SCY, solo 500 swim free, hold SPL consistent (held it at 16 with and occasional 15) 200 kick on back ±6 sdk off walls (time 4:05) 200 pull back w/p&b (spl at 15-16) 12 x 25 free drill on 30: 1-2 fist drill 2-4 6 kicks, 3 strokes, 6 kicks 5-6 8-beat (kick as hard as you can) freestyle 7-8 count strokes - (16) 9-10 stroke count minus 1 (spl @15) 11-12 choice (same as 9-10) kick 6 x 50 on 1:15 free (w/board, no fins) descend 1-3, 4-6 (51-47-44 both times) 4 x 300 w/30 sec. rest: (focus was on SPL) #1 free, hold stroke count (16 with occasional 15) #2 back, hold stroke count (16 with occasional 15) #3 alt. 50 free/50 back, hold stroke count and keep walls as long as possible ( 15 on free 16 on back) #4 choice, (went free-back-free by 100, SC at 15-16) go 4 x 25 on 45 (one of each) FAST (times are approx. glare on the clock made it hard to see: fly-16, back-18, breast<25, free-16) swim down 100 -- Total: 2900 yards
Sunday: Hot Yoga, 90 minutes: Felt like a good stretch out after the meet. We had an exceedingly bossy instructor though. I don't mind being corrected on positions, etc. But I don't like being scolded if I move or whatnot. I am just not a still and soulful person. So at one point I told him that I view yoga purely as cross training and am not a perfectionist yogini or bikram addict. Shouldn't have picked on me after I had my suit stolen! (Which I am still sour about.) I got a horrible ab cramp during one of the postures. I'm sure it was due to dehydration from the coffee & wine during and post meet. They are sooo painful. Monday: Swim/SCY/Solo: Only had an hour to swim, so did some easy aerobic work and played with MF Dolphina. Warm up: 700 various Main Sets: 12 x 50 w/MF @ 1:00 odds = evil evens = double shooter 50 EZ CS Kick Mountain: dolphin kick w/board & MF 1 x 50 @ :45 1 x 100 @ 1:30 1 x 150 @ 2:15 1 x 200 @ 3:00 1 x 300 @ 4:30 1 x 200 @ 3:00 1 x 150 @ 2:15 1 x 100 @ 1:30 1 x 50 @ :45 50 EZ 5 x 50 @ :50 done as 25 easy speed fly + free My breakouts were so awful, I stopped doing these to avoid becoming the Kara Goucher of fly breakouts. Sheesh. 5 minutes of vertical kicking, alternate evil and dolphin 50 EZ Total: 3000 + VK Drylands: 5 x 15 stacked feet push ups Tuesday: Drylands: med ball slams, 12-13 minutes single arm lat pulldown, 60 x 2 x 10, each arm narrow grip seated row, 90 x 2 x 10 goblet squat, 65 x 2 x 15 total ab machine, 110 x 1 x 20, 130 x 1 x 25 wall squats, 2 x 1:00 handstand, 2 x :45 back extensions, 25 x 2 x 15 hanging straight arm leg raises, 1 x 15 squats w/med ball toss in the air (10 lb med ball), 2 x 15 Icarian incline lever row, 80 2 x 10 power wheel roll outs, 2 x 20 external and internal rotators, 10 x 2 x 15, each arm seated straight arm dips, 1 x 25 Tabata jump rope (8 rounds of 40 seconds hard + 20 seconds rest) Yikes, this was super hard! I didn't do it in true tabata style. I was at more like a 8-90% pace and kept catching the rope in my feet. Hadn't jump roped in awhile. Saw someone getting trained on TRX today. Looked kind of cool. Swim/SCY/Solo: Modified a couple Geek sets today. Except after mega drylands, I didn't seem to have a super "fast" gear. When my shoulders and hammies are sore, breast with a dolphin kick is the easiest thing to do. Warm up: 600 various Main Set #1 3 x through: 3 x 50 drill @ :50 2 x 50 drill @ 1:00 1 x 25 EZ 1 x 25 fast #1 = russian breast drill, breast pull #2 = single arm fly, chest press fly #3 = russian breast drill, breast pull 100 EZ Main Set #2: Aerobic Kick 20 x 50 kick w/fins, done as 1-5 backstroke kick @ :45 6-10 backstroke kick @ :40 11-15 dolphin kick w/board @ :45 16-20 flutter kick w/board @ :40 100 EZ Main Set #3: 4 x through 1 x 100 evil @ 2:00 75 cruise + 25 fast 1 x 50 EZ 1 x 50 double shooter w/fins 50 EZ Total: 3550 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Commentary: Trying to HTFU and get back on track. I'm very annoyed I can't seem to post my blog entry from yesterday. It had my workouts for 2 days, a B70 suit analysis and youtube videos of a couple of my races. I have no idea why I can't post it; I've tried 3 computers. Edit: I seemed to be able to edit it in piecemeal. Sorry for the super long blog entry! B70 Knee Skin vs. B70 I was mulling over the time