Saturday 5/18 AM only SCY 400 swim 8x50 @ 1:05 drill 2 each stroke 8x100 @ 2:00 50 kick/50 build 2 each stroke 3x100 @ 1:40 D1-3 I.M. 6x100 @ 1:20 RED HR 3x100 @ 1:40 D1-3 I.M. 100 EZ 8x 3x100 1 @ 1:10 1 @ 1:15 1 @ 1:20 200 EZ 400 for time (4:17) 100 EZ Total: 6000
Friday 5/17 AM only SCY 500 swim 4x 50 @ 1:00 pull w/ buoy only 100 @ INTERVAL 50 @ 1:00 drill 100 @ INTERVAL INTERVAL = 1:15/1:10/1:05/1:00 by RD 10x50 @ :45 kick w/ board + fins 8x50 @ 1:00 AE Total: 2600
28,500 Yards for the Monday-Friday week for me. On top of 50 hours of work, and 10 more tomorrow too! Quite a jump back up since Nationals since my taper yardage took me down below 2000 a practice leading up to the meet. In other dumb news: http://www.swimvortex.com/disdain-fo...-overwhelming/ I think this is one of the dumbest ideas that FINA could ever be considering to change. Why would they even think of making unlimited SDKs to the 15 meter mark in breaststroke?? I could do that, then do my pulldown, kickup, and be at the wall. 25 yards completed without doing a single stroke. Granted I couldn't exactly keep that up for a full 100 or 200, but it would completely change anything about the stroke. ================================== The kids were all tired and worn out at practice tonight as well. I guess that big fin/paddle set we did last night made others tired as well. Normally the kids are all peppy and won't stop talking, but you could just sense they were wiped out. I was even running down Jared in the IMs and breaststroke tonight, which isn't normal!! Warmup: 300 Free (300/300) 10 x 100 Kick w/ long fins @ 1:25 did 6 SDK, then 4 Flutter Kick w/ board - I hate flutter with a board AND fins, but had to do something different. (1000/1300) Main Set(s): 8 Rounds of: 200 IM (25 EZ/25 Fast) @ 3:3050 Fast @ :50 (1&2 Fly, 3&4 Back, 5&6 Breast, 7&8 Free) I was around 2:30s + - a few seconds on the IMs, and rocked the 50s. 200 EZ (2200/3500) 6 x 200 Free Pull @ 2:40 #1/#4 - EZ breathe every 3#2/#5 - Build by 50s breathe every 3#3/#6 - FAST breathe how you want to - right, right, right, right, right, right, right, leftwent a 2:05 and 2:06 on the fast ones. (1200/4700) 10 Rounds of: (non-Free on these) (at least 5 of them must be "best stroke") I did the first 5 Fly, then 2 Breast, 2 Back, and 1 Breast 50 Build @ :5025 ~90% Fast @ :4525 ~100% Fast @ :45 (1000/5700) 300 Cooldown ------------------------------ 6000 Yards
Swam a more traditional workout today. Got there and synched in with Keith doing 100's, 75's, and 50's. Swam these pretty hard - not sprinting, but still pushing my speed. Planned on doing about 4500 yards but ended up at 5300. 6x100 warmup 100 Back 8x100 Free on 1:30 100 Back 8x75 Free on 1:05 100 Back 8x50 on :50 200 kick 5x200 Back w/paddles on 3:00 200 kick 6x100 w/ paddles - Odds Free on 1:25; Evens - Back on 1:30 10x50 Back/Free w/paddles on :45 100 Kick 5300 yards 101 minutes
I had a good practice today. We worked as a group on drills which was fun. We were given a drill that really helped with my catch. I dont know what its called, but you basically swim with your hands in the catch position out front, and then use each arm from the catch position. The weird part is that your hands are almost acting like a break since you start with the hand bent. 400 free with snorkel 6x50 finger drag drill on 45 8x50 shark fin drill 8x50 kick with hands in the catch position 8x50 catch drill(as described above) 6x100 25 catch drill, 75 perfect stroke with 10 seconds rest 3x200 kick with fins on 3 mins 2x(4x25 swum 12.5 fast 12.5 easy, 12.5 easy 12.5 fast, 25 easy, 25 fast, 2x50 on 40) 200 easy Total 3700
