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No time to swim today. Probably all right to have an off day. Instead, I:

purchased massive quantities of food;
answered numerous text messages from swimmers, lol;
cleaned;
tended children;
stretched;
drank copious amounts of water and green tea;
contemplated an ice bath;
purchased daffodils and tulips
stretched out Jimby's B70
packed swim bag (with back up suit!)

Ready for the meet and festivities! Expecting about 20 or so forumites, assorted GMUP teammates, spouses (they're very brave to tolerate all the boring swim shop talk!) and children on Sunday. Should be perfect weather, 85 degrees and sunny. Pool is open. No hottub for Team Hottub members though. Someone else will have to host that one! Thought we could celebrate Wookiee's birthday early. In lieu of a cake, he's requested kisses from all the beautiful ladies.

Not nervous yet. I just read that a friend was nauseous before her meet. Doesn't seem terribly uncommon. Does this happen to anyone else? Do we swim better the more nervous we are or not? I've found that, for me, some nerves/adrenline is definitely good ... but I seem to swim just as fast relaxed with my bad ass sprinter attitude. I seem to calm down when I've got my first event under my belt.

Still under the weather and an energy-less FAF, but better than yesterday!

AM: Massage

Got a deep tissue massage. Ouch! Guess I had some cranky muscles. The tightest area is my middle back. (Lower back was fine.) How exactly does one stretch the middle back?

PM Swim/SCY/Solo:

Just a short workout. Wanted to keep feel and not sure I can get to the pool tomorrow. Did some hypoxic work that I like to do when I'm resting or feeling sub par.

Warm up:

700 variety swim, kick, drill

Hypoxic Sets:

10 x 25 back UW shooter w/MF @ :30

50 EZ

Then, realizing that I had just told She Puff that I had become too besotted with my MF lately and needed to do some fin-less SDK work, I grudgingly took it off.

10 x (25 back UW shooter no fins + 25 EZ) @ 1:15

50 EZ

3 x 150 (50 scull, 50 kick, 50 swim)
7 SDKs off each wall on kick and swim

50 EZ

5 x (25 belly UW shooter no fins + 25 EZ)

200 C/D

Total: 2275

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The UW shooters with no fins were easier than I anticipated. For the last year, I've felt faster/better on my belly shooters than my back shooters and have started avoiding back shooters because of the air bleeding. With a nose clip, I felt like this phenomenon was reversed: I felt faster and more comfortable on my back. Though I took about 21 kicks each way.

Will try to get to my team practice on Sunday if I'm feeling better to practice some starts, etc. I won't be doing 3000, though, so I may be a dirty rotten selfish rule breaking teammate that is disrupting the normal swimming protocol. I suspect a few others are tapering for Zones too though. But, since I'm one of few sprinters, I'm sure I'll do less yardage.

I'm sick again, and it's making me really dang grumpy. Could be allergies run amuck or a nasty cold I picked up traveling. Very frustrating, as I just had a severe cold two weeks ago. So forced to take a day off. Just hope I get better soon, as I have a very packed weekend. If I don't, I may question the back to back meet plan or the number of events at Zones ... For sure, I'm going to kick into rest mode swim wise and not overdo it in the pool the next few days.

Going to lay on the couch now and feel sorry for myself. April is just not my month.

Quickie AM Weights:

Cut back 1/3 of the weight. Shoulder still cranky, stayed away from pull ups/chins and hanging ab exercises. Going to chiro tomorrow afternoon.

standing lat pulldown, 100 x 2 x 15
dead lift, 70 x 2 x 12
seated narrow grip row, 70 x 2 x 15
alternating hammers, 12.5 x 2 x 20

decline reverse crunch, 2 x 25
elevated crunch, 2 x 25
crunches w/med ball, 2 x 25
back extensions w/10 lb weight, 2 x 25

external rotators, 10 x 2 x 15
prone scapular scrunches, 2 x 25
seated straight arm dips, 60 x 2 x 2
(did a bunch of arm extensions last night)

PM Swim/SCY/Solo:

Swam late today because I was taking care of really important things like beautifying my chlorine-damaged hair. The FISH were practicing. Swam in a lane right next to Kate Ziegler.

