Fast Food Makes for Fast Swimming!

Today turned into a hectic day, especially from the point I got off work until now when I finally got to sit down over 4 hours later.

Left work at 4:30pm, home at 4:50pm
Find out from my mother in law that the heating element of the oven isn't working. This means no pizzas, chicken nuggets, corn dogs, etc. What will I make for my kids? Top Ramen!
5:00pm, leave to take my older daughter to her soccer practice
5:15pm, drop her off for practice, I head to the pool for a quick dip.
5:30-6:00pm My time.
6:15pm - go back for daughter, and watch the rest of her practice till after 6:30
6:45pm - arrive at Costco to get the essentials before my wife has to kill me, and a full pizza to go for the family.
7:15pm - back home
7:30ishpm - with the heating element out of the stove, I head to Home Depot for a replacement.
7:45pm - Home Depot doesn't stock them. Go to their suggested appliance store next door. Parts dept. closed @ 5:00pm
8:00pm - went back to my place of employment to get my electrical meter
8:30pm - at home, Ohms check good on heating element itself. Checked voltage on the wires that plug into the heating element - 31 volts...hmmmmm. Stove runs on 220 V. I may have a problem. Have to look into this further tomorrow. May cost more money than I want to pay out!
8:45pm - USMS.org

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Finally, my workout blog:

I knew I only had a 30 minute window, so I let Jared know my intention of hitting 2000 yards in 30 minutes today. He was like...uhhhh, ok.

First 5 are the "warmup"

5 x 100 Free @ 1:30 (held 1:08/1:09s)
10 x 100 Free @ 1:20 (held 1:07/1:08s) NICE!
took 40 seconds rest to reset on the 60 and put on paddles/buoy
5 x 100 Free @ 1:15 (held 1:07/1:08s, last one 1:06)

100 EZ and out
---------------------------
2100 yards in under 30 minutes!

Another workout with Jared. He's a good training partner to have. Not quite up to my speed and endurance yet, but he's getting there quickly. Much easier to get back into shape at 19-20 years old I guess. I'm soooo old now at 35.

Warmup:

Straight 600!! WTF??? Thanks Jared...

I ended up leaving about 50 yards behind him and was going to try to meet him at the finish, but wasn't able to. We were both moving pretty good here. Felt like my college days when we used to race the warmups!!

1 x 400 Free Pull (went 4:45)

1 x 100 Breast stretch out


Main Set:


5 x 200 Free @

• 3:10 (went 2:22)
• 3:00 (went 2:21)
• 2:50 (went 2:19)
• 2:40 (went 2:17)
• 2:30 (went 2:12)

Jared wanted to do them all on the 2:45, but I countered with this descending interval. Not as boring that way.
It's been a while since I've done a good 200s set. This was nice.

100 EZ

6 x 100 IM @ 1:40 (went 1:20/1:18/1:17/1:17/1:15/1:13)

100 EZ

100 Free AFAP from a push (went :59)
my quads were tingly on the second 50, on the verge of cramping, and I couldn't kick as hard as I wanted to...still not too shabby

100 EZ and out

---------------------------------
3100 Yards

I was wiped out tired from work today, so I didn't expect much from tonight's swim. More of a stretch out swim...at least till I met up with Jared at the entrance to the pool. I knew we'd work each other pretty good. Game on!!


Warmup:

3 x 200 Free @ 3:00 (2:20-2:23s)

We'd decided that since we were already going pretty good, that we'd put together a sprint/hard workout today (kind of)

Main Set:

8 x 50 Choice @ 1:00

• I did Odds Fly (:30/:31/:31/:31)
• Evens Free -semi relaxed (:32/:33/:33/:29)

This wiped us out...

100 EZ

3 Rounds of

• 125 Free Pull @ 1:40 (1:27s)
• 75 Free Pull @ 1:10 (:55s)

4 x 100 IM @ 1:40 (1:20ish). I was doing fine, but Jared was dead and done.

100 EZ and out

-----------------------
2100 Yards


It was nice to do some sprinting today too. I know the sprinters out there wouldn't consider these sprints, but I like them that way.
Other news: I'm finally dropping down to 200.2 lbs. At one point I was getting up around 208 or so. Yikes! Gonna try to pull a T.G. and get down to 190ish. That will be a good start.

I was feeling a little weird in the pool today, probably from coming off the super long OW swim last weekend. I'm a pool swimmer, 100%, but will probably make the trip to Sandpoint each summer for a while. It is a fun swim.


-----------------------

Got to swim with Jared, a 20 year old ex-swimteamer who's still wanting to stay in shape. It was really nice to have a training partner.

