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The delayed Ocean City Masters Swim finally happened Saturday morning. I got up early, had a light breakfast, and walked down to the beach to warm up (swam about 500 yards). It was a beautiful morning, very small waves, almost no current I could feel, and the water was 75 degrees. I walked over to register for the race at 7:30, went back to the house to finish packing, and walked the mile down the beach to the start line.

They split the 264 swimmers into two nearly equal sized groups: 54 and under men, and women plus 55 and older men. This put me in the first wave. The course was one mile straight down the beach, with buoys and flags set up about 75 yards from shore. The only rule was that people had to be on the seaward side of the first and last buoy. I have never done an open water race before but I have heard about the bedlam that can happen during the start, so I decided to start slightly off to the edge to try to avoid getting trampled. This strategy kept me from getting trampled, but it also caused me to end up behind a lot of slower people as we approached the first buoy so I don't think it was a net win.

I really don't know how to pace myself for a long race, so once on the course I settled into my "swim a long way" pace. My triceps were really stiff for the first five minutes or so but then felt fine, so I don't think I swam enough warmup. At first I was sighting every 6-8 strokes, but as I always seemed to be on course I changed to sighting every 30-40 strokes and still felt like I was staying on course. Once I loosened up I felt good and caught and passed quite a few people (20?).

Eventually I caught up to a guy who seemed to be swimming slightly faster than I was when we were side-by-side, but he was veering all over the course so our overall pace was the same. I was able to get a good draft off of him several times when we were on the same line, but each time he would eventually head to the right (out to sea) after a minute or so. I saw the last buoy when I had about 200 yards left and realized that I had lots left, so I picked up the pace. Mr. can't-swim-straight came back to my line as we neared the final buoy, but he zagged seaward again and I beat him to the buoy and was a few feet ahead of him as we came in through the surf. My hours of playing in the waves with the kids during the week paid off as I was able to catch a ride on two waves coming in, passing two more people, but my inexperience caught up with me as I tried to start running too early and tripped and fell flat on my face at water's edge - not my most graceful moment .

I managed to scramble up fairly quickly so even though two of the guys I passed in the surf passed me again, I did cross the finish line just ahead of Mr. Zig-zag. I ended up 37th out of 173 men. I was winded after I finished, but felt like I had quite a bit left so I definitely didn't push myself hard enough.

My wife was waiting with a towel at the finish line and snapped a photo:



All-in-all it was a fun experience. I will definitely do it again!

I was apprehensive on the drive from Philadelphia to Ocean City NJ, worrying about my first open water swim - the Ocean City Masters Swim, a one mile swim in the Atlantic along the Ocean City beach. Logically I had nothing to worry about because I know I can easily swim a mile and I don't have any previous experience to compare my performance with. On the other hand I have never raced in open water and only had a two minute description of how to sight, so thinking about having to figure it all out in the middle of a mob (last year 450 people entered) had me a bit worried. Despite the worries I was looking forward to the race, and to meeting fellow forumite [ame="http://forums.usms.org/member.php?u=26919"]U.S. Masters Swimming Discussion Forums[/ame] who was planning to come down for the race.

As it happens our rental house is just two blocks from the race finish, so I walked down to have a look at the water as soon as we pulled up. I don't know what the water is usually like for a race, but the large swell and two lines of breakers gave me pause:



Registration was open until 6:00 but I walked over at 3:30 so I would have enough time warm up and then relax before the race at 6:30, and was told that they had decided to postpone the race until next Saturday morning at 9:00 because of the weather. Luckily I was able to get Sojerz on his cell phone so he didn't have to drive all the way down here and we had a nice chat.

We have to be out of our house at 10:00 on Saturday so I should be able to do the race and as a bonus, I will be able to skip last minute house cleanup . The postponement may be a blessing in surprise because I will be able to practice swimming in the ocean, maybe I can even figure out this "sighting" thing so I don't actually swim 2 miles.

AM swim at home with Susan

Warm-up (1200)
3 x 100 @ 1:50
3 x 100 @ 1:45, 50 catchup / 50 swim
3 x 100 @ 1:35, 25 catchup / 75 swim
3 x 100 @ 1:30

Set I (450 / 1650)
6 x 75 @ 1:15, pull with buoy and paddles, breath 5, 7, 9 by 25

Set II (1500 / 3150)
6 x 100 @ 1:30 - moderate
5 x 100 @ 1:35 - descend
4 x 100 @ 1:40 - hold fastest pace from above

Set III (450 / 3600)
6 x 75 @ 1:05, kick w/board 1-2 dolphin, 3-4 back, 5-6 flutter

Wrap-up (200 / 3800)
200 easy

** 3800 **

************************************

As written, the second set continued the pattern with 3x100, 2x100, and 1x100, but neither of us was enjoying the set so away they went.

