Swim Workouts

Swim/LCM/Team:

Warm up:

50 crunches, squats & lunges (My hamstrings were sore from my squats at the gym yesterday, so I skipped the squats and lunges.)

400 swim
300 kick
200 swim
100 scull

Main sets:

2 x 250 pull, breathe 3-5-3, 30 RI
I ignored this and breathed every stroke. I loped and breathed to the left. Quite like this, I just have to remember to kick continuously if I lope.

6 x

75 fast kick @ 2:00
75 ascending swim @ 1:30 (AFAP to slow by 25s) done as free/fly/free/back/free/breast

This was quite odd. We literally stopped in the middle of the pool at the 75 and waited for the 2:00 sendoff. It's very difficult to go from a dead stop to AFAP and difficult to ascend in general ... Very tiring set.

50 EZ

10 x 100 @ 1:45
odds = 75 free/25 back
evens = 75 back/25 free

(I just went fast free w/fins on the odds @ 1:11-12 and backstroke kick on the evens. Tired arms.)

1 x 50 fast

I was seriously not in the mood to do this. It's hard to sprint after 3500 meters or so for me. I like my sprinting earlier, throughout the workout or completely separate. My legs were shot and calves were crampy. Brad and I did push off fast 50s. Most others went from the blocks. I went a :28 in fly w/fins.

100 EZ

Total: 3650 meters

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Almost didn't make the trek to practice tonight. I was very tired. But I decided to take tomorrow off. Though I will be standing around for a good 3 hours stroking & turning tomorrow am at our relay meet.

My teammate Mark Jones "complimented" me on the freestyle set from Tuesday. He said, given that I am a sprinter, he was "sure I would die," shocked when I didn't, and wondered how I had much aerobic conditioning when I train mostly solo. (He had been going second in our lane.) At least he didn't call me an f'in beech. That was someone else. He was just joking of course, giving me a hard time for joining THT for Nats. Still only two other GMUP people attending Nats though ...

I sent in my entries for Nationals last night.

50 fly
200 back
50 evil
100 back
50 free
50 back

Entered a 3:10 in the 200 back. The look up time feature is quite helpful. Much harder to sandbag that way.

Was told I might do a 50 evil on a medley relay. Must be hard up!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Food:

Breakfast: omelet w/cheese, p. mushrooms and tomatoes, papaya
Lunch: tuna melt sandwich on Ezekial bread with cheese and tomatoes, peach slices, green grapes
Snack: apple
Dinner: Sent Mr. Fort and the kids off to a swim team BBQ at the pool and I had two cheese & ben burritos, blueberries
Post swim snack: G2, balance bar, lemon bar (I had made them for the swim team dinner, couldn't resist.)

Drove out to Mason for freestyle night. I usually succeed in avoiding Tuesday practice. But have been attempting to get more LC practices in, so there I was. Rather than wimp out and do backstroke, I bucked up and did the main set all freestyle. To my shock, this was probably one of my best freestyle practices ever. I started out briskly, and, to my astonishment, didn't die. Perhaps because I didn't lift weights this am?

Warm up:

400 swim
4 x 50 kick
200 IM drill

(I missed drylands -- bicycles, planks, and crunches -- and a 200 pull.)

Main set:

3 x through:

1 x 300 free @ 4:30
1 x 200 free @ 3:00
1 x 100 free @ 1:30
extra 30 seconds rest

#1 & 2 = swim, fins optional
#3 = pull

I used fins, as I always do on freestyle sets. No pulling for me. I find freestyle confusing and difficult when I'm doing anything other than an AFAP 50. Lately, I've tried switching to a loping freestyle, breathing every stroke to the left. This tends to correct my over-reaching/crossing over issue with my left arm somewhat. I've also been concentrating on kicking. Went around 3:52-55s on the 300s, around 2:32ish on the 200s (Can't remember times on the 300s and 200s precisely; I was concentrating on beating fast boys with big paddles/fins and got much more rest than I thought I would.) and 1:13, 1:13, 1:11 on the 100s. This is fast for me LC.

100 EZ

Speed set:

200 stroke (drill, scull, drill, swim)(I used all the 200s as recovery)
2 x 50 stroke fast @ 1:30
(did backstroke w/fins, went 30-31s)
(cramped on this, hadn't done that in awhile ...)
200 stroke (drill, scull, drill, swim)
2 x 50 kick fast @ 1:30
200 stroke (drill, scull, drill, swim)
2 x 50 stroke fast w/fins
(did 28 on fly & 30 on back)

100 EZ

Total: 3600 meters

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Feeling very at the moment. I won't swim tomorrow; I'll try to bike and lift, if I have time for both. I've found I can't have a very productive swim practice the afternoon after a hard LC practice at night. Now, I'm off to eat more food and ice my shoulder.

Swim/SCY/Solo:

Warm up:

700 variety swim, kick, drill

Aerobic sets:

10 x 25 shooters @ :35

10 x 50 @ :55
odds, kick
evens, backstroke

50 EZ

Speed set:

8 x (50 backstroke w/fins AFAP + 100 EZ)

Went 25-25.5 on all

100 C/D

Total: 2800

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now getting ready for our 3 hour Monday night meet ... It will be interesting to see how many incorrect backstroke turn DQs there are.