differentials between my in season times for 50 fly/back with a textile kneeskin vs. full "rubber" nero comp bodysuit. (I don't have an in season nero comp time in the 50 free.) 50 fly: nero comp = 30.7 knee skin = 31.5 50 back: nero comp = 31.7 kneeskin = 32.5 The in season swims with the nero comp were done after I had started lifting, so it's a pretty fair comparison. So the difference was .8. I made more miscues on both these races, especially fly, than my other comparable ones (see video below for fly). Also, my nero comp swims were done in a faster pool (U of Md). I've always theorized that the bodysuits gave you about .5 for 50 yards. So it would be slightly more, maybe .6 for SCM. Adjusting for miscues and slower pool conditions, I think I was pretty close to this. If you don't make any "adjustments," I'm still .8 off in a slightly slower pool in meters. I would like to note that I did not say even one whiney word about the lack of a tech suit at the meet. But one of my male teammates was cursing up a storm! Videos: My 9 year old used her flip to videotape my 50 fly and 50 free, which she came to watch. 50 fly: You can definitely see the two major warts on the breakout and turn in my 50 fly. I had a great reaction time on the start despite being held a long time (wish I could always do that!), but my entry was way too shallow. So with my usual # of dolphin kicks, I was on the surface way too quickly. My dolphin kicking looked less effective than usual as well; my teammate Barb noticed this as well. Don't know if I wasn't kicking hard enough or whether my belly SDKs are simply worse without the nero comp. (I didn't feel this way on back particularly, although I could add an extra kick without the nero comp.) I think I lost quite a bit of time on the breakout and turn. But what can you do when you have a goggle leak? Help Wolfy! [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cd4h91x5uWY"]YouTube- 50 fly Albatross[/ame] I was right next to Pete "Nuthin But 50s" Reider. We tied in both fly and back. lol 50 free: Decent race. I did look slightly tired the second length, my turnover was definitely slower than I've seen it in the past, and I breathed more than normal. I didn't have much rest after fly, so could probably have used more recovery time. My former now not so secret 6 foot nemesis is in the lane right next to me. I got her in fly; she got me in free. We chatted a long time at this meet -- found out we both have 17 year old sons that row crew and are looking at some of the same colleges. Oh, another detail told me by another teammate and caught on video: I lifted my head up right away after the entry. No idea why. Mental error. You can get a brief glimpse of the "Fastest Woman in the Water," Mollie Grover, a few lanes over. Her turnover was much faster than mine. This underscores the need to do lots of fast 25s ... http://www.youtube.com/user/Fortress.../0/LztZScU2UFg Article: Article on Vitamin D: http://www.eatmoveimprove.com/2009/1...-at-vitamin-d/
Updated March 23rd, 2010 at 07:25 PM by The Fortress
Was working on my starts and some short bursts of speed. Nothing too long since my lung capacity seemed a bit diminished today. Must be the allergies hitting. 1000 as 200 swim/pull/swim/kick/swim 500 Back kick drills w/fins 5x100@1:30 Free kick w/fins held 1:23's 10x50 as 2 free/1 fly sprint from a dive to 20 yards was having alittle issue with going too deep or starting my pull too soon. Might have been my equilibrium being off due to allergies 500 free easy w/snorkle & paddles Total 3000 yards
Well with Harvard meet looming I decided to lighten the workload a little this week. I won't have that time luxury in April at zones so Fort might beat me in 50 evil then...we'll see... I cuffed it today: Warm Up 200 Swim 200 Kick 200 Pull 10 x 50 K 1:1 held them all to 1:05 got under 1:00 for the last. 4 x 50 EZ Main 5 x 200 FR 3:30. Descend n build by 50's each successive swim. All were sub 3:00 for me...2:50ish the last one but by then fast is relative. 4 x 50 EZ Sprinty 6 x 50 1:00 phospate sprint to 15 then ez rest back Cool Down Twice through with fins: 100K 100P 3200 in about 70 mins. Did roughly 33.333333% of my usual weight routine...stretched off. Muscle Milk.