Warm up:

600 variety swim-kick

Hypoxic Set:

20 x 25 shooters on back w/MF @ :30

50 EZ

Speed Work:

4 x (50 dolphin kick on back w/MF AFAP + 100 easy)

Went: 22, 21.5, 21, 21.5

My fastest to date. Before Auburn, I was going 23s. Think the time drops are due in part to use of a nose clip. I'm only above water from the flags to the wall. Was planning on doing more 50s, but someone joined my lane and I didn't want to slice and dice.

4 x (4 x 50) speed variables @ 1:00

#1: 50 back, descend to fast
#2: backstroke kick, EZ, fast, EZ, fast
#3: breaststroke, 25 fast, 25 easy by 50s
#4: 25 fast doggie paddle scull drill, 25 EZ

300 C/D

Total: 2850

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Meets:

Pondering amount of rest for Zones/SCM Meet. Went back and looked at the yardage I did before Auburn two weeks out:

14: off
13: 3200
12: 3000
11: 2650
10: off
9: 2800
8: 3100
7: 2000
6: off
5: 1850
4: 1500
3: 1400
2: 1000
1: off

May try to replicate some of the workouts. The last time I lifted weights before Auburn was Jan. 25. Using that as a guideline, I should probably stop lifting now if I want to swim well at my SCM meet. Anyone have any different thoughts?

Of course, having Zones before the SCM meet will effect how "rested" I am for the second meet, assuming I go ... For Zones, I am entered in:

Sat:

100 free
200 mixed medley relay
50 breast (gridge anyone? haven't swum this event in 4 years)
400 medley relay
200 free relay

Sun:

50 fly
100 back
200 free relay

Signed up for the 50 fly, 50 free and 50 back for the SCM meet. I NT'd the 50 fly because there is only 1 event between the 50 fly and 50 free. Have at me, you anti-sandbaggers, but this is my response to the social engineering meet line up.

Hosting a apres meet party Sunday after Zones: burger and beer. Last year, we had a fun party as well, some of the pics are in my photos albums. We also had a video show with vids taken by Ensignada, Stud and me. The funniest one, of course, featured Jimby standing on the blocks as everyone else took off for the 100 free. (They let him swim in another heat.)

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Feeling pretty exhausted. Traveling from the east coast to the west coast doesn't agree with me. I only got 5-6 hours sleep in Tucson because I would wake up so early every day. Now, back east, I'm having trouble going to sleep. Thought I would be dead in the water today, so was surprised to swim pretty fast. Hoping for more sleep the rest of the week.

It was raining on Saturday in Tucson, and I let that dissuade me from swimming. I was pretty tired from my M-F workout craze anyway. Sunday I traveled home. Will swim later today.

Sent in my entry form for a SCM meet in Brooklyn on May 3. http://www.metroswim.org/entryforms/...cParksMeet.pdf. Still not sure whether I'm going. May conflict with family things, or I may be too tired after Zones. I'll play it by ear. This is the only meet where I've read the words "all entries are free." lol

Not sure what I did, but my cranky shoulder is really bothering me. Lack of sufficient RC work last week? Or overdoing weights? Or sitting on the airplane all day? It hasn't noticeably bothered me in awhile. Chiro check up is probably in order. I'll do a lot of kicking the next couple days. It probably will effect my weight lifting this week too. I had been planning on lifting this week, and knocking off next week before Zones.

I don't see my entries on the psych sheet for Colonies Zones yet. Hopefully, it just hasn't been processed yet and it was received. Need to think about the apres swim party soon.

Got my shipment of nose clips while I was gone. The speedo competition nose clip seems much tighter than the others. Hopefully, it will stay on better.

