I went to the early AGUA workout. Here’s how it went: 1000 lcm warmup (400 swim, 200 kick, 200 pull, 200 IM dr/swim by 25), done during regular warmup and while others were doing 500 kick with fins 10 x 50 working udk, backstroke breakouts, and backstroke turns [done during set of 5 x 100 K @ 2:15. I find that when I try to do more UDKs, my breakout ends up being more abrupt. I’m trying to find that middle ground between longer underwaters and smooth breakouts.] 3 x block dive (1 FL, 1 BR to 40m, 1 FR to 35m) [done during a set that involved 400s—I moved up to a more “clumpy” lane for this so that I would have plenty of room to dive without worrying about incoming swimmers, since my regular lane had speeds all over the map this morning and spread out quickly. Dives felt good, and it felt fun to go fast. I actually wanted to do full 50 sprints but figured I would save that for the weekend.] 300 warmdown Stretch Things I do consistently during taper that are both helpful and pleasurable, and that I really should incorporate all season long: 1. Get to the pool early to enjoy the first part of warmup, when the pool is empty and calm. 2. Stretch thoroughly after each workout. 3. Eat a little something with protein and carbs right after each workout (I like Luna bars or vanilla low-fat milk pints for their portability). 4. Use a few turns during warmup to really exaggerate my streamline off the wall, and think about hitting that tight position during the rest of workout. 5. Practice starts.
This morning I went to the early AGUA workout. Coach Craig was back from his Worlds/Nats double, and at least one of my teammates who swam in Puerto Rico was back in the water—maybe more of them will trickle in later this week to get in a workout or two before the pool shuts down next week. It was a nice, mellow workout. Here’s how it went: 600 lcm warmup 4 x 150 (25 kick / 50 drill / 75 swim) [I worked IM turns, did rest easy] 8 x 50 @ 1:10 (odds IM order, evens FL/BK, BK/BR, BR/FR, easy) 2-3 times thru: 300 FR @ 5:00 250 IM @ 5:00 200 ST @ 5:00 [During this set I actually did the following: Stretching on deck during the first 300 FR 5 starts from the block with breakouts (I took advantage of the gaps in the lane for these—with just 5 other swimmers in a lc lane and generous intervals, this worked out well) 1 x 50 FL @ 200 IM pace 2 x BK start from the wall (there’s unfortunately a 1-foot bulkhead between the starting blocks and the water, so dive starts over it are doable, but not backstroke starts) 2 x 12m fast udk about 500m of easy swimming in between and after the above] Then I got out early, and went to my gym and stretched thoroughly. Sometimes during taper I’m torn between practicing with my team or practicing on my own, especially when, like now, I’m one of just a handful of people tapering for a particular meet. (There are 4 swimmers from AGUA signed up for zones, and I was the only one at workout this morning). It’s always a tradeoff between being on your own and doing exactly what you want to do, versus having to adapt sets at a workout but having the support and encouragement of teammates and a coach there. This morning I was really glad to have gone to the group workout—I was able to get in some start work (something I can’t do during lap swim times) and got some good feedback from our coach. I ended up easily getting in all the things I wanted to work on, and felt happy to be in the water with my lanemates even if I wasn’t doing exactly the same thing as them. Plus, getting out early at a team practice just feels special! Yesterday I tried on various suits in preparation for the meet this weekend. I haven’t bought a current-generation technical suit—I don’t have much of a hankering for one, in part because I’m just not sure which one to get, in part because I really just don’t want to deal with a super-tight suit that I dread putting on and wearing at meets, and partly because I'm just not sure any advantage they'll give over regular suits will justify the cost. So I’ll probably go with one of the knee suits that I’ve owned for a while. The purple-and-pink Asics flowery suit is probably my favorite, but it’s gotten a bit stretched out, especially in the top, and probably doesn’t give much compression help anymore. I like the way my still-newish navy Tyr fusion suit fits and feels, but it seems very plain by comparison. I have also ordered a whimsically patterned Asian Tyr kneesuit, but there’s only an outside chance that it will get here in time for Zones, and in any case I expect it to be more of a fun suit than a fast one. So I’m still up in the air about which suit I’ll end up competing in.
