I was weary about my sore shoulders. The coach said not to do pull. I wanted to get there early so I could get a good warm-up. 500 warm-up swim 4 X 200 1+3 25 free 25str, 2 + 4 choice 4:min DID NOT PULL kick 4 X 100 2:45 Swim 4 X 50 1+3 str, 2 + 4 free 65sec 4 X 25 choice 60sec KICK more KICKING-12 x 50 4 free 70sec 4str 80 sec 4 choice 90 sec I kicked with the group! I hung in there! It feels good! 200 cool down 2600 yds?
Fri Feb 20th 2009 Today FINA met today and issued a press release of their proposals Device Testing is Next Big Controversy in Competitive Swimming 13 days till Austin Grand Prix Thu Mar 5th ordering bands today [ame="http://www.usms.org/forums/showpost.php?p=171194&postcount=1084"]BANDS / Stretch Cords[/ame] all the links are complete to the [ame="http://www.usms.org/forums/showpost.php?p=171284&postcount=1090"]Swim Faster Faster Index[/ame] hope they help you swim faster faster, let me know if they do TODAYS SWIM PRACTICE 5:30 - 7:00 Chris Coached, no Whitney scy TSC diving well swam with larry, todd & mike beside Chris, Meg, Doug & Annie dove in on time warm up easy choice 5:30 - 5:50 Chris misread todays workout it was supposed to be 3 rounds of the following: but it was written like this: 500 fr fast on 11:00 50 easy 200 IM fast on 5:00 50 easy 100 choice fast on 3:00 50 easy 50 choice fast on 2:00 50 easy 3 rounds getting faster each one ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ assigned 500 free fast on 11:00 did: 2 x 100 easy speed 50 easy 200 IM strong went 2:08 50 easy assigned 3 rounds or 100 on 3:00, 50 on 2:00 did: 100 fr easy speed went 58 50 k went 30 100 fr stronger went 53 skipped the 50 skipped the 100 50 SDK easy speed went 25 50 easy NEXT MEET: USA Swimming Austin Grand Prix Austin TX Thursday March 5 - Saturday March 7, 2009 13 days away Meet format: Short Course AM, Long Course PM http://www.utexas.edu/longhornaquatics/meets entered the following events THU #05 100 Butterfly 52.63 #08 200 IM 2:00.32 FRI #18 100 Backstroke 54.05 SAT #24 200 Backstroke 2:21.04 #26 100 Freestyle 48.85 NEXT MEET: 2009 South Central Zone USMS Championships Friday March 27 - Sun March 29, 2009 35 days away NEXT MEET USMS MASTERS NATIONALS May 7 - 10 http://www.usms.org/comp/scnats09/ 77 days away
Well did a nice early morning swim today, got up at 4:30 and headed to the pool I wrote up the workout and swam with 2 others. One of whom was bang on my times so it made for some good LOFO's! 500 FR W/U 10 x 125 2:10 came in around 1:50's 50 EZ we needed the EZ. 10 x 75 1:15 did these around 1:00-1:05 10 x 25 :30 these were a nice finish but there was not much gas left! I told the guys that repeats of 125 are harder than you think b/c you body is used to swimming 100's and 50's etc (usually) It takes a toll. 2 x 200 EZ BR turns & pullouts 3 x 100 EZ 3500 Got in again later for some more fun: 4 x 50 3 x 100 K on back with fins. 2 x 100 K on back with board no fins 4 x 50 BK 4 x 50 Snorkel 2 x 50 no gear Lifted after work for about 50 minutes.
Updated February 20th, 2009 at 06:42 PM by SwimStud
You know I am sick when I am on deck coaching with a jacket on. Went home went straight to bed and just got up for work. Skipped practice today but will hopefully swim tomorrow, maybe tonight if I am in the mood.