Spent the morning at the Desert Museum. Very nice! Was in a convertible and walking around for many hours in the sun. Got to the pool, hopped in and was DEAD, no energy. Should have injected caffeine first, I guess. I almost got out because I was worried it would all be garbage yards. Sheesh. Luckily, I had some Jolt gum in my back pack. Tried that after the first set, and it seemed to perk me up some.

Warm up:

700 variety warm up

Main sets:

8 x 100 @ 2:00
odd single arm fly
evens dolphin kick w/board

6 x (6 x 50), done as:
(30-60 seconds rest between rounds)

#1: 25 variety scull, 25 back @ 1:10
#2: 25 fast fly, 25 easy w/fins @ :50
#3: 2 x 50 fast breast, 50 easy, 2 x 50 fast breast, 50 easy @ 1:00
#4: 25 easy free, 25 backstroke shooter w/fins & nose clip @ 1:00
#5: 25 easy speed fly, 25 easy @ 50
#6: 50 backstroke kick @ 1:00

50 EZ

6 x (25 AFAP + 50 EZ)
2 fast fly, back, free

100 EZ

Total: 3900

Question:

When you're doing pull ups and chin ups, do you have to be in a straight arm dead hang between each rep for them to "count" and not be "cheating"?

Hadn't been to my team practice in ages. Had to get up early to put my kid on the Zones bus, so I dragged myself to the 4:45 am practice.

Warm up:

9 x 100, S/K/D

Main sets:

4 x 500 w/paddles & pull buoy,
descend @ 7:00

50 EZ

12 x 100
1-4 @ 1:25
5-8 @ 1:20
9-12 @ 1:15

50 EZ

20 x 25 @ :30, alternate fast and easy

100 C/D

Total: 4800

Weights later today ...

Well, I finally succumbed to the petri dish of germs that has been my house lately. Started feeling sick on Friday night, woke up feeling like I got hit with a sledgehammer. Nasty cold, cough, fever, etc. Spent yesterday on the couch not moving. Will likely do much of the same today. Just hoping it doesn't morph into sinusitis/bronchitis, which I've been so prone to in the past (especially in the Spring).

On the bright side, I was due for a rest day yesterday anyway. Hadn't had one in awhile. And it's not the end of the world to have the weekend off and let my body rest. My team pool is also closed this weekend for a swim meet.

My upper back is really sore -- I'm assuming from the rack pulls. One day, it'd be nice to have sore abs instead of sore upper body ...

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Still haven't sent in my Zone entries. Probably going to swim:

100 free
50 breast
50 back
2 relays

50 fly
100 back
200 medley relay

Don't want to enter a lot of individual events. I'll be zonked enough from a 2 day meet. Plan on resting the 5 days after the meet for a SCM meet on May 3. Not sure I can recover in time, but we'll see. I've never swum meets on two weekends in a row before.

Just a quick swim today:

700 warm up

8 x 25, alternate backstroke shooter with nose clip and easy

50 easy

Backstroke start, lost nose clip, couldn't find it on bottom of pool, not going to use it tomorrow

10 x 25, alternate easy speed fly and easy

50 easy

4 x 25, alternate build free and easy

4 x 25, alternate AFAP free and easy

100 easy

Total: 1600



Felt crappy in the water today. Could be the effect of the unintended five day mini taper instead of the planned three day mini taper. Or maybe it's just the stressful week with kids with the flu and a hugely jam packed weekend, including JOs.

Will just swim the 100 fly and 100 back tomorrow. 100 back starts at 4:55 and I have to be at finals at 6:15. On a happy note, Mini-Fort who has struggled as a 13-14, made her sectional/quad A cut in the evilstroke this am. So there is happiness instead of teenage angst.

Hoping for a decent nights sleep.

Had two kids home with the flu yesterday, so didn't get a chance to workout. Will swim later today.