Updated March 23rd, 2010 at 08:21 AM by SwimStud
I did my last hard workout on Saturday. As of Sunday the distance and intensity dropped significantly. My shoulders feel weary; I hope this resting phase snaps them back to normal. The Indiana State Master's Meet is Saturday/Sunday at the pristine Fisher's High School Natatorium. I am psyched. I feel ready to drop some time in the 1,650 and 1,000 Freestyles. I've been working hard, conditioning, and hopefully made some stroke improvements that will stick during races! Whatever happens the "State" is a great team meet! We'll be swimming lots of relays, cheering, and hanging together non-stop for 2 days! GO NASTI'S
Mon Mar 22nd 2010 Took it easy today since, I have a meet this Fri in Orlando I'm in Orlando FL Tue Mar 23rd - Sun Mar 28, Entered 2010 Dixie Zone Championships Fri: 1,650 Sat: 200 IM, 50 bk, 100 IM Sun: 400 IM, 100 bk, 200 bk Anyone got any advice on how to swim a 1,650? mine to myself is: 1) come to your senses and skip it or 2) you're swimming 33 50's start off easy, be consistent, hold around the same 50 splits the whole way, stay relaxed pace it well, fast turns, hard pushoffs & long glides, breathe every 2 finish strong request a 500 & 1000 split Ask someone to count for me MENS NCAA's begin on THU TODAYS SWIM PRACTICE Swim Center scy, main pool, Blocks Whitney coached 6:30 to 8:00 swam with Mike & Nate beside Tyler, Marcio, Todd, Erin, Brad, & Paul dove in around 6:40 wore B70 legs warm up: 500 easy MAIN SET assigned: 3 rounds of (3 x 300 on 4:00, followed by 100 easy k) DID: Round 1: 3 x (100 fr 50 fr 100 fr 50 skip) 100 easy Round 2: 3 x (200 fr, 50 skip, 50 fr) 100 easy went , 2:04 on #1, 2:05 on #3 Round 3: 3 x (3 x 50 fr, 50 skip) 100 easy assigned: 10 x 75 DID: 10 x 25 odds BR evens SDK 8 x 25 2010 MEETS: Fri Mar 26th - Sun Mar 28 2010 Dixie Zone Championships Orlando, Fl April 9 -11 The Woodlands, TX Countdown 2010 South Central Zone Short Course Championships INFO May 20 - 23, 2010 Atlanta, GA Georgia Tech Aquatic Center COUNTDOWN 2010 USMS Short Course National Championships Order of Events
Updated March 22nd, 2010 at 11:46 AM by ande
SCY, Solo 200 free swim 200 IM drill 200 kick on back, 6-8 sdk off walls 200 pull free breathe 3/5 by 50: (kept spl at 14) 3x around: { kick 4 x 25 w/board on :45 FAST (breast: ave 30, back: ave 22, free: ave 20) 50 fist drill easy easy on 1:30 swim 3 x 50 on 1:20: #1 @85%, #2 @90%, #3 all out (breast: 50-48-48) (back: 42-37-34) (free 37-34-32) 50 easy choice on 1:30 pull 4 x 75 free on 1:20: breathe 3, and keep the stroke count consistent at about 80% effort (swam all of these around 1:00 with 14 (15 a few times) spl) 1 min. rest } ran out of time and only did 2 of the 75's in the 3rd round 100 easy and got out Total: 2700 yards
I have a sprint meet coming up this weekend and I need to get some good times. 10x100@1:45 Free easy with a 4 beat kick instead of dragging my legs as usual 5x100@1:45 Free kick w/fins alt rt side/lt side narrow kick 500 Free kick w/fins as 100 easy/100 fast 10x50 from block as 20 yard sprints then easy free as 2 free/1 fly 3x200@3:00 Free w/paddles & bouy easy 200 as sprint in and out of turns 200 Easy Free total 3500 yards
Just another Albatross Open meet report... Jeff had a lot of setting up to do so I went over to the pool early with him. I got in a nice 1800ish warm up which included some pace 100s free which I descended to about 1:16 and some 50s back which I held 38/39 on. My shoulders felt pretty good. Not totally 100%, but way better than they had all week. The water felt warm, but not too terribly bad, but not as cool as GMU either. Since we train in a super hot pool, I wasn't to uncomfortable since MAC was cooler than our health club pool. The air was very warm, as Leslie mentioned in her blog I think. I spent a little time outside with her, but everyone's races were SO fun to watch that I had trouble leaving the deck. Here's how my races went: 100 meter free- This is an event that I have swum once in yards in masters and went 1:02, which also happens to be what I regularly take my 500s out in. I had no idea what to expect, and really didn't care too much, I just didn't want 100 back to be my first event of the meet. It usually takes me one event to get into race mode. I went 1:08.10 and thought that my splits were pretty good! I think this converts to about a low 1:01. (splits- 33.3/34.8) Moving right along... 