Today's workout was a recovery swim. I needed it. I've not been sleeping well lately and that along with the spinning and weight training I've been doing had me beat down. I skipped spin yesterday. Only did the swim. Today, the only other thing I did is yoga. I won't swim tomorrow. Will do my weight training - lower body and core, and then off to Stray Dog to celebrate my birthday by lifting 12 oz weights. I'll swim Saturday AM. So here's today's swim: SCY Solo Warmup 4x300 w/15 rest as: 200 free, 100 back 200 back, 100 kick (kick on back in streamline) 200 kick, 100 pull (kick w/board as 25 flutter/25whip, pull w/buoy only) 200 pull, 100 choice (pull w/buoy only, 100 rev IM) Main Set swim 200 free w/20 sec rest (2:40) swim 4x50 free, descend 1-4 on 1:00 (:40 -> :31) 200 IM drill/swim by 25 w/20 2x100 IM on 2 (1:30, 1:27) 200 choice w/20 sec rest (Back at 3:05) 4x50 choice on 1:00, descend 1-4 (back - :45 -> :38) 300 easy (alternated back/free by 50) Total: 2700
Yoga after school in a cold gym...not my idea of a good yoga practice. Swim nasti workout 1) 400 Free warm-up 2) 2 X 200 on 3:45 Freestyle 3) 8 X 50 Freestyle on 1:00 4) 2 X 150 Freestyle on 2:30 5) 6 X 50 Freestyle on :55 6) 2 X 100 on 1:50 Frestyle 7) 4 X 50 on :50 8) Super 500 Freestyle (30 sec. lap pace) 9) 4 X 25 Fly on :45 (my mind said sprint but the body didn't do it) 2,800 School has been fun this week! I have a series of "7 Summits Challenges" on Towne Meadow's 40' horizontal climbing wall. The Mt. Elbrus Challenge is a timed speed climb using any hand hold/foot hold combination the student wants to use. The kids are timing each other and I will use these times to set the standards for the various speed challenge levels. One of my 5th grade girls worked very hard to just make it across (she's not very coordinated or strong) and it took her 4:11. (that is really slow) The young man who was her timer proudly reported her time to me. He backed the time up by stating "Mrs. Walker, I think it's amazing Allyson could stay up there and keep going for 4:11, that has to be more difficult than going across in :32 seconds. I think it should be a record too!" I am sincerely grateful that my students appreciate the value of good honest effort and hard work. Actions like that warm my heart and make my job amazing each day!
However, I did get in a workout today! I did a 40 minute elliptical run at HR >155. It was challenging but fun. I then did 4 x 20 yoga ball squat thrusts for core work. I then rinsed off, had a bite of cereal bar and got in the pool to do a mini workout: 200 EZ 12 x 75 kick on 45 no fins. Every 4th FAST! 2 x 100 FLY K with fins RI :15 100 FR K no gear 8 x 25 off blocks 1:00 FR, FR, FL, BR twice thru. 4 x 50 BK # 1 did with fins after that no gear, on about 2:00 I suck at BK! 4 x 50 EZ with snorkel working on a relaxed long neck.
Updated February 19th, 2009 at 08:57 PM by SwimStud
Perhaps you, like me, have been feeling a bit dour, or dower, today. Not terribly surprising-- Perhaps you, like me, also live in a part of the country where the meteorological forces are similarly conspiring to dampen your joie de vivre, though I must say Pittsburgh might be hard to beat on this cold and gray front: (Note: I hear the Good Doctor Dickson saying that Salvation by Photons is an illusion; still, I must say that Death by Snowflake Burial is very real.) There is, of course, all manner of idiosyncratic misadventure, familial and/or employment social dysfunction, and other causes for grief we each, in our own circumstances, can ladle endlessly out of the tureen of life's bouillabaisse gone septic! Even the wicked, it's been suggested, get more than we deserve. Still, what is the point in stewing? One of the strategies very often suggested for extricating yourself from personal misery is to stop focusing upon yourself and instead do something nice for someone else. Call this selfishness via altruism. I am going to give it a whack and see if it helps. The other day, I happened across a potential new swimming friend of a swimming friend named Deborah Milan Brudvig, who only recently took up swimming. On the forums, her user name is SwimMuseDeb. Anyhow, I discovered that Deborah is, among other things, a cello teacher and an artist. In her Facebook info, it gave the site where some of her artwork is sold: SwimMuse http://www.cafepress.com/swimmuse Some of the stylized swimming designs really caught my eye--I think these are beautiful and capture the spirit of those who are able to flow like currents (see yesterday's vlog) in the Popovian waterworld. Here are a couple examples: Though I am not a tattoo kind of guy, plenty of my younger teammates are riddled with them--sharks, dolphins, carnations, etc. It occurred to me that if I were a tattoo kind of guy, I would definitely consider one of these slightly abstract designs. I contacted Deborah about this and told her I didn't know how she could possibly get any money for it, but perhaps anybody who wanted to use one of Deborah's designs could make a voluntary contribution, a la Freeware or Shareware programs that altruistic software designers bequeathe to us all. She said she wasn't a tattoo person either but would be happy for her work to reach a wider swimming audience. Anyhow, check it out. Anyone who draws swimmers by day and teaches cellists by afternoon has to be a good egg. Note: if you or someone you know does get a tattoo like any of these, please let Deborah and me know! Lordy, I am feeling better already.