This morning I went to the early AGUA practice. Here’s what we did (mutatis mutandis for taper): 200 lcm warmup 300 FR + 200 IM drill (2nd warmup) 8 x 50, 2 of each stroke, IM order, @ :20ish rest 5x thru: 200 IM 100 FR 50 Stroke (IM order) 50 easy FR [I took an on-deck stretching interlude during the first 200 IM, and thereafter did the rest of the set, substituting 200 stroke drills/easy swim with fast IM turns for the IM, and doing sprint BR or BK for the 50 stroke.] 300 warmdown + sculling + play My sprint breaststroke timing was feeling good today for the first time in a while—I felt like I was able to turn over quickly without losing water. I’m still working on getting my backstroke turnover right. After my 50 BK at the Wilton meet, Coach Craig told me that I was swimming too flat, and shouldn’t sacrifice rotation for arm speed (or at least not to the extent that I was doing). My body and I still seem to be negotiating what rate of turnover still allows me to get enough body rotation when I’m sprinting. Yesterday afternoon I went over to the Y for a short on-my-own swim. I did 1000 warmup 8 x 25 FR, odds build quickly to sprint, evens easy 400 warmdown I would usually do the sprint 25s to feet, but I realized one thing I’m glad about for Zones is that I will not have to do any flipturns in any of my races! (I don’t count backstroke turns as flipturns). For some reason, freestyle turns are my least favorite of all the swim turns. I will get to do all the other 5 possible turns (that’s counting butterfly and breaststroke turns as the same) exactly once over the course of my 6 races. (Math question of the day: How many possible combinations of events would the above info hold true for?) 10 more days til Zones!
This morning I swam the early AGUA workout. August is such a nice peaceful month in the city—the pool felt very spacious this morning, with just 4-5 swimmers per lc lane. We had a treat this morning—Coach Frank from Curl-Burke guest coached (our regular coach, Craig, is away with our “national team” in Puerto Rico). Frank was super nice and full of energy, at 5:30 in the morning no less. I adapted the workout as necessary for my taper. Here’s what we did: 500 lcm warmup 5 x 100 (50 K / 50 easy swim) @ :20 rest 4 x 200 wrap-around, skip-stroke IMs @ 4:00: 1st 200 = FL/BK/BR/FL, 2nd = BK/BR/FR/BK, 3rd = BR/FR/FL/BR, 4th = FR/FL/BK/FR 4 x 300 w/ paddles: First we had a technique talk on correct paddle technique (keep elbows high and rotate, should feel it in the lats, not the shoulders) --On the first 300, we wore a paddle on our right hand only, and swam 100 right-arm only (50 w/ left arm at side, 50 w/ left arm in front), 100 left-arm only (50 w/ rt. arm at side, 50 w/ rt. arm in front), then 100 using both arms. --On the 2nd 300, we wore a paddle on our left hand only, and did the mirror-image of the above --On the 3rd 300, we wore paddles on both hands and otherwise did the same thing as on #1 --The 4th 300 was paddles on both hands, 200 back build + 100 FR [Doing the one-arm drills with just one paddle on felt confusing, plus I was getting remarkably far behind my lanemates, so I got out mid-way through the 2nd 300 and watched how my teammates did these drills for a bit. Keeping the motion continuous and fluid seemed to be the key—I think I was stopping and starting too much with each single arm stroke. Then I noticed that two of our swimmers who were PR-bound today were doing some fast swims from a dive in another lane, so I went over there and practiced a few dives and got some good pointers. I hopped back into my lane near the end of the 3rd 300. On the 4th 300, I ditched the paddles and did 4 x 50 BK (25 sprint, 25 easy) + 100 FR easy 4 x 200 w/ fins (150 kick + 50 swim choice) [I just did the first of these with fins, and really hammered the 50 swim (FR), which was majorly fun. I then warmed down finless for the last two.] Midway through my warmdown I was submerged under the water doing breaststroke on my back, and I happened to look backwards