eric.carlson

i spent a couple of busy days in Pittsburgh visiting my brother, his wife, and their two month old. I intended to look up somewhere to swim, but we ran around all day and were up late every night, so I only managed to sneak over to the Urban Active next to the hotel for a quick dryland workout.

Dips
Body weight (172 lb.), 5 sets of 10

Decline bench
5 sets of 10 @ 95 lb.

Standing face pulls
1 set of 10 @ 115
4 set of 10 @ 130

Wide-grip overhand cable rows
4 set of 10 @ 140

Planks
2 x
* front 1:00
* left side 1:00
* right side 1:00

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!

The Ocean City Masters Swim is tomorrow morning at 9:00 so I walked down the beach to the start point this morning to swim the course. The water conditions were much nicer than last Saturday when the race was originally supposed to run:


(photo snapped several hours later, after the lifeguards and crowds showed up)

I swam the course at a relaxed pace. I had the water to myself except for a couple of surfers, very different from the race tomorrow I am sure.

As we packed up to leave the beach for the day the lifeguards were putting out the course buoys:



It should be fun tomorrow!

Planks
2 x
* front 1:00
* left side :45
* right side :45

Chest fly
2 sets of 12 @ 25 lb.

Reverse fly
2 sets of 12 @ 12 lb.

Chin-ups
Body weight (174 lb.) + 20 lb., 10 sets of 3

Seated calf raises
5 set of 5 @ 180 lb.

Ocean City Aquatic Center, SCM

600 various warmup

pulling with buoy, no paddles
4 x 50 @ 1:00
2 x 100 @ 1:45
1 x 200 @ 3:00

8 x 50 @ 1:00 odd flutter, even breast kick

6 x 100 @ 1:45 odd 50 back + 50 free, even 50 breast + 50 free

100 easy

** 2300 meters **

I shared a lane withe a couple of high school age swimmers today, it was nice to not have to start and stop as much as when I swam during lap swim the other day. We all stopped at one point near the end of workout, and one of the kids asked "did you used to swim" .

Luckily I have high school age children so I could actually tell he meant it as a compliment

Ocean City Swim Club - SCM
Bruckner coaching

400 warmup

4 x
* 1 x 50 @ 1:00 25 drill + 25 DPS
* 1 x 25 @ :40 fast

1 x 50 @ 1:00
2 x 75 @ 1:15 DPS
3 x 100 @ 1:40 descend (1:26, 1:22, 1:20)
4 x 125 @ 1:50 same pace as 3rd 100 (all ~1:40 except #3 where I cramped)
3 x 100 @ 1:40 descend
2 x 75 @ 1:15 DPS
1 x 50 easy

4 x 150 @ 2:30 breath every 5 strokes

100 easy

** 2900 meters **

I swam with the Ocean City Swim Club tonight. During the summer they only have one coached workout per week, Tuesday from 8:30 - 9:30 PM.

Bruckner put me in lane with someone he thought was about the same speed as me. We started out circling, me following, and I was surprised at how much easier it was to have a draft - even when I gave him 10 seconds (at home I either split a lane or lead). I started catching him on the 125s so he offered to let me lead, but I suggested we split the lane and was happy I did as we battled it out for the rest of the set.

Planks
2 x
* front 1:00
* left side 1:00
* right side 1:00

Chest fly
2 sets of 12 @ 20 lb.

Reverse fly
2 sets of 12 @ 10 lb.

Box jumps
2 sets of 20

Seated calf raises
5 set of 5 @ 200 lb.

Squats
1 set of 5 @ 135 lb.
6 sets of 5 @ 155 lb.

Calf raises on the Smith machine
1 set of 10 @ 200 lb.
4 set of 10 @ 240 lb.

Ocean City Aquatic Center, SCM

600 various warmup

6 x 100 @ 1:30
4 x 100 @ 1:45 odd 50 back + 50 free, even 50 breast + 50 free
3 x 100 @ :15 rest breast kick

200 easy

** 2100 meters **

My daughter and I were slow to get moving this morning so by the time we got to the pool we only had 40 minutes before the noodlers "water exercise" class took over for the entire pool. There were only two lanes open for lap swim, so I shared the "fast/medium" lane with a couple of college age women and a couple of masters age men. The disparity in speeds made it difficult to swim on intervals.

TRX Planks
2 x
* front 1:00
* left side :45
* right side :45

Mountain climbers
1:00

Dips
Body weight (172 lb.), 2 sets of 10
Body weight, 6 sets of 5
I couldn't find a dip belt and was nervous about holding a dumbell between my ankles so I did sets of 10 and 5 with just body weight

Chest fly
2 sets of 12 @ 20 lb.

Reverse fly
2 sets of 12 @ 12 lb.

Box jumps
2 sets of 20

A membership at the Ocean City Aquatic and Fitness Center gets one access to the pool and weight room so I signed up for a one week membership. I got there less than an hour before closing and the free weight room was full of enthusiastic teenaged boys, so I just got in this short workout in the somewhat quieter weight machine room.

