I've been swimming about 2 days a week but posting my workouts has been pretty far down on the list these days. Currently 18.5 weeks pregnant and haven't gained nearly as much weight as this time last pregnancy! Probably due to all of the walking Rachel and I do in the mornings (around 1-1.5 hours) and also the fact that I rarely just sit during the day anymore now that she is super mobile! I've also been running about 2 days a week, though have really slowed down already! We also bought a bike trailer and took Rachel for her first ride last weekend - 13 miles! Fortunately Jeff pulled the trailer but I STILL can't keep up with him on the hills. Very humbling! I finally feel like I'm getting back into good swimming shape! Loved this workout, definitely one to repeat again in the future! Monday - GPrep w/Coach Josh (SCY) 5 times through: 100 free 150 kick 2 x 50 back (swim/drill) 2 times through (broken 200 then broken 500): 75 free on 1:00 @ 80% 2 x 50 free on :50 @ 90% 1 x 25 free on 1:00 @ 100% 2 x 150 (75 back, 75 free) recovery on 3:00 2 x 150 free on 2:10 @ 80% 100 free on 1:25 @ 90% 2 x 50 free descend 1-2 on :50 250 warm down 4000 yards total
In August, shortly after I retired from competition until after baby #2 arrives next March, I got an email from Kyle asking if I could swim on a relay team at the Savageman 70.0 race in September. My immediate reaction was “of course!” but I knew Jeff would be out of town at the annual USMS Masters Swimming Convention and I would be on my own with Rachel. I talked it over with Jeff and then Kyle gladly volunteered his mother in law to watch Rachel while I swam so it was a deal. Our team would be an all-female team with a professional cyclist who specializes in hill climbing and a crazy fast runner local to the Deep Creek area. I sort of felt like the weak link here, but I was excited to crush this race with these women! Last week when I emailed our relay coordinator Jimmy Railey to check in, I learned that our cyclist Marti had crashed in a race two weeks ago and had broken ribs. Her husband would fill in and we would be switched to a co-ed relay. My anxiety level tripled at this point! When we were an all-female team I figured we would crush the other teams. But now, with two females on the team I still felt confident but was worried that 1-2 minutes slower on the swim could make a difference in our overall placing in the relay division if another team put together a bunch of elite athletes! My team knew that at 14 weeks pregnant I wasn’t going to be able to give the swim a 110% effort. I am so comfortable in open water and have done this swim before in a variety of conditions and even swum 8 miles straight in this lake so I was feeling pretty good. While at the 30.0 race on Saturday I found my relay team and met them for the first time in person. I took one look at them and immediately knew that they didn’t suck at biking and running. Elite athletes for sure! I felt a little better that afternoon and less stressed. I was staying in a house with two other LUNA Chix and their families. The guys did the 30.0 race and the Chix were doing the 70.0 race. Including Rachel, there were 5 girls under the age of 4 in the house. Good times for sure! It was fantastic to spend the weekend with them! Since I was only doing a 1.2 mile swim, I was able to watch the progression of their pre-race nerves. Sarah and Heather were great, so calm and organized! If they were feeling any anxiety, which I’m sure they were, you wouldn’t have known! On Sunday morning I met our cyclist Joe at the transition area to go over our transition plan. He asked me what I thought my swim time would be. I gave him a range of 28-35 minutes. I just had no idea how fast I could swim this. My best was 28:13 in 2009 and slowest was 30:34 in 2007 when we had terrible fog the entire way. I thought I would have time to get in a short warm up before the swim, but between meeting up with Laura (Kyle’s wife) who watched Rachel, getting into my wetsuit, debating over which goggles to wear (I ended up going with the clear goggles and was so happy for that decision!) and getting over to the start, I barely had time to find a spot up at the front of the start line! My wave was all of the pros, elites, relays and women. What a perfect wave, lots of fast swimmers and all of the women in the race! I honestly couldn’t have been more happy with that! Off we went into the fog (which was mostly burned off) and the glaring, low sun! I couldn’t see anything and looked up a few times but then just decided to put my head down and follow the feet in front of me. Dangerous decision in open water, one that got me in trouble once and I swore I would never do it again! I managed to swim a perfect line from buoy to buoy but was slightly too far to the left of the turn around and wasted a little time getting back on track there. Once we turned around “Thomas the Turnaround Turtle” you could see the lake and buoys perfectly. One person had caught up to me and we swam this entire stretch next to each other. It helped to have someone to pace at that point! I probably swam faster than I would have by myself. There wasn’t another swimmer in sight in either direction at this point. We passed the swim start (approx. 