and saw one of my lanemates doing fly with fins swimming towards me. It looked really cool! After that, I tried lying on the pool bottom and watching several of my friends as they swam by. It’s a neat effect. *********** Over the weekend I watched U.S. nats on tv. Here’s some thoughts: --I wondered what Lochte could go for a 200 BR—that stroke looked great on both of his IMs. --My disapproval of earlier tech suits on purely aesthetic grounds still stands for the current generation. I don’t at all like seeing all 8 finalists wearing the same solid black suit. If Speedo can make sparkly emerald green sneakers for Lochte, can’t they custom-make some colorful graphic-y suits for their stars? (Or if not custom make—I think that might run afoul of FINA regs, alas—at least produce their suits in a variety of colors and patterns, a la their very successful Flipturns line?) For $375 you should get pretty suit, not just a fast one! On one night that swimming was not on Universal Sports, they carried a track meet from Stockholm at which Usain Bolt was wearing a cool custom designed singlet. It would be neat to see something similar done with our tech suits. --The thinner parts of the Speedo suit are very sheer, especially in the sunlight at outdoor meets. Some of the guys almost looked like they were wearing black nylon stockings over codpieces. --The Arena women’s suit (worn by Rebecca Soni) is very aggressively cut in on the sides. Arena racing suits were always cut like that in the 80s and 90s, but it’s interesting that they went back to that minimal-fabric back design once zippers were outlawed. --I want to try those starting blocks with the slanted bit in the back. Do any pools that host masters meets in the northeast have them? ********** Yesterday I went over to my 220y track and did plyo. I had planned to plyo while on vacation in Lake Placid—I had even chosen the grassy infield of the Olympic speed-skating oval as my venue—but had to postpone it for a few days after stubbing my toe on a heavy wooden Adirondack chair. Nothing broken, but the toe swelled up under the nail and was painful for a few days. I was worried that I might lose the toenail, but now it seems fine, and I can once again wear running shoes without pain. Here’s what I did yesterday: Warmup 4 x 40y sprint (85, 90, 95, 100%) 5 x 40y skip: warmup skip skipping for height, both legs skipping for height, right leg skipping for height, left leg skipping for distance, both legs I left off the one-legged skips for distance, because my right knee was feeling a little wonky right at the place (MCL) where it was injured last summer. It feels ok today, though, so I’m glad of that. I’m still very nervous about injuring myself with the plyo, so am being pretty conservative about how much and how quickly I add stuff. I might get in one more plyo session before Zones, if my legs feel good this Wednesday or Thursday, or this might be the last one for a couple of weeks.
I got in a little swim at noon today at Asphalt Green. I did about 1600 yards, with a tad of sprint FR and lots of drills. Then I did a few backstroke starts—Coach Craig pulled some major strings with the facility and got an actual touchpad in for us, so I really enjoyed starting on the sticky wall, and was happy to check off the last thing on my prep list before nats. Tomorrow I leave for Atlanta. I’m flying in around noon, then driving down to southeast Alabama for a few days to visit my mom and aunt. I’ll drive back up on Thursday, hopefully in time to get in a quick swim in the competition pool. I’ll swim tomorrow morning before I go out to the airport--I'm planning on just doing my meet warmup, then a nice stretch. Wednesday will be an off day, since there is no place to swim in my hometown. Good luck to everyone heading to nationals—travel safe, swim fast, and stop by and introduce yourself to me if I haven’t found you first! (I’ll be with the AGUA team—just ask for Janet. We got some team togs today, so the team should be recognizable.)