During the summer, the Ocean City Swim Club has Sunday morning workouts at the beach in Longport, NJ so I drove over this morning to see if I could get some pointers on open water swimming. They had three buoys set up in a triangular 350 yard course, with lifeguards on hand for safety, to help novices, and one in case anyone "wanted a workout".

Most people just got in the water and started swimming, but I wandered over to the people waiting for the lifeguards. It sounded like the novice group was for people that were nervous about the waves or about swimming in the ocean, so I went over to see about the workout and found that it was just me and the lifeguard, Erin. This turned out to be absolutely perfect for me because after she had me do a lap of warmup and another lap swimming at different stroke rates to see what effect that had in different currents, she asked what I wanted to learn and the "workout" turned into a 45 minute private lesson .

We first swam a couple of laps working on sighting, which was much more difficult than I expected because of the swell. At first I frequently had to resort to breaststroke, but eventually I began to get a feel of looking when I was on the crest of a swell instead of the in the trough and did much better by the end.

She also talked about drafting, which I thought I knew about about from lap swimming, but I was surprised when she said that the most effective position was right on the person's hip. This made sense once she explained it, but it isn't something I would have thought of myself. I was also surprised at first when she said that drafting someone can give you a psychological advantage as well as a physical advantage over them. I had to laugh when she said "people might not like you for doing it, but so what - it is an effective strategy".

She had to leave early to get to work, so I swam a few more laps on my own after she left. All told I think I did 8 laps, so I went about 2800 yards.

I am so happy I got up to do this today, it was exactly what I needed!

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.

Santa Clara Swim Club Masters - SCY
Soren coaching

3 x 200 @ :15 rest, descend

8 x 75 @ 1:15 with fins: 25 swim + 25 kick underwater + 25 swim

8 x 50 @ :45 kick with fins

3 x
* 1 x 100 @ 1:45 pull with buoy and paddles, cruise
* 4 x 25 @ :45 AFAP
* 1 x 100 @ 1:45 pull with buoy and paddles, moderate

8 x 50 @ 1:00 swim with fins, AFAP

100 easy

** 3000 yards **

TRX Planks
front 1:00
left side :45
right side :45
front 1:00
left side 1:00
right side 1:00

Chest fly
2 sets of 12 @ 15 lb.

Reverse fly
2 sets of 12 @ 12 lb.

Single leg touchdown
2 sets of 20 @ 35 lb. each leg

When I tell someone that I live 55 miles from work the first question is usually "how long does the drive take", to which I reply "usually about an hour, sometimes longer, once in while much longer". Today was one of those days .

After more than two hours in the car I was not in the mood for a workout, but I figured I should do something so I did this very abbreviated set.

Santa Clara Swim Club Masters - SCY
Soren coaching

400 various

16 x 50 @ 1:00 25 drill + 25 swim, IM order
16 x 25 @ :30 kick, IM order

3 x 200 @ 3:00 pull w/buoy and agility paddles, descend (went 2:28, 2:24, 2:21)

4 x 100 @ 2:00 IM
8 x 50 @ 1:00 IM order
4 x 100 @ 2:00 IM

100 easy

** 3500 yards **

My butterfly was stiff and awkward during the drills, and then felt decent in the IM set. "Decent" for me means that I can get my shoulders and arms out of the water for more than five or six strokes, normally it is like I sink a bit with every stroke so my arms start dragging across the surface and I have to resort to a 1-armed stroke. I wonder if it feels better after a long warm up because my lower back is so stiff?

We are headed for our annual summer trip to the east coast later this week. My wife grew up in Philadelphia and as a kid she and her brothers spent much of the summer at the New Jersey shore where many of the aunts and uncles had little summer houses. Her two brothers have kids about the same ages as ours, so when all of the kids were little we revived their tradition and have rented a house in Ocean City NJ (all of the family houses are long gone) most summers for the last 10 years or so.

In previous years I have been happy to sit around doing mostly nothing all week, but this year I want to get in some swimming. Searching the web I found the Ocean City Swim Club so it looks like I might be able to swim with a team once or twice and will be able to go to lap swim, but I also found that there is a one mile open water swim the first night we are in Ocean City. I have never done an open water swim, but this is only one mile and the water is really warm this summer (currently high 70s) so I think I might do it!

Chin-ups
Body weight (172 lb.) + 35 lb., 2 sets of 3
Body weight + 30 lb., 5 sets of 3
I used a 30 lb. dumbell last week so I thought I would try 35 lb. this week. It was too hard so so I dropped back to 30 and was surprised that it seemed much harder than last week. I just looked back at my entry from last week I see that I actually used 25 lb - no wonder it was a struggle!

Box squats
1 set of 5 @ 135 lb.
4 sets of 5 @ 175 lb.

Lat pulldown
4 sets of 10 @ 120 lb.

I only had a half hour tonight so I just did these three.