AM swim

Santa Clara Swim Club Masters - SCY
Soren coaching

400 warm up

8 x 75 @ 1:40, kick IMO

12 x 50 @ :50, pull with buoy & paddles
1-4 breath @ 5, 5-9 breath @ 7, 10-12 breath @ 5

4 x
* 1 x 25 @ :30 breath @ 5
* 1 x 50 @ :45 breath @ 7
* 1 x 75 @ 1:15 breath @ 9
* 1 x 50 @ :45 breath @ 5
* 1 x 25 @ :30 breath @ 11

8 x 50 @ 1:00, 25 build + "perfect" turn + 25 fast

200 warm down

* 2700 yards *

AM swim

Santa Clara Swim Club Masters - LCM
Soren coaching

200 warmup before practice began

4 x 50 @ 1:00
2 x 100 IM @ 2:15
2 x 100 @ 1:00

4 x 200 kick @ 5:00

16 x 50 @ 1:10 25 drill + 25 swim IMO

2 x 200 @ 3:15 pull with buoy and paddles

200 easy

** 3200 meters **

I have said it before, but really need to work on my kicking. While I wasn't the slowest on in my lane, I got lapped in an 800 yard set. Embarrassing!

************************************

PM Weights

Rack Deadlift
145 lb., 10 sets of 3

Standing face pulls
40 lb., 5 sets of 10

Today was my first time trying deadlifts because I was worried about the back problems I used to have so frequently. Happily I didn't have any problems at all, we'll see how I feel tomorrow.

I am taking the day off because I have to head up to Sacramento this afternoon for my older daughter's regional rowing championships, so I swam at home this morning with Susan and Richard.

Warm-up (1200)
2 x 200 @ 3:10, 3:00
4 x 100 @ 1:50, 1:45, 1:40, 1:30
8 x 50, 2 each @ 1:00, :55, :50, :45

Set I (500 set / 1700 total)
8 x 25 underwater SDK w/fins @ :45
6 x 50 dolphin w/fins , AFAP @ 1:10

Set II (1300 / 3400)
8 x 25 @ :30 zipper drill
6 x 75 @ 1:10 descend
4 x 50 @ 1:10, dolphin kick

8 x 25 @ :30 catch-up drill
6 x 75 @ 1:05 descend
4 x 50 @ 1:10, back kick

Wrap-up (300 / 3700)
300 easy

** 3700 **

************************************

Weights

Chin-ups
Body weight (159 lb.) - 30 lb., 10 sets of 3

Shoulder Press
on the Technogym shoulder press machine
10 @ 30 lb.
10 @ 40 lb.
10 @ 50 lb.
10 @ 50 lb.

Santa Clara Swim Club Masters - SCY
Soren coaching

500 warmup

16 x 75 @ 1:45, 25 kick + 25 drill + 25 swim. 4 each stroke IMO
200 easy

8 x 100 IM @ 1:45
200 easy

* 2900 yards *

************************************

My fly is awful so 2000 yards of IM, even broken up into bite-sized chunks, really hurt.

Santa Clara Swim Club Masters - LCM

200 swim
4 x 50 @ :10 rest, pull with buoy and paddles, count strokes on 2nd 25, descend each time

4 x 50 @ 1:20 flutter kick
150 kick on back, dolphin kick + flutter by 25
50 easy

4 x 25 one arm drill with small fins, rotate body 180°, breath on same side as pulling arm
4 x 50 swim with fins, concentrate on body rotation

2 x 200 @ 3:30
3 x 150 @ 2:40
50 easy
4 x 100 @ 1:40 free with paddles

6 x 50 @ 1:20, 25 sprint + 25 active recovery

* 2800 meters *

Warm-up (1500)
1 x 300: reverse IM, drill-kick-swim

10 x 75 @ 1:15 - build to a fast turn, fast 2nd lap to a fast turn, cruise the 3rd lap.

5 x 50 @ :45, descend to target 500 (:36/:37)

8 x 25 @ :30
2 x

• #1 = Distance per stroke
• #2 = ½ lap fast – ½ lap easy
• #3 = ½ lap easy – ½ lap fast
• #4 = AFAP

Set I - broken 1650 (1950 / 3450)
3 x

• 3 x 50 @ :50 (target :38)
• 2 x 100 @ 1:45 (target 1:16)
• 1 x 150 @ 2:35 (target 1:54)

3 x 50 @ :50 (target :38)

6 x 50 active recovery, 2 @ :45, 2 @ :50, 2 @ :55

Wrap-up (700 / 4150)
3 x 100 @ 2:00 back, descend 1 - 3
250 easy pull

* 4000 *

Modified slightly from High Volume Workouts [ame="http://forums.usms.org/showthread.php?t=20528"]Workout #1 = Broken 1500 / 1650[/ame].