Did 50 minutes of weights/core work at the gym today. Going to my team practice tonight and will update later. Wanted to write it down before I forgot (in random order): pull ups w/50 pound assist, 12 x 3 standing lat pull down, 110 x 10 x 3 standing tricep press, 70 x 12 x 3 standing cable crunch, 65 x 12 x 2 kneeling cable crunch, 75 x 12 x 2 laying pull down cable crunch, 80 x 10 x 2 (made up name) standing overhead barbell tricep extension, 20 x 12 x 2 (first time I ever did this) standing barbell bicep curl, 30 x 12 x 2 seated dip machine, 60 x 25 x 2 (I do these without bending my elbow to work the RC) med ball crunches, 25 x 2 reverse straight leg sit ups on bench, lifting ass up off bench (need a name for these), 15 x 2 total ab machine, 100 x 25 x 2 prone scapular scrunches w/5 pound weights, hands at side, 25 x 2 iron monkeys, 25 x 2 5 minutes of stretching Oh, Tim, I held the plank for 1 minute! Felt OK. 30 seconds was too easy. _______________________________________ Probably won't get back to the weight room until next week, so tried to get quite a few things in today. Ordered some Hammer Recoverite today to see if it helps me recovery after hard swim workouts or "doubles."
Updated February 20th, 2009 at 04:18 PM by The Fortress
Thu Feb 19th 2009 feel a little sick, small cough & congestion 14 days till Austin Grand Prix Thu Mar 5th wrote 3 SFF tips yesterday [ame="http://www.usms.org/forums/showpost.php?p=171159&postcount=1081"]Digital Pace Clocks[/ame] [ame="http://www.usms.org/forums/showpost.php?p=171171&postcount=1082"]Tip 245 IMMERSION: One on One appointments, Training Camps, Swim Camps, Swim Clinics, & Swimming Vacations[/ame] [ame="http://www.usms.org/forums/showpost.php?p=171194&postcount=1084"]BANDS / Stretch Cords[/ame] Completed the links in the [ame="http://www.usms.org/forums/showpost.php?p=171284&postcount=1090"]SFF Index[/ame] hope they help you swim faster faster let me know if they do TODAYS SWIM PRACTICE 6:30 - 8:00 whitney coached scy TSC main pool north end with bulk head and blocks swam with Jeff, Max, Paul & Michael Lovato beside amy, brandon, larry, mike, desiree ficker, andrew, & todd warm up 400 fr finger tip drag 100 k 400 fr dps 100 im assigned: 20 x 50 fr on 40 did: intended to do the set but had sore arms so I skipped 2 (Todd, Mike, doing them on 35 but I opted for 40) assigned 800 done 100 k 100 sw did 8 x 50 assigned: 20 x 50 fr on 40 did: 11 x 50 on 40, then skipped 1 then 8 x 50 on 40 held 28's & 9's on most assigned 800 done 50 feet first 100 IM 50 free 8 x 25 SDK no breath on :50 held 14 - 16's went 13 on #8 on the last one, Eddie Reese watched me as he was walking out of the pool. When I finished Eddie said, "Ande, when you're streamlining, you've got your chin tucked up, your head is too high, lay your head back keep it in a neutral position." NEXT MEET: USA Swimming Austin Grand Prix Austin TX Thursday March 5 - Saturday March 7, 2009 14 days away Meet format: Short Course AM, Long Course PM http://www.utexas.edu/longhornaquatics/meets entered the following events THU #05 100 Butterfly 52.63 #08 200 IM 2:00.32 FRI #18 100 Backstroke 54.05 SAT #24 200 Backstroke 2:21.04 #26 100 Freestyle 48.85 NEXT MEET: 2009 South Central Zone USMS Championships Friday March 27 - Sun March 29, 2009 36 days away NEXT MEET USMS MASTERS NATIONALS May 7 - 10 http://www.usms.org/comp/scnats09/ 78 days away