100 meter back- My best time in this event is 1:11.59 from SCM Zones in 2007. That was a fantastic swim for me. In this swim, I felt great from the start, came as close as I could to an even split and went 1:13.45 (splits- 36.41/37.04). This converts to about a 1:05.8 in scy which is about .8 off my masters best! There was a 10 minute break right after my heat. I couldn't have been happier. I was so wiped out after this race and couldn't even begin to climb out of the pool. Fortunately I could just stay in and warm down there. Jeff jumped in my lane to congratulate me and share my splits. This race definitely helped...I always hate the 100 back, I mean, just dread it. I don't really think of myself as a sprinter, and dread having to go hard, but it always somehow works out in the 100 back. But don't ask me to sprint any other stroke! After warm down I had about 30 minutes to get ready for the 200 back. They changed the order of events this year so the 200 back is now after the 100 back with only the 10 minute break and 100 IM in between. A change that I knew was going to be tough when looking at the timeline, but I had no idea exactly how tough! I have already submitted a complaint to the person who is in charge of the order of events In between events, I just sat in my chair on the deck for the whole time trying to convince myself that I could hold it together for the only event that I really REALLY cared about...the 200 back. But I was just too physically tired to talk. And I'm not being overly dramatic, ask Swimmy, or Mollie, or anyone else who had the pleasure of trying to talk to me in between these events! I debated putting on my new TYR kneeskin, but after trying it on last week and knowing what I was in for in the locker room, I knew I just didn't have the energy to deal with that. Mollie and I walked up to our lanes, which were next to each other. As the heat before me finished up, I said to myself "this will be over in less than 3 minutes, you can do this!" 200 meter back- I didn't even kick off the first wall. But I did feel ok, at least for the first 85 meters. Then I just had this feeling that I was trying to hang on. I seem to respond well to telling myself to "suck it up" when those negative thoughts creep in, which they did. I held on to the race as best I could, but knew that a meet record (2:33.9) wasn't going to be possible. I ended up dropping off way more than I normally do on the second 100. I usually split this race pretty evenly. There was a 4 second difference today. Yuck! But it was my second fastest masters time ever in this event so that made me happy! My time was 2:38.40, 3 seconds off my best time from December, but 2:38 is totally fine with me right now! Splits: 37.55 39.60 (1:17.15) 41.02 40.23 (1:21.25) 2:38.40 Converts to about 2:21 in scy. Just 2 seconds off my best and probably the fastest 200 back I have swum unrested. I got in a nice long warm down and had plenty of time to rest before my next event! 400 meter free- I love this event and it's been a while since I've had a good distance race! My best time in this event is 4:56 from SCM zones a few years ago when Jeff and I had bet his 400 IM time vs. my 400 free time....I won, by just a few tenths!!!! I have only swum the 400 free once since then and went 5:05 in December, but my splits in that race were all over the place and it didn't have that smooth consistent paced feeling that I love to fall into. That swim was more like "just hang on and don't die." I decided not to take the same approach as the 500 last month in Richmond where I went out so easy and picked it up towards the end. I decided to take it out at a very strong pace and find that smooth pace. In fact, I had 3 50 splits right in a row that were within a tenth of each other! Everything felt great except for my turns! Splits: 34.52 37.67 (1:12.19) 37.86 38.79 (1:16.65) 38.92 38.99 (1:17.91) 38.98 37.84 (1:16.82) 5:03.57 Converts to about a 5:46 in the 500 free in scy which is about 10 seconds off my best and right where I want to be right about now in my totally unrested state! It seemed that everyone had great swims on Saturday! It was fun seeing Mollie swim so fast in the 50 free, winning the "Fastest Woman in the Water" award! And fun seeing Jeff win the mens award for the second year in a row! Incredible that one can win a sprinting award 6 times over a 17 year period! I admire all of the sprinters out there, but have no desire to be one of them. The 100 free was enough of a sprint for me! And of course the social was an absolute blast, a fun time catching up with other swimmer friends over a few beers! Despite getting in a nice long warm down after the meet, I woke up on Sunday with very sore shoulders. My shoulders have ached for a few weeks now, making swim practice a lot less fun than usual. I started thinking last week that a week off may do a ton of good! We went to the pool on Sunday morning and did 1600 meters of warm up/warm down, nothing hard, and my shoulders just feel rotten. This week I plan to just go to the pool and warm up a little then kick a little. Maybe get a massage too. There are still 5 weeks until zones, which I will not really be resting for so if I plan to hang on for Atlanta, I think my shoulders need this week of rest.
