had a stellar meet there. If I am still alive after the 4IM we have our annual LMSC meeting that I need to run. Tough for me to get pumped for a 4IM late in the afternoon.

Another practice with only six of us there. Good news was that we all got our own lanes. Pretty simple tonight.

10 min choice
--Was talking to my coach and only got in 300

2 x 200 @ 3:00 w/paddles and over kick
3 x 150 @ 2:15 build w/paddles and bouy
4 x 100 @ 1:30 descend w/bouy
2 x 50 @ 1:00 backstroke

20 x 100
--Free @ 1:30, Non free @ 1:45
1 free
1 stroke,went bk
2 free
2 stroke, went 50bk/50br
3 free
3 stroke, went 25fl/50bk/25br
4 free
4 stroke, went IM

200 w/d

3750 scy

Short and simple tonight and kinda nice to have my own lane. We were suppose to hold are stroke together throughout the main set. I managed to do so and I felt powerful especially on the free swims.

Another practice with only six of us there. Good news was that we all got our own lanes. Pretty simple tonight.

10 min choice
--Was talking to my coach and only got in 300

2 x 200 @ 3:00 w/paddles and over kick
3 x 150 @ 2:15 build w/paddles and bouy
4 x 100 @ 1:30 descend w/bouy
2 x 50 @ 1:00 backstroke

20 x 100
--Free @ 1:30, Non free @ 1:45
1 free
1 stroke,went bk
2 free
2 stroke, went 50bk/50br
3 free
3 stroke, went 25fl/50bk/25br
4 free
4 stroke, went IM

200 w/d

3750 scy

Short and simple tonight and kinda nice to have my own lane. We were suppose to hold are stroke together throughout the main set. I managed to do so and I felt powerful especially on the free swims.

Coach is trying to mix in some fast swims to prep for our SC SCM meet the end of this month. I don't have much of a base to taper from. I'll deal with it.

10 min choice
-Only got in about 500
7 x 150 @ 3:45 (25 kick, 100 swim neg split)
-went 3 free, 3 back, 1 breast
7 x 100 pull
-3 @ 1:30 descend
-1 @ 2:00 cruise
-3 @ 1:30 descend
7 x 50 @ 1:10
-0dds free, evens fly
-At some point during the 50 ,not including the walls, we were to dive down and SDK AFAP. Kinda different.
4 x 175 @ ??
-50 fr, 100 IM, 25 fr
---rotate a sprint 25 in the IM
300 w/d (50 double arm back, 100 free)

3700 scy

Tues am solo swim

I am not a miler, but have signed up for the 1500 at our state meet coming up. This will be strictly a "swim" for team points. The mile is on Fri evening and I may just barely make in time for the event to start. With that in mind I decided to jump in and swim a 1650 this morning.

1650 swim
-stay long and just swim
50 EZ
Small bk set trying to hold 39's throughout
50 @ 50
100 @ 1:40
200 @ 3:20
100 @ 1:40
50 @ 50
100 EZ

2300

Felt pretty good through this short one before work. The best thing was that I felt I could change gears (what little I have) the entire 1650. Plus my core didn't tighten up around 800 like it has in the past.

Friday evening is our annual intersquad meet. We each bring in food to donate to the local food bank as our "entry fee". We can swim whatever we want and coach will have some fun relays mixed in as well. I gave coach about six differnet event options and told her to just put me in some of them. Will have to wait to see what comes my way.

It is all for fun and a good cause as well. I am sure there will be some sort of social gathering afterwards.

10 Choice
--Mixed in 500
8 x 50 kick @ 2:00
--Lots of rest , hold under fastest 50 free time + 15

100 fast @ 1:50
2 x 75 mod @ 1:10
3 x 50 descend @ 50
300 pull cruise @ 5:00
150 fast @ 2:30
2 x 125 @ 2:05
3 x 100 descend @ 1:40
300 pull cruise @ 5:00
200 fast @ 3:20
2 x 175 mod @ 2:55
3 x 150 descend @ 2:30
300 pull fast

150 w/d

4050

Not too bad for a Monday and we actually finished up early. I did what I was suppose to do throughout the main set but none of the swims where very impressive. No school tomorrow for our little ones so the plan is to get my tail out of bed in the morning and swimand vote before work.

2 x through
150 swim
100 IM

6 x 100 @ 1:40 4 SDK off walls
200 BK cruise @ 4:00
5 x 100 @ 1:35 two strokes before breath
200 BK cruise @ 4:00
4 x 100 @ 1:30 no breath from flags in
200 BK cruise @ 4:00
3 x 100 @ 1:25 perfect turns
200 BK cruise @ 4:00
2 x 100 @ 1:20 perfect stroke
100 EZ

300 social kick

6 x 25 @ 45 SPRINT w/fins and paddles
- went 2 fly no paddles
- 2 bk, 2 fr with fins and paddles

200 float

4050 scy

Our youngest daughters out of town gymnastics has taken up some of my training time lately and it I felt tonight. My stroke was a bit sloppy and I seemed to be a little of on my turns. I have about a month to get mu self ready for the SC SCM meet in Columbia. Everything will be alright.