I did, however, get a chance to compile the data to answer Jim's challenge on the "Ban the Tech Suit" thread. He has claimed/posted that much (not all) of my recent improvement is due to B70 use. I looked at events that I had swum 3+ times since 2006 or so. After looking at the times, I don't feel like I'm getting a "huge" assist from my B70s, though the suit definitely helps you swim fast(er) unrested. (Technically, I'm never completely unrested for meets, as I usually do a 3 day very mini taper.) There were only 4 of the 13 events where I had what I consider significant time drops after using a B70 (indicated with a * below) -- and in each race it was a brand new B70 suit. These events, swum at the IGLA meet last June (and one in Auburn after a 10 month hiatus), have other confounding factors that could account for the drops, although I concede the B70 accounts for a portion of the drop: (1) there was a 6 month time gap between the SCM swims; (2) I switched from an old recordbreaker Pro (6 meets + use) to a new B70; (3) I had just started lifting "heavy" to be "non-weak" and was about 5 weeks into this effort, and (4) I only swam 3 events at the IGLA meet instead of the 7 events I swam at NE Champs the preceding December. I think these 4 factors weight heavily in the analysis. Plus, Hulk said I looked much stronger in the water at IGLA. With respect to the 100 IM, I had been lifting heavy for almost 10 months before dropping significant time at Auburn last month. Plus, I've just been training more in the last 10 months.

In any event, here is the time progression. It is mostly linear. I feel like my biggest drops were during serious (2 week) tapers, particularly at Austin in 2008 and Auburn in 2009 where I swam in very fast pools. I think fast pools make a difference. In Auburn, moreover, my drops were from previous B70 swims. I've tried to indicate meets that I did a 2 week taper for with a "T" below. However, I'm a little foggy on this as my first couple years I didn't really taper, just sort of rested up a bit a swam. I've also indicted which suit I was wearing, where I remember. I used an FSI and FSII fairly interchangeably for a period of time. If I can't remember which one I was wearing, I just wrote FS. Recordbreaker Pros are listed as R-Pro; Hi Neck Pro is listed as H-Pro. Times are listed in chronological order, of course.

In the final analysis, it appears that unrested B70 swims are largely comparable to tapered non-B70 swims, but not always. Of course, this is significant. Without this factor, I would likely not have had a linear progression of times. But is not comparable to a claim that the B70 takes "huge chunks" of time off and gives you automatic lifetime bests. My sense (I recall Ande and Patrick agreed) is that the B70 helps more on longer events than sprints. Perhaps the buoyancy which helps counter fatigue is more significant in longer races. My fastest times, at least in SCY, were just done this Feb. after changing my taper. I had used a B70 in previous races, so don't feel that the improvements can be attributed to the B70.

Any other analysis or commentary is welcome.

Backstroke Events:

50 Back SCY:

31.17 (poly tank)(10/05)
30.25 (FS II)(4/06)
29.92 (FS II (Nats)(5/06)
30.45 (FS II)(10/06)
30.15 (FS II)(4/07)
29.80 (R-Pro)(11/07)
29.55 (H-Pro)(4/08)
29.34 (H-Pro, Nats)(T)(5/08)
29.16 (B70)(9/08)
28.5 (B70)(T)(2/09)

B70 Assist: less than .2

100 Back SCY:

1:06.5 (FS II, Nats)(5/06)
2 year gap
1:04.7 (H-Pro)(T)(5/08)
1:04.7 (B70)(9/08)(Geek 9/27!)
1:02.8 (B70)(T)(2/08)

B70 Assist: No difference

50 Back SCM:

33.8 (FS II)(4/06)
33.2 (R-Pro)(T)(12/07)
31.7 (B70)(6/08)*

B70 Assist, with caveats noted above: 1.5 seconds

100 Back, SCM:

1:15.1 (FS II)(4/06)
1:13.9 (R-Pro)(T)(12/07)
1:14.1 (R-Pro)(4/07)
1:11.7 (B70)(6/08)*

B70 Assist with caveats noted above, 2.4 seconds

50 Back, LCM:

34.88 (FS II)(8/06)(bad finish)(Worlds)
34.80 (FS II)(7/06)
34.17 (FS II)(7/07)
33.48 (R-Pro)(T)(8/07)
33.40 (B70)(T)(8/08)
(Slipped on start. There is a funny video of me letting an f bomb go after this race. I'll try to post it.)