I have it, I don't want it, someone cut off my nose please. I have to admit that I feel better after about 15 minutes in the pool but up until then I felt like %^@! I put together what I could tolerate today. 1000 Free by 200 Swim/Pull/Swim/Kick/Swim 10x100 @ 2:00 IM as fly drill, back pull, breast kick, free swim 5x100 @ 2:15 Breast with breast fins 500 Free odd 100's breath every 3rd stroke paddles and bouy 400 IM with fins first 50 kick second 50 swim do breast at the end changing out fins 100 Free EZ Total 3500 yards time for
Updated February 19th, 2009 at 08:07 AM by Donna
Work has been interfering with my swimming time, however since I still have a job, there's really nothing to complain about. After 2 days in Hayward for company training and getting in some "hotel" gym w/o. I'm realizing that time is getting away from being ready for the BEAR swim meet in San Pablo, CA. Ive been on this "swim training" (more like a bog) plateau for several weeks! My "official" times thus far and as entered for the upcoming meet: #8 50 Back 38:34 (From Dec 4,08) #10 100 Free 1:03 (From Dec 4,08) #14 100IM 1:33:02 (From Oct5, 08) #16 50 Fly 39:12 (From Oct5,08) #24 50 Free 29:42 (From Dec 4, 08 Hopefully with the added dry-land and stroke correction I can turn in better times, something I didn't do before the last 2 meets.
I still have sore quads to the point that walking down stairs is just painful and pretty hard to do without holding on to the railing. I can only imaging how I'll feel after 26.2 miles. Yikes! Despite that, I managed a nice 4.5 mile run outside at my normal weekday pace. Quads were sore, but it felt better that walking does! Then I went to swim with FXCM...I'm going to try to remember what we did, but my brain just shut off in the middle of practice so I may not have this right... 550 warm up 8 x 50 free on :50 5 x 50 free on :45 6 x 50 free (3 on :35, 3 on :40) 50 easy 100 swim (was supposed to be kick) 8 x 25 swim alternate back/free by 25 on :40/:30 (was supposed to be kick) 6 x 100 free on 1:20 50 easy 1 x 50 swim on 1:10 (was supposed to be kick) 4 x 50 swim on :55 (was supposed to be kick) 1 x 150 free on 2:10 3 x 150 free on 1:55 Once again we all decided to fight about who's legs were cramping up more and who needed to go last. I finally volunteered to go first with serious doubts that I'd make the interval, but somehow I did. 3 x 50 swim 5, 4, 3 breaths total by 50 on :50 3500 yards...I think. I had to go to the grocery store for milk since I'm now addicted to my chocolate milk recovery drink and picked up some yogurt covered almonds too. YUM! Good day today...tomorrow I will probably spin and do a track workout. No more swimming for me until the meet on Saturday Another chance at the 1000...I'm looking forward to it!
Got in for a lunchtime swim at the local high school: 5 X 100 BR @ 2:00 (Kick/Stroke Count/Breakout/Build) 5 X 100 FL W/Zoomers @ 2:00 (Left, Right, Breakout, Build) 10 X 50s @ 3:00 1-5 Easy Free/Sprint BR 6-10 Easy Free/Sprint FL
Well I tuffed it out today. I was below par but it's just nasal and not bronchial so I got in and swam...maybe not my best but still was OK. 5 x 100 F EZ 200 K with fins 30 x 50 1:00 10 FR, 1 BR, 10 FR held 45's and 50's for BR 2 x 100 K with fins 200 Swim with snorkel 200 swim paddles 200 EZ 3000 Quick rinse and a swig of coffee and into the gym for 45-50 minutes of weights. Leg/calf press Leg extensions Leg Curls Abduct/Adduct Chest Press Crunch Machine Rows Pulldowns Extra sweatshirt to keep good and warm.