Mon. 10-22-12

Only five of us at practice and one of them wasn't feeling well and left early. I must have missed the memo on whatever is going on around town here since no one has been showing up. The up side is plenty of feedback from coach.

600 done as
-200 swim
-100 kick build
-repeat
8 x 50 @ 60 descend stroke count 1-4,5-8
4 x 200 pull descend @ 3:00
50 EZ
4 x 250 @ r/30-45 done as
-25 fly cruise
-50 back strong
-75 br build
-100 fr under 4IM free split
50 EZ
4 x 200 swim @ 3:15 descend
200 w/d

3900 scy

The 4 x 250 might be my new favorite short set. I had time to talk with coach and push different portions a little more to see how it affected my 100 free time. I went 1:19, 1:17, 1:16, 1:15 on those which is would be a good 4IM free split for me. Yes I know a 250 is not the same as a 400, but it helped out my confidence.

Tuesday 10-23-12

Very limited time in the a.m. I live less then 10 min. away from the fitness center so getting in for 30-45 minutes is justifiable to me if I have a goal. Todays goal was to stretch out a little and work my back to breast turns. I think I got it.

4 x 100 @ 1:30 w/buoy
2 x 200 @ 3:00 kick w/fins
4 x 100 @ r/15ish drill, IM order

About 15 min of turn work

100 DPS Fly
-Cruised this just to see how it felt. Fly is not my thing but I didn't feel like I was sinking/floundering.

100 EZ

1500 scy

-In Jan, stay out of the confident GTD kool aid.
-Swim more. My notes show that I swam faster when I swam more and did less dryland.
-Stretch more
-Warm down more. Sounds simple doesn't it.
-DPS fly might be the way to go for me in my 4IM.
-Chris's rating calculator shows my IM's are my best events on all three courses. One of them is at the top of the list. The other one or two are also in the top four.
-The fly and br legs of the IM are my Achilles heel. Most of my energy gets used during fly. DPS fly might be the short term answer.
-KICK! KICK! KICK! Make it more of a habit while swimming in practice. I am a strong kicker compared to the rest of our team but am a weak kicker compared to most of the USMS population.
-Bilateral breath when possible in practice for stroke balance. Hard for me to do when we are swimming fast. I do like breathing every 4 strokes. Maybe this will help.
-Continue to have fun! Should be easy to do.

Another small crowd this morning. Swam descent but didn't have much energy and felt sloppy through thr following.

500 mix up

6 x 50 kick @ 1:30
- We were suppose to hold fastest 50 free time + 15.
After two my lack of kicking really showed up.

8 x 100 on coaches whistle as a group all build.
1&2 focus only on the catch
3&4 focus only on no breath from 5yrds in
5&6 focus only on no breath within flags
7&8 3 fast strokes off wall before breathing

50 EZ

6 x 100 breast r/10 done as
Kick, arms only, pull w dolphin kick, swim by 25

100 fr r/10
100 50fly/50 bk r/10
100 fr r/10
100 50bk/50 br r/10
100 fr r/10
100 50br/50 fr r/10
100 fr r/10
200 IM sprint

50 EZ

8 x 50 @ ?
-5 were 10 sec max speed
-3 were 15 sec max speed
Try to increase distance on each rep

200 w/d plus hot tub

3700 scy

I like workouts that switch things up with kicking, stroke work, ect. Just felt low in the water. I guess I need to get something done around the house between watching MSU/Iowa and the big one down here SC/LSU.

Another small crowd this morning. Swam descent but didn't have much energy and felt sloppy through thr following.

500 mix up

6 x 50 kick @ 1:30
- We were suppose to hold fastest 50 free time + 15.
After two my lack of kicking really showed up.

8 x 100 on coaches whistle as a group all build.
1&2 focus only on the catch
3&4 focus only on no breath from 5yrds in
5&6 focus only on no breath within flags
7&8 3 fast strokes off wall before breathing

50 EZ

6 x 100 breast r/10 done as
Kick, arms only, pull w dolphin kick, swim by 25

100 fr r/10
100 50fly/50 bk r/10
100 fr r/10
100 50bk/50 br r/10
100 fr r/10
100 50br/50 fr r/10
100 fr r/10
200 IM sprint

50 EZ

8 x 50 @ ?
-5 were 10 sec max speed
-3 were 15 sec max speed
Try to increase distance on each rep

200 w/d plus hot tub

3700 scy

I like workouts that switch things up with kicking, stroke work, ect. Just felt low in the water. I guess I need to get something done around the house between watching MSU/Iowa and the big one down here SC/LSU.

It went from mid 80's and sunny to the high 50's and raiiny in 24 hours. WTH? Still congested but made it through this quick one.