Warmup:

7 x 100 Free @ 1:30 (1:08-1:10s)

8 x 50 Kick w/ board @ 1:00 (:48s, last one :44)

Main Set:

1 x 100 Free Pull @ 1:20 (went 1:06)
1 x 200 Free Pull @ 2:40 (went 2:13)
1 x 300 Free Pull @ 4:00 (went 3:19) this felt great
1:00 rest
20 x 25 @ :30 (did 8 Fly, 4 Back, 4 Breast, 4 Free)
1:00 rest
1 x 300 Free Pull @ 4:30 (went 3:33)
1 x 200 Free Pull @ 3:00 (went 2:20)
1 x 100 Free Pull @ 1:30 (went 1:09)

Jared went for cool down, I kept up a little more.

4 x 75 Free @ 1:00 go strong (:50, :50, :49, :48)

100 EZ

Timed Swim**:
100 IM (went 1:05)

100 EZ

---------------------
3400 Yards


**This similarity is just a coincidence after reading TG's blog from this past week...different though, because mine was done at the end of the workout. In no way am I ever in any way/shape/form in a competition with any other blogger out in the USMS world.

For TG - this is too long, don't bother reading it.
For everyone else...enjoy!


I left from Wenatchee yesterday after work around 5:30pm, after picking up a teammate for the race. We ended up making a "short" drive of just under 3 hours over to Spokane last night before checking into our motel, in time to turn on the Olympics on NBC to watch...volleyball...then somewhere we saw Missy Franklin's 200 Back WR Gold medal race. After that...wanted to see Phelps' 100 Fly and the 50 Free by Jones/Ervin, but somewhere during the women's track 100 Meters races I fell asleep (as did my teammate). Dang NBC for always putting swimming so late in the broadcast!

This morning, we awoke at 4:45am, and were on the road by 5:00. It was about an hour and a half drive to Sandpoint, Idaho from there. We of course hit up a McDonalds for some good pre-race nutrition. Got checked in for the race, numbered up, and waited for the buses to take us to the starting end of the bridge for the race.


Map of course: http://longbridgeswim.org/Long-Bridge-Swim-Map.pdf

********************************
EDIT: Here is a picture shortly after the start of the race. CRAZY HELL, huh???
I'm somewhere in the upper part of the picture...I believe I'm roughly right below the large boat in the shot, coming from the right side of the start line merging with the lead group.
I'm glad I didn't see all this chaos behind me!!




I ended up getting a wetsuit for this swim, though I probably didn't need to have it as the water was in the low to mid 70s...but since everyone else had one, why not? I didn't really care for swimming in the wetsuit, and it may have been a little loose fitting on my body as well. Oh well, what are you going to do mid race, cry?

I started out off to the right side of the starting group, and had a clean breakaway from the large mass start group. Approx half of the 861 swimmers were in the water at the start. I met up with the leaders of the pack as we merged together a little ways down the bridge. Most of the top 10-15 were age group kids, or college kids. There were a couple a seriously hardcore masters swimmers (54M, 59M, and 56?F) in the group as well.

The water was pretty rough today as well, as there was some wind from the north, pushing the waves directly against us, and a little from the side, so the swim wasn't exactly clean and easy. People said the times definitely reflected the conditions.

I got dropped back from the original breakout group of back to the group that was the 15th placers or so. This was around the end of the bridge itself, which is 1.1 miles long of the total 1.76 mile swim. So even though you've crossed the lake, you still have another 1/2 mile to go before the finish line.

I ended up struggling at this point. A little over 2/3 of the swim was completed, and I was exhausted. I'd been alternating between about 20-30 strokes of freestyle with about 3-4 breaststroke strokes throughout most of the race, but at this point, I was swimming more and more breaststroke. The waves were getting worse and worse in the finished leg of the race.

Another group of 3 guys came up on me from behind, and I was going to try to stick with them. At this point I finally caught a glimpse of the large orange buoys at the finish wayyyyy up there, but seeing these got me even more determined to get the heck out of the water! I hung with these 3 guys, pacing right alongside the 3rd in line. As we began nearing the finish, I'd guess about 300 yards from the finishing chute, I began to pick up my pace (honestly I don't know where this drive came from) and moved up alongside the leader of the group of 3 guys. With about 200 yards to go, the whole mini group's pace had quickened, and with about 75-100 yards to go, we were in almost a drop dead sprint for the beach! None of us wanted to lose. Yeah this was supposed to be a "civil race", but when it comes down to it - GAME ON!! I ended up tied with the leader of our group as we came up on the beach, and the other 2 were a second or two behind us. Good race to the finish.

I was just glad to be on dry land.

Later I found my finishing time was 43:04 (overally winner was 39.xx), and that I'd placed 21st out of the 861 participants. I was first place in my age group: male 30-39, and I won a nice stainless steel enbossed water bottle for my efforts.

Will I do this again? I don't know.

I'm officially into a new age group. 35 today. I guess swimmers are some of the only ones who like getting older. I'm just welcoming the challenges.