I need to get myself signed up for Nationals and Junior Champs. Trying to decide what to swim, and whether to attempt the 100 fly, at the latter.

Weights:

bench press, 70 x 1 x 4, 80 x 3 x 8
low row on machine, 100 x 1 x 10, 110 x 1 x 10, 120 x 1 x 10
alternating hammers, 20 x 2 x 30
ab machine, 100 x 1 x 15, 110 x 1 x 14, 120 x 1 x 15, 130 x 1 x 15, 140 x 1 x 10
back extensions w/10 lb plate overhead, 2 x 15
forward lunges w/20 lb weights, 2 x 20
squat swing w/25 lb plate, 1 x 15 (this caused a twinge in the left scapular area, so I stopped)

external rotators, 10 x 3 x 15, each arm
seated straight arm dips for RC, 60 x 2 x 25
prone scapular scrunches w/hand weights and elevated feet, 2 x 25
arm extensions, 3 x 3 x 15 (front, V, side)

10 minutes stretching

20 minutes on ellipse machine

Swim/SCM/Solo:

Very short swim. Really exhausted from lack of sleep and misadventures of last night (see below). Focused solely on technique, no energy for any hard sets or fast swimming on my own.

Warm up:

600 variety swim, kick, drill

Technique set:

32 x 25s, done as

16 x 25, 2 x through:

1-4 UW shooters (scraped bottom a few times)
5-8 easy speed fly, focusing on DPS and breakouts
9-12 backstroke, focusing on breakouts
13-16 breaststroke, focusing on pullout and breakout

100 C/D

Total: 1500 meters

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Not such a great night. Shortly after 9:00 pm, Mr. Fort gashed his calf muscle on some broken glass and I had to rush him to the ER. No nerve damage or trip to the OR, but 20 stitches. He won't be able to do anything for 2 weeks and can't run for perhaps 2 months depending on how it heals (can bike sooner, however). He is worse than me; he may need anti-depressants to combat the exercise deprivation. We didn't get home from the ER until 3:00 am. That's the third night in a row of going to sleep in the wee hours for me. I've been in a bit of a sleep deprived daze. Nothing compared to Mr. Fort's plight, but enough to keep me from being able to do any hard aerobic conditioning or speed work. Hopefully, I can catch up on sleep this week.

Still feel like I got in a decent week of training after my wasteful tapering: 5 swims (14,300 meters), 4 gym sessions, 3 bikes and a couple very short run/ellipse sessions.

Food:

Food front had been pretty good the last few days. Eaten plenty of lean meat, fish, veggies, salads, fruit etc. I haven't eaten a proper breakfast in the last couple days, as I've had to dash out of the house. That is NOT a good thing.

Kate Ziegler:

Here's an article from yesterday's paper on Kate Ziegler revealing that she was "burned out" by the Olympics.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...062604005.html

I've heard a rumor that she may join another team. A couple of the faster guys she trains with on The Fish are heading to college next year and she might be without training partners ... Perhaps she could use a change of venue, much like Hoff did?

Drove to Mason for a LC workout with my new monofin. Verdict: Still hate it. It's too long, seems to hit the quads most (instead of the glutes and core), and only feels natural underwater. Hate kicking at the surface with it. I'm hoping I can exchange it for the Finis Shooter MF, which I previously used.

Didn't feel too hot today anyway. I got home from picking up Mini Fort at the airport at about 1:30 am -- late even for night owls. Had to get up early. After a triple yesterday, I needed more sleep. So just did the short workout below and called it a day.

Got an email and voicemail from swimoutlet saying they would refund me entirely for the exploding LZR. I haven't tried the Sprinter suit yet, but I likely will send it back as it's supposed to be a 2010 suit. And who knows what 2010 will bring? I don't really know what to make of the suits (Adidas, Arena X-Glide, Jaked) that are supposed to work on the CNS. I wish FINA had just drawn a line with LZR and B70 for awhile and thought through the science of it all. I know line drawing can be difficult -- I believe Chris alluded to this on the DF -- but that's what most laws & regulations are.

Swim/LCM/Solo:

300 swim
200 kick

4 x 100 MF kick @ 1:45

4 x 100 100 fly drill w/MF @ 2:00

4 x 100 backstroke kick @ 2:00

5 x (50 UW shooter w/MF + 50 EZ)

100 C/D

Total: 2300 meters

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Following the mention of the paleolithic diet, I found this on google, which lists the dos & don'ts:

http://www.earth360.com/diet_paleodiet_balzer.html

I'm not a huge fan of root vegetables myself ... It looks too difficult to follow and faddy to me. Never knew beans were so bad ...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Swim camp breaststroke tip:

To make sure your kick is correct, hop in the pool and go to the wall. Put your hips against the wall, and kick. Hips can't leave the wall. If they do or if your knees what to jut forward, you're doing it incorrectly.