Updated March 23rd, 2010 at 09:09 AM by Julie Roddin
What a day! We slept with the patio door open last night and the sound of the crashing waves made me a bit nervous. There had been swimming restrictions at the beach and a small craft advisory... the forecast wasn't promising. I woke at 6 AM and looked out to the beach. The surf wasn't as big as it sounded, and the water looked inviting. We ordered a cab and met up with our boat and pilot; Daryl from Sea escape boat rentals right at 7:30. Daryl has escorted several relay teams for the Maui channel race in the past and was quite familiar with the course. We encountered at least seven groups of humpback whales on the way to Lanaii, usually two or three at a time...... mom; baby; au pair? We stopped often to watch them frolic and breach. The wind hit hard mid channel and it got quite bumpy for the second half of our ride to Lanaii. When we were about 50 yards from shore, Daryl pointed us to the safest path through the reef to the beach. The water was murky and it was hard to see the reef only a foot or so below my hand. The approach to the beach had a muddy bottom. We stood on the beach at the ready for our start.... the whistle blows.... Willie and I stand there and watch a humpback breach behind the boat, then swim out to catch up to Terry. It takes about 5 minutes to get out of the murky water and into the clear blue... deep blue... solid blue... the kind of blue that draws you in. This would be our visual universe for nearly the next 5 hours interrupted neither by flora nor fauna. We settled early on into a comfortable formation; Willie on the right of the boat, Terry in the middle and me on his right. There was no discussion beforehand regarding our positions, but this felt good. I fell into a pattern of breathing every 4 strokes on my left. Usually, I breathe more frequently, but my neck was pretty stiff... this felt good. The swells were large, but we held our relative positions and made steady progress. Our feed plan was: every 45 minutes we would feed together. I will feed at 20 minute intervals for solo and longer swims, but with the three of us all needing to stick together, this seemed like a decent compromise. My feed was: 10 oz. Lemon/Ginger Tea (to keep my stomach) mixed with 1 scoop First Endurance EFS (grape flavored, 96 calories), and 2 oz. water. The resulting concoction tasted like a purple Flintstone vitimin.... not bad. I was able to chug my mix faster than T and W and had to wait a few moments until we were able to start up, in formation, again. I noticed the whole boat crew wander off to the far side a few times and knew that were probably watching whales again... I hoped we would see some during our swim, but that never happened. Two thirds of the way back, the wind died down and so did the bumps. Maui was providing shelter from the head wind... it was nice being able to feel smooth in the flatter water. We finished near Blackrock on Maui 4 hours and 55 minutes from our start. On the way back to Lahina harbor, we came upon a huge school of spinner dolphins, jumping, spinning, somersaulting all around the boat... this place is magical... if only the water was 10 degrees colder, I'd call it heaven. After a shower, lunch, and a nap, we walked to the beach to watch the sunset.... more whales breaching a couple of hundred yards off shore.... unbelievable! Huge thanks to our support crew, Clare, Alice, Fiona, and Yevette. I will certainly be adding Hawaii to my migration route.
Woot! As of today's workout, I have officially logged in 50 miles for 2010!
Got back from Atlanta on Friday and took the afternoon off to enjoy the nice spring weather. Took the puppy out for a walk in the cotton field and was followed the whole way by two of our cats. Pretty funny to watch the puppy try to herd the cats. Saturday, did a 2,000 yard swim. Did a good bit of the workout with fins. One of the sets with fins that I really enjoyed is as follows: 4 x (75 free build to sprint, 10 seconds rest, 25 stroke) The fly is still lagging, but perhaps, as Fort commented, it will improve as my weight lifting progresses. In the afternoon, did one mile of a walk/run and then did one mile at a fast pace. The mile was in 7:24. Looks like I've definitely got a long way to go on getting the running up to speed. Today did the following workout in the weight room: Squats: bar x 20 Bench press: 70 x 10, 85 x 8, 95 x 6 Lat pulldowns: 100 x 10, 120 x 8, 140 x 6 Military press: 40 x 10, 45 x 8, 50 x 6 Hammer curls: 10 x 12 Leg press: 150 x 10, 170 x 8, 200 x 6 Bicycles: 1 set of 100 Good morning darlings: 1 set of 50 Torso twists: 1 set of 20 Toe raises: 3 sets of 10 1 minute timed jump rope - did with rope having weighted handles (2 pounds each) - 140 jumps
Updated March 21st, 2010 at 07:55 PM by elise526