On Fridays I usually sleep in and enjoy an easy mid-day swim after Thursday night’s late-night diving practice, and that’s what I did today. (For this mostly-early-morning swimmer, anything that ends at 10pm qualifies as “late night,” especially if it’s in the far reaches of Queens.) I swam at the Y in the early afternoon, and did the following: 1000 scy warmup (400s, 200k, 200p, 200 RIM d/s by 25) 1000 straight, done as (4 x 50 build / 25 fast / 25 easy) + 600 moderate free 100 warmdown + dolphin dives I had intended to do 6 x 100 (50 build / 25 fast / 25 easy) as my main set, but after enjoying my own lane for most of the warmup I ended up with 3 lanemates in the Y’s narrow fast lane for the rest of my swim. They were all ultra polite, though, and tended to stop at the wall to let me pass anytime I was anywhere near them. On my first few 100s, someone had just stopped to let me go by as I was ending each one, so I kept on going. (The alternative, stopping for 10 seconds rest or so only to catch them on the next lap if they went, or causing them wait even longer time if they wanted to go behind me, seemed like it would discourage their politeness. I’m all for having lanemates who are aware of where others are in the lane and willing to stop and let faster swimmers ease by at the walls, especially at this pool where there’s little room to pass to the straightaway.) By the time this happened a fourth time, I was beginning to wonder if there were a conspiracy afoot to keep me from ever getting any rest at the wall! But I decided if my lanemates were somehow in cahoots to keep me swimming, I would just roll with it. So instead of trying to continue with my original set, I turned it into a lovely long easy swim, and enjoyed never having to worry about catching or passing anyone. It was very relaxing, and just what my sore muscles needed. After swimming, I went upstairs for stretching and arm weights—making some inroads in both areas. I had a good diving practice last night. I finally learned how to do a full forward approach—until now I had been using an abbreviated two-step takeoff (lunge + hurdle). By the end of last night I was getting the hang of adding three steps and a backwards arm swing before that motion, and finding a bit more height off the board as a result. I did my best one-and-a-half yet off the 1m board, and want to add that to my dive list at the next practice meet, now that I can do it without crashing into the water forehead first. Progress is sweet!
So, I felt really awesome swimming after nationals this week. My FR felt so good and easy... I thought that maybe I just got my taper slightly wrong. I instinctively wanted to swim hard today and I did a 100-500-100 pyramid and was pretty aggressive throughout. So I'm unsure if I need to rest a little earlier next time...it can't hurt to try I guess. I think I will try it for SCM in BU--which is an odd meet for me as my performances have been great or craptacular. A 2nd thought I had is that I'm still pretty hairless--relax ladies. Which begs the question, should I swim clipped throughout the year and just shave off the stubble and dead skin prior to a big meet? I know this is contrary to conventional thinking, but if the goal is to condition my mind and body in to swimming fast--does swimming "hairy" contradict this? I guess it's along the theory of no longer wearing a drag suit because it teaches the body to swim slower. Or, the idea of swimming in a tech suit to get used to moving as a faster pace and holder a better body posture. What say ye?