Warm-up (1000)
2 x 100 @ 1:50
2 X 100 @ 1:50, 75 catchup / 25 swim
2 X 100 @ 1:45 DPS
2 X 100 @ 1:40, 50 catchup / 50 swim
2 X 100 @ 1:40 DPS

Set I (1200 / 2200)
2 x
4 x 50 @ 0:50 descend
4 x 50 @ 1:00 fly/back, back/breast, breast/free
4 x 50 @ 0:50 descend

Set II - Kick (400 / 2600)
4 x 100 @ 2:00, kick dolphin/flutter by 25s

Wrap-up (400 / 3000)
4 x 50 hypoxic
200 easy

* 3000 *

Warm-up (1000)
200 swim
4 X 50 kick, IM order
3 x 100 50 drill/50 swim @ 1:50
3 x 100 DPS @ 1:40

Set I (1000 / 2000)
2 x (all @ 2:00)
1 x 100 25 fast/75 easy
1 x 100 50 fast/50 easy
1 x 100 75 fast/25 easy
1 x 100 fast
1 x 100 easy

Set II (500 / 2500)
2 x
1 x 25 @ :30 fly
2 x 25 @ :30 back
3 x 25 @ :30 breast
4 x 25 @ :25 free

Wrap-up (500 set / 3000 total)
6 x 50 hypoxic @ :20 rest - breaths per 25: 0/1, 0/1, 0/0, 0/1, 0/1, 0/0
200 easy

* 3000 *

Warm-up (1000)
2 x
1 X 200 @ 3:20, 3:00
2 X 100 @ 1:40, 1:30
2 X 50 @ :50, :45

Set I - Race pace 200s (900 / 1900)
4 x 50 @ :55, goal :38 (target pace + :04) - went :34-:35
2 x 50 @ :55, :60 active recovery

2 x 100 @ 1:50, goal 1:10 (target pace + :02) - went 1:10, 1:11
2 x 50 @ :55, :60 active recovery

1 x 200 for time - went 2:25
2 x 50 @ :55, :60 active recovery

Set II (500 / 2400)
5 x 100 @ 1:15, 1:20, 1:25, 1:30, 1:35

Wrap-up (200 / 2600)
200 easy

* 2600 *

**************************************************

Afternoons around here are often complicated between carpools for sports (diving, gymnastics, and crew), tutoring, and random pick up and drop off. Thursday has recently emerged as a island of relative calm in my normally chaotic schedule as there is no tutoring and I don't pick up or drop off, so for the second week in a row I snuck in a short workout.

I made up a quick variation on yesterday's Race Pace 500s set. Not very imaginative but good enough to get me in and out in less than an hour. Even though it was a short workout, I was tired by the time I got to the timed 200, though I guess that is shows.

Warm-up (1200)
4 x 100 @ 1:40
4 x 100 @ 1:45, 50 catchup / 50 swim
4 x 100 @ 1:35, 25 catchup / 75 swim

Set I (300 / 1500)
4 x (3 x 25) @ :45 - underwater SDK w/fins, 1 on left side, 1 on front, 1 on right side

Set II - Test (1200 / 2700)
3 x 300 free @ 5:00 - hard but even/perfect split. Calculate "base" interval as average time per 100 + 10
went 3:51, 3:56, 3:54 (yuck!)
6 x 50 active recovery, 2 @ :50, 2 @ :55, 2 @ :60

Set III (1000 / 3700)
10 x 100 @ 1:30 descend 1 - 5, 6 - 10

Wrap-up (300 / 4000)
8 x 25 @ :45 no-breather
100 easy

* 4000 *

**************************************************

Damn, I felt like crap today! I was hoping to have a reasonable test set because Saturday's workout felt good, but no... The first 300 felt OK, the second and third were really rough. I guess I will stick with 1:30 as my BASE interval.

I didn't swim on Sunday, but maybe my 30 minute "TRX for dummies" session took more out of me than I thought.