Today I swam a meet at C.W. Post campus of Long Island University. I’d never swum in this pool before, and I was happy to find such it such a pretty and comfortable facility. The meet was fairly small, very well run, and over very quickly. I’d been feeling a bit under the weather, and had only swum once since Wednesday, and then just 1000 easy. This morning I woke up feeling good, though, so decided to go out to the meet after all. I didn’t feel very sharp, and none of my times were great, but I got in some decent practice racing. Here’s what I swam and how I did: 100 IM: 1:09.54 (32.19, 37.35) Good dive, rhythm on FL felt good, backstroke felt a bit forced, world’s slowest BK/BR transition turn (have to practice this turn on my off arm!), feet slipping a bit on BR kick, brought it home strong. This time is a little over a second faster than I swam my 1IM in January, and is an age-group PR. It was far from a perfect race though. To go faster I need to practice my transitions at race speed more. 50 FR: 28.11 I was still fatigued from the IM when I swam this, and didn’t get into good sprinting mode until my 2nd 25. My start angle was a little odd too. I felt like my kick was strong though. This time is off the 27.25 I swam 2 weeks ago. I think I need to stop signing up for 50 FRs at spots in meets where I know I won’t have much rest before them—I always think I should be able to swim a decent 50 even if I’m still dripping from a previous race, but the evidence indicates not. 50 BR: 35.52 This was a decent swim. My technique felt smooth, and I kept my head looking down (my main key going into the race). I think this is also an age-group best time. 100 BR: 1:19.74 (38.18, 41.56) The first 50 of this race felt sluggish, but things felt better as I went along. The time is a couple of seconds off my age-group best time. My next meet will be April 11 in Queens—I’ll be swimming 200 IM, 100 BK, 100 IM, and 50 BR.
Sun Mar 21st 2010 I'll be in Orlando FL Tue Mar 23rd - Sun Mar 28 I sent in my entry for the the 2010 Dixie Zone Championships lifted weights after swimming TODAYS SWIM PRACTICE Swim Center scy, main pool, Blocks Mary coached Noon to 1:15 swam with Ritchie, Pat Evoe, Max, and Larry Beside Chris, Neil, and James Fike dove in on time wore B70 FULL warm up: did half of warm up went around 500 MAIN SET assigned 8 x 100 on 1:20 did 8 x ( 25 easy, 50 rest, 25 SDK from a dive fast) assigned 400 did 4 x 50 assigned 6 x 100 desc 1 - 3 did 2 x (50 swim 50 skip) 100 easy speed assigned 400 did 4 x 50 4 x 100 on 1:08 held 1:01's assigned 400 25 SDK roll start max timed went 9.9 2010 MEETS: Fri Mar 26th - Sun Mar 28 2010 Dixie Zone Championships Orlando, Fl April 9 -11 The Woodlands, TX Countdown 2010 South Central Zone Short Course Championships INFO May 20 - 23, 2010 Atlanta, GA Georgia Tech Aquatic Center COUNTDOWN 2010 USMS Short Course National Championships Order of Events
I realize that many of us here in the greater USMS swimming community enjoy swimming, swimming practices, open water swimming, swimming meets, swimming suits, swimming discussions, paraphernalia connected to the sport of swimming, and so forth, at least to a certain extent. I moreover sense that it could be construed as blasphemy to hint that lives spent in endless fixated pursuit of swimming-related activities might be, well, a tad unbalanced. We swimmers, like every other band of fervent human primates, can become very defensive about our passions. Thus, it is undoubtedly more politic to approach this subject indirectly. My twin brother John has just made a brilliant movie about obsessive swimming's dark side, a movie I believe could provoke even diehard evangelists for our sport to reexamine their notions. Because John did not want to offend swimmers by confronting them directly about their pathology, he has made a film allegory. He purposely chose a much, much less controversial subject--religious views of the after life--to stand in as a proxy for the pursuit of eternity in pools of water. But make no mistake. This is one of the most brilliant movies/savage indictments about life spent in perpetual pursuit of swimming that you will ever see. Normally, I do not rate movies for my vlog audience before they have a chance to view the film themselves. But this time I must make an exception. Five stars! Big ones, too. Not red dwarfs! This preview rating will not, I am confident, bias your own love of this film, if for no other reason than the fact that five stars are not nearly enough. __________________________________________ Brief digression: As I was writing the above, a message from SKYPE just popped up on my screen, demanding an immediate shift if my attention: You don't have to change your life around just to get time to meet someone. There are over 7 million members on sexywebdating's online community. Hell in my state alone there are close to 200 THOUSAND active members meeting their perfect match 24 hours 7 days a week inside this tight knit match making heaven. There are hundreds of lonely women in your local area that want to be satisfied now. Don't let the chance pass you bye like a wink of the eye. Meet that special someone today. It costs you nothing to check it out. All you have to do is press this web link and you'll be chatting with someone in no time. http://www.sexyI AM INTENTIONALLY BREAKING THIS WICKED LINK HERE BY INSERTING THIS MESSAGE HERE--YOUR FRIEND, JIM webdating.com Lordy! Why must the world's succubi constantly be searching for new ways to extract freeze-dried seed from my dessicated loins? Do not they know you cannot successfully tap a dry well? Begone, harpies! Begone! Do not tempt the righteous man! 