Ande's Swimming Blog

[newmastersswimmer]

Hey Ande .....since you have decided to ignore my PM (even after a special request was left on your other main thread)....I have decided to crash your Blog with my own journal entry here.....How do you like that!!

Today I get ready to head for Lexington KY for my first swim meet in 18 years......10 months ago I weighed 82 pounds more than I do now and I could barely swim 2 laps of the pool.....I am not expecting any miracles.....I imagine that I probably will qualify for Nationals in my favorite events (hopefully I will swim fast enough to be in the fastest heat of each of my favorite events at Nats as well?)......I will swim very hard for the 5-6 weeks between this KY meet and Nationals...I will give everything I have at Nats....I am looking forward to actually matching up against all these great swimmers that I have as of yet only read about on-line here at the USMS website...(except for Ande I guess...who for some reason wants to call it quits after his zone championships??....not critisizing you or anything...just stating the facts....I'm sure you have your reasons for ditching Nationals....and thats your business of course)....It's a new form of entertainment that I never contemplated after I left swimming some 18 years ago.....It turns out that both Ande and John Smith (AKA Smutdog and the GoodSmith in some circles) swam with an old high school team mate (and friend) of mine while at Texas (but I won't say who for now...b/c I will leave y'all guessing....If Ande ever opens and reads my PM he would probably be able to use his creative songwriting mind to figure it out...since I told him in the PM which High School I swam for).....Anyway, I know not to expect a lot....but I'm ready to go and I can't wait for Nats!!!...wish this old "not so fat anymore" guy some luck this weekend!!

Newmastersswimmer

[ande]

hey guys,

It's been a busy day, i went to practice, then I had a business training session from 8:00 am - 1:00 pm. 5:00 am this morning I wrote today's tip.

since my groin felt OK this morning at work out when I kicked breastroke, I decided to swim the 400 IM and try to break 4:33.40, Tom Wolf's 400 Yd IM zone record set in 1997 .
http://www.southtexasmastersswimming...rds-scmen.html

I drove down to san antonio and checked in for the 400 IM at and warmed up. I warmed up with Ross Davis, we did 4 x 50 pace fl, bk, br and fr on a minute.

While at the pool I caught a glimpse of Bobby Patten but didn't have a chance to say hi, I saw and visited with Graham Johnston, Lance Gordon, Larry Wood, Laura Koch and Josh Davis. Larry was wearing the new fast skin II hi neck body suit and says it's much better than the old fast skins. I can't wait to try one.

As I prepped for the 400 IM, I kept reminding myself I wanted to go really easy on the fly and back, swim a fairly strong breastroke then bring home the free. I put on my old fast skin and my silicone longhorn cap.

The last womens 400 IM finished and the started called my heat to the blocks.

here's how it went

fl 27.21 32.42 59.63
bk 35.04 34.37 69.41
br 36.83 38.64 75.47
fr 31.87 29.53 61.40

my over all time was 4:25.91
so I set a new zone record in the 40 - 44 age group.

as for the race itself.

FLY My fly felt really easy and I barely kicked. I wanted to save my legs.
BACK I stayed relaxed on back, didn't dolphin much off the walls
the water felt a litttle funny just above my right calf.
After the race I realized there was a wrinkle in my fast skin.
my next tip will be to smooth all the wrinkles out or your fast skin before your race. it just takes a little tugging to get rid of it.

Breast I'm disappointed that I dropped off so much on the 2nd 50, but I'm pleased with the 1:15 split.

Free, I confess, I two beat kicked the first 75 of my last 100, I saw someone beside me and switched to a 6 beat kick. That's why my second 50 was so much faster than my first.

I've got more swims tommorrow
I'll let you know how it goes.

I spoke to my buddy Pete Nunan who gave the old fast skin to Ethan. Ethan swam his 500 today, he told people he'd be happy if he went 4:55 and secretly hoped to go 4:52. Any way Ethan went 4:42 in his 500 and just obliterated his expected time.
Way to go!
Pete told me Ethan also went 1:44 in his 200 free.