This morning I swam the LCM workout with AGUA masters. I was feeling pretty good from the outset today—no wooziness or headaches. Here’s how it went: 600 LCM warmup 600 more warmup / easy swimming [this was actually a set of 250s FR and 200s ST, but I just swam easy and got out in the middle for an extended on-deck stretch] 10 x 50 @ 1:20?, odds working on underwater efficiency, evens adding quicker turnover 5 x 100 @ big rest, 25 fast, 75 easy [this set was actually 10 x 100 @ 2:00, 50 ST fast, 50 FR easy, with taperers doing 1 on/ 1 off, but I modified it further to do my fave LC 25m sprints. I got to practice going off the blocks a few times on this set] 300 warmdown/play I felt really dreamy and relaxed in the water today. The practice was not too crowded, and I went in the back of my lane, about 20 seconds behind everyone else, so I really felt like it was just me and the water. Yesterday I posted my goals and keys for my first day of swimming in Atlanta. Here’s the same for my second day (Saturday): 200 IM Masters/lifetime PR: 2:25.82 (1998) (32.2, 38.9, 42.0, 32.6) (Swim rating = 85.1) 40-44 PR: 2:31.16 (4/2009) (32.8, 38.1, 44.9, 35.3) (SR=86.2) 2010 best: 2:32.56 (4/11) (33.3, 38.3, 45.1, 35.8) (SR=86.0) Time needed to beat best swim rating: 2:31.94 Keys: easy FL, accelerate into turns, rhythm + turnover on BK, hand speed on BR, kick on FR 100 FR Masters PR: 58.07 (27.78) (2002) (Swim rating = 86.7) Lifetime best: 57.53 (1981) 40-44 PR and 2010 best: 59.56 (28.94) (3/2010) (SR=87.4) Time needed to beat best swim rating: 59.52 Goal: I’d be thrilled to go under a minute again. Keys: happy and relaxed off blocks, accelerate 2nd length into turn, kick on 3rd length, push turnover and kick on last 25 50 BK Masters/lifetime PR: 30.70 (2001) (SR=85.8) 40-44 PR: 31.35 (3/08) (SR=87.3) 2010 best: 31.62 (March) (SR=87.6) Time needed to beat best swim rating: 31.58 Keys: explosive start, push turnover, accelerate into walls, kickickick I think one of the biggest challenges for me in Atlanta will be dealing with the crowded warmup and warmdown pools. I really like having space around me when I swim, but I don’t think I’m going to find much of that. I’ll just have to be flexible and determined about getting good warm-ups in both days. If warm-ups are really a zoo, it will just make me look forward swimming my actual events (where I will have my own lane) even more! I am hoping to make it to the pool on Thursday in time to register and get in a little swim in the competition pool after the day’s events are done, but it looks like I’ll need to get there pretty early in the afternoon for that. I’ll be driving up from Alabama after spending a few days with family there, so that should be doable.
I went to noon AGUA workout today and just did some easy swimming. I’m still feeling a little lightheaded from Wednesday, but things are definitely getting better. The workout involved various different pacing and effort levels, but I ended up swimming it all easy except for some fast turns and breakouts and an occasional 3-5 stroke cycles at race speed. I worked on some technique keys (BR head position, BK elbow bend, FR head position) that I hope to do well in my races in Atlanta. Here’s the workout I did: 300 warmup 6 x 150 @ :20 rest 5 x 100 @ 2:20 [I moved down a couple of lanes for this set and the next, since the fast lane had 7 swimmers and I was just taking it easy.] 12 x 50 choice: 3 @ 1:10, 3 @ 1:05, 3 @ 1:00, 3 @ 55 2 backstroke starts [Coach Craig’s tip: head further back when in start position] 150 warmdown I felt good in the water by the middle of the workout, and enjoyed just taking it easy. I was glad to get in a bit of work on my BK starts, but only did 2 because starting