'The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides with the iniquities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil (wo)men. Blessed is he who in the name of charity and good will shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon those with great vengeance and with furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know that my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee.' Thus spaketh Ezekiel, more or less As much hated as Tiger Woods, John Edwards, most Republican "family values" politicians, and their ilk have been, their abilities to suction more than their fair share of voracious harridans from polite society is perhaps a service that we newly minted righteous men shall all miss-- missed by us even more so than by the now unslated slatterns whose needs are being stymied by sex addiction clinics nationwide! **** your ear to the wind and you can hear their girlish keening! It as if Holy Water has been poured upon their Disease! From every nook and cranny the succubi loiter and lurk But enough about this. I have, you will be glad to know, just blocked my new Skype "friend"--sexy_dating--from all further attempts to contact me, and can now return to the righteous job at hand--saving my friends from swimming obsession's imbalances of the wetted soul: _____________________________________________ [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpBMccpe4wU"]YouTube- Why Heaven Can Wait: The Problem with Eternal Life[/ame]
Well, here it is closing down on the end of March, 2010 and I still have yet to really make any dent in the water this year. Yes, it is true that I am recovering from a training related surgery which sidelined me beginning January 23, 2010. The surgery was performed on March 2, 2010, so I am just 19 days from that point. I plan to begin very light activities beginning the first week of April, but it might be some time before I really get going again with my swimming. The good news is that I did select my first "C" event of 2010, which is the Redondo Beach Sprint Triathlon on June 13th, 2010. This will give me a target on the calendar to shoot for. My goal for the year as "Go The Distance" is concerned is 200 miles, which I still think I can hit. I'll keep you posted.
I had a great night's sleep and felt the best I have in a long time in the morning. Felt good in warm up and won the battle of the new non tech suit (almost gave up, but prevailed after 25 minutes or so). It was fairly comical -- there were signs posted everywhere saying "Remember, No Tech Suits!" Unfortunately, I had probably my worst pool experience breathing wise ever. After warm up, I was hacking up a storm and wheezing the whole meet. I moved outside mid way through the meet, and this seemed to help some. I was SO glad I was only doing 50s in light of this. I think because of this, though, I was not really tuned in mentally and had some execution issues. 50 back, 32.5 I was pretty happy with this time. It was a solid swim. I was fussing with my cap at the beginning of the race though and spaced out on the start. The starter was holding everyone a LONG time. I had a bad reaction and got off slowly, which is uncharacteristic. I then just mindlessly started counting kicks -- as if I was doing a shooter in practice. I got to 14 and thought, holy crap, took another kick and hurried to the surface. Wolfy said I was right on the 15 meter mark and had a good breakout. Mollie said definitely one less kick. My cap was also slowly coming off the second length, which felt weird. In sum, I thought it was a pretty good time considering I had been sick the last 2 weeks and was not wearing a tech suit. 50 fly, 31.4: My stroke felt good. Too bad noting else worked! lol. I dove in and my right goggle lens leaked. I took too many dolphin kicks, was kicking at the surface and had an awful breakout. Speedo saw it in all its glory. Because of my goggles, I couldn't pick up the wall. I think this was perhaps the worst fly turn I've ever done; I kicked in two yards instead of taking another stroke. My teammate said I easily lost .5 on the turn. Had a good second length. If I had had even a mediocre breakout and turn, I think I would have been 30+. So the time isn't too bad considering. 50 free, 29.2: I was feeling the effects of the breathing problems at this point. Had a lackluster swim, took 3-4 breaths instead of my customary 2, and felt like I was flailing and dying at the end. Barb said I looked "tired" on the 2nd length. 