AM Weights/Dryland:

standing lat pull down, 140 x 3 x 10
tricep press, 50 x 1 x 10, 55 x 1 x 10
dead lift, 110 x 2 x 10
goblet squat, 50 x 3 x 15
squat-pulls on bosu, 40 x 3 x 15
(I was doing these on the flat side of the bosu and a trainer stopped me to say that they no longer allow people to do this as it's "too dangerous." So I did the last rep on the squishy side -- much easier.)
twists w/bosu on cable machine, 40 x 2 x 15, each side
bicep curl w/BB, 40 x 2 x 10
kneeling crunch on cable machine, 75 x 3 x 15
incline crunch w/med ball overhead, 2 x 25
external rotators, 10 x 3 x 15, each arm
seated straight arm dips for RC, 60 x 2 x 25
prone scapular scrunch w/elevated feet and hand weights, 2 x 25
arm extensions (front, V, side), 3 x 3 x 15

Bike:

30 minutes on bike

Swim/LCM/Team:

Made it to another team practice tonight. Dragged Lil Fort along, as Fort Son had a date and Mr. Fort and Mini Fort were flying home from work/camp.

Warm up:

med ball throw w/partner for 1:00
superman streamlines w/elevated feet, 2 x 25
crunches, 1 x 25

4 x through:

100 swim
50 kick
100 swim
50 drill

med ball twist w/partner 1:00
crunches w/med ball, 1 x 25

Main sets:

8 x 50 kick w/fins @ 1:00, middle 15 meters fast, 2 free + 2 other, repeat
(I went pretty fast on all of them, between 31-33.)

50 EZ

6 x 250 done as:

100 kick, 50 drill, 50 swim, 50 FAST
4 IM order, 2 choice

I used fins and led the lane. I can't do LC fly without fins, so I just kept them on so as not to upset the order in the lane. As a result, I took a break of 10-15 seconds after each 200 before I went my last fast 50. Aside from the first one, I did all the fast 50s backstroke. Went 32-33 on the first 4 and 31 on the last one. The 100 fly on the first 250 was dreadful. I don't have a slow gear in fly. Felt like I was drowning when I tried to go easy on the "50 swim" portion.

50 EZ

8 x 50 swim @ 1:20, done as:

2 x through:

#1 25 fast from dive, 25 EZ
#2 25 EZ, 25 fast
#3 50 fast from dive (We only had two lanes to dive from and were nowhere near the prescribed 1:20 interval.)
#4 50 EZ

I did #1, 2, 5, 6 fast 25 UW kicks + 25 EZ. I missed the first fast 50, as I had to talk to Lil Fort for a minute. Did the last one fly w/fins from a dive off the side and went a 27 or so.

100 C/D

Total: 3300 meters

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Irie's Backstroke Technique:

I had been reading the recent posts in the Fun & Fast thread discussing Irie's backstroke technique with interest. Kirk Nelson described his slightly tucked head position and arched back as being like the bow of a boat. I tried this technique during warm up today. It does feel slightly faster, although unnatural to have the chin tucked in. I notice in the youtube video that Irie was wearing only a leg skin though. I wonder if arching your back would work as well with a full body suit? Most tech suits don't cling to your body and follow the arch as you arch; they tend to gap away from the lower back and absorb air and/or water. Something to think about ...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Food:

Breakfast: omelet w/cheese, tomato & bacon, strawberries, raspberries
Snack: G2, cherries
Lunch: salad with arugula, basil, avocado, tomatoes, flax seeds, peppers, currants
Dinner: salmon, veggies sauteed in olive oil and garlic
Post swim: G2, balance bar, 1 pancake

I think I ate something else ... can't remember. I also noticed today when I was checking on the veggy garden (deer recently killed half my tomato plants) that Mr. Fort planted spearmint. What does one do with spearmint?

Now I'm off to make pancakes for the swim team breakfast and team pictures festivities tomorrow. No, I will not eat them! lol

Swim/SCY/Solo:

Warm up:

700 variety swim, kick, drill

10 x 25 shooters on back w/fins @ :30

50 EZ

Main set:

3 x (1 x 200, 2 x 100, 4 x 50 + 50 EZ, 8 x 25), done as:

#1:

1 x 200 dolphin kick w/fins @ 3:00
2 x 100 backstroke kick w/fins @ 1:30
4 x 50 evil @ :55
50 EZ
8 x 25, odds = scull, evens = fast doggie paddle drill

#2:

1 x 200 dolphin kick w/fins @ 3:00
2 x 100 backstroke kick w/fins @ 1:30
4 x 50 backstroke w/fins, best average @ 1:00 (went 27s)
50 EZ
8 x 25, easy speed fly @ :30

#3:

1 x 200 dolphin kick w/fins @ 3:00
2 x 100 backstroke kick w/fins @ 1:30
4 x 50 backstroke kick w/fins @ 1:00, best average, held 25s
50 EZ
8 x 25, odds = AFAP free, evens = EZ

100 C/D

Total: 3650

Bike:

40 minutes on indoor cycle

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I meant to go to the gym instead of bike, but just didn't have the time to get back and forth. I'm a little worried about my ability to get in my usual doubles of weights + swim with my kids out of school. I don't put my kids in camps much during the summer. They tend to hang out more with their friends at the house or at the summer league pool. I'm a believer in unstructured time. (Except for Fort Son -- who actually signed himself up to work on the gubernatorial political campaign.) But that means I don't have readily structured time to work out ... Hmm ...