Decided to take it easy this week after my 1500 LCM race last Sunday. That evening, and the next day, I was feeling a little twinge of something different in my shoulder when I moved around in various positions. Hmmmmmm...

Monday Off

Tuesday Off besides getting into the 88 degree YMCA water for parent/child class last night

Wednesday - at the Y pool (83 degrees)

Thursday - will be Off, besides parent/child class again

Friday - travel toward Sandpoint, Idaho for the swim on Saturday.


--------------------------------

I decided that it was now or never for testing out my wetsuit in the water, both to see how it fits, and how it feels with swimming.

https://www.swimoutlet.com/ProductDe...e=26092&CartID=
That is the one I got. I don't care if it's the best/worst/or whatever, because I got it on such a good sale a few weeks ago, that it doesn't matter.

I felt sooo floaty in the water, and swimming wasn't too bad. I got into the deep tank first, and just floated vertically, no kicking and hands out of the water. My head stayed up. What buoyancy!!

I ended up swimming 5 x 100s @ 1:30, my standard warmup. I was easily cruising 1:05s to 1:07s on minimal effort, where I'm usually around 1:10s in my normal swimwear.

After this I decided it was time to unzip and get "naked". That cool 83 degree water felt like 70 degrees on my skin as it hit me! Ahhhhhhhhh...the relief. Now I see why they have temperature rules for OW swimming with wetsuits. You can easily get overheated in one.

I just cruised another 500 of various 50s and 100s just to cool down and stretch out. This will be my one and only swim of the week prior to the Longbridge Swim on Saturday. As of a few days ago, there was just at 800 swimmers signed up for the race. With a semi-mass start set up, this will be interesting. I got a tip from my former college teammate as to where to lineup for the start, and with my speed I shouldn't have a problem with getting ahead of the pack at the start.

I know this isn't going to compete with the Olympics swimming very well, but I'm gonna go for it anyway!

I woke up this morning at 5:30am and was on the road by 6:00 for another road trip to a swim meet. On my day off from work none-the-less, after working another 60+ hours workweek. My main goal was to get there by 9:00am when the meet was starting to get checked in for the 1500 Free. Made it!

My first event wasn't scheduled until around 11:45am or so, the 100 Fly, with my 100 Free around 12:50pm. I was in the 2nd heat of the 1500s (alternated girls/boys), so I swam it around 1:20pm or so.

-----------------------------------

The results:


100 Fly - 1:05.99 (season best, new LMSC record)

did this "cold turkey" - no warmup/no cooldown
I also got the pleasure of being seeded right next to the top seed in the event (circle seeding) as well, and he went a casual :58.0

***OH YEAH*** (almost forgot)
I got to talk with Tom Jager at this point of the meet. He is the head coach of one of the teams in our LSC. He thought it was cool that I was out there racing the kids at my age, and that I was doing as well I do.
I'm never going to wash my hand again, even though Tom's sprinting mojo didn't rub off any on me at all!
That's my Olympic moment.

100 Free - 1:02.59 ()

my lack of cooldown didn't help me here, and I just shut it down around 60-75 meters of the race, and did a Lochte "prelims finish" into the wall at the end. Oh well, this wasn't the reason I came to swim today anyway.

1500 Free - 19:20.45 (new LMSC record)

I got a few splits from one of the club coaches (I wasn't even thinking I'd get splits, so this was nice)

200 - 2:26.45
400 - 4:59.25 (2:33)
600 - 7:34.64 (2:35)
800 - 10:12.54 (2:38)
1000 - 12:50.99 (2:39)
1200 - 15:29.37 (2:39)
1400 - 18:07.82 (2:38)
(winner was an 18:12, so I wasn't lapped)
1500 - 19:20.45 (1:13) - picked it up here since I was having a small battle with a kid a few lanes over and wasn't going to get beat by more of these kids!

I was swimming right with another kid for the first 400(same one who basically tied with me in the 1 mile OW two weeks ago), but knew I wasn't going to be able to keep that pace, so I let him go and found my own pace.

My final time is almost :30 slower than last years performance, but it's still good enough for 6th in the current TT rankings (right behind That Guy, and Tjrpatt). I'm human.

The main differences with this swim vs. last year's performance was:

• Last year swam in early June vs. late July this year
• Only able to swim maybe 3 days a week of minimal training due to summer work schedule, as compared to the "school year" when work is normal.

Overall, I'm still happy with this performance. Looking back at it, I was able to settle into a pace and hold it pretty consistent throughout the race.

---------------------------------

That's it for my 2012 LCM season, thank goodness! I've got two more OW races to go, one of them is next Saturday, and another will be next month.

Well, I decided to take a little extended lunch break from work today for a little dip in the LCM pool today. I gave up what amounted to 45 minutes of OT in doing so (as well as the 30 minute lunch), but oh well. Swimming is better than work anyway! My main goal was a semi-relaxed swim prior to my meet tomorrow, just so I wouldn't be a day out of the water prior. Goal accomplished. But have to be back at work again now.