Santa Clara Swim Club Masters - SCY
Steve coaching

Warm-up (900)
4 x 125 @ 2:00 middle 25 streamline kick, pull every 10 kicks
8 x 50 @ 1:00 odds free descend, evens 25 drill + 25 swim IM order

Set I (1600 / 2500)
1 x 400 (went 4:49)

1 x 300 @ 4:45 (went 3:37)
2 x 50 @ :50

1 x 200 @ 3:10 (went 2:24)
4 x 50 @ :50

1 x 100 @ 1:35 (went (1:11)
6 x 50 @ :50

Set II (450 / 2950)
6 x 75 @ 1:05 pull w/buoy and paddles

50 easy

** 3000 yards **

I felt much better in the water today than I have in almost a week. Note to self: expect to be slow and sore after two tough arm and shoulder weight sessions in three days.

At home with Susan, Richard, Signe, and Nate.

Warm-up (1400)
300 swim
400 IM drill-swim by 25
300 pull
8 x 50 @ :50 descend 1-4, 5-8

Set I (600 / 2000)
4 x 25 @ ~:30 rest underwater SDK no fins
4 x 100 @ 1:30 dolphin w/fins
4 x 25 @ :45 underwater SDK w/fins (Signe wanted to use my fins so I gave them up and did underwater breast kick)

Set II (900 / 2900)
2 x
* 2 x 50 @ 1:00 25 drill + 25 swim
* 3 x 50 @ 1:00 pull, breath every 7 & 9 strokes by 25
* 4 x 50 @ 1:00 swim, descend

100 easy

** 3000 yards **

I decided a light recovery workout was in order after my less than stellar workouts (and attendant complaining) the last two days. The one challenging part was kicking, where I decided to try to do some of our regular underwater 25s without fins for the first time. I made three of them without coming up for a breath, but yikes those are hard!

At home with Susan.

Warm-up (1200)
300 swim
300 IM kick-drill-drill by 25
300 pull
6 x 50 @ :50 gentle descend free

Set I (1000 / 2200)
8 x 25 underwater SDK w/fins @ :45
3 x 100 @ 1:25 flutter w/fins
4 x 50 @ 1:10 flutter 25 easy + 25 fast
3 x 100 @ 1:30 dolphin w/fins

Set II (2400 set / 4600 total)
1 x 500 (went 6:21)
2 x 50 @ :50, :55 active recovery

2 x 250 @ 4:10, hold cumulative time under the 500 time (went 3:09, 3:08)
2 x 50 @ :50, :55 active recovery

4 x 125 @ 2:05, hold cumulative time under the 2 x 250 time (went 1:35, cramped, 1:32, 1:32)
2 x 50 @ :50, :55 active recovery

5 x 100 @ 1:40, hold cumulative time under the 4 x 125 time (went 1:14, 1:13, 1:12, 1:13, 1:12)
2 x 50 @ :50, :55 active recovery

Set III (250 set / 4850 total)
1 x 25 fly @ :30
2 x 25 back @ :30
3 x 25 breast @ :30
4 x 25 free @ :25

150 easy

** 5000 yards **

I felt sluggish and sore in the water again today, my arms especially were still feeling the effects of weights the other night. The main set is based on Tim's workout at Mesa-Kino yesterday, but it seemed familiar as we were doing it and when I got home I looked and found that I did just about the same set three weeks ago - except that the intervals were shorter, there was no active recovery between 500s, and my times were all faster .

Oh well, at least my kicking felt decent today.

At home with Susan and Richard.

Warm-up (1200)
300 swim
300 IM kick-drill-drill by 25
300 pull
3 x 100 @ 1:40 gentle descend free

Set I (1200 set / 2400 total)
4 x 50 @ 1:10 flutter 25 easy + 25 fast
3 x 200 @ 2:45 flutter w/fins
4 x 50 @ 1:10 breast kick 25 easy + 25 fast
8 x 25 @ :45 underwater SDK

Set II (1500 set / 3900 total)
3 x 300 @ 4:45 first 25 of each 100 stroke, IM order
2 x 200 @ 2:50
2 x 100 @ 1:35 first 25 of each 100 stroke, IM order

100 easy

** 4000 yards **

As written, this was a 5000 yard workout but my arms and shoulders were really feeling the after effects of yesterday's weights so we cut the main set short.

TRX Planks
front 1:00
left side :45
right side :45

TRX mountain climbers
1:00

Box jumps
2 sets of 20

Single leg touchdown
2 sets of 20 @ 35 lb. each leg

Chest fly
2 sets of 12 @ 25 lb.

Dumbell chest press
1 set of 10 @ 35 lb.

Reverse fly
2 sets of 12 @ 12 lb.

Dips
8 sets of 3 @ Body weight (170 lb.) + 35 lb.

Box squats
1 set of 3 @ 135 lb.
7 sets of 3 @ 185 lb.

Wide-grip overhand cable rows
1 set of 10 @ 90 lb.
4 sets of 10 @ 100 lb.

Plank row
1 set of 10 @ 55 lb. each arm
1 set of 10 @ 60 lb. each arm

I have so to do at work so I decided to go straight to work instead of stopping to swim. I promised my daughter that I would go to the gym with her, so we went after work and I again did most of her workout with what I was planning to do.

My body weight is at 170, up 16 lb. in a little less than three months.