Mini Fort is having a blast at her "beast" summer swim camp, despite mono. She seems to be star struck at meeting Olympians and other elite swimmers. lol. She reports that she has done "nothing but 25s" with stroke analysis, video taping, drills, etc. (I purposefully sent her to a camp where conditioning and yardage were not emphasized.) She says she has lots to show me when she gets home. I can't wait!

Food:

Had a good day until dinner, when I entirely fell off the wagon when I took my Lil Fort out to dinner and a movie.

Breakfast: blueberries, raspberries, oatmeal w/medium apple & tbs whey protein
Snack: cherries, blueberries, cheese
Post swim snack: G2, balance bar
Dinner: hamburger w/lettuce & tomato, some fries
Dessert: cold stone creamery

So glad not to be resting anymore! I feel like someone pulled a switch in my CNS.

ART

30 minutes of ART. Going to go more regularly the next month to keep the shoulders healthy and happy. ART doc agreed that I should not knock off RC exercises during taper. It can cause the humerus to move and lead to pain. He also mentioned that nutrition was more important the older you get. (Perhaps this is one reason why Dara is so committed to her amino acid regiment?)

Bike:

Hopped on my indoor cycle and biked for about 50 minutes during my little one's swim practice.

10 minute stretch + RC

LCM Swim at GMU:

Went to my team practice tonight. Felt pretty good, despite the lack of aerobic work during taper.

Warm up:

400 swim
6 x 50 kick @ 1:00
200 IM drill

Aerobic set:

16 x 100, done as

2 x through:

2 x (25 scull + 75 build free) @ 1:45
2 x 100 IM @ 1:45
2 x 100 free @ 1:30
2 x 100 kick @ 2:15

(I used the kicks mostly as recovery cuz I was racing Wally on the other 100s. Coach said I was over-reaching with my left arm in free. Really focused on kicking during free.)

50 EZ

4 x 50 fly @ 1:30
odds, 25 roll, 25 dolphin kick
evens, 25 roll, 25 fly

"roll" = 2 kicks on each side, then come up and 2 strokes of fly and repeat. I had trouble doing this drill, as I was nowhere near the surface after 8 kicks and didn't see the point in dolphin kicking close to the surface. So I did 16 kicks on the second odd "roll" and a 50 fly w/fins fast on the evens.

50 EZ

3 x (25 fast off the blocks + 25 EZ)

I used these to work on my backstroke starts. I took 15 kicks to get to the 15 meter mark.

Assigned: 600 pull
Did: 5 x 100 dolphin kick w/fins @ 1:45, making sure to stay out of the way of my lanemates

100 C/D

Total: 3550 meters

10 minutes hottub

Sleep:

There was an article recently in the NY Times discussing the performance enhancing nature of increased sleep. It analyzed a small study done on runners. It seems like a no brainer to me that more sleep helps you recover faster and train/race better. I'm hopeful the rest of the summer I'll have a bit more sleep, as I do not have to wake up early to get kids off to school. (I've also been off the hook lately on the 4:40 am practices thanks to mono.) Now, if I could only sleep better during the night, I'd be set. Lately, I've been having trouble falling back to sleep after waking at 3:30-4:00 am.

I discussed sleep with a teammate in the hottub tonight. He says he's been sleeping much better and has more energy during the day since banishing caffeine and alcohol from his diet. (This was difficult for him, as he's a foodie and wine connoiseur.) He believes that caffeine and alcohol interfere with melatonin and vitamin absorption. I only have coffee in morning, and typically have no other caffeine during the day except perhaps green tea, but I can't imagine giving up the morning java ...

Food:

Breakfast: blueberries, plum
Snack: yogurt
Lunch: Salad with: romaine, steak, tomatoes, sprouts, avocado, peppers, flax seeds, pomegranate seeds
Snack: cherries + G2
Dinner: chickpea & lentil soup, banana
Snack: Luna energy chews on way to practice
Snack: balance bar & G2 (in car), slice of pizza

Swam an easy 900 yards or so to loosen up. Then hot tub and stretch. Felt decent in the water.

Had a great morning as my little one did not DQ in her first 25 breast. Makes for a happy kid. My two youngest are out of the house tonight, so I'm hoping to go to an early movie and/or have a relaxing night. I just wish the meet tomorrow started at noon instead of 9:00 am!

All I can say is that I swam more than yesterday.

Warm up:

750 variety swim, kick, drill

Other stuff:

8 x 25 shooters

50 EZ

6 x (25 easy speed fly w/fins + 25 EZ)
(bad breakouts, seemed to be getting further on the kick portion)

50 EZ

2 x (25 AFAP free w/fins + 50 EZ)

150 C/D

Total: 1650

10 minutes hottub

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am well past eliminating cumulative training fatigue. I think that occurred last week. I believe I am now suffering from cumulative parenting fatigue. I am also convinced, as per usual, that I have lost all strength and conditioning and have gained 10 pounds in 10 days. Where is the beached whale emoticon?