0.9 mile) and the last wave was just getting into the water so I knew I was having a good swim and that I was well ahead of 21 minutes at that point! Just a short swim to the “Swan Boat” turnaround and then back into the sun and we were done. The sun was pretty bad again and I was by myself at this point, but somehow I think I swam pretty straight right to the finish. I was smiling before I even stood up because I just knew it was a good swim. Once I was up I heard something about “…female swimmer…” from the announcer and a roar from the crowd. People were screaming very loud as I ran up the hill. The run up the hill…worst part of my race. I’m in good running shape, but man that hill up to transistion was tough! I knew I was almost done and could rest in less than a minute and apologized to Baby Roddin #2 for the abrupt change in my heart rate and just sprinted to Joe who was nice enough to get the timing chip off my ankle and put it on his. Off he went for what was a FAST bike ride. My swim time was 27:26…4th woman to finish the swim (two women who were doing the entire race and my friend Lauren who I frequently race in open water finished ahead of me). I wasn’t terribly far behind the fastest male swimmers too! I couldn’t be happier with that effort. Maybe there is something to swimming smooth and relaxed! Joe crushed the Savageman bike course in 2:48 (19.9 mph) and then Line ran a 1:32 half marathon (7:03 min/miles) for a total time of 4:49! We beat all of the other relay teams by over 25 minutes and only got beat by 4 pro men so I stayed for the awards. There is already a lot of talk among our relay about “next year” and “going faster”. Count me in! I love this race and I love to win! Team LUNA Chix Sarah, Heather and Michelle all finished the 70.0 race with huge smiles! It was fun to be a part of their experience!
It's been a while! So long in fact that I don't think I ever wrote up anything about my incredible experience in Omaha...4 new best masters times in the 100, 200, 400 and 1500 free! But it was two days after getting home from Omaha that was far more exciting than anything that happened during our 12 days at Trials/Nationals - we found out that Rachel is going to be a big sister next March, as luck would have it, probably the weekend of the Albatross Open, go figure! Fortunately I was treated to a week of feeling great, then the dreaded morning sickness (also known as all day and night sickness) kicked in and lasted for about 6 weeks. Based on the number of people who told me that with their second baby the morning sickness lasted nearly the entire pregnancy, I consider myself lucky that it is gone. I am back to feeling good, eating normally, swimming and I am much less tired than I was for the past two months! Yippee!
Updated September 11th, 2012 at 04:22 PM by Julie Roddin
400 swim 200 kick 400 descend by 100s 4 x 100 descend 2 x 50 back 500 easy
First Swim in the Trials Pool!!!! 400 swim 200 kick 400 build by 100s 4x100 swim free descend 1-4 2x50 bk # 1 build, # 2 fast 3x100 swim free smooth 2x50 bk same as above 3x100 both neg split 2nd 50 @ mile pace 400 warm down
Nadine Day coached again 400 swim 200 kick 8 x 50 on 1:00 odd- kick/swim; even- drill/swim - Alt free and back 8 x 125 descend 1-4, 5-8 on 2:00 8 x 75 alt back/free on 1:30 8 x 25 underwater on :45 400 warm down
Updated July 11th, 2012 at 02:23 PM by Julie Roddin
Everyone was on their own today, I swam with Joy Stover and a few others... 400 warm up 10 x 50 every 3rd fast on :45 6 x 75 (25 swim, 25 kick, 25 swim) 8 x 100 free on 1:30 descend by 2s and #7 & 8 easy 400 descend by 100s (4:44) 300 warm down
Friday, June 29, 2012 - Omaha, NE - Nadine Day coached (SCY) 8 x 50 - 4 free, 4 back descend 1-4, 5-8 on 1:00 4 times through: 4 x 50 pace on 1:00 200 descend by round on 3:00 (2:28, 2:21, 2:20, 2:16) 100 easy 200 warm down
My arms were a little tired from Monday's workout so I took it easy in the pool today. Tuesday - CUBU Masters - Georgetown Prep 400 swim 4 x 100 (50 kick, 50 swim) w/fins & snorkel on 1:45 4 x 100 (25 rt arm, 25 left arm, 50 swim) w/fins & snorkel on 1:45 3 times through: 2 x 75 kick on 1:30 3 x 50 descend on 1:00 20 x 25 on :40 every 4th fast 200 warm down
On SUnday we took Rachel to the neighborhood pool around lunchtime and we each snuck in a quick swim while the other played with her. She is quite the little fish, loves going under the water and always comes up smiling or laughing! Sunday - Middlebridge Pool - SCM 200 warm up 1 x 1500 for time - 20:45 - not my best but certainly not terrible 300 warm down 2000 meters total Monday - CUBU Masters - Georgetown Prep - SCM 200 swim 100 kick 150 swim 4 x 100 (50 free, 50 back) descend on 1:45 4 x 100 (50 swim, 50 kick) with fins descend on 1:45 4 x 75 (odd- 25 fast, 50 smooth; even- 50 smooth, 25 fast) with fins on 1:20 2 x 400 free 3rd 100 build to race pace rest on :45 rest (5:16, 5:12) 100 easy 3 times through: 3 x 50 free on 1:00 @ mile pace (mostly :36s) 1 x 25 all out on :30 1 x 75 easy on 1:30 200 warm down 3400 meters total I recycled this workout from two weeks before Greensboro. The pool was warm but swimable. We leave for Omaha on Thursday! Must get packing...