Swim at the city pool (LCM) got this done in 20-25ish minutes or so
No pace clock available

5 x 100 Free @ :15 seconds rest


10 x 50 @ :10-:15 sec rest (25 Fly Drill/25 Free)

• went 3 SDKs off wall, 3 right arm, 3 left arm, 5 full stroke, then free to wall
• this seemed to carry my just past the lifeguard chair from both ends, so I'm assuming I was covering 25M or more before switching to free

A fellow masters swimmer happened to come to lap swim as well, and he had a wristwatch with him to time me:

1 x 100 Free @ 1500 Pace - went a 1:13

This is probably a bit faster that what I'll do...1:15s is an 18:45.

I'd like to be under 19:00, but anything faster than That Guy's time will be suitable.

I felt good, that was enough, hit the showers and back to earning $$$$$.


Tomorrow: 100 Fly, 100 Free, 1500 Free

I started off today with a little dryland medicine ball work at the Y pool's new dryland workout area. They have a cable machine, various sizes of med balls, mats, small weights and benches, and some more stuff.
My swim buddy was there, and I showed him a minature version of Mike Barrowman's medicine ball/dryland routine that I used to do in the early 90s with my club team. Finished up with a couple sets of 10 vertical streamline leaps for fun as well. Now that I'm home, I can feel the 15 minutes that I did in my arms and chest. I guess this means I'm "out of shape".
Good thing I'm racing in a meet on Sunday too.

Warmup:

5 x 100 Free @ 1:30 (1:10s)

5 x 100 Free Pull @ 1:20 (1:10s)

Main Set: went for a couple quick sprints and outta here - Leslie...this is for you!

100 EZ

1 minute rest

50 Fly AFAP - went :29

200 EZ

@ 5:00 from the start of the first fast 50, I did another:

50 Free AFAP - went :26 (confirmed by the guard)

200 EZ

--------------------------
1600 Yards

I didn't really feel much like swimming tonight, so that's it. I may skip out of a couple hours of work around lunchtime tomorrow and head over to the LCM pool for afternoon lap swimming, then get ready for an early morning drive to Spokane on Sunday for the meet.

Last night (Tuesday) was my younger daughters first day for swim lessons in the parent/tot class. Lots of mommies , another dad, and me in the water with our kids. My daughter is the oldest in the group, as they have to be under 3 to be in the class. She is 2 and 11/12 years old, just squeaking by. Next session she'll be on her own in the beginners class. 88 degree icky poo bath water in this pool. It's in the downtown Wenatchee YMCA basement. The pool has 3 lane markers on the bottom, which can't be any wider than 6 feet, and the length of the pool is 13 1/2 yards long.
Here we are:


=================================

Wednesday Swim:

Warmup
5 x 100 Free @ 1:30 (1:10ish)

Main Set - borrowed from KNelson's blog the other day

8 Rounds of:
100 Free @ 1:20
25 Free @ :15

Kirk's set (with the group) I think originally had 18 times through this, but I was getting tired after what I did, especially not having a group to do it with me. Basically, I'm just not the man that Kirk is.

4 x 150 Free Pull @ 1:55 (held 1:43-1:46s)

4 Rounds of:
25 Fly kinda medium effort @ :30
75 Free cruise EZ @ 1:15 (went :55s)

Sat around at the wall watching the swim lesson kids for a while, and realized that the pool was so still in the lap lanes that it would be perfect for some fast efforts, so:

1 x 50 Fly AFAP (went :28 from a push)

200 EZ EZ

waited another minute

1 x 50 Free AFAP (went :25+/:26-)
This one felt really good. I did two breaths down, and one breath about 1/2way back. Felt really powerful.

200 EZ EZ and out

-------------------------
3000 Yards


I've got a USAS meet on Sunday, at the Inland Empire LSC Champs meet in Spokane. It'll be another competitive swimming occasion after a 62ish hour workweek.
I've got the 100 Fly, 100 Free, then hopefully a little rest before my 1500 Free.
I need to get a time this summer, and this is the final shot for me. Wonder if I'll make finals. I think they take top 16. I believe I've got the speed to do so in both 100s, but we'll see.

===========================================

OH YEAH!! The best news of all:

On the Wenatchee YMCA Facebook page, they made a note that said in the fall they will begin opening at the eastside YMCA pool on Sundays for limited hours for lap/adult swim. Now I can have an opportunity to swim on Sundays possibly. Only down side...it's from 1-3pm, right in the middle of the day. But I'll make do. I guess a few of my comment/suggestion cards got noticed.

Sore and tight...definitely need to do more stretching and dryland work as well. One day I'll get around to it...kind of like maybe changing the oil in my truck today.