Updated February 18th, 2009 at 09:33 PM by SwimStud
On the 40th day of Jimby's continuous infirmity, his kindly swimming coach, Bill, took pity and made tonight's "stroke" practice reasonably doable. 8 x 100 odds stroke, evens IM on 1:40 12 x 25 fly with 3-5 SDKs on :30 12 x 25 back " 12 x 25 breast DPS12 x 25 free 1 breath per length 3 x 100 IM on 2:00, last one fast 6 x 50 free on :40 throw in the 100 easy I did on my own for pre-warm up, and it totalled 2700. The only hard part was the butterflies, which seemed like they were going to be easy after the first one, but quickly became grueling five yards into the second one. The horror and gasping struggle caught on camera by swimming and photographic legend, James Kegley, protegee of Doc Councilman, winner of innumerable Chesapeake Bay Swims, and husband of a former CIA operative The set that did make me feel I still had hope as a swimmer was the 12 x 25 freestyles. Almost everyone on our little team tonight ended up taking at least the allotted one breath and sometimes more than one. I announced that I was going to alternate no breath/one breath, proclaiming to my teammates that my body had been so thoroughly colonized and replaced, cell by cell, by anaerobic bacteria over the past month and a half that I no longer needed air at all. Mollie, Stacey, Annie, and perhaps to a lesser extent Jessie, that is to say, the comely young girls of the team, seemed to think this was the idle boasting of an ineffectual lech. James S. "Renfield" Thornton frightening girls in his spare time I actually thought perhaps this was a sound interpretation. But Spunky emerged, supplanting Renfield, and bragged to the comely tarts that the colonization is, indeed, so complete that I get lockjaw in every muscle of my body. Thinking, of course, that this was true except for the one bodily quadrant that could actually use a wee bit of firmness. Then the red thin line stood erect at the apex of the pace clock. I was off. No breaths the first 25. None the second. Or third. And so forth. 300 yards without air. Well, I breathed a bit in between, i.e., on the wall, while awaiting the next send off. But nary a single lung suck taken in from toe push-off to fingertip wall touch. It helped that our kindly Bobinator had posted earlier somewhere, I think, on her own blog, the quote from Alexander Popov about not fighting the water, but rather trying to assume some of water's qualities, befriend it, flow with it. Actually, the exact quote was: "....you don't have to fight the water, just share the same spirit as the water, and it will help you move" Alexandr Popov Popov's friendship with water leads to an odd fusion And thus I imagined myself cruising up and down the pool like a human current, and the desire for air just faded away. I have at last become a 6' 1" anaerobic bacterium: dream state complete.
Still haven't recovered from the meet. Usually takes me about 3 days or so to recover from a 2 day meet. Not doing anything intense this week. I'm going to Richmond this weekend to watch Mr. Fort and friends run a half marathon there. I may just take the weekend off. BUT since I don't want to lose even more of the strength I've tortured myself to get, I went to the gym today. 45 minutes of weights and core work. I may start trying to keep track of this better (although it takes a fair bit of mental effort and I don't know many of the technical names.). I just did a mix of things today to get the lifting jump-started again. I've definitely lost some strength, so I started light. 30 minutes on the ellipse machine 15 minutes hot tub ______________________________________ From what I can recall, this is what I did: (Looks like I'm supposed to put the weight first, not last. I seriously know nothing about lifting. lol) external rotators on free motion machine, 2 x 15 with each arm ankle presses on the leg press machine (I do these to strengthen my wobbly ankles for running.) 1 x 15 x 110 with toes pointed in, out and straight leg press, 2 x 10 x 310 alternating hammer, 2 x 30 x 15 seated row, narrow grip, 2 x 12 x 80 dead lift, 2 x 12 x 70 standing "push ups" on the double cable free motion machine, 2 x 12 x 40 sit ups on the incline bench, 2 x 25 crunches with the med ball (don't know what these are called. I only keep my butt on the ground when I do these and bring the med ball over my head), 2 x 25 jackknifes with the yoga ball, 2 x 15 reverse sit ups on the funky reverse V shaped bench type thing, 2 x 25 with a 10 lb weight. I just held the weight to my chest. Sometimes, I try to do it with the weight held out over my head with straight arms. This is much harder, and I was too tired today. Used the pec fly/rear delt machine today, did 2 x 15 of each, can't remember the weight. Still pondering planks. I generally agree with JMiller that they hurt my shoulders, but I'm going to look at the Mens Health article that Tim posted and see what the variations are. I may start doing the ab barbell rollout instead.