on the bulkhead really chews up the skin on my toes. Maybe I’ll ask if they can put in a touchpad Monday morning to do some more BK start work—I think the pool has some (I don’t think they’re the high touchpads like will be in Atlanta—but any surface would be better than the bulkhead). I’ve been a bit of a slacker about writing down my goals and keys for each race in Atlanta. That’s partly because I really am not sure what to expect. I decided to attend this meet somewhat late in the season, and my reasons—I thought it would be fun to go to a major meet with a big team, I could combine it with a trip to Alabama to see my mom, and I wanted a distraction from other goings-on this spring—didn’t really have that much to do with achieving individual swim goals. My overarching aim at the meet is to enjoy a fun few days of swimming, and to feel like I’ve gotten the best that my body could do out of each swim. But I do also like to have numbers to shoot for, and I was feeling at a bit of a loss there. It’s been years since I’ve tapered for a scy meet, so I don’t have a set of recent yards tapered times to aim for. Most of my best yards times are from my early 30s, and many of them seem so far out of reach as to seem daunting. But yesterday I remembered the swim rating calculator. I decided to comb through my old times, determine my best swim rating in each of the events I’m doing, and see what sort of time it would take to beat that rating at my current age (44). It turns out that those times yield a nice set of challenging yet achievable goal times. Hurray for swim ratings! So here’s the pertinent info for my first day of swimming at nats (Friday): 400 IM Masters/Lifetime PR: 5:13.51 (1999) (1:12.9, 1:22.8, 1:26.1, 1:11.7) (84.4 swim rating) 40-44 PR: 5:20.62 (4/2006) (1:17.8, 1:20.2, 1:31.6, 1:10.9) (SR=85.3) 2010 best: 5:33.43 (January) (1:17.3, 1:24.6, 1:36.4, 1:15.1) (SR=84.1) Time needed to beat best swim rating: 5:28.47=85.4 Other goals: a well-paced race Keys: relaxed FL, establish rhythm on BK, head down on BR, exuberant FR, accelerate into walls on all strokes. 50 BR Masters/lifetime PR: 34.08 (2000) (87.1 swim rating) 40-44 PR: 34.83 (3/2006) (SR=87.0) 2010 best: 35.52 (3/21) (SR=86.8) Time needed to beat best swim rating: 35.38 Other goals: <35?, good turn Keys: build into fast turnover on first few strokes; head down; coherent, powerful turn 200 BK Masters/lifetime PR (and coolest-ever splits): 2:26.52 (2002) (35.10, 37.14, 37.14, 37.14) (SR=83.4) Best swim rating: 2:31.30 in 2009 (SR=84.7) 40-44 PR: 2:30.07 (2007) (SR=84.2) 2010 best: NT Time needed to beat best swim rating: 2:32.34 Goals: <2:30, a well-paced swim Keys: still head; think rotation on 1st 3 strokes off each wall, then push turnover; accelerate into walls
Not able to swim until 6am due to some heat lightning. Been having a lot of rain last day or two. I was still able to swim what I planned, which was an extended warm up rather than a workout. Swam with Eduardo. Water temp was good. Warm Up [1400/1400] 600 swim 4 x 150 as 50 dr, 50 k, 50 sw 4 x 50 build Set 1 [500/1900] 3 x 100 on 1:30 @1500 pace - I shed my drag suit, and had my Speedo Endurance (too tight) jammers on. Did 1:13, 1:13, 1:15. My target pace is 1:15 or better. These were easier, and I swam faster, than just a couple of days ago. 200 easy Set 2 [600/2500] 4 x 50 on 1:00 easy/drill 50 on 1:00 smooth/pace 200 easy Set 3 [200/2700] 4 x 50 on 1:30 25 fast, 25 easy Warm down [200/2900] 200 easy Also stretched for about 15 minutes in the gym. Felt pretty decent in the water. Resting yesterday (just did some stretching) seemed to help. Swimming without the drag suit also helps. I figure it may slow me down about 1 sec/50M in my workout swims.