Swim/LCM/Solo: Warm up: 400 various 100 scull w/agility paddles 6 x 50 DPS free w/agility paddles @ 1:10 50 EZ 4 x 50 w/fins, 30+ shooter + 20- EZ kick @ 1:15 50 EZ Main Sets: 5 x 30 burst + cruise, dolphin kick @ 1:00 50 EZ 5 x 30 burst + cruise, fast hands drills @ 1:00 100 EZ 4 x 50 w/fins + 150 EZ 1 = fly, 90%, 28 mid 2 = fly, AFAP, 27 flat 3 = back, AFAP, 29 flat 4 = breast, AFAP, 31 2 x 4 x 50 kick @ 150ish pace @ 1:15 -- 4 w/board & fins, 4 backstroke kick w/fins -- held mostly 32s, couple 33s 100 EZ 50 EZ Total: 3000 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I could really feel the power wheel rollouts and twisting exercises from yesterday! The kick set was also very ouchy. The length felt endless. I discovered one good thing about long course today -- I don't mind long course breaststroke bc I can see where I'm going. I realize this means my head isn't down, but still. I detest long course backstroke. My only focus event for Zones will be 50 fly. My other events are just filler. It was lovely. The pool was practically empty; what a great place to practice. The only negative is the drive. Taking the day off tomorrow. After Lil Fort's soccer game, I'm heading to the the PV Masters spring picnic. I signed up for LCM Zones, just entered my recent best times. Hoping for a big rest between 100 back and 50 free. At least women swim before men, so that will help. Speaking of best times, whoa!, there was a TON of sandbagging at nationals. Event Number Gender Distance Stroke Time Date 3 Female 100 LCM Back 1:15.90 06/22/2013 7 Female 50 LCM Free 0:29.29 06/22/2013 13 Female 50 LCM Back 0:32.43 06/22/2013 41 Female 50 LCM Breast 0:39.15 06/23/2013 47 Female 50 LCM Fly 0:30.47 06/23/2013 49 Female 100 LCM Breast 1:29.10 06/23/2013
Updated May 17th, 2013 at 05:09 PM by The Fortress
Swam w/ Dave and Dave. Had to get out early to give blood. Still got nearly 5k in. SCY 600 Warm up 2 x 100 - 1:30 2 x 100 IM - 1:30 5 x 200 IM - 2:45 (did these as 175s except the last one - 2:40) 150 Easy 5 Rounds of: * 100 Up/Down Kick - 1:30 (:05) * 100 Pull - 1:30 * 100 Up/Down Kick - 1:30 (:05) * 200 - 3:00 convert free -> Br (original interval was 2:30 - we decided 3:00 was more realistic) 200 Cool down (4750 Total)
I must say I am getting faster and better with my pacing. Todays times were much closer to what I did back in 2008 than here recently. Tomorrow will be stroke work over a longer period of time. The shoulders have calmed down, the left elbow is still a problem but if I remain diligent with the trigger point therapy, it should resolve as well. 500 free 500 free kick w/zoomers 3 times thru 4x100@1:45 free w/paddles & bouy 200@5:00 back w/paddles & bouy Round 1 went 1:35, 1:33, 1:32, 1:30, 3:01 Round 2 went 1:34, 1:32, 1:30, 1:28, 3:06 Round 3 went 1:30, 1:31, 1:30, 1:28, 3:16 500 free EZ Total 3300 meters
I talked with coach John about when we may be getting into the outdoor pool. He told me that it is full of water now, and they're going to begin heating it on Monday, so in about 3-4 days after that it should be "swimable". So he says...he's not the one getting into the frigid water!! But it looks like my LCM adventures may begin as early as a week from now. That will give us just about a week to work on our swimmer's tans prior to the home LCM meet the first weekend of June. Warmup: 600 (25 Free/25 V-Sit Scull) (600/600) 16 x 50 Flutter Kick w/ board @ 1:10 (held :44-:47s) (800/1400) 16 x 50 IM Order 4x thru @ 1:00 I did these fast, roughly :30 Fly, :36 Back, :37 Breast, :28 Free It's pretty sad that my breast is almost the same speed as my back in practice times. (800/2200) Main Set: All w/ paddles and long fins 8 Rounds: (for reference my 200 Free time is 1:54, so 100s :57, 50s :28.5 times to shoot for)100 Free @ 1:30 at 200 Pace50 Free @ :45 EZ Peezy50 Free @ 1:00 at 200 Pace25 Free @ :45 faster than 200 Pace25 Free @ :45 AFAP BlastoI did fine for 4 Rounds, holding at or faster than my "pace times", then I had to back off a bit to around 1:00/100 pace. I guess the IM 50s early did me in a little more than I thought. 200 EZ (2200/4400) 10 x 50 Odds Front Scull @ 1:15 Evens Breast Fast @ 1:05 (held ~:38-:39s) (500/4900) 4 x 25 Free AFAP @ 1:00 (100/5000) 300 Cooldown -------------------------- 5300 Yards
Today was a birthday swim morning at Riverbank for one of my lanemates. Two friends and I put on our festive flowery swim caps and did the following set to celebrate: 800 lcm warmup (400s, 200k, 200p, photo op) 43 x 50 @ whenever-lane-space-permitted intervals (usually 5-10 sec. rest, with a few chat/calculation breaks), with all FR except prime numbers = non-free [I did BK for the non-free lengths, and sprinted the triangular numbers and kicked the cubes just for good measure. 200 warmdown This set really brought out my high-school-math-team-geek tendencies. Since all my sprints but one ended up being free, I wondered if 3 were the only prime triangular number. It seemed like that had to be so, but it took me a few 50s to work out a proof. After the set was over we noticed that our ages were all now prime—I wondered if this had happened before (the answer is yes, it was in fact the fourth time during our lifetimes). It would be nice to think we’ll be around to celebrate the next occurrence, but that's a ways off—I would be competing in the 105-109 age group by then!