I really love training short course meters. I don't know why. Maybe because it's different. Maybe because I did a whole lot of SCM a few years ago when I first moved to Maryland. I don't know, but I know that I was burned out on yards and it's nice to do something different for the summer. CUBU Masters @ Georgetown Prep w/Coach Josh - SCM 200 free 600 free w/snorkel 16 x 75: 1-4 kick w/snorkel & fins 5-8 IM (25 fly, 25 back, 25 breast) 9-12 & 13-16 free descend 2 times through: 200 free with snorkel 6 x 100 free - 1-3 mile pace on 1:30; 4-6 negative split on 1:40 100 easy 300 free with snorkel every 4th length scull warm down 4100 meters total
The water at Prep was slightly cooler than yesterday but sounds like they might keep it warmer this summer for all of the kids camps. UGH, but after training at Aspen Hill Club a few years ago I can handle the warmer water. Then Coach Josh tells me that he's out of town all week next week. WHAT?!?!? What do you mean you're leaving during my taper? Can't you plan your life around these things?! I'll be ok....I think! On my own to taper for two weeks...I could totally screw this up! My taper for Greensboro apparently worked so I'll have to look back at those workouts! Tuesday - CUBU @ Georgetown Prep (SCM) 800 w/fins (100 free, 50 single arm back, 50 back swim x 4) 12 x 25 on :30 descend 1-3, etc. two rounds back, two free 3 times through: 2 x 100 w/snorkel (50 kick, 50 swim) 2 x 50 drill/swim 2 x 50 @90% 2 times through: 3 x 150 back 100 drill easy 3 x 50 free @90% & 95% by round 100 warm down 3500 meters total
We've switched to the summer schedule...6:30 - 8:00 pm instead of 8 - 9:30 pm. This is going to be tough. There is a short period of time now in between when Jeff gets home from work and when I need to be out the door to get to the pool on time. Yesterday we managed to have dinner before I left, but I ate too fast and then felt it in the pool. I might have to have a late afternoon snack and then dinner after practice. I do like getting to bed much earlier with the new practice time! The pool is now set up short course meters which is a nice break from yards! Monday - CUBU @ Georgetown Prep w/Coach Eileen - SCM 400 free 200 kick 200 back 4 times through: 2 x 100 (25 roll kick, 25 fly kick) w/snorkel & fins 1 x 50 sprint kick 4 x 250 (200 w/snorkel, 50 fast no snorkel) 4 x 75 odd- IM, even- back 8 x 25 (2 drill, 2 sprint, etc.) 200 warm down 3500 meters total
This week was slightly chaotic in terms of swimming. On Monday no coach showed up so we had to wing it, then Tuesday I still didn't feel recovered from the race but made it through the workout, Wednesday I suffered through a long free set just to get some swimming and then last night when I finally got myself recovered and mostly together mentally I got to the pool and it was closed. I managed to get to the pool today and swam with Leslie at Rockville. It was another great day to swim outside! Ran into a few people including Muppet who was finishing up his swim when we got there! Rockville Pool - LCM w/Leslie* *note that Leslie and I did different workouts after the 100s!!! 600 warm up 8 x 100 w/fins & snorkel (50 kick, 50 swim) 1 x 600 (300 w/snorkel; 300 descend to AFAP) 2 x 50 easy 1 x 400 (200 w/snorkel; 200 descend to AFAP) 2 x 50 easy 2 x 200 w/fins descend 1-2 to AFAP And then I took a HUGE breath right into the last turn and spent the last 50 meters beating myself up about it. So... 1 x 200 AFAP At some point after the second turn the intro to Welcome to the Jungle popped into my head and suddenly I got very pumped for Omaha! 200 warm down 3000 meters total
Monday - Georgetown Prep (CUBU Masters (SCY) 500 warm up 12 x 50 free (kick/drill by 25) w/snork & fins on :50 300 free w/snorkel 50 fast 200 kick w/fins 100 fast 100 pull w/snorkel 200 fast 50 fast 300 free w/snorkel & fins 50 fast 200 kick w/fins 100 fast 100 w/snorkel & fins 200 fast 50 fast 300 free w/snorkel & fins 3400 yards total Tuesday - Georgetown Prep (CUBU Masters)- Coach Josh (SCY) 200 free 200 back kick/swim by 25 200 pull 200 IM kick/swim by 25 12 x 25 on :30 descend 1-4, etc. 4 times through: 2 x 100 kick w/fins 50 fast kick 3 times through: 300 (250 w/snorkel, 50 strong) 3 x 75 back descend 1-3 on 1:10 25 easy 200 warm down 4000 yards total Wednesday - Rockville w/Sue (LCM) 300 warm up 400 free 2 x 100 free fast 2 x 50 easy 300 free 3 x 100 free fast 2 x 50 easy 200 free 4 x 100 back fast 2 x 50 easy 100 free 5 x 100 free fast 2 x 50 easy 100 warm down 3200 meters total One more hard workout this week (tomorrow) and then I'm taking three days off. My arms have not fully recovered from the race last Sunday and while I'm swimming ok in practice this week, I could use a little recovery. Should have taken Monday off.
