swimsuit addict

I had a nice but tired swim at Riverbank this morning with Rondi. It was a clear and cold morning, and through the pool windows we were able to watch the full moon setting over the river during breaks during the first set. Here’s what I did:

800 lcm warmup (400s, 200k, 200p)

1 x 500 FR, mod. pace
2 x 300, done as 50 ST (IM order) / 50 FR [I did the first one long and easy, and intended to do the 2nd one as 25 build + 25 fast + 50 easy, but it was clear by the 150 that I had no fast swimming in me this morning—I gave in and decided to make it a long slow swimming day rather than fight with the water.]
3 x 200 IM, with 1st 100 kick on 1st, middle 100 kick on 2nd, last 100 kick on 3rd
4 x 150 FR/BK/FR at drill pace, working on rotation and strong core
5 x 100, odds IM, evens kick

400 warmdown + play

That was it!

The reason I was so tired this morning is that I did a breaststroke clinic last night from 8-9. It was so worth it! The clinic was taught by my team’s head coach Scott, and was billed as an advanced clinic focused on racing technique. I learned that I was dipping my hands down too much on the recovery, thus creating drag with my arms during the glide phase—I am working on keeping my arms parallel to, and very near, the surface of the water. (This tests the limits of my shoulder flexibility, and left me a little sore). I worked on throwing my head into the water after each breath when sprinting—this helps drive turnover. Also got some tips on the pullout (changed the timing of my dolphin kick, and altered my hand placement after the pulldown from beside my thighs to the front) and on timing the approach to the wall at the start and finish. It was an hour well spent, and made me want to go to the other advanced clinics that are offered. But it did involve a lot of swimming at top speed, and I was definitely feeling the effects of that plus the lack of sleep this morning.

I enjoyed another nice solo swim at the Y today. I swam in the early afternoon and had a lane to myself for all be the first 800 or so of the following:

1000 scy warmup (400s, 200k, 200p, 200d/s)

Freestyle set
100 @ 1:40, 50 @ :50
100 @ 1:40, 50 @ :45
100 @ 1:40, 50 @ :40
100 @ 1:40, 50 @ :35
100 @ 1:35, 50 @ :40
100 @ 1:30, 50 @ :45
100 @ 1:25, 50 @ :50
100 @ 1:20, 50 @ :55
100 @ 1:15, 50 @ 1:00
100 @ 1:10, 50 @ 1:05 [missed on this 100—did a 1:10+]

700 easy warmdown + play

I enjoyed this set—it started out very gently, and by the time it got hard there was too much to do figuring out the sendoffs to fret about anything else. But it seemed a little short—I might double the 50s next time I do it, or palindrome it if I’m feeling bold.

I’m feeling a little unsettled with my swimming these days—I vacillate between feeling happy to just be going to the pool and swimming for the fun of it and feeling dissatisfied because I don’t have something concrete to train for. In the short term, I need to decide whether I want to swim the Asphalt Green meet on December 9th. And in the long term, I need to start thinking about what things I want to do next spring and summer, and what I need to make them happen. Lots of possibilities out there--the difficulty will be choosing among them!

Today I swam mid-day at the Y:

1000 scy warmup (400s, 200k, 200p, 200d/s)

Pieces of IM sets:
8 x 25, 2 each stroke, IM order, odds K, evens S, @ :30
7 x 50 IM pieces (50 fly, 25 FL / 25 BK, 50 BK, 25 BK/25 BR, etc) @ :50—strong and controlled
6 x 75 IM pieces @ 1:20, odds K/S/K, evens S/D/S
5 x 100 IM pieces @ 1:30, solid effort on all
4 x 125 IM pieces @ 2:00, done as 50 build / 25 sprint (turns inclusive) / 50 easy
3 x 150 IM pieces @ 2:30, 90% effort
2 x 175 IM pieces @ 3:15, all swimming between flags easy, turns as pretty as possible on first 175, and as fast as possible on 2nd 175
1 x 200 IM fast
(Masters minute between each set)

Warmdown: 5 x 200 FR, odds S, evens pull with paddles

I’d started this pieces of IM set at a workout earlier this month, and had to get out after the first 150. I’d been wanting to do the whole thing ever since, and today’s solo workout was a fine opportunity for that.