Drylands: RC/scap ex, 15 min russian twist on incline w/25 lb plate, 2 x 25 leg abductors, 100 x 3 x 8 overhead squats, 45 x 2 x 8 good mornings, 55-65 x 3 x 8 alternating hammers w/15 lb DBs, 2 x 25 cable twist w/yoga ball, 40 x 2 x 12 each side low row negatives, 70 x 2 x 8 power wheel roll outs, 2 x 15 knee tucks jumps, 10 med ball slams, 10 foam rolling, 5:00 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hit the gym today because I needed a break from the pool, as I'd been in 10 consecutive days. I kept it low volume and low weight since I haven't been to the gym in 4 1/2 weeks. Will go to Mason again tomorrow. Other thoughts from Nats: 1. I hated the stair situation at Indy. Why did we have to walk a mile to sit in the grandstand? Should be a shortcut to get up and down. 2. Why were there no announcers until a little bit on day 3? I really enjoyed that in Greensboro and missed it in Indy. 3. My breakouts are a problem. I'm hoping I can go off the blocks at Mason without the lifeguards yelling. 4. My flutter kick looked better in the 50 free than other swims. Going to carry on with some slow arms/fast feet 25s and 50s. 5. Rich Abrahams examined my knees and pronounced them hyperextended. Apparently, this is good for kicking. A nice match for my double jointed elbows, loosey goosey shoulders and floppy ankles. 6. My open turns are kinda slow. I'm not spinning around very fast. I wonder if that's because I'm doing so many turns in practice with fins? 7. If I'm going to carry on with my chard habit and get that sponsorship, I need to stop my late night snacking. Shouldn't be doing both! 8. There is not a single long course meet in the PV MD area this summer. Hopefully, this means Zones will be well attended. I was just trying to find a meet to pop in for a 100 back. Oh well.
Updated May 16th, 2013 at 04:22 PM by The Fortress
Wednesday 5/15 PM only LCM (w/ Trip and Larry...Doug Martin came by and lurked around on the deck stretching while we swam. I think he is still recovering from his AMAZING Nationals last week!) 700 swim 5x200 @ 3:00 AE (2:44s across the board) 6x200 @ 2:50 D1-3, 4-6 (2:44, 2:39, 2:35, 2:43, 2:39, 2:33) 10x100 @ 1:50 25 under H2O kick/25 swim w/ fins 1 - FR 1 - FL Total: 3900
Updated May 16th, 2013 at 01:55 PM by Calvin S
Tuesday 5/14 PM only LCM (w/ Trip Strauss and Larry Golden) 500 swim 4/6/2 turns 400 kick w/ board + fins 5x200 @ 3:00 D1-3, 4-5 (2:45, 2:42, 2:37, 2:44, 2:40) 5x200 @ 2:50 AE (2:42, 2:42, 2:43, 2:42, 2:43) 100 EZ 5x100 @ 2:00 kick w/ fins on back in S-line 100 EZ Total: 3600
The Strait of Juan de Fuca separates Vancouver Island, BC from Washington and connects the Puget Sound and Salish Sea to the Pacific Ocean. At its narrowest point, the Strait is 11.6 miles wide. Like the Strait of Gibraltar, it is oriented east-west and hosts challenging winds, currents, and sea life with mountain ranges rising from both coasts. My swim is set for late July and, if successful, will be the seventh swim crossing of this waterway[1]. Planning a transnational swim has been an amazing adventure; it’s a feat that’s made me realize merely jumping in to start the swim will be a huge victory. But this isn’t just a swim report. This is also a love story. However, the fair maiden is not played by ‘swimming’ as you’d expect. That’s old hat; you don’t need to hear that story again. No, this time the object of my affection is…Seattle. The idea for this swim popped into my head sometime in mid-December, just after I’d arrived in Seattle from New York with all my belongings packed into a half-filled station wagon. At that point, Juan de Fuca was just a twinkle in my eye. What gave the idea some body was a visit with a Seattle native turned