Canuck Countdown

117 days until Day 1 of the FINA World Masters Championships

Been awhile since I blogged. Did you miss me?

To fill in the gap between December 23 and now, I'll just highlight the significant events.

December 31: swam 60 x 100 LCM @ 1:30. Alternated 10 swim with 10 pull. Didn't find this to be too uncomfortable. Total meters for December was 61,700 over 15 workouts, averaging 4100 meters / workout.

January 13-15: swam in the Edmonton Keyano Blue Bear Meet (SCM). This was a SNC (Swimming Canada) meet rather than a MSC (Masters Swimming Canada) meet. I suppose it's the same difference as USA-S vs. USMS. Swam in the '15 & over' age group.

Friday Evening

1500 Free - 18:39.83. Not blazingly fast, but better than my last two tries. At least I didn't quit, even though I wanted to! I want to take this down to 18:00 by mid-April (next time I race it).

Saturday

100 Free - 57.94. Happy with this result. Made the finals, but scratched.

400 Free - 4:43.42. Not impressed. But not surprised. In years past, I have had 15-20 seconds drop between in-season and championship performances in this event. I want to take this down to 4:28 by mid-May.

After this session of racing was over, I joined my club for a 1.5 hour workout. Total distance today was 6000 meters (warmup + racing + workout)

Sunday

200 Free - 2:11.01. Not impressed. But, again, not surprised. I want to take this down to 2:04 by mid-May.

100 Fly - 1:08.45. Just cruised it easy, since I had 50 Free coming up in about 10 minutes. I want to take this down to 1:02 by mid-May.

50 Free - 27.35. Oops! Cruising the fly didn't help! I want to take this down to 25.9 by mid-May.

After this session of racing was over, I joined my club for another 1.5 hour workout. Total distance today was 4800 meters (warmup + racing + workout).

January 26: last workout of the month for me. Total meters for January was 58,500 over 15 workouts, averaging 3900 meters / workout.

January 27 - 31: Las Vegas! Went down to celebrate my 50th birthday (on January 30). Went with my wife, her sister, and my brother-in-law (who had his 46th birthday on the 27th). This was my first time there and I had a great time!

February 7: Entered the 14th FINA World Masters Championships in Riccione, Italy (June 10 - 16 for pool events). Here's my event list:

Sunday - 800 Free
Monday - 100 Free
Tuesday - 200 Free
Wednesday - 100 Fly
Thursday - Relays
Friday - nothing!
Saturday - 400 Free

I'm hopeful that my travel arrangements won't leave me too tired for the first event on Sunday. On Thursday, June 7, I fly overnight to London, England. On Friday, I fly to Bologna, Italy, via Frankfurt. On Saturday morning, I'll take a train, bus, or car to Riccione (only 75 miles). On Saturday afternoon, I'll jump in the pool for a shakeout swim!

February 8: Planned my meet schedule between now and mid-June (see the schedule at the end of this blog). One of my goals is to complete the MSC Check-Off Challenge (i.e., complete all 18 SCM swimming events in a single season). Another is to get significant race experience in each of my FINA events.

February 11-12: swam in the Silver Tide Winter Invitational Meet (SCM). This was a SNC (Swimming Canada) meet.

Saturday

50 Back - 32.30. Not one of my typical events - I swam it for the Check-Off Challenge!

50 Breast - 35.08. Not one of my typical events - I swam it for the Check-Off Challenge!

400 Free - 4:44.13. Poor! Even slower than at the Blue Bear meet in January!

Sunday

100 Back - 1:12.58. Not one of my typical events - I swam it for the Check-Off Challenge! I was disappointed because this is significantly slower than my 1:09 last March.

400 IM - 5:32.65. Not one of my typical events - I swam it for the Check-Off Challenge! Best thing about this swim - except for the 100 Fly, I negative-split the other 100s. I've been told this is a good strategy.

2012 Meet Schedule

March 3: Rocky Mountain Masters Invitational (SCM), Calgary, Alberta. Entered 200 Fly, 100 Free, 200 IM.

March 17: Making Waves Masters 11th Annual Sprint Meet (SCM), Edmonton, Alberta. Plan to enter the 200 Back. Note that I am in another meet on the same day...

March 17 - 18: Olympian Swim Club Double Double Meet (LCM) (SNC Meet), Edmonton, Alberta. Plan to enter 100 Free, 200 Free, and 100 Fly.

March 24: Red Deer Silver Sharks Masters Invitational (SCM), Red Deer, Alberta. Plan to enter 100 IM, 100 Breast, 200 Breast.

March 25: Calgary Masters Invitational 2012 (LCM), Calgary, Alberta. Plan to enter 1500 Free, 50 Free, 100 Free, 400 Free.

April 14-15: Alberta Provincial Championships (SCM), Edmonton, Alberta. Plan to enter 50 Free, 100 Free, 200 Free, 400 Free, 1500 Free, 50 Fly, 100 Fly.

May 3-6: Edmonton Keyano International (LCM) (SNC Meet), Edmonton, Alberta. Plan to enter 50 Free, 100 Free, 200 Free, 400 Free, 800 Free.

May 18-21: Canadian Masters Swimming Championships (SCM), Kelowna, British Columbia. Entered 50 Free, 100 Free, 200 Free, 400 Free, 800 Free, 100 Fly.

June 10-16: FINA World Masters Championships (LCM), Riccione, Italy. Entered 100 Free, 200 Free, 400 Free, 800 Free, 100 Fly, Relays.