B70 Assist: .08 second

100 Back, LCM:

1:17.0 (FS II)(8/06)(Worlds)
1:14.1 (R-Pro)(T)(8/07)
1:13.4 (B70)(7/08)

B70 Assist: .7 second, 1 year later, same pool.

Fly Events:

50 fly, SCY:

29.8 (poly tank)(10/05)
29.5 (FS)(4/06)
28.8 (FS II)(5/06)(Nats)
29.3 (FS)(10/06)
28.8 (FS)(4/07)
28.8 (FS II)(10/07)
28.4 (R-Pro)(4/08)
27.6 (H-Pro)(T)(5/08)
27.5 (B70)(9/08)
27.3 (B70)(10/08)
27.2 (B70)(T)(2/09)

Side note: This progression definitely shows that my fly has improved relatively more than other strokes and possibly benefits more from heavy lifting.


B70 assist: .1 second

100 fly SCY:

1:05.1 (R-Pro)(11/07)
1:05.5 (R-Pro)(4/08)
1:04.2 (H-Pro)(T)(10/08)
1:04.5 (B70)(10/08)
1:01.3 (B70)(T)(2/09)

B70 Assist: None, went .3 slower with B70

50 fly SCM:

31.88 (FS II)(12/06)(only 1 event this day)
32.6 (FS II)(3/07)
31.37 (R-Pro)(T)(12/07)
31.48 (R-Pro)(3/08)
30.76 (B70)(6/08)*
29.99 (B70)(some T)(12/08)

B70 Assist: .6 second

50 fly, LCM:

32.24 (FS)(8/06)(Worlds)
33.20 (FS II)(7/06)
31.61 (R-Pro)(T)((7/07)
31.71 (R-Pro)(8/07)
31.13 (B70)(T)(8/08)

B70 Assist: .58 (but this B70 assist came when I was tapered, not unrested)

50 free, SCY:

26.72 (poly tank)(10/05)
26.35 (FS)(4/06)
26.30 (FS)(10/06)
25.57 (FS I)(4/07)
26.58 (FS II)(4/08)
25.99 (H-Pro)(T)(5/08)
25.51 (B70)(10/08)
24.97 (B70)(T)(2/09)

B70 Assist: None, swam the same 25.5 in an FS I.

50 free, SCM:

29.2 (FS II)(3/07)
28.7 (R-Pro)(T)(12/07)
29.2 (R-Pro)(3/08)
28.5 (B70)(12/08)

B70 Assist: .2 seconds, one year later and in a faster pool.


50 free, LCM:


29.87 (FS)(7/06)
29.71 (FS)(8/06)(Worlds)
29.76 (FS)(T)(7/07)
29.2 (R-Pro)(T)(8/07)
29.3 (B70)(7/08)

B70 Assist: None, faster in Pro.

100 IM, SCY:

1:08.6 (poly tank)(first race as master)(10/05)
1:07.1 (FS)(4/06)
1:07.7 (FS)(5/06)
1:07.8 (FS)(10/06)
1:07.5 (FS II tank)(4/07)
1:07.0 (R-Pro)(10/07)
1:06.8 (H-Pro)(5/08)
1:04.1 (B70)(2/09)*

I was stuck on 1:07 forever in this event ... made me dislike it. There's really been no improvement per se in the evilstroke leg. Splits are always 6-7 seconds apart, usually the latter.

B70 Assist: Big drop here, 2.7 seconds, but it was after a 10 month hiatus in the event and after lifting heavy for 10 months)

Blech, bad day. Woke up feeling sore from deep tissue massage and then my chiro beat me up some more. No fast kicking and no lower body work (run, elliptical, weights, etc) is now advised, though not mandated, for a bit. That leaves so much else ... lol My back is now adorned with bright blue kinesio tape. Guess I'll be more rested for my meet next weekend than I thought ... I had only contemplated a 3 day mini-taper ... Still, better now than at another time, I guess. Hoping to feel better tomorrow after all the body work.