Updated February 18th, 2009 at 04:12 PM by The Fortress
For future reference, donating a double unit of red blood cells on Monday evening and expecting to have a strong practice on Wednesday do not necessarily go hand in hand! I try not to make excuses, but... 11:00 AM to Noon at the Downtown YMCA (SCM) coached by Priscilla. Warmup: 400 free - every 4th extra long distance per stroke 200 choice kick 4x100 descend on 2:15 - fly/free/breast/free - 1 and 3 were real fly, 2 and 4 were 1 arm fly. 6x50 free on 1:00 4x75 50br/25fr on 1:40 16x25 on :35 - evens fly/odds free 4x50 free on :30 with a turbo kick 100 easy free warmdown 2500 meters Notes: I made the whole 200 kick, flutter with a board!!!! However, the rest of the workout was torturous. I donate blood regularly, just not the double unit of red blood cells. It usually impacts my practice slightly on the next day or the day after. But, wow, this was bad. I was fatigued during warmup and I had absolutely zero in the tank. So, I worked hard on holding form while swimming tired. And my breaststroke felt pretty good. I really felt like my kick was timed well, I was getting up and over the water with my recovery, and my hips were coming up nicely at the end of the recovery.
SCY with Carrie Warmup 800 swim alt. 150 free/50 no free (did back for the non-free) 400 pull with paddles breathe 3/5/3/7 by 25 (This wasn't too bad. I really need to focus to make the 7) Main Set swim 8x150 free on 2:15 (Swam 1st one at about 2:10 and kept getting slower. It was touch and go at #4 so I changed the interval to 2:20 and we held 2:12-:13 for the last 4) 6x75 on 1:30 alt 25 kick on back/50 swim back: descend 1-6 (started these around 1:13-:14 and finished under 1:10) 150 easy swim (did as 50 kick, 50 easy free, 50 DAB) Total: 3000 yards
Wed Feb 18th 2009 feeling a bit sick, small cough & congestion 15 days till Austin Grand Prix Thu Mar 5th WEIGHTS (LIFTED san marcos world gym ) bench 10 x 135 6 x 190 3 x 200 lat pull 8 x 167 6 x 207 5 x 217 leg press 10 x 180 8 x 270 6 x 360 BANDS 5 sets of 10 reps using 2 blue cords & 1 red cord lat press machine is busted TODAYS SWIM PRACTICE 7:45 - 8:00 whitney coached scy TSC main pool swam with larry & Michael Lovato beside Max warm up 4 x 200 done 100 fr 50 k 50 IM went :30 on the last 50 K assigned 3 rounds of 5 x 25 on 30 followed by 5 x 125 on 1:40 did: 5 x 25 on 30 6 SDKs off each wall then easy 5 x 75 on 1:40 took 6 SDKs off each wall 5 x 25 on 30 6 sdks off each wall then easy 5 x 75 on 1:40 6 sdks 3 x 25 on 30 (skipped 2) 3 x 75 on 1:40 skipped 2 assigned: 4 x 250 fr on 3:30 desc did: 3 x 50 on the first one, 2 x 50 on the 2nd one got out on the 3rd one put on FS PRO legs thought about doing a hard 250 but didn't skipped it 25 SDK fast roll start worked it but timing felt off whitney timed went 10.6 100 easy rest 5:00 minutes 25 SDK fast roll start whitney timed went 10.0 This is my fastest ever 25 SDK from a roll start off the side NEXT MEET: USA Swimming Austin Grand Prix Austin TX Thursday March 5 - Saturday March 7, 2009 15 days away Meet format: Short Course AM, Long Course PM http://www.utexas.edu/longhornaquatics/meets entered the following events THU #05 100 Butterfly 52.63 #08 200 IM 2:00.32 FRI #18 100 Backstroke 54.05 SAT #24 200 Backstroke 2:21.04 #26 100 Freestyle 48.85 NEXT MEET: 2009 South Central Zone USMS Championships Friday March 27 - Sun March 29, 2009 NEXT MEET USMS MASTERS NATIONALS May 7 - 10 http://www.usms.org/comp/scnats09/ Entered it today
Updated February 18th, 2009 at 12:55 PM by ande