4/28 SCY Today's focus was a bit more on pace work. I expect the 1500 and 400, being the first events of each day, will be my better swims, so I'll focus on those events. Swam with Eduardo, Sheila, and Lisa S. Water temp was good. My weight was back up to 185. Too much eating the last week or so. I hope I gain some buoyancy for this weekend. Meet warm up [1400/1400] 600 swim 4 x 150 as 50 drill, 50 kick, 50 swim 4 x 50 build Set 1 – pace 100s [700/2100] 5 x 100 on 1:30, @ goal 1500 pace (1:15s for me) - held 1:15 - 1:16s. Seems like I should be able to hold 1:15s, but have not swam a full 1500 straight at race pace for a while. I usually do an 800 in most 1500s. 200 easy Set 2 [600/2700] 2 x 50 drill on 1:10 1 x 100 on 1:45 @ 400 pace (1:10) - went 1:11 2 x 50 on 1:00 @400 pace (:35) - I think I was 33 - 34, but the clocks were slightly out of sync. I did sync them at the start, but one drifted a couple of secs off within 30 minutes. 2 x 50 drill on 1:10 200 easy Set 3 [400/3100] 8 x 50 on 1:15 choice 1 – 4 are easy/fast by 50 5 – 8 are easy/fast, fast/easy by 25 - alternated some back with free. Warm down [200/3300] 200 easy Plan now is to take it easy on Thursday and sleep in, as I'm tired. May try to swim easy-ish on Thursday afternoon or evening. Will definitely plan on Friday morning early, and will make that practice an extended warm up. The 1500 starts at 8am on Saturday. Goal is to break 19:00.
Next day of the taper, getting ready for the meet this weekend. Today's focus was on moderate swimming with technique, and some fast swimming in last quarter of the race. Swam with Eduardo, Sheila, and Lisa S. Water temp was decent, the aerator was running. Warm up [1200/1200] 600 choice 4 x 150 drill, kick, swim by 50 This is a common meet warm up I do, then I do some build 50s and some pace swims. I'll extend my warm up the next couple of days so its more like my meet warm up. Set 1 [1800/3000] 1 x 300 on 5:00 as pull (no paddles) with snorkel 3 x 200 on 3:30 as 150 swim, 50 fast - went 2:32 - 35 1 x 300 on 5:00 pull w/ snorkel 3 x 100 on 1:45 as 75 swim, 25 fast - went 1:15s 1 x 300 on 5:00 pull w/ snorkel 6 x 50 kick on 1:15 Set 2 [400/3400] 100 easy 6 x 50 1:15 choice easy/fast - went 32's on #2 and #4. No time on the last one as Coach Li was standing in front of the clock. I think it must have been about a 28. 200 easy warm down [200/3600] Will continue to cut back tomorrow, with and emphasis on pace swimming for the 1500 and 400. I'll attempt to focus on those races, since they are the first events each day. I tend to do better in the longer distances, although I have difficulty with that last half of the 1500. I do OK in the 800-1000, but that extra 500 or so is tough.
Swam solo. Water was warm again. This is a bit of a middle taper workout. I'm swimming in the St Pete Masters LCM meet next weekend. I've entered the 50, 100, 200, 400, and 1500 free, and 50, 100, and 200 back. The 1500 and 400 and the first events on Sat and Sun, respectively, so they may wipe me out for the other events. I hope I swim better than I did today. I'll continue to ease up the rest of the week, since this may be my only LCM competition this year. Warm up [600/600] 600 choice Set 1 [600/1200] 4 x 50 on 1:00 drill 1 x 200 kick/swim by 50 4 X 50 on 1:00 BUILD Set 2 [800/2000] 2 x { 1 x 200 on 3:15 -- pull, no paddles w/ snorkel 4 X 50 on :45 desc 1>4 Set 3 [1400/3400] 4 x 200 on 3:30 broken w/ 10 sec rest 50-50-10050-100-50100-50-5050-50-50-50 4 x 100 1:50 broken w/ 5 sec rest 25-25-5025-50-2550-25-2525-25-25-25 4 X 50 on 1:00 choice easy/hard by 25 Set 4 [400/3800] 2 X 50 on 1:30 FAST 4 X 25 on :45 FAST 200 EASY
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