Warmup:

5 x 100 Free @ 1:30

Main Stuff:

1 x 200 Free Pull @ 2:30 (went 2:15)
1 x 150 Free Pull @ 1:52.5 (went 1:45)
1 x 100 Free Pull @ 1:15 (went 1:08)
1 x 50 Free Pull @ :37.5 (went :34)

4 x 100 (75 Free, 25 Fly) @ 1:25 (went 1:07/1:08s)
4 x 75 (50 Free, 25 Fly) @ 1:10 (went :51-:52s)
4 x 50 (25 Free, 25 Fly) @ :50 (went :33-:34s)
4 x 25 Fly @ :30 (went :15-:16s)

300 swim stretch out.

-------------------------
2300 Yards

I burned myself out on this stuff and had to retire from the pool for the evening after just 40 minutes. Oh well, I still felt good.


===============================

Signed up for the NW Zone Short Course Meters Champs in Federal Way, WA. I know the meet's not until the 3rd week of October, but I like to get my stuff out there early. No backing out that way.

Saturday will have: 400 Free, 200 Fly, 200 IM, 800 Free
Sunday will have: 400 IM, 1500 Free

Any other takers out there (other than the regular Northwesterners) that want to make a trip to Seattle for a good meet, this is your chance! Here's a link to the info if you're interested:
https://www.clubassistant.com/club/m...1534&smid=3629

Another long week of work, and it's not over yet (Saturday to go). I finished last week with 62 hours, and it looks like this one will be another hour or so longer than the last - for 63 or so, provided we work a full day tomorrow.

Got to the Y and was the first one there, so I was able to pick my favorite Lane #5, which is directly in line with the pace clock overhead at the "turn end" of the pool.


Lane #6 is the one closest to the far side of the picture. It's also the most undesirable lane to swim in because of the big RED permanant bulkhead separating the lap pool from the deep tank. No gutters there for waves, and for some reason that is the lane that the "fast kids" were always in back in the day for swim team practices. I've swum wayyyyy too much in that lane, so take any other lane when I get the chance.


Warmup:
5 x 100 Free @ 1:30 (1:12-1:15s)

Main Set:
4 x 150 Free Pull @ 2:00 (1:45-1:48s)
4 x 150 Free Pull @ 1:55 (1:45ish)
:30 sec.
8 x 100 Free @ 1:20 (1:10-1:11s)
:30 sec.
8 x 50 Fly/Free by 25s @ :50 (:38-:40s)

while I was swimming the last set, another younger girl got in the lane next to me, and was swimming pretty much my speed. This of course drew my interest, as I don't see this very often at the Y pool. She's about 2 years out of college, and has been swimming to get in shape for the ChelanMan triathalon that she is swimming a relay with her two brothers, and the race is tomorrow. She's been swimming for a few weeks, and is in plenty of shape for an 800M OW swim. At her age she can't be that far gone from the sport. Well, I invited her to join me on the next set, and she accepted.

8 x 125 IM (rotate the stroke of the extra length) @ 2:00
I held 1:38-1:40s, and 1:43s for the extra breast ones.
Didn't push too hard...I didn't want to scare away my new training partner. She definitely was a better backstroker than me...but most people are!

Afterward said it was nice to swim with someone, but wasn't expecting to swim that hard.

Finished with a 100 EZ and out

---------------------
4000 Yards

I love Wednesdays because it is payday at work. Payday this time of year is nice, because our paychecks are about double what a normal 40 hour week is like. Still, it's pocket change compared to a lot of folks out there...

I knew ahead of this swim that I was 4078 yards away from making the 300 mile mark on my GTD program. I wanted to hit it today, so anything 4100 or more would be great. I still had in mind my goal of my main set being 2500-2800 or so in distance in prep for my Longbridge Swim as well.


Warmup:

5 x 100 Free @ 1:40ish
I was really sluggish, and my triceps were sore.

Main Set: sore or not...gotta hit it!

10 x 100 Free Pull @ 1:15 (held 1:08-1:10s)
10 x 75 Free @ 1:00 (held :55-:56)
10 x 50 Free Pull @ :40 (held :35s)
10 x 25 Free @ :20 (held :17-:18, last two sprint :16/:15)

100 EZ EZ

3100 here...gotta keep going...


10 x 100 @ 1:30

• #1, #5 - 25 Fly, 75 Free
• #2, #6 - 25 Free, 25 Fly, 50 Free
• #3, #7 - 50 Free, 25 Fly, 25 Free
• #4, #8 - 75 Free, 25 Fly
• #9 - 100 Free
• #10 - 100 Fly Fast - went 1:06

The 100 Fly Fast was my yardage that got me over the 300 mile mark for the season as well, so I did it in style

100 EZ and out
------------------------
4200 Yards in 1 hour 5 min.


My Go The Distance 2012 Progress
300.06 miles swum (=528,113 yards, =482,907 meters). View my progress | Go The Distance 2012 results.
Most recent milestone achievement: 300 miles on 07/18.