200 Mixed Free Relay, 1:55: Swam with William, Barb and Speedo. I led off and completely missed my turn. Ouch! Speedo had a great leg on this relay. Saw a lot of great racing at the meet. The 100 IM was fun to watch. Chris needs to get a lesson on the Roddin turn from Mr. Roddin himself. Jeff just smoked everyone on that transition turn. He and Speedo had a great race in the 50 free as well. Speedo needs to realize that he's a sprinter not a distance geek despite all his short rest training! Funny meet tidbit. I was in the same heat for 50 back and 50 fly as my friend with the forum moniker Nuthin But 50s. After much trash talk, we did the exact same time in both events. lol Went to the Social afterward, which was much fun and gossip filled. I ate a lot of salad and fruit and looked longingly at the pasta. The only real downer of the meet was that I got home and found my B70 had been stolen. I remember showering with Barb and struggling out of it and putting it on top of my swim bag. Big mistake in retrospect. I then went off to dry my hair etc. Then there was a huge influx of swimmers and swim moms into the locker room. I packed up thinking I was throwing my towels etc on top of my suit. Got home, no suit. I haven't had a suit stolen before. Really a bummer as I only got to wear it once and was counting on using it for the LC season. I feel like I've spent enough money on suits for awhile. Not inclined to replace it right now. Commentary: It was a fun meet -- as always! My only criticism is that the starter sucked. We were held a very long time on the blocks. I think I made a mistake by warming up in the diving well (which I love there) and not in the competition pool. I think I would have had better turns if I had done that. Summary: Not bad considering, and there's not much one can do about a goggle problem. I think my ability to improve in the sprints, at this point, is severely limited by my inability to do starts at practice. I may just have to start doing 25s diving from the side of the pool. Even if I went to Mason during the week, the pool with blocks is always closed during the 12-2 lap swim. Im going to beg Wolfy for a private coaching session if he can fit it in. I find myself wishing that, like Chris, I didn't have a meet until Nationals. After the last month, I'd like to just buckle down and train without interruption. I'm worried Zones will really interfere with this, and cause me to be wiped out the week after. So I'm unsure how to approach Zones and how many events to swim. I can't really skip the meet as my team is hosting! And it is a good opportunity to get block work/speed work. Not sure how to proceed ... I actually don't feel too sore today. My throat and chest are a bit ravaged from all the hacking. I'm hoping to go to hot yoga later for a "detox." Oh, and just for Geek. I have found my version of the "flaxative." Flax seeds don't phase me, but liquid magnesium does. But at least I avoided the dread calf cramps this meet.
Updated March 21st, 2010 at 03:16 PM by The Fortress
We wrapped up our open water camp in Kona this morning with an Ironman swim (2.4 miles). Things were a bit choppy and that made it hard to find the turn buoy. The water was a bit cloudy as well; a stark contrast to the crystal clear conditions we had all week. The camp was quite a success.... swam 2-3 times a day and had a few memorable wildlife sightings. Lots of turtles, spinner dolphins, the largest school of trigger fish i've ever seen, a monk seal, and a shark that I couldn't identify from a distance. A large group of us went on a manta ray night snorkel..... amazing. These giants (the small ones had 10' wing spans) were swimming within inches of us before gracefully turning 180 degrees only to somersault back around repeatedly. Mouths agape they were gobbling up the plankton that our lights were attracting. We flew into Maui late this afternoon and from the airport, we could see whales breaching in the channel. Word is they have been putting on quite a show all day. My friends Nick and Sakura did this swim a couple of weeks ago and said they heard the whales singing the whole way. The forecast is for strong winds and small craft advisory. (10'+ swells). Our boat is a small 20 footer. THe hotel has signs posted everywhere "no swimming dangerous surf". We can hear the waves crashing from our room.... entry and exit might be interesting. We have to make sure that the women on the boat have plenty of ginger and dramamine! I did a lot of swimming with Willie and Terry this week and I don't think we will have a problem staying together out there. I think it might be possible to go stroke for stroke for most of it. We had a great view of the triangle of water that separates the islands of Maui, Molokai, and Lanai'i....... definitely started thinking about the next possibilities! I'll let you know how it goes......
SCY with Carrie 200 swim free 200 kick choice 200 pull back 200 IM drill swim 6 x 50 free build on 1:00: get going at about 85% on the last 5 yards (did these all at 35-36 and 15-16 spl) swim 50 free FAST off blocks (went 28 low) swim down 200 easy swim 3x50 build on 1:30 back (like the 6 above) (went 42-39-36) swim 50 easy swim 50 back FAST off blocks (went 33 high) swim down 200 easy swim 3 x 50 build on 1:30 choice (like the 6 above) (did free like above) swim 50 easy swim 50 fly FAST off blocks (went 33 low) 200 easy choice pull 3 x 300 on 6:00: breathe 3/5 by 50 on #1; on #2 breathe 5 on even lengths; on #3 breathe whatever hold the same stroke count throughout as the breathing pattern changes (On #1 & 2, affter about 150 I could no longer hold the breathing at 5. Swam these 2 at 14-15 spl, #3 at 14 spl breathing 2 breaths/3strokes/2 breaths. times on all around 4:15) kick 4 x 25 on :30 no fins. (went 20-20-23-25) swim down 100 free and back Total: 3350 yards
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