I even forgot to bring my B70 to the pool to practice a couple backstroke starts. So I plan on taking 13-14 SDks on the start. If Chris takes 12, this must be about right for me. How's that for attention to detail?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

SCY/Solo:

Warm up:

the usual 700 variety swim, kick, drill

Main sets:

16 x 15 UW shooters w/new MF, took 8-9 SDKs per 25, pretty slow and drilly
odds belly
evens back

50 EZ

2 x 25 EZ speed fly, felt like crap

5 x (25 AFAP back + 50 EZ)

100 C/D

Total: 1675

(I seem to recall I did something else, but these "workouts" are so ridiculously dull and boring, I can barely stay awake during them.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Monofin:

Tried out my new MF today. Because it's quite a bit longer than my shooter MF, it felt very odd. It might take some time to get used to. At only 8-9 kicks per length, I think it's much better for long course. I'll try it out there next week.

Dehydrated:

I'm still having issues with cramping. I cramped on my backstroke start this weekend. After mulling it over, I think I might be slightly dehydrated. I try to drink a lot of water, but may still need more ... I drink very little water in the evening, then wake up and drink coffee. Perhaps I need more electrolytes as well. So I think I'll be pounding more gatorade and water the next few days.

Tight Deltoids:

My deltoids feel very tight. WTH? I've been practically comatose for a week. Shouldn't they be happy and rested? I'm blaming the 200 back. lol

Short swim amidst the chaos:

SCY/Solo:

Warm up:

700 variety swim, kick, drill

Main sets:

20 x 25
odds, shooter on back w/fins
evens EZ

50 EZ

1 x 25 build + 25 EZ

1 x 50 AFAP back w/fins, 25ish

150 EZ

3 x (25 AFAP free + 50 EZ)

150 C/D

Total: 1875

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Felt like crap in the water. I guess that's to be expected. Still hoping not to get mono, though I have a sore throat.

Why when I'm resting for a meet is the rest of my life always crazy? I am looking forward to sleeping in Friday and Saturday though.

Did almost the same workout I did the Monday before Zones:

Swim/SCY/Solo:

Warm up:

750 variety swim, kick, drill

Main sets:

8 x 25 back shooters, no fins

50 EZ

2 x (25 build + 25 EZ)

50 EZ

2 x (50 AFAP back w/fins + 100 EZ)
(went 25ish)

2 x (25 AFAP free w/fins + 25 EZ)

50 EZ

2 x (25 AFAP kick w/fins + 25 EZ)

200 C/D

Total: 2100

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Need to get my entries in for Nats ...

Nothing good to report otherwise. The plague of contagion from my daughter's middle school has infected her and my house. (Why do kids get strep and flu in June?!) Really busy week ... and I think I'm slightly b*tchy from resting more than usual. I'd like to crawl under a rock for a couple days!! lol

Edit: Mini Fort has mono. I'm a little paranoid that I'm showing symptoms, and that may account for why I've been fairly fatigued lately. Hope not, as that would really mess up my summer swim plans. I know it's unlikely for adults to get it, but I've never had it before. Fingers crossed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

200 back splits:

Splits are up. It was my 3rd 50 that really stunk. I guess 1:21 + 1:26 isn't all that bad, considering the start always makes my first 50 fast.

38.46
1:21.12 (42.66)
2:05.27 (44.15)
2:47.34 (42.07)

(Still hoping to sneak into TT. I would have been 6th last year. But I bet Indy will be more popular than LCM Nats last summer.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Food:

Fell off the wagon again some this weekend, but I was barely home. Clean eating requires a lot of time, ability to get to the grocery store regularly and eating at home. Not bad, I just had to have a couple sandwiches on the run, a muffin, etc.

Swim/SCY/Solo:

Warm up:

700 variety swim, kick, drill

Other stuff:

20 x 25
odds shooter on back
evens EZ

50 EZ

5 x 100 backstroke @ 2:00
cruise, focusing on breakouts

100 EZ

1 x 50 fast backstroke w/fins, 24ish, missed turn a bit

100 EZ

2 x (25 AFAP free + 50 EZ)

100 C/D

Total: 2250

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After procrastinating forever, I finally wiggled into my one new FINA approved suit and had Mini Fort zip me up. It wasn't as bad as the last aborted attempt, only took about 10-15 minutes. It helps to start with the suit at mid calf. Would have been much easier with two people doing the zipper. But at least it didn't explode. I plan to wear it for one race at the Terrapin Cup.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Think I'm going to rest more and not lift next week. I guess when I start back lifting, I should cut the weight a little this time. lol Oddly, whenever I rest, my shoulders seem to be twitchier. Perhaps it's because I don't do as much RC work since I'm not in the gym. Going to stretch later today.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Food:

Breakfast: yogurt with bare naked granola
Lunch: salad w/salmon & the works
Snack: papaya, raspberries & cherries

Headed to Mason today to get in a short LCM practice. Though I like my regular practice pool just fine, it was a luxury to have 5 digital clocks instead of two (sometimes un-synchronized) pace clocks. Seems to make times and send offs more accurate.