Home Sweet Home!!

I'm glad to be swimming again in the pool, and prefer this type of training (SCY) over any other. SCM would be okay, but I don't have that option around here.

I'm now focused on my next adventures, the first of which is the final day of the USA-S LSC Champs in Spokane which I'm swimming the 1500 LCM and 100 Free & Fly. I consider that the easy swimming. Anything in the pool is easy now.
3 weeks from now will be the real challenge for me. Longbridge swim in Sandpoint, Idaho: 1.76 miles swim (1.1 across the lake next to the bridge, then along the shore to the park). I'm focusing now on doing longer swims in the pool, but keeping up the intensity as well.

Warmup:

5 x 100 Free @ 1:30 (1:10s)

Main Set:

8 x 300 Free Pull @ 4:30 desc. to 3:20 by :10 drops

• (e.g. 4:30/4:20/4:10...3:30/3:20)
• held close to 3:30s the whole way
• #7 was 3:26, #8 missed it but went 3:24
• The 1.76 mile swim is roughly 2800 yards or so, so I'm going to try for one major set each swim that approaches or surpasses this distance, with as minimal rest as possible.

100 EZ

5 x 100 Free @ 1:15 (went 1:08/1:09s)

100 EZ

------------------------
3600 in under 55 minutes (getting more and more KNelsonish)

OK, I'm sure this will never compare with the literacy skills of swimsuitaddict, but I'm going to do my best!


Last night about 7:30pm while cruising the forums, I decided to take a look at the NW Zone Page, specifically the [ame="http://www.usms.org/forums/showpost.php?p=269123&postcount=10"]Upcoming Masters Meets in the NW [/ame]page. Not sure what I was looking for in the first place, but I noticed that the Steve Omi swim was set for tomorrow (today) morning. Just for kicks, I decided to check out the lake temperature of Coeur d'Alene, ID. I knew that historically it's always cold, so I was shocked to see its current reading at 72.7!! I shot my friend a phone call in CDA to confirm, and she said that is most likely correct with all the warm weather we've had lately. Well, with that news, I then proceeded to ask my wife if it would be possible for me to make a trip to Idaho in the morning. Expecting a no way, or something to that effect, I was surprised when she said OK. Really?

I attempted to get to bed early last night, but the heat in the house (and the movies on Encore channels that we're getting for free) kept me from being able to fall asleep until almost midnight! 4 hours later....BEEP BEEP BEEP!! So tired...but still was going through with it. I got my oldest daughter out of bed to come along with me as well (she really wanted to for some reason). Left town by 4:30am to get there for the 8:00am checkin/late registration time.

McDonalds breakfast 2 hours into the trip...check! Successful swim about to happen now. As I kept pushing east to Spokane, WA, I noticed the clouds were looking quite dark in the distance (in the direction of Idaho), then a huge bolt of lightning lights up the sky! This was around 7:30am. It was a great day for a swim all over eastern Washington, but not for Idaho apparently! The lightning and thunder continued and continued, and as soon as we crossed the border to Idaho, the rain was pouring!

Well, I proceeded to get checked in, and the safety marshall was keeping the clock running (and reseting) on each lightning strike that happened. At times it seemed like it would stop, and then 20 minutes later another flash and crash in the sky Everyone was really hoping for the swim to happen today, especially those of us who had driving 3+ hours to get there! Finally things were beginning to clear, the lightning stopped and the rain began to die down. The original starting time of the race was 9:00am, and that was pushed back to 9:46am, so not extremely late. Much better than cancelling altogether! Damit, I'd better get to swim something after that drive!

----------------------

The race:

Finally, we're in the water, and the near 73 degree water feels great as opposed to the wet 66 degree outside conditions we were in for the past couple hours. We got lined up on the start line, I took a position furthest out from the beach (course map) so that I could be away from the large bunch of people in the standing room only section of the water, and also so I could see everyone to my right side (which is my dominant breathing side). I knew I'd be in the top 5-10 of the race at the end, and figured I wanted to be in the lead group funneling around the first turn buoy as well. They gave us a 10 second countdown to start as well which was nice, so I could get my legs kicking horizontally before releasing the brakes to get off the start quick! I had a reaction time of 0.67 seconds off the line, which runs right along with all my starts at Canadian Nationals!

I did not sprint, but I definitely held a strong breakout stroke to be sure to be in the front of the pack. I knew there were a few superstar age groupers in the water, and I could see them merging across the lake as we got further down toward the first buoy. I was in 3rd at the turnbuoy, but had plenty of heat all around me. Apparently I had someone sneaking up on my left hand side and for the first left hand turn buoy she (yes it was a SHE) squeezed her way between me and the buoy to put me into 4th place. During the next short straightaway to the 2nd turnbuoy, another big guy in a wetsuit went by me (later found out it was Don Morovec, a guy who's pool distance records I've been just barely able to break in my former age group). He's now about 54 and an excellent OW dude. I never saw him again after that either!, so that put me into 5th place.