Was going to get a quick swim in, but decided to bag it until tomorrow in a rare fit of lack of motivation and bad mood-itis. This fit was initially brought on (aside from the soreness) by my kid. What 14 year old misses her heat of the 400 IM at Senior Champs? Yeesh! And I got up early for that ... Rest of the day was likewise frustrating, and I was stuck at the house for much of it. On the upside, I did purchase 3 new nose clips and hope that I can keep them more than 3 days.

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Other News:

EC Matrix:

I'm told this is a hot new supplement in sports medicine. It's a mechanism-specific formula designed to help maintain/reduce inflammation in the ligaments. It's apparently not like ibuprofen, which can impair secondary healing. Supposed to be superior to protrypsin or glucosamine.

http://www.metagenics.com/products/detail.asp?pid=637

PRP:

A couple weeks ago I posted an article from the NYT lauding plasma regeneration therapy as a new breakthrough in sports medicine. (That's the procedure I used for my labral tearing.) My chiro told me today that, since the article was published, my PRP/pain doc has been swamped and can't keep up with all the new clients. The orthos are apparently up in arms about it, as they feel their business is threatened. This is a bit hard to see as aging baby boomers continue taking up endurance sports though ...

B70 Ban?:

Mentioned this on a forum thread, but when I was in the local swim shop today, the owner told me unequivocally that the B70 would be banned "in May" and "flunked" the buoyancy test. This is news to me. I thought nothing would happen until 2010. Hoping I at least get some further use out of my new suit. I suspect there may be modifications forthcoming in future generations of B70s.

I saw many LZRs and some B70s at Senior Champs today. My kid isn't swimming at finals tonight (scratched) as she's resting for a meet next week, but I'm now getting frequent text updates on how many of her friends have LZRs. The arms race is in full swing!

Split Request

Got confirmation today that my split request for the 100 back from Auburn was sent to the top ten recorder for southeastern masters.

Not much time to work out today. Probably just as well. My legs/glutes are a bit sore from the squatting and lunging. And how often is one supposed to do these damn things anyway? Every time we lift?

Swim, SCY, solo:

Warm up:

400 swim
200 kick
150 fly drills

12 x 25 4 point shooters w/MF, working on amplitude/hands

Main sets:

3 x (4 x 50) @ 1:00, IM Order
#1 fly/back
#2 back/evilstroke
#3 evilstroke/free
#4 free/fly

(It occurred to me after I completed this set that it would be a good set to emphasize "fast turns," the downfall of my 100 IM. Maybe next time.)

50 EZ

8 x 1:00 @ 1:50, last 25 fast
odds backstroke, evens backstroke kick

50 EZ

10 x 50 @ :45, tempo dolphin kick w/MF & board

100 EZ

Total: 3100

hot tub + 12 oz gatorade

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Backstroke SDKs:

Still mulling over my issues with backstroke SDKs. It still feels unnatural to use my hands/arms on my back as opposed to on my belly. But the real issue is still breathing. It occurred to me today that perhaps I was exhaling through the nose too much on my turn and initial push off and thus "bleeding" air too quickly. When I tried just holding my breath more, I went farther. I can't do the Ande trick to prevent "bleeding." I think I could be a candidate for a nose plug on 100-200 back. Every time I've tried one, though, I can't keep it on my nose ... Anyone use one for backstroke? If so, how long did it take to acclimate to it?

Hectic day ...

AM: 30 minutes on my indoor cycle between bursts of work this am.

(I've done my usual canvassing and been told that cycling does not aggravate hips unless your heel "floats" on the pedals. Geek says he's had no issues in his spin classes.)

PM: 4 mile run

(Didn't bother my hip as much as last week. )

Going to force myself to do my RC exercises while watching Lost tonight. Lifting and swimming tomorrow. Need to steal a workout.

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Ugh, just found out I have to get up at 4:00 am tomorrow to take my kid to morning practice. They're doing lactate testing. Hate early morning practice. Makes me secretly wish my kid would quit swimming. lol

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I'm also wondering how people know so much about lifting ... Did you go to weight lifting school? Where do you learn this stuff?