New Yorker, marathon swimmer Caitlin R. Growing up in the Pacific North West, Caitlin had already given thought to the seemingly endless possibilities for open water swims the Puget Sound offers, and it was inspirational to find someone to share ideas with, especially someone so encouraging. A sense of adventure: something I love about Seattle. Seattle in the winter is dark and dreary, the omnipresent cloud blanket blocks out what little daylight there is at this latitude. Wet and cold, it’s downright British, yet somehow an outdoor attitude persists in a way I never found on the East Coast. On 5 January, I headed to a vacant swimming beach in Seward Park, Lake Washington for my first day of training. The beach was empty, but the paths were full of joggers, dog walkers, and parents putting Christmas present tricycles together. Despite the 40F temps, people wanted to be outside. Outdoorsy-ness: something I love about Seattle. There are two reasons I began outdoor training in January. First, when it comes to training, $3 per swim is the most I’ll happily pay (my entire training costs in NYC for MIMS last year didn’t break $210 dollars), and there is so much free open water here to be had in Seattle. Second, the water temperatures, while cold, are consistent. The Puget Sound was 46F in January and will be 55F in August. What better cold water environment could you ask for than one that has such a stable temperature range? Beautiful beaches, you say? Check. Consistency: something I love about Seattle. As planning the swim got into full swim in March, a new side of Seattle showed itself. I’d made a few friends at the beach and as swimmers they were naturally supportive of my plan. What I did not expect was how supportive non-swimmers would be. Surprisingly few Pacific North Westerners have ever asked me: “Are you crazy?” A typical post-swim conversation with passersby goes something like: [stop walking] “How long? … Nice job.” [keep walking]. Compared to reactions I get from people elsewhere, regardless of water temperature (“You mean you actually *want* to swim in that ocean/lake/river?”), well, Seattle just seems to get it. Encouragement: something I love about Seattle. Seattle, with its outdoorsy, encouraging ways has kept me believing this swim is possible. And planning this swim is what has kept me sane. What really kicked the planning into high gear was a grad school rejection letter[2]. For nine months, I’d been dreaming of Scripp’s physical oceanography program as a means of redirecting my career away from heavy civil engineering. Also as a means of moving to San Diego. On that Saturday morning, while plying the waters of Alki Beach, I realized the oceanography I want to do is swim planning, and a grad school rejection wasn’t a huge loss. Since then, most of my free time has been spent on a phone or computer or airplane tray table working on this swim. Ubiquitous, cozy cafés: something I love about Seattle. Seattle was meant to be a stepping stone; it isn’t where I planned on ending up. I’m still transient, I still live in hotels, and I still travel out of town for work every few days, but I’ve surrendered my New York license and I’m slowly accepting the feeling of home I get every time I return here. All of this swimmable water (Puget Sound, Lake Washington, Salish Sea) is so surprisingly underutilized by swimmers, but perhaps it’s this off the-map feel that makes swimming here so exciting. Seattle, I think I love you. The rest of the story is about the swim itself. [1] Please feel free to verify this. A summary of my research is available on openwaterpedia.com and will be covered in future posts. [2] Who sends rejection letters on a Saturday morning???