I was feeling very comfortable in the water today, it was a calm day on the water, not too many waves, though the visibility wasn't the greatest underwater, most likely due to the storms. Had a few waves on the long backstretch of the race, likely from a passing boat out there somewhere. I was swimming very straight lines, and was having an easy time sighting on the large 6'+ buoys (orange for the corners, and yellow for the intermediate buoys on the straight parts) I was also keeping sight on the kids and Don in front of me. I felt like the part in the Finding Nemo movie when the dad fish (Marlin) was chasing the scubadivers speedboat after they'd snatched up Nemo from the ocean. I could still see the bubbles from the kicking, but they were getting fainter and fainter in the water. It got to the point where I'd lost the draft of them, and wasn't sure who was coming up behind me, but wasn't going to look back at all to find out either. Why look behind you? Unless you're in open ocean and you're looking for dorsal fins and sharp teeth??!!

The remainder of the backstretch straightaway went without incidence, and was very peaceful. I was happy to be able to look out and see the lifeguards on their boards at the various stages around the course. Gave me a good feeling that I wasn't "alone". I was also playing with swimming longer and longer expanses without lifting up for a sighting breath. At times I was taking 15-20 stroke cycles, then looking up and finding that I was still exactly on course with the buoy. That made me feel good that I could swim a straight line without a black line below me. I then tried 30 strokes looked up, and the buoy had moved (or maybe I had), but quickly found my heading, and back on track.

As I reached the 3rd corner of the rectangle, I was beginning to feel a little fatigued. This is about the approximate distance (10-1200) of a pool race that I always seem to fall off my pace. I did breath to the left a couple times here so I could look back 90 degrees down the backstretch to see if I had anyone closely trailing me. I didn't see anyone for about what looked like 50 yards or so back. Well, it turns out that I had a guy (Larry Krauser (59 yrs.) - great pool freestyler and OW swimmer) who was coming up on my tail that I didn't notice. Continued like this past the 4th and final turnbuoy, still oblivious that Larry was right behind me.

In swimming the final stretch to the finish line, I couldn't remember how many large yellow buoys had been set out before arriving at the finishing point on the beach. The finishing point had a large white banner and flags, and there were a few other boat dock covers that were white as well down the shoreline. My goggles were heavily fogged up at this point, and I honestly couldn't tell where exactly the finish line banner was at! So I went vertical, cleaned out my goggles, and WHOOOSH...there went Larry, no longer drafting but pushing to the finish. I was now in 6th place. Trouble is he didn't allow for me to draft off of him!! By the time I got my momentum going again, he was out of range for my tired body. I did take a look back here, and I could see another person about 50 yards back or so. I didn't want to be caught again, so I tried to push the last 300 or so to the finish line. Never was I so relieved to be back on solid ground again!

Final time for the course: 21 min. 27 sec.

Overall Placing: 6th out of 120 or so

Age Group Placing: 1st (19-34 men) I'm still 34 for two more weeks
Funny part with this was at the registration table the lady felt sorry for me because I had to compete with all the 20-22 year old guys already signed up. At the time, I said "oh man, that sucks" (for them) - I didn't say the last part out loud.

Placing among naked (non-wetsuit) swimmers: 1st - they didn't divide people by wetsuit/non, but we knew who the real swimmers were

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1st place was an 18:15 by a phenominal 17 year old who "took it easy" for his taper meet next weekend.
2nd -4th place was 20:40-20:50 or so...there was 1 age group boy, 1 age group girl, and 54 year old Don Morovec
5th place was 21:15 - Larry Krauser - 59 years
6th place was 21:27 - James Adams 34.93 years
7th place was about 22:00 by the 2nd place non-wetsuited guy - another age grouper.

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Overall, it was a fun swim. I'm not going to change to being an OW enthusiast, I'm still a pool swimmer first for sure. The 1 mile swim was a good distance for me, and we'll see how the 1.76 mile goes in 3 weeks up in Sandpoint, Idaho. I will again be swimming that one "naked", while everyone else wears wetsuits.

Got to the YMCA pool, and was the first one there...usually Friday's with the whole pool available for lap swims are crowded, but not today. I could see the lifeguards struggling with the lanelines to get them off the reel...some jackapple in the afternoon at the Y decided not to tighten the slack on any of the 5 lanelines, and it almost looked like they tried to reel all 5 in at the same time from both directions onto the reel! Between the two guards and me, we finally got them untangled and into the pool after 20 minutes!! Well, I had my good times there...time for the water to rinse off.