Still haven't recovered from the meet. Usually takes me about 3 days or so to recover from a 2 day meet. Not doing anything intense this week. I'm going to Richmond this weekend to watch Mr. Fort and friends run a half marathon there. I may just take the weekend off. BUT since I don't want to lose even more of the strength I've tortured myself to get, I went to the gym today.

45 minutes of weights and core work. I may start trying to keep track of this better (although it takes a fair bit of mental effort and I don't know many of the technical names.). I just did a mix of things today to get the lifting jump-started again. I've definitely lost some strength, so I started light.

30 minutes on the ellipse machine

15 minutes hot tub

______________________________________

From what I can recall, this is what I did:
(Looks like I'm supposed to put the weight first, not last. I seriously know nothing about lifting. lol)

external rotators on free motion machine, 2 x 15 with each arm

ankle presses on the leg press machine (I do these to strengthen my wobbly ankles for running.) 1 x 15 x 110 with toes pointed in, out and straight

leg press, 2 x 10 x 310

alternating hammer, 2 x 30 x 15

seated row, narrow grip, 2 x 12 x 80

dead lift, 2 x 12 x 70

standing "push ups" on the double cable free motion machine, 2 x 12 x 40

sit ups on the incline bench, 2 x 25

crunches with the med ball (don't know what these are called. I only keep my butt on the ground when I do these and bring the med ball over my head), 2 x 25

jackknifes with the yoga ball, 2 x 15

reverse sit ups on the funky reverse V shaped bench type thing, 2 x 25 with a 10 lb weight. I just held the weight to my chest. Sometimes, I try to do it with the weight held out over my head with straight arms. This is much harder, and I was too tired today.

Used the pec fly/rear delt machine today, did 2 x 15 of each, can't remember the weight.

Still pondering planks. I generally agree with JMiller that they hurt my shoulders, but I'm going to look at the Mens Health article that Tim posted and see what the variations are. I may start doing the ab barbell rollout instead.

I've mentioned previously on the forum that I underwent PRP for several months in the first half of 2008 to rehab some labral tearing and a SLAP lesion on my left shoulder. Most forumites or other people I discuss shoulders with usually give me a blank look/reaction when I mention PRP. I decided on this treatment when PT and ART did not provide relief from chronic shoulder pain. Well, they wouldn't really. It was wear and tear, which, unlike tendonitis, is not terribly responsive to conventional treatments. (See, e.g., a post of Eric Hochstein on one of the recent shoulder threads making this same comment regarding tearing.)

In any event, Dr. Jaegermeister sent me this article today from the NYT, which makes PRP sound very promising for athletes. Glad I tried it, as I believe my shoulder is significantly better as a result and I am no longer in chronic pain. (Not to say I still don't get occasional pain -- but it can be managed with RC exercises, fins and ART and I don't feel the urge to quit swimming or skip practices due to pain.)

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/17/sp...r=2&ref=health

Blogging from my iPhone, which usually means typos, as it has a mind of it's own.

The highlight of my day was the event I least expected to bust out a time in: 50 free. Just goes to show you, you never know what event will be "on" especially with unpredictable 50s.

Times:

100 IM: 1:04.1

Previous best was 1:06.8 in Austin. This was about what I expected to go based on my time from Rutgers. Had completely lopsided splits as usual. Out in 28.7. My heels kept popping out of the water in the evilstroke. Turns were slow as usual. Without remedial evilstroke help, this might be as fast as I can go. Everyone faster than me in this event can rock a 50 evilstroke. Still very happy as it's 2.7 seconds faster than my previous best.

50 free: 24.94

I was thrilled!!!! Previous best was 25.5 from the Sprint Classic in a B70; went a 25.99 in Austin. So this was a big drop. Had a sub par turn, but turnover felt good. This seems like a pretty big breakthrough for me. I was so shell shocked when I looked at the scoreboard, I had to ask the timers what my time was.

