The FAF AFAP Digest

I swam out of my mind today. I'm so excited that I doubt I'll sleep a wink tonight!

Woke up at the crack of dawn for me, 6:15 am, to make sure I was awake and caffeinated for the 50 minute drive out to the Warrenton meet. I was extremely relaxed since it was a local meet and I was just swimming 3 x 50. I had a solid warm up. I then headed to the locker room and ripped a tech suit all down the side. lol. I donned an old LZR Elite with small holes and very little leg compression left. However, I'm still thinking it's my lucky suit.


50 Breast, 33.3

Wow. I had been thinking, based on the 38.2 in SCM I swam tapered at NE Champs, that I might go a 34 high today. So this was much faster than expected. And I didn't have the best start. As happens sometimes, I was too deep on the start and was not at the surface after the pullout. I had to float to the top a little. My left heel also kicked air a couple times. (Probably a result of no whip kick in practice.) Still, I was very pleased with the time. Technically, it's a PR, beating a previous B70 best of 33.8. (I previously swam a 32.9 with a Jaked at Nats in 2010, but was DQ'd.) I may rest on this time for the SCY season. I'm not swimming 50 breast at Nationals b/c of the order of events. But this time would have been #2 last season.


50 fly, PR, 26.79

I felt like my race execution was right on. I had an exceedingly good start, very fast off the blocks and a great push. I had clean breakouts and hit my walls just right. I only took 1 breath after the breakout on the second 25 (pretty sure all other races I've taken 2). The only obvious flaw I could detect was that I grazed my right hand on the lane line twice on the second 25; the lanes in this pool are very narrow. My previous PR was a 27.0 from Feb. 2009 in a B70, so I was just shocked by the time! The NR in this event is 26.77, so I narrowly missed it by .02. But since I never expected to go under 27, ever, I was just thrilled.


50 Back, PR & NR, 27.4

All I can say is that I was absolutely dumbfounded when I looked at the clock, and had to stare at it several times. I basically killed the NR I set last October at the Sprint Classic of 28.23. I had a feeling I might be slightly faster today after my first two events. But I never expected to be this fast. Race execution was also near perfect -- so very rare. I had a quick start and was underwater (16 kicks) to the 14.75 mark. I was a little long going into the turn maybe, but Jeff Roddin said I flipped quickly. My arms were moving so fast and throwing up water that I had a tiny bit of trouble seeing the flags. I hit the finish well too with no glide. 8 strokes down & 11 back. My prior PR was a 27.9 from 2009 (then an NR) in a full body LZR so this was blazing for me. This may replace last year's 50 SCM back as the best swim of my masters career.

Went out to lunch with friends after, which is always one of the nicest parts of meets!

Unofficial meet results are here:
http://www.warrentonmasters.org/
(Attached are a couple pics from the meet director, one of me looking quite stunned.)

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Thoughts:

On the drive home, I was thinking about how I popped off those times right now. I decided:

1. Jan & Feb may have been two of my best months -- ever -- of training. 5 swims most weeks with a ton of hard speed workouts. No question I've been training at a much higher level than last summer & fall. Part of this is due to being healthy with thyroid issues in the past.

2. I was pretty rested for this meet. Looking back at my blog, I basically rested 9 days. I backed off a few days earlier than planned when I started feeling overly fatigued from training. Plus, I rested more than I normally would have this week when I felt a cold coming on.

3. I was very relaxed because this is a low key local in season meet (though the pool is quite fast). Being relaxed with no expectations certainly makes a meet more enjoyable. But sometimes I also think it helps you swim/sprint faster. I also seem to do well/better at meets that don't require travel.

4. Less is more wrt events. I had signed up for the 50 free. But with only 20 minutes or less after that until 50 fly, I decided to scratch. Jazz Hands was a bit tired on his 50 fly. So I definitely did the right thing.

5. The Speedo concoction of strong heavily sugared coffee seems to work for me.
heehee

6. Good execution. So very rare indeed when things go just right. Since I never practice starts, I was psyched to nail my fly start.