Chesapeake Bay Swim 1-Miler - June 10, 2012 This was my 9th time making the trip over to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge to compete in one of the swims. I've finished the 4.4 mile swim 6 times (1990, 2000, 2001, 2007, 2010, 2011) and the 1-mile swim 3 times (2006, 2008, 2012). No matter which event you complete, the atmosphere is incredible! Swimmers of all ages everywhere, each with their own reasons for showing up and their own goals! There was a 12 year old girl in line in front of me picking up her packet and when asked for her ID she replied "I don't have an ID!" Too cute for words! She came back shortly with a parent! The 1-miler assigns your wave based on the order in which you registered. I was one of the last people to sign up so I was in wave 4 of 4. The waves were 5 minutes apart, which was very nice, everyone was pretty spread out by the time I came through! I never had any trouble passing people out there. I had a nice cheering section headed up by Rachel Roddin along with Jeff, my parents and my Aunt Nan Nan who lives on the MD eastern shore! I had decided before the swim that unless the water was way too warm that I was going to wear my sleeveless wetsuit. I know there is a lot of debate among open water swimmers on the topic of wetsuits but the way I see it is that if they are legal, I am not breaking any rules. Bottom line...I'm faster in it and as long as they are legal for the race and the race doesn't separate the results based on them, I'm going to wear it in this swim. The 4.4 mile swim is different for me, I've had a great swims with a wetsuit and great swims without. I probably will never wear it again at a swim that long based simply on comfort and my love of feeling the water around me! But for 1 mile...it's on! The waves lined up and I studied the course looking to see how many buoys there were and where all the turns were. It was a triangular course with plenty of big buoys! Should be good! But the one thing I failed to take note of were anything on shore that would help me sight for the finish! Towards the end of the swim I guessed that the big white tent that I saw was the medical tent right behind the finish line and fortunately I was right and Jeff said that I swam a great line into the finish! Good thing because there were a few people within seconds of me! I had a great swim. Nobody bothered me on the start. I honestly don't think I bumped or touched another swimmer the entire race. A few people got ahead at the start, but they looked young and strong and I let them go. I was comfortable in my wetsuit for the entire race and the water was much cooler than I expected based on the air temps! As I swam into the finish I knew that no matter what, I was happy with the swim and that I couldn't have swum any better! There was a lot of confusion surrounding the results. I was always listed in the top 3 women, but the names and times were switched around a few times between chips not registering and people not swimming in their assigned wave. When they announced the results I was 3rd woman, 10th overall. But the 1st place woman had a time over 3 minutes faster than me and she wasn't there to pick up her award. Mark from the timing company said that he would look into it and by last night her name was removed from the results so I moved up to 2nd! Not too bad for a 35 year old who according to Mark is "quite a bit older than the top 3 men (who were all 15 or 16 years old!)!" Heck, I did my first 4.4 mile Bay Swim TWENTY-TWO years ago before any of them were even born! It was a great day for a swim. Congrats to everyone who braved the waters of the Chesapeake Bay yesterday!