Warm-up (1000)
200 swim
2 x 200 @ 3:30, 50 catchup / 50 swim
2 x 200 @ 3:15, 25 catchup / 75 swim

Kick (250 set / 1250 total)
10 x 25 underwater SDK w/fins @ :45

Swim (1600 set/ 2850 total)
4 x 100 @ 1:45 descend to 85% effort, focus on technique
100 fast @ 2:00 (went 1:11)
50 easy

3 x 100 @ 1:45 descend to 85% effort, focus on technique
100 fast @ 2:00 (went 1:13)
50 easy

2 x 100 @ 1:45 descend to 85% effort, focus on technique
100 fast @ 2:00 (went 1:14)
50 easy

1 x 100 @ 1:45 85% effort, focus on technique
100 fast (went 1:14)
50 easy

Wrap-up (200 set / 3050 total)
4 x 50 hypoxic @ :30 sec rest

*3050 *


************************************************** **********

Woot - I made it all the way through a workout without cramping up!

Another relatively easy day, saving up for this weekend's camp.

Warm-up (1400)
200 swim
4 x 100 @ 1:50 50 catchup / 50 swim
4 x 100 @ 1:40 25 catchup / 75 swim
4 x 100 @ 1:30 swim DPS

Kicking (500 set / 1900 total)
4 x 25 underwater SDK w/fins @ :45
6 x 50 dolphin on back w/fins @ 1:00 odds as fast a possible , even easy
4 x 25 underwater SDK w/fins @ :45

Swim (2400 set / 4300 total)
1 x 200 @ 2:55
6 x 100 @ 1:30
2 x 200 @ 2:55
4 x 100 @ 1:25
3 x 200 @ 2:55
2 x 100 @ 1:20

Wrap-up (200 set / 4500 total)
200 easy

Warm-up (1400)
200 swim
4 x 100 @ 1:50 50 catchup / 50 swim
4 x 100 @ 1:40 25 catchup / 75 swim
4 x 100 @ 1:30 swim

Kicking (1300 set / 2700 total)
12 x 25 underwater SDK w/fins @ :45
8 x 50 dolphin on back w/fins @ 1:00 odds as fast a possible , even easy
6 x 50 flutter w/fins @ 1:00 odds as fast a possible , even easy
6 x 50 breast kick @1:00

Swim Set (300 set / 3000 total)
3 x 100 @ 1:25 cramps on every one, stopped early

* 3000 total *

Warm-up (600)
200 swim
200 kick
200 pull

Kick/Swim with fins (800 set/ 1400 total)
Based on a set in SwimStud's Speedy Monday workout.
4 x (4 x 50) @ 1:00

1. fast 50 SDK on back
2. 25 underwater SDK + 25 SDK back
3. 25 SDK back + 25 underwater SDK
4. fast free, focus on SDK on turns

Pull with buoy (2200 set/ 3600 total)
Borrowed from gtpy03's January 23rd workout. The interval is my BASE - :05 (unlike the original ;-))
400 free on 5:40
300 free on 4:15
200 free on 2:50
100 free on 1:25
50 easy

300 free on 4:15
200 free on 2:50
100 free on 1:25
50 easy

200 free on 2:50
100 free on 1:25
50 easy

100 free on 1:25
50 easy

Drills (500 set/4100 total)
5 x 100 @ 2:00 25 left arm, 25 right arm, 25 scull + flutter kick, 25 swim

Wrap-up (400 set / 4500 total)
12 x 25 @ :30 no breather
100 easy

* 4500 total *

Warm-up (1200)
2 x [ 300 free, 200 kick, 100 drill ]

Kick Set #1 (800 set/ 2000 total)
8 x 100 @ 1:40, kick w/fins, odd dolphin, even flutter

Main Set #1 (1800 set/ 3800 total)
Broken 1650 “Davis Mile”

• 11 laps @ rest 20
• 10 laps @ rest 20
• 9 laps @ rest 20
• 8 laps @ rest 15
• 7 laps @ rest 15
• 6 laps @ rest 15
• 5 laps @ rest 15
• 4 laps @ rest 10
• 3 laps @ rest 10
• 2 laps @ rest 10
• 1 lap

150 easy

Main Set #2 (600 set/ 4400 total)
2 x

• 1 x 25 @ :30 fly
• 1 x 50 @ :50 back
• 1 x 75 @ 1:25 breast
• 1 x 100 @ 1:30 free
• 50 easy

Wrap-up (300 set / 4700 total)
4x50 @ 1:00 hypoxic (breaths per 25: #1 0+0, #2 1+1, #3 0+1, #4 0+1)
100 easy

*4700 total*

********************************

Felt much better in the water than I did on Wednesday, made it through the whole workout without having to stop for leg cramps. Had a few twinges during the 1650 but managed to get rid of them by flexing my ankle and calf while swimming. Had one bad one during the first 50 back, but it was near the end and I was able to stretch it out before the 75 breast.