Wish me luck,
Take care,

ande

[ande]

hi jim,

nice to hear from you
what's a PM?

Wow 82 lbs you're definitely Lugging less lard.

Sounds like you've made some excellent progress in your return.
wish you the best in in your meet and at nats, please let us know how it goes.

take care,

Ande

ps who's that swimmer you're talking about?

Originally posted by newmastersswimmer
Hey Ande .....since you have decided to ignore my PM (even after a special request was left on your other main thread)....I have decided to crash your Blog with my own journal entry here.....How do you like that!!

Today I get ready to head for Lexington KY for my first swim meet in 18 years......10 months ago I weighed 82 pounds more than I do now and I could barely swim 2 laps of the pool.....I am not expecting any miracles.....I imagine that I probably will qualify for Nationals in my favorite events (hopefully I will swim fast enough to be in the fastest heat of each of my favorite events at Nats as well?)......I will swim very hard for the 5-6 weeks between this KY meet and Nationals...I will give everything I have at Nats....I am looking forward to actually matching up against all these great swimmers that I have as of yet only read about on-line here at the USMS website...(except for Ande I guess...who for some reason wants to call it quits after his zone championships??....not critisizing you or anything...just stating the facts....I'm sure you have your reasons for ditching Nationals....and thats your business of course)....It's a new form of entertainment that I never contemplated after I left swimming some 18 years ago.....It turns out that both Ande and John Smith (AKA Smutdog and the GoodSmith in some circles) swam with an old high school team mate (and friend) of mine while at Texas (but I won't say who for now...b/c I will leave y'all guessing....If Ande ever opens and reads my PM he would probably be able to use his creative songwriting mind to figure it out...since I told him in the PM which High School I swam for).....Anyway, I know not to expect a lot....but I'm ready to go and I can't wait for Nats!!!...wish this old "not so fat anymore" guy some luck this weekend!!

Newmastersswimmer

[ande]

Sat Apr 9 Results

100 IM 55.20 splits 24.73 30.47

100 FR 50.15 splits 24.28 25.87
25.87 - 24.28 = 1.58

50 bk 26.03

100 fl 55.84 splits 26.23 29.61

50 fr 23.08

[Matthias]

hey ande,

congrats to your results. you're really fast.
and it's really astonishing how fast your buddy got with a fastskin. perhaps I should get one, too. but my meet's still at the balance cause I recently suffered a stress injurny in my lower calf bone and if I'm unlucky with it it will stop me from training right until the week of my meet.

i hope you continue with your blog and your swimming faster faster tips as they are really helpful

best regards

matthias

[ande]

Finally back from the meet and I have more time to write

I was disappointed with my times at Saturdays meet. I was hoping to better last years times and I didn't. The main one I hoped to improve was my 100 IM but I was nearly half a second slower.

Saturday evening I drove to Waring Texas to visit the Old #9. In my life as a songwriter and songwriting journalist I sponsored a scholarship through my ezine, 4 of my readers were there and Steve Seskin who was giving the program was there. Once I arrived we hung out for a while then they began a student concert followed by Rex Foster followed by Steve Seskin. Steve Seskin is one of my favorite performers. I left Waring at 11:00 and arrived home 12:30. I just drank water, no beer.

So today I was scared I wouldn't reach my goal for the season. My fears were compounded when I swam in warm up this morning. I just didn't feel that good. I did a little breastroke work.

I decided to skip the 100 back because
1) I felt I couldn't beat my 100 back time from last year,
2) it was right before my 200 IM,
3) I wanted to swim my 200 IM fresh without any fatigue from a previous race, and
4) I wanted to dive in with a dry fast skin.

So I sat up in the stands and watched Josh Davis (30 - 34) swim a 50.9 100 back with two empty lanes beside him. Josh was out in 24.68.