Warm up:

700 variety swim, kick, drill

Aerobic set:

10 x 100 @ 2:00 w/fins
odds backstroke, staying "long"
evens backstroke kick

I noticed that the 5th set of double lights on the ceiling is the 25 meter mark.

100 EZ

Speed set:

2 x (50 AFAP w/fins from push + 150 EZ)

#1 50 fly, went 28
#2 50 back, went 29

I believe these are the fastest 50s I've ever done in a LC practice. Very happy to see these times. We'll see what I can crank out next weekend at the Terrapin Cup in these events. LC fly is hard. I had to take 4 breaths on the 50 instead of my usual 2 (maybe 3) in SCY.

100 C/D

Total: 2300

Planning on a short SCY workout tomorrow. Taking Saturday off and deeking kids and whatnot. Will swim in old Pro on Sunday.

I'm actually feeling more tired than I expected after that short practice. Perhaps there is no easy LC practice ...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Food:

Breakfast: yogurt and "bare naked" granola, cantalope, raspberries
Snack on way to swimming: Forgot to bring portable food. Found a balance bar and some Luna energy chews in my swim bag
Lunch: usual salad with the works
Dinner: Salmon, salad w/works, 2 taquitos
Snack: crackers

Not the world's greatest morning ... Verizon Man was visiting the house for the second time in the last week to attempt to regain phone service. (I've barely had any service -- a problem with a 1921 house with an arcane wiring system.) Why do service providers only give you 4 hour windows? Once that was done, I headed out to bring Mini Fort the lunch she forgot. (Probably should have let her starve, but I was a softy as she had swim practice right after school.) As I was headed out from her middle school, I was rear ended by Crazy Lady. Crazy Lady didn't seem to understand the need to hand over her insurance information. Seriously, almost had to call the cops. Then I spent a large portion of the day getting repair estimates, fielding calls from Crazy Lady who suggested she "assist" me by taking my car to be fixed herself, and talking to the insurance company. What a hassle, but such is life sometimes.

The afternoon was much better:

SCY/Solo/SCY:

Warm up:

700 variety warm up

10 x 25 back shooters, no fins

Main sets:

4 x 200 back @ 3:30
Didn't kill them, just trying to keep an even pace. If anyone has any suggestions for swimming a 200 back LC, happy to hear them. (Unfortunately, I'm in a heat with 2 of Mini-Fort's friends. Her team is not swimming this meet, and in any event, she absolutely cannot swim backstroke so little chance of her being in this event with me.)

50 EZ

8 x 50 flutter kick w/board @ 1:00

50 EZ

16 x 25
odds fast, 2 of each stroke
evens EZ

100 C/D

Total: 2750

Wanted to swim about 500 more than that, but had to rush off to a post workout massage. It had been awhile! Had tight glutes, hammies and IT band. I'm using this as an excuse not to stretch this evening ...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Replacement monofin purchased.

I ordered this monofin from swimoutlet: http://www.swimoutlet.com/product_p/2183.htm. Thought I'd try this one, as I've been using the Finis Shooter for so long.

Food:

Breakfast: Oatmeal w/medium apple, blueberries
Lunch: Salad w/romaine, pomegranate seeds, crunchy sprouts, avocado, tomato, green onion, currants, chicken; peach
Snack: balance bar, banana, nectarine
Snack: yogurt
Dinner: shrimp, green beans, salad, small scoop of Ben & Jerrys.
Snack: crackers

Did a bit of a recovery swim today. I realized I did virtually no kicking at my LC practice yesterday, so did mostly kicking today. Just worked on streamlining and efficient kicking on the shooters.

Swim/SCY/Solo:

Warm up:

750 variety swim, kick, drill

Main sets:

3 x 200 backstroke kick @ 3:30

10 x 25 UW shooters
odds on back, evens on belly

3 x 100 backstroke @ 200 pace @ 2:00

10 x 25 UW shooters
odds on back, evens on belly

3 x (50 fast backstroke kick + 50 EZ)
(went 25s)

10 x 25 UW shooter
odds on back, evens on belly

10 x 25
odds evil @ 100 pace
evens EZ

100 C/D

Total: 3050

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Running:

I've decided to shut down my running for the next 2 months until after LC Nats for the reasons listed in Aquageek's blog and in one of Ande's latest SFF tips 261, [ame="http://www.usms.org/forums/showpost.php?p=182382&postcount=1220"]U.S. Masters Swimming Discussion Forums - View Single Post - Ande's Swimming Tips: Swimming Faster Faster[/ame].

The pollen and heat mean my runs would not be very productive or contribute much to training. If I want to cross train, I'll likely spin. I've also concluded that I get more "bang for the buck" putting in time at the gym than going on shortish slow runs. If Jazz weren't taking a break from blogging, I'm sure he'd smile.

I'll re-start after LC Nats.