This morning I swam at Riverbank with Rondi. Here’s what I did:

1000 lcm warmup

100 kick/swim
4 x 50 (25 fast / 25 easy) @ 1:05
100 kick/swim
4 x 50 (25 very fast / 25 easy) @ 1:10
100 easy

4 x 350 turduckens
100 FL / 50 BK / 50 BR / 50 BK / 100 FL
100 BK / 50 BR / 50 FR / 50 BR / 100 BK
100 BR / 50 FR / 50 FL / 50 FR / 100 BR
100 FR / 50 FL / 50 BK / 50 FL / 100 FRv

[Before we began this set, I noticed that the adjacent lane only had one swimmer, and that that guy was doing lots of fly, so I scooted over from my more crowded lane, figuring someone doing fly themselves was unlikely to object to all the stroke in this set. It wasn’t until the set was over that I discovered that that guy was actually That Guy! It was nice to get to meet him in person.]

200 easy
4 x 200 FR, odds pull w/ paddles, evens swim
600 warmdown + play
[New 50 backwards-IM PR: 2:20]

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Thanksgiving came early today as Rondi, John, and I celebrated the season with the traditional turducken set. The water was a mite cooler than on Monday, when I had deemed it too hot for a workout and just done some easy drills and practiced my backwards swimming. (How hot is too hot? If I stick my tongue out while I’m swimming and there’s no discernible difference between the temp of the pool water and the inside of my mouth, that’s too hot). But I was also better prepared, having brought both a lycra cap and my new creation, a cap into which I had cut ventilation holes, stegosaurus style:


O Holey Cap!

The latter worked well, and kept me from overheating during the following:

1000 lcm warmup (400s, 200k, 200p, 200d/s)

4 x 350 Turduckens, done as follows
100 FL / 50 BK / 50 BR / 50 BK / 100 FL
100 BK / 50 BR / 50 FR / 50 BR / 100 BK
100 BR / 50 FR / 50 FL / 50 FR / 100 BR
100 FR / 50 FL / 50 BK / 50 FL / 100 FR

After the turduckens, we all played around with backwards swimming—my backwards backstroke is getting better, giving me hope that I can get my backwards 50IM time under 2:30--then I did the following short finishing set

2 x 200, odds FR w/ paddles, evens swim
100 warmdown

That was it! I’ll see if I feel like another help of turduckens tomorrow (or maybe I’ll dream up the swimming equivalent of the veggiducken . . .) And the new hat style is definitely a keeper for those warm Riverbank mornings!

A less determined swimmer would have given up as she waited, and waited, for the much delayed 1 train this morning. I was glad I persevered, because I eventually got up to Riverbank and was able to do this solo lcm IM workout in an uncrowded pool—I either had the VF lane to myself or shared it with just one other swimmer the entire time. Here’s what I did:

1000 lcm warmup (400s, 200k, 200p, 200 d/s)

4 x 150 k/s/k, reverse IM order [my legs were still very sore this morning from diving practice—this helped loosen them up a bit]

4x thru, with ST = IM order by rounds
3 x 50 ST @ 1:10, desc. to goal 200 IM pace
50 easy FR @ 1:00
200 IM @ 3:45, faster each round [3:38, :32, :28, :24]

300 warmdown + play

My breaststroke today felt nice and smooth, but was in fact slow—I only got my fastest 50 down to :56, when I was aiming for a :49-:50. It makes me glad I signed up for a breaststroke clinic in a couple of weeks—today it was definitely the weakest link in my IM.

Today I swam TNYA’s mid-day workout at John Jay College. It was a crowded pool—there were 7 in most lanes, including mine—but with considerate and mindful lanemates all things are possible. Mine kept me laughing in the intervals between swims as well—it was a reminder of why I really love swimming with this team.