10 min choice
-Got in late and did 200 w/bouy, 200 IM dr/swim by 25

2 rounds of
4 x 100 kick @ 2:15 no board
#1 75 free/25 dolphin
#2 50 free/25 dolphin
#3 25 free/75 dolphin
#4 100 dolphin
4 x 25 @ 45
-15 yrds under water fly sprint to wall
50 EZ @ 60

300 pull @ 500 pace but negative split
-500 pace for me is 1:12/13. I failed the task here and went 3:38 (1:11, 1:14, 1:13)

50 EZ

8 x 100 on coaches whistle
Odds 3/5/7/9 spin strokes of each wall
Evens no breath between flags

300 pull @ 500 pace descend by 100
-This was worse than the first one. I was able to descend but was out too slow. 3:44 (1:16, 1:15, 1:13)

50 EZ

6 x 50 @ 60
-odds stroke, went fl, bk, br
-evens free EZ

200 w/d

3600 scy

I think it was a fairly good workout for me. Pacing has always been an issue for me. Baby steps.

Still have a congested head. I think the entire beach area is passing this crud back and forth. Gave it my all through the following.

500 done as
-25 back
-25 V sit scull
-25 breast
-25 free DPS

14 x 25 kick w/fins @ 45
-odd dolphin w/arms out of water
-evens dolphin on belly underwater

4 rounds of
200 stroke cruise r/15
100 stroke sprint @ 2:00
100 free cruise r/15
50 stroke sprint @ 1:10
50 stroke EZ
Rest 60
Odd rounds bk, evens br

4 x 150 @ 3:00
-100 free build , 50 stroke sprint
-Check clock at 100 then hit my 4IM goal splits for the 50 sprints. I failed on the fly leg but hit the other three, just barely.

200 w/d

3650 scy

So glad it was stroke day! I felt pretty good todayand did well considering my head and chest is full of nasty stuff. If we had tighter intervals i probably would have really paid the piper. Our SCM state meet is in two monthes and I have plenty of work to do.

200 DPS r/10
4 x 50 br kick r/10
200 build r/10
4 x 50 stroke build r/10

Still warming up with
4 times through
--2 x 50 flip at the T @ 60
--50 stroke build @ 1:10

3 x through
400 @ 7:00
--100 at 90%
--200 at 80%
--100 build to 100%
4 x 100 @ 1:45 descend to 90%

100 EZ

200 stroke cruise
Rest 60
100 stroke (50 AFAP, 50 cruise)
Rest 60
50 AFAP

100 EZ

3950 scy

It seems as if I have caught whatever my wife and little ones had last week. I feel much better today compared to yesterday but had a hard time switching gears tonight. Thankfully we had plenty of rest. I didn't swim as fast as what was expected of me but I made it through it.

Àfter spending a week with a sick wife and two sick children I finally found some time to make it to the pool.

200 w/bouy
200 EZ kick w/fins
100 IM drill

3 rounds of
400 @ 6:20 500 pace
5 x 100 @ 1:35 gentle descend
4 x 50
-- odds @ 45
-- evens @ 50

100 EZ

3 x 300 @ 5:15
--#1 100 fast 200 EZ
--#2 200 fast 100 EZ
--rest a extra min.
--#3 300 for time

100 w/d

4900 scy

I could really tell that I haven't been in the pool. I have been able to do some dryland so the week hasn't been a complete loss. Hopefully our house will be back to normal next week.

Small crowd again this morning. Only two per lane which was actually kinda nice.

10 min choice
--only got in 500 here, talking too much

10 x 100
1&2 75 free/25 stroke @ 1:55
3&4 50 free/25 stroke/25 free @ 1:50
5&6 25 free/25 stroke/50 free @ 1:45
7&8 25 stroke/75 free @ 1:40
9&10 free 1:35
--The stroke swims were at 90% and the free was cruise.
--I chose fly.

4 x 125 @ 2:15 (25 fl, 50 bk, 50 br)

5 x through
200 pull @ 3:00
100 IM @ 1:45
50 choice cruise @ 60
--Descend pull's and IM's

500 pull
--400 at 500 pace, last 100 all out

200 w/d

4450 scy

600 mix up

500 EZ r/15
5 x 100 r/5
400 EZ r/15
4 x 100 r/5
300 strong r/15
3 x 100 r/5
200 strong r/15
2 x 100 r/5
100 strong r/15
100 sprint

100 EZ

4 rounds of 4 x 50 r/ 15
#1 fast
#2 strong
#3 fast
#4 EZ
Repeat
I did odd rounds back, even rounds breast

100 w/d

4600 scy

Not bad today. Another chance for me to work on my catch and count strokes throughout the day. Small showing this mornng and I actually had a lane to myself. I would guess that we have about another month of workouts that we can really try to make some technical changes without worrying about speed.

Another quick solo swim this morning. I borrowed a set from PWB to make up most of my workout. I am not very good at pacing and thought this might help the cause.

4 x 200 @ 3:10
--w/bouy and snorkel, descend

Broken 1650 on base + 10
150
350
4 x 50
350
4 x 50
250
--Got out the tempo trainer and tried to hold what little distance pace I have.

6 x 50 w/bouy
--2 @ 50
--2 @ 55
--2 @ 60

Time to make Uncle Sam some $$.