I got into the pool a little late and had to leave a little early. A bit of kicking and drill work with this one. Just trying to hold perfect form throughout. Nothing intense it this was just what I needed. 200 free 2 x 200 IM k/dr by 50 rest 15 2 x 200 IM dr/swim by 50 rest 15 200 IM kick 5 x 200 @ 3:20 Lots of rest -done as 150 @ 80% and 50 @ 90% 4 x through (IM order by round) -200 k/dr by 25 r/15 -200 dr/sw by 25 r/15 -4 x 50 sprint @ 60 -rest 60 200 w/d 4800 I actually stopped after round three (breast) and needed to get home. Only 4000 for me. I have been using my snorkel quite a bit the last couple of weeks trying to improve my catch on free. My left forearm "slides" when I get tired. I really think the snorkel work has helped. Felt stong and swam fast, for me, on the free 200's.
Swam w/ Dave, Dave, Roger and Andrey. Andrey led my lane until he got tired. It was kind of a mess because the workout switched up between each of our strengths and we were destined to get tangled up a bit. Near the end, another lane opened up which made things easier. I ended up racing Roger on a 300 backstroke. I got paddles and and buoy, he didn't. Even with my paddle advantage, it isn't a race I'm going to win but I kept up with him longer than I would have expected. I was even ahead at 200 yards. SCY 650 Warm up 5 x 100 - 1:30, Odds IM, evens free 4 Rounds of: * 2 x 50 Hard stroke - :45 (did these fly except the last round when I came in :15s past the interval) * 2 x 50 Easy free - :45 * 2 x 50 Hard Kick - 1:00 * 2 x 50 Easy Kick - 1:00 * 2 x 50 Hard Pull - :45 * 2 x 50 Easy Pull - :45 * 300 - 4:00, convert free to stroke by round (rnd 2 - 100 Br/200 Free, rnd 3 - 200 br/100 free, rnd 4 300 bk pull) 100 Easy 4 x 25 - :40, no breath 4 x 25 Kick - :35 4 x 25 IM Order - :30 4 x 25 Free - :25 8 x 50 Kick w/ fins - 1:00 Odds Underwater SDK, Evens IM Order 200 Cool down (5850 Total)
I thought this would be my recovery day doing breast, not so. I used muscles in ways that I think I actually worked harder today. 500 free 500 free kick w/zoomers 20x50@:10RI #1-4 Breast pull w/paddles & board(rather than bouy) #5-8 accordian drill w/snorkle #9-12 scull drill #13-16 breast pull w/zoomers #17-20 breaststroke 8x100@1:45 free relaxed w/paddles & bouy holding 1:40's 200 free EZ Total 3000 meters
Warmup: 800 MI (Rev. IM) 50 Drill/50 Swim (800/800) Kick Set w/ long fins: 6 Rounds: 150 SDK moderate @ 2:00 (went 1:45-1:50)75 SDK Build @ 1:20 (went ~:55s)25 SDK FAST @ :40 (went ~:15s) (1500/2300) 10 x 100 Free Pull @ 1:40 (went 1:05s) worked on breathing both sides, though at a random. (1000/3300) Main Set: 12 x 100 Choice Stroke @ 2:45 - EN3 work must do same stroke for a group of 4 in a row.Free (best time :52 - EN3 time is 1:01) Fly (best time :56 - EN3 time is 1:07.5) First 4 - Did Free, went 1:00/1:01/1:01/1:00 Second 4 - Did Fly, went 3rd in lane behind two freestylers, with two breaststrokers behind me - went 1:07/1:06/1:08/1:07 Final 4 - Did Free, went 1:02/1:01/1:01/1:00 200 EZ (1400/4700) 40 x 25 @ :30 10 of each stroke IM Order Felt great on the Flys. Backs felt like a 400 IM "cooldown from the Fly". Breasts felt strong, Frees were great, driving with the legs These don't seem hard at first, but once you get going, it's "fun". I'm just glad I was leading the lane rather than being in the middle to the end of it. Those kids looked to be bouncing all over the place. (1000/5700) 300 EZ ------------------------- 6000 Yards
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