2nd warmup:

5 x 100 Free @ 1:30 (1:10s and under)

took a couple minutes, then:

1 x 800 IM for time (went 10:28)
2:25 out in a 1:06 felt it too!
5:10 (2:45) backstroke was so lazy tonight, but it usually is...why else would someone swim on their back?
8:08 (2:58) build to the free
10:28 (2:20) think powerful, not pain

Not quite as fast as last year, but still decent. Here's last year's swim:
[ame="http://www.usms.org/forums/showpost.php?p=247200&postcount=37"]U.S. Masters Swimming Discussion Forums - View Single Post - Independence Day challenge[/ame]


100 EZ EZ EZ, try to recover

1 x 400 Free Pull stretch out

12 x 75 Free

3 rounds of:

• 1 @ 1:00
• 1 @ :55
• 1 @ 1:00
• 1 @ 1:05
• repeat on interval

this kept my mind from wandering by having to remember the interval changes

12 x 25 Kick w/ board @ :30 (or 300 straight kick, 'cause that's basically what it was)

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3000 Yards

With my son coming down with some kind of big last night (with a 103 degree fever), and continuing into today, we decided that it was probably best to have him skip his swim lesson class today. But someone from the family had to go swim, so I gladly volunteered!

Warmup:

5 x 100 Free @ 1:30 (1:15s)
5 x 100 Free Pull @ 1:30 (1:15s)

I just sortof trudged through this warmup feeling icky from all the 5 days in a row that I've been swimming this week since last weekend meet on Sunday. I've really gotten used to 3 a week swimming, and already have outdone both that and the yardage, so I'm tired, but its a good tired.

Main Set:


5 rounds of:

• 1 x 150 Free Pull @ 1:50 (went 1:42/1:43s)
• 1 x 50 Fly @ 1:10 Fast (went :33/:34s)

2 x 25 Free @ :20
2 x 50 Free @ :40
2 x 75 Free @ 1:00
2 x 100 Free @ 1:20 (1:10/1:08)
2 x 75 Free @ 1:00 (:54/:52)
2 x 50 Free @ :40 (:34/:33)
2 x 25 Free @ :20 (:15s)

100 EZ


20 x 25 Kick @ :30

• 2 Flutter Kick w/ board
• 2 SDK on back (maybe did 3-4 underwater kicks)
• repeat 5x to complete 20

100 EZ

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3500 Yards in 1 hour 2 min.


For some reason I'm feeling urged to do an 800 IM tomorrow. not sure why?

Swam with the 19 year old former club swimmer in the lap lanes till he got out...then I started to make it interesting.

Warmup:
3 x 200 Free @ 3:15 (went 2:20s) not sure why I went so fast ???

12 x 50 Kick w/ board @ 1:00. This was basically kick 'n chat. Guys can do it too, right?

100 Swim to warm up the arms again

20 x 25 @ :30 I did Odds Fly, Evens Free...all FAST

4 x 100 Free @ 1:30 (held 1:08s)

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at this point Jared got out of the pool, so I started searching my database in my head...

4 x 175 Free Pull w/ paddles @ 2:05 (went 1:55 on the 1st, then 1:59/2:00) 700 in under 8:00!
That was tough, not sure how many more I could've done solo.
It's a KNelson set that his club coach seems to adore...though they usually do 54 reps or so every other day!!

100 very EZ

2 x 75 Free @ 1:05
2 x 75 Free @ 1:00
2 x 75 Free @ :55
2 x 75 Free @ :50 --the first one I wasn't sure if I made or not...turning at the far wall to see the pace clock. 2nd one I came in under the :50 mark so I was happy.

made 'em all

100 EZ
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3700 Yards

It was suggested to me that I attempt to swim 5 days a week just to build up yardage and maintain endurance for my upcoming longer swims, including the 2 OW events. I'll make the attempt to, but my other days currently fall on the day of my son's swim lessons. If I can time it right though (and I take my swim bag to work), I can leave work and get to the outdoor pool right when the open, get in for about 35-40 minutes, and still get home to get my son to his lessons at the YMCA.


Swam in the outdoor pool for $3 (normally I swim at the Y with my membership card)
widths across the LCM pool (25 yards), no lanelines, very wavy OW type feeling in the pool.

It was fairly crowded in the pool tonight, with 5 lesson groups scattered along the shallow end walls, all 8 lap lanes taken by 1 swimmer per, and another couple lessons in the deep end of the pool.

My swim:

2 x 100 Free @ ~:10 rest
2 x 200 Free @ ~:15 rest
2 x 300 Free @ ~:20 rest
2 x 400 Free @ ~:30 rest
- finished this part about 28/29 minutes into my workout.
5 x 100 Free @ :15 rest somewhat EZ

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2500 Yards in under 40 minutes was pretty good. It was nice to get the longer swims in as well. I'm so used to babying myself with my usual 50/75/100/125s repeats. I need the longer stuff now.