Updated June 11th, 2012 at 05:11 PM by Julie Roddin
Oops, I almost just started a blog for jroddin just now! I'm using his computer since mine is in a million pieces and didn't realize he was logged on to the USMS site and not me! Wouldn't that have been funny for you to read that Jeff did an easy 700 meter swim today while wearing a bikini for the first time since before pregnancy! Silly me! So yes, I did an easy 700 meter swim at the neighborhood pool today and talked myself into the fact that I have gotten myself back to good enough shape to sport a training bikini! I'm 8 lbs lighter than when I got pregnant, but can't seem to shake the little belly that I acquired over the last two years! Oh well, I'm swimming fast and feel great right now! The Chesapeake Bay Swim is tomorrow and I think I've gotten over the fact that I didn't get into the 4.4 mile swim through the lottery. This could have been a great year for me, I think I'm in pretty good shape but probably don't have as much endurance as I have had in years past. I signed up for the 1 mile swim right before entries closed and think this distance might be better for me tomorrow anyways with Summer Nationals right around the corner. I'm not sure that I would have been able to bounce back quickly from 4.4 miles in order to do a few more weeks of hard training for Summer Nationals so pretty happy with this situation! I've done the 1 miler a few times, won it overall back in 2006 and was 3rd female in 2008. I really have no idea what to expect tomorrow but will give it my best effort!
Today was a great day to be swimming long course outside. Armed with my new goggles and a little more courage than I normally take to the pool, I met up with a bunch of "silly sprinters" for some AFAP! Yikes, what had I gotten myself into? This time last year I was busting out some 3 x 2000 in preparation for the Bay Swim. How in the world I didn't end up with worse shoulder problems than the minor tendonitis that I have is beyond me! I have seen the light, no more 5 x 1000s in my future anytime soon! I'm actually enjoying the new training routine and think my body appreciates it too. My times in Greensboro were fantastic (2 masters best times and one more very close)! I'm somewhat giddy already about Summer Nationals and not even nearly close to thinking about tapering! This is all very odd, but I'm just going to go with it! Rockville Pool w/Leslie, Susan, Bill, Sue, Eileen - LCM **note that there were many variations of this workout going on in our lane and you might never believe when you read Leslie's blog that we swam in the same lane today! 600 warm up (200 free, 100 back x 2) 5 x 100 with fins and snorkel - 50 kick, 50 swim 8 x 100 free with fins on 1:30 - Steady pace for 1-4 then descend from there for 5-8 (1:16s for 1-4 then 1:15, 1:13, 1:11, 1:08) 100 easy 1 x 100 back AFAP w/fins - 1:11 100 easy 1 x 200 free as AFAP as you can do a 200 w/fins - 2:24 100 easy...during this I decided that I could go faster so decided to do... 1 x 200 free AFAP w/fins - 2:22 - It felt good, at least I didn't totally breathe into the last turn like I did on the previous 200. I have no idea how this converts or compares to the 2:02 that I did on Tuesday night in SCY but it didn't feel like it had the spark that I had the other day. But still, a solid swim and entire workout! 150 warm down 2950 meters total And like I said on Facebook when I got home..."After a few AFAP (As Fast As Possible) swims at practice this afternoon I want to formally apologize to any "silly sprinters" I have made fun of over the past few years. I will never completely understand you guys, but I came a little closer today. I need a nap but first a big lunch!"
Updated June 8th, 2012 at 03:13 PM by Julie Roddin
The pool was pretty warm today, so glad we did the killer workout on Tuesday, I probably would have puked today. CUBU Masters - SCY 400 warm up 3 x 200 free with snorkel on 2:50 9 x 50 kick every 3rd one fast 50 easy 2 times through: 3 x 150 IM 100 skull/swim by 25 8 x 100 pace on 1:20 (used last one to warm down)
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