Here’s what I did:

950 scy warmup: 300s, 7 x 50 kick @ :10 rest, 300 alt free/back by 50

12 x 25 @ :30: odds BK w/ 10 underwater kicks, evens FR

500 pull, with breathing pattern [I just did bilateral]

2x thru (First round = FR, 2nd round = BK on last 25 of single swims, then BK for all 4 50s)
150 @ 2:30
100 @ 1:40
50 @ 1:10
4 x 50 desc. @ 1:00 [31 on fastest FR, 35 on fastest BK]
50 easy
1:00 rest

Then we repeated all of the above from the 500 on, only skipping the last 150/100/50 on the last round because we were running out of time.

50 warmdown

I swam at Riverbank this morning with a fun lane full of open-water swimmers—Rondi, John, Hannah, Mike, and Andrew were all there. I got there late after sleeping in a bit—diving practice in Queens until 10pm make Thursdays a late night for me—and missed the long set of the day, but was happy to join in for the last bit. Here’s what I did:

1000 lcm warmup (400s, 200k, 200p, 200d/s)

5 x 200 swim > kick pacman

200 warmdown

Nice to feel like part of the gang today!

Diving practice is still my weekly thrill, especially now that swimming at the beach is on hiatus for a bit. I’m still mostly working on getting the timing of my hurdle and jump off the board right, but am also doing various line-ups off the 1 and 3m boards, and forward tuck dives off the 1m. Fun stuff!

I swam at Riverbank this morning with Rondi and Hannah. The pool was uncrowded, but very warm. Here’s what I did:

1000 lcm warmup

200s set
3 x 200 descend @ :10 rest
100 kick
2 x 200 steady pace @ :10 rest
100 kick
1 x 200 fast
100 kick

I was thoroughly wilted by the end of this set, even though I took my cap off for the kicking. I decided that trying to swim hard in water that hot just wasn’t being any fun, so after a few aimless 100s to cool down I regrouped and did about 40 minutes of balance drills and play for the rest of the session.

(On a Goldilocks note: today's team email announced that one of TNYA's pools, at Baruch college, will be re-opening this week after having been damaged in the storm--but that the water temp there is currently 72! If only I could average out there and Riverbank I would be set . . .)

I swam with TNYA this morning at John Jay:

Warmup: 300s, 200IM, 100k, 200 drill IM

2x thru
2 x 50 drill @ 1:00
3 x 100 IM @ 1:40
4 x 25 choice @ :35

3.5x thru (ran out of time for 4 rounds)
3 x 50 K @ 1:00
1 x 200 FR @ 3:00 with rotating 50 fast
4 x 75 choice, odds fast @ :55, evens easy @ 1:10 (these intervals got upped by :10 midway thru set)
:30 rest
100 fast @ 1:10
1:00 rest
[I dropped 50-75 each round to keep this from completely turning into mushy swimming—I just wasn’t prepared to do this much fast swimming on this amount of rest. Did manage to make all my 100s fast under 1:10, and got in some good 25 and 50 sprints when we were supposed to be doing 75s fast.]

100 warmdown

The meet I signed up for this coming Sunday has now been cancelled. Thinking of swimming the one at Asphalt Green on December 9th.

I enjoyed a nice swim with Rondi at Riverbank this morning:

1000 lcm warmup (200s, 200k, 200p, 200d/s)

Magic 700s
A magic 700 combines two things in an alternating 1/1/2/1/3/1/4/1 (lengths) pattern. I did 3 as follows:
1 x magic 700, alternating FR/BK
1 x backwards magic 700, alternating FR / ST (IM order)
1 x magic 700, alternating kick (FL and BK) / FR swim

400 pull with paddles

15 x 100, done as 5 x (100 FR, 50 FR/50 BK, 100 BK @ 2:00), goal was to descend effort within each set of 3 so that 100 BKs were fast [1:35-1:40s]

500 warmdown + play