200 IM
In the 200 IM. My goal was for this season was to go under 2:00 minutes.

My plan for the race was to
1) take it easy on the fly and the back
2) save my legs for breast and the free.

My breastroke target time was to be under 35 seconds. This year and last I got some really great breastroke technique instruction from Dean Putterman, David Guthrie, and Alegra Breaux. the main thing I've been working on is to be streamlined when I fire my kick and RIDE the GLIDE. I did this in my 400 IM, I didn't do it in my 100 IM, I rushed my breastroke on the breast leg of my 100 IM, I also rushed my fly too.

In the 200 IM race I was in lane 4, Ross Davis (35 - 39) was in 5 wearing a hi neck fast skin 2, he's a fast 37 year old. At this meet he swam 50 free 21.8, 100 fr 48.5, 100 fl 52 low.

So here's how my 200 IM went

Fl 26.13 real relaxed barely kicked
Bk 31.38 felt easy, took 2 dolphin kicks
Br 34.66 hit a good turn and worked it
Fr 27.74 I was even with Ross at the turn and tried to race him coming home. I felt really great.
I put on my glasses then looked up at the clock and saw 1:59.91 !?! It was SO saticefying to see that time. Plus it was great to finish that race strong.
I hoped to go fast but after Saturday I didn't expect to break 200 minutes. The last time I went under 2:00 was in 1995. I set a new zone championship record for the 40 - 44 men, the old one was 2:03.69 by Dirk Marshall in 2003. Ross Davis (35 - 39) went 1:59.7, his splits were 25.1 30.? 36.2 27.5

50 FLY
50 fly was right after the 200 IM, so I didn't have much time to warm down and rest before I was back on the blocks. I think I took 8 dolphin kicks off the start and 6 off the turn. My time was 24.38 That time was faster than last year and I didn't swim the 200 IM in front of it.

200 FREE
Right after the 50 Fly was 200 Free, I had a little time to warm down after the 50 fly. We got up on the blocks, the started said take your marks, then there was a double beep, the beeper malfunctioned but it was so faint I barely heard it and swam 35 ish yards of my race but one swimmer pulled up so the officials stopped us. WE swam back to the wall, got out maybe rested a minute then got back up.
My time was 1:52.02
26.43 28.89 28.47 28.23
55.32 56.70
Which I felt was pretty good given my fatigue from the first two races before it and the heat recall.


Here's a comparsion of this season's 200 IM splits

Jan 2:01.80 25.6 31.8 35.4 28.9
100 splits 57.5 64.3; 64.3 - 57.5 = 7.8

Mar 2:00.85 25.40 29.70 36.06 29.69
100 splits 55.10 65.75; 65.75 - 55.10 = 10.65

Apr 1:59.91 26.13 31.38 34.66 27.74
100 splits 57.51 62.40; 62.40 - 57.51 = 4.89

in January's 200 IM, 25 minutes before that I swam a 4:58 500 free
In March I worked the backstroke hard, took 6 dolphin kicks off each wall and really faded

I guess the lesson here is to experiment with your race in different meets through out the season and try to find the best way to swim it.

ande

[LindsayNB]

My goal was for this season was to go under 2:00 minutes which I hadn't done since 1996.
...
my time was 1:59.91

Congratulations on achieving your goal!

I'm enjoying your blog and your swim faster faster tips, I hope you'll continue with both!

[newmastersswimmer]

Hey Ande,

First of all ...Nice meet!....Congrats on breaking the 2:00 barrier in the 200 I.M!. ....That's very fast. .....Also congrats on breaking the zone record in the 400 I.M. ...Is either Ross Davis or Josh Davis in the 40 - 44 year old age group as well? ....50.9 sounds awfully quick in the 100 back for a 40+ agegroup swimmer....(or maybe the swimmers at your zone meet were just seeded by fastest times regardless of age group?).