Chiro Visit:

Got a tune up today. Diagnosis: tight and fatigued lats and teres muscles. Not surprising, as I've been training quite a bit. I realized this am that I did 4 gym sessions last week, which is more than my usual 2-3.

FINA vs USMS:

I fear that FINA is going to refuse to recognize USMS times swum between the period of the announcement of its initial approval list (need to check date) and the announcement of USMS's official compliance with the list that is due June 19. If USMS doesn't act before June 21, the date of my meet, the times swum there (and elsewhere around the country) could be useless for FINA TT purposes. Clearly, whatever I swim in the 200 back on Sunday won't count, but will for USMS purposes, I guess. Not a huge deal, as I expect to go faster in Indy. But I have a bad track record with ragweed in August, so you never know ...

If there is no official announcement before June 21, it probably makes little difference what anyone wears at meets that weekend, as Gail Roper noted on the DF. I hope the whole mess is cleaned up soon.

Food:

Breakfast: omelet w/cheese, papaya
Snack: balance bar
Post swim lunch: turkey & cheese sandwich w/sprouted wheat bread, strawberries
Snack: blackberries
Dinner: grilled pork chops, beans, tomato & avocado salad

I foresee many lunches in the car in the upcoming hectic two weeks. This will make my salad routine more difficult.

I had the pleasure of meeting fellow blogger Katie Webb, who joined our LC practice at Mason today. It's always great to meet fellow forumites, bloggers and master swimmers. She fit right in with our team, and has a very nice looking freestyle.

Warm up:

50 bicycles
25 side crunches

5 x (150 swim + 50 dolphin kick)
(I missed 100 of this)

40 elevated crunches

Main sets:

12 x 50 @ 1:00, IM order
8 SDKs on fly (was going 32 w/fins)
8 SDKs on back
8 breaststroke pullouts (NOT)(8?!)
16 flutter kicks on free

8 x 100 pull @ 1:30
(I wore fins, never use pulling gear.)

100 EZ

3 x through:

200 IM
#1 25 scull/25 fast
#2 25 drill/25 fast
#3 swim

2 x 50 stroke @ 1:05

50 EZ

Speed work:

3 x (25 AFAP off blocks + 75 EZ)

I did 3 x (50 fast UW shooter w/MF + 50 EZ)
I pushed off on my back for 2 and went 24s.
Did one diving off side on belly and went 23

50 EZ

Total: 3750 meters

15 minutes hottub & ice
Chatted with a teammate about the B70s issue. He told me he had heard that B70 sued FINA.

Cheryl told me that the MAKO and GMU's college team did some 50 meter MF shooters this week. Most of the college kids who tried them went 22s. But Sean Fletcher (bound for Michigan in the fall) went an 18. 18!! Holy crap, that's fast. Not sure if they were using the finis shooter MF or the longer ones.

Unfortunately, I got home and saw that my MF had a crack in it. Not sure how it got there. So I will have to order a new one pronto.

May go to the gym later today, if I can fit it in. Will update later if I do.

Mr. Fort went on his second 60 mile bike ride with some serious cyclists this am to prepare for Savagemen. He came home and asked me when I was going to start training? WTH?

Food:

Fell off the wagon a tiny bit yesterday as we were having a barbecue and pool party for Lil Fort's soccer team. I ate a whole wheat hamberger bun, hot dog, and a few chips. Doing fine today though.

Breakfast: oatmeal, apple
Post swim snack: G2, balance bar
Lunch: tomatoe & cheese sandwich on sprouted wheat bread, watermelon, raspberries
Dinner: flank steak, mahi mahi, asparagus roasted with garlic & olive oil, tomatoes
Snack: cheese & sesame crackers

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Weights/Drylands:

Snuck off to the gym while 2 kids were at the summer swim league pool and 1 was at a dance recital rehearsal. I just wanted to do a few weights and get in my RC and stretching. My shoulder's been somewhat finicky lately. Other bits and parts are protesting some too. (My thumb and wrist on my right hand were sore, but I stopped doing push ups and chin ups this week, and now it's fine.) I'm really overdue to go the my chiro. I won't such a long time lapse before my next visit.

tricep press, 60 x 1 x 5, 70 x 2 x 8
hi lat row, 140 x 1 x 5, 160 x 1 x 5, 190 x 2 x 8
leg press, 330 x 1 x 5, 350 x 3 x 8
wood chop squat on flat part of bosu, 35 x 2 x 15
foward lunges w/15 lb DBs, 1 x 20
incline crunches w/10 lb weight above head, 2 x 25
decline crunches w/10 lb DB at feet, 2 x 15

RC work:

arm extensions, 3 x 6 x 15
prone scapular scrunches w/elevated feet and 5 lb hand weights, 2 x 25
seated straight arm dips, 60 x 2 x 25
external rotators, 10 x 2 x 15, each arm
cavic fly drill on yoga ball w/3 lb hand weights, 2 x 25

15-20 mintues of stretching

I tried one thing mentioned in Dara's Book. Her original resistance trainer Bob Cooley discovered his resistance stretching technique when he was sitting on the floor, legs in a V, touching his chest to the floor. He could do this more easily if he contracted his leg muscles while stretching. I tried this, and the second stretch did seem easier. Unfortunately, it seems like most of the resistance stretching must be done with a trainer.