50 fly: 27.2

Meh. Wanted to go 26.9. Did everything wrong: two bad breakouts, bad turn, and too close to the lane line. Friend thought I might have nicked it. Not sure what happened on the turn. Didn't have my feet set well and got a bad push off/streamline. Or, who knows, maybe I was hungry from skipping lunch. 50s are tough, you have to execute perfectly, especially in SCY. Since I rarely go off a block, this is a problem. This is why I vastly prefer meters to yards. No big deal, though, I'll give it another whirl at Zones. Right now, it's a PB with correctable mistakes. I think I have good fitness and raw speed, it's the technical aspects of my races that need work.

Not sure about the officiating at the meet. I asked about getting a split request in my 200 back. They looked at me as if I was from Mars, didn't know anything about forms and didn't know the rules. I had thought this was commonplace based on all the people I see getting official times from split requests ... Doesn't inspire confidence in me, especially after the 50 fly fiasco. Why do so few officials know the USMS rules?

In any event, I may not get to swim it. I hadn't focused on the fact there is a time change between here and Atlanta when I booked my flight. I may have to scratch this event to catch my flight. Really bad planning on my part. May try to squeeze it in, but it will be close. Will play it by ear.

Had my usual meet insomnia last night. Would really like to go to sleep before 3:00 am. Got a lot of sleep the last two weeks, so that may have to suffice.

Flew to Atlanta and drove down to Auburn. All went very smoothly, except hip sore from all the sitting. Drove out to the Aquatic Center. Did about 700 yards to loosen up and took a hot shower for about 20 minutes. Facility flaw: no whirlpool. Pool looks fast. Was told the competition pool opened at 6:00. It didn't, had to leave I will meet the bulkhead for the first time tomorrow in the 50 free. Good thing that's my "6th event." I observed widespread fin use by the mens and Womens college team. The senior age groupers who practiced after were doing timed swims with fins from the blocks.

Had dinner with friends. Will sleep in and go early to warm up since I'm in Event one, Heat one.

I'm trying out the new send a forum post to your blog feature that Jim added.

I wanted to save this workout to do after taper. Really liked it.

Originally Posted by Paul Smith

Kick day at Brophy with Coach Rankin on deck

10 minute choice warm-up

8 x 100's
odds choice @ 1:45
evens 50 kick/50 drill @ 2:00

12 x 50's kick @ 1:10
odds = 25 over/25 under
evens = 25 under/25 over

200 kick for time

8 x 25's dolphin kick on back @ :35

100 kick for time

6 x 25's breast kick on back @ :45

50 kick for time

8 x 25's @ :35
- push and swim fast to wall/touch and go into vertically kicking until send-off

Since I'd worked out 9 days in a row, decided to take a rest day. Upper back muscles feel pretty sore, probably from all the weights.

I did go to my chiro today for a neck/shoulder work over. Sleeping on my stomach is what's probably causing the neck issues. Wish I could sleep on my back ...

Otherwise, I had a great day. Going to watch House, ice and attempt to go to sleep before 1:00 am.

Had an easy day today, so as not to be immediately fatigued for my meet.

Warm up:

700 variety swim, kick, drill

Short Aerobic Set:

5 x 100 backstoke @ 1:45
extra 30 seconds rest or so
5 x 100 backstroke @ 1:35

Fast 50:

Practiced some backstroke starts. Did a couple with the arms going straight back. This definitely makes me go deeper. I know this is usually a good thing, but I'm not so sure it is for me.

1 x 50 backstroke AFAP from a push with fins (26)

150 C/D

Total: 1900

______________________________________

The meet director graciously agreed to change my seed time in the 100 back, so that I could swim both events on Sunday with a reasonable amount of rest. (Where's the sandbag icon?) When I signed up for this event, I had planned on taking the 100 back out fast for a change and seeing what I had left. My last couple SCY 100 backs, I've been out in a mid to high 31. It has been suggested that this can be improved upon. So I'm hoping I don't chicken out on this plan. Haven't swum the event since September.