Tech Suit:

Very frustrating. Ordered a TYR this week, and just got a call that they're, in fact, out of stock in my size.

Decided to steal a page out of Chris' book and head to a LCM pool for some work on SDKs and streamlining. So drove out to Mason with my MF for lunchtime lap swim.

Swim/Solo/LCM:

Warm up:

700 variety swim, kick, drill

Main Set:

3 x through:

6 x 50 dolphin kick on back w/MF @ 1:00
3 x 100 back @ 2:00
3 x (50 UW shooter w/MF on back + 50 EZ) (these were all around 26s or so)

I attempted to do the 2nd & 3rd rounds of the backstroke sets at 200 pace. Or my own vague notion of what constitutes 200 pace anyway.

The shooters weren't too bad. Definitely helps work on streamlining when you're in a LC pool.

Lordy, the 18 AFAP 25s from yesterday kicked the crap out of me. Just goes to show that a very low yardage workout can be harder (and perhaps more beneficial) than a high yardage workout. I'm taking tomorrow, which is my usual rest day, off.

Food:

Got a message from a friend who is about my size (and maybe more active than me). She says I'm not eating enough. So I'm going to try to eat a lot more of the healthy food I've been eating. So far:

Late breakfast (took am morning nap): oatmeal w/medium apple, banana, peach
Post Swim snack/lunch in car: G2, balance bar, plum, peach, banana
Afternoon snacks: omelet w/tomato, mushrooms, bacon and cheese; cheese & crackers
Dinner: salmon, avocado & tomato salad

Drylands:

I decided to try some of the new core exercises from the link I posted yesterday. http://www.ab-core-and-stomach-exerc...-workouts.html Nothing wrong with some variety! I just made up names for most of them.

ab roller, 2 x 15

hanging leg circles: hang from pull up bar and make circles with straight legs held together, 2 x 15, one set counter clockwise and one set clockwise

prone crunches: lie on stomach, feet elevated, put hands behind head, crunch up bending back, feet in air while doing this, 2 x 25

prone reverse back bend: on stomach, lift feet toward back in a backbend like motion. You need a flexy lower back for this one. Really works the glutes. 2 x 15

yoga ball knee bend: hold yoga ball only with palm of hands hands. rest of your body is in a modified plank. bring one knee in to touch ball. then switch. 2 x 15

squat swing: squat with a 25 lb weight. then rise, swinging weight to the left overhead in an arc. back to squat and then rise swinging weight to the right overhead. (I really liked this one.)

elevated reverse crunches on bench w/12.5 weight held by feet, 2 x 15

goblet squats w/50 lb DB, 2 x 15

hip hinges w/12.5 lb DBs, 2 x 15, left leg

10 minutes stretching

Swim/SCY/Solo:

Only had time for a quicky workout, so made it a speed workout.

Warm up:

700 variety swim, kick, drill

Speed Work:

20 x 25
odds, fast backstroke (no fins)
evens, easy

After about 4 of the fast 25s with appalling breakouts, I realized I needed to concentrate on this.

100 EZ

16 x 25
odds AFAP free (w/fins)
evens easy

200 C/D

Total: 1900

Yesterday, I was bummed that all the blocks were gone. Then today, 3 of them were back. Next week, I'm going to bring my B70 and practice some backstroke starts so I can determine exactly how many kicks I can take before I hit the 15 meter mark.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chiro Visit Needed:

I've managed to wrench my neck again. Probably from restless sleeping. It started hurting during my swim, and now it's hard to turn my head without pain. My chiro is out of the office until Monday. Did manage to get 30 minutes with my massage therapist tomorrow. I hate neck issues!

My shoulders and traps are pretty sore as well. I think my body is looking foward to taking it easier for 10 days or so beginning the middle of next week. I've been tired lately and clean eating alone doesn't seem to fix this. This is also a super busy time of the year for me with overlapping sports, end of season/year parties, summer swim, finals, etc.

Tech Suit:

Exchanged emails with Rocket Science yesterday. Their sizing is crazy, so beware ladies, if you're interested. They said I'm actually a Youth Medium. Huh? They don't have any suits until the end of June or July, so that suit is out for me. It has the same durable quality as the B70 though.

I've ordered another suit, as I plan to swim in legal FINA approved suits this summer and until the end of the year. Then who knows what we'll swim in? Possibly something from another century ... I'm still annoyed that a durable suit that is easy to get on is likely going to be banned or not approved or whatever. It's a very anti-swimmer, especially anti-masters swimmer, approach to speed suits.

Food:

Breakfast: oatmeal, blackberries
Lunch: Salad with romaine, chicken, peppers, sprouts, tomatoes, avocado, flax seeds, green onion, and currants
Post weights snack: banana
Post Swim Snack: balance bar, G2, plum, red grapes
Dinner: CHEAT: pizza, 3 slices (I was too tired to cook.)
Late snack: trail mix