As far as my meet went....I did reach one of my goals....which was to qualify for Nationals in my favorite events.....My other goal was to hopefully swim fast enough to be seeded in the fastest heat of one or more of my favorite events.....I seriously doubt I reached that second goal.....(but we will just have to wait and see?).....ultimately it would have been cool to swim in the same heat with some of the extremely fast swimmers in our age group....but if I don't make it into the fastest heat of anything, it really won't make any difference anyway since we're placed by our final times (as far as I can tell since everything is "timed finals"). Anyway....here's how my meet went:

Saturday:

First I swam the 200 I.M....2:11.35 I was out in 27.7 and feeling pretty smooth....then I went 33.? on backstroke, 39.7 on breastroke and 30.? on freestyle ....(I will get my exact splits of the web when they are posted).....Breastroke was the weakest link!!

Then about an hour or so later I swam the 100 fly in 57.03......My splits were 26.7 and 30.2......I felt like I went out a little slow to conserve energy for the second 50......In retrospect I should have probably taken it out a little faster (maybe 26 low?)....I probably would have come home just as fast anyway?

Sunday:

50 free (which is not one of my usual events...and I am not planning on swimming it at nationals!!.....I just didn't feel ready for the 200 fly yet....and the 100 I.M. was the event right after the 200 fly and I didn't want to be too tired for the 100 I.M.)......anyway I went a miserable 24.75....ouch!

100 I.M. 59.82........Not bad....but once again....breastroke was NOT good......I was just a "tad" behind this guy going into breastroke (like maybe 3 or 4 tenths of a second)....He ended up pulling away from me on breastroke and going 57.50.....I wish I could get some personal assistance with my breast as well (but unfortunately I don't know anyone near where I live)....I swam against Dean Putterman in High School (Houston Memorial....They one state that year with 4 guys....Dean Putterman (breast stroke), Chris Rives (another former Longhorn...Fly and I.M.), Larry Craft (backstroker) and Tjord Brink (freestyle sprinter)....That was the one year that we lost the State Championships while I was at CLHS in Houston Tx....Dean Putterman was a very fast breaststroker back then....He won state in the 100 breast with something like a 55 or 56 if I remember correctly?

Anyway, a PM is a "Private Message"....There's a button below for them that says "PM"....If you hit "account info" you will see the private messages you received in your personal inbox. I figured that with your meet coming up that maybe you were too busy with that to respond.....I just felt like razzing you a little about it since your old team mate John Smith razzed you a little about your swimming tips....(which are very helpful by the way).

I believe my friend swam only one year at Texas as a "walk on" (and I think it was the 81 - 82 season if I'm correct??....So I'm not actually sure if either you or John were on the team then?)....I think he either quit after that one season (or was cut?)......Anyway, his name is Jim Dugan.....He was a distance freestyler...(mainly the 1000 and 1650). He was a very tough work out swimmer in High School.....I remember him swimming a 3000 for time in High School in 29:45.....He also swam as a USMS open water swimmer a few years back and reported the fastest open water swim for one of the categories one year (when he was in his mid thirties I believe)....He is listed as a former All American Open Water Swimmer on this website somewhere.

Peace Out,

Newmastersswimmer

p.s. ...I guess I am o.k. with my times this past weekend even though I wanted to go faster.....But when I think back to mid June or so of this year (about a month back into swimming again) and I couldn't break 45 seconds in a 50 free...(I recall thinking to myself that it would be a miracle if I ever broke 1:00 in a 100 freestyle again)....I suppose I should be more than happy with the way things are going....Hopefully I can improve my times some at Nationals....Wish me luck!

[ande]

Hi Lindsay,

Thank you, that 200 IM really thrilled me. I went back and edited that post to add a little more detail.

I'm glad you enjoy SFF and my blog. I appreciate you letting me know.

Ande

Originally posted by LindsayNB
Congratulations on achieving your goal!

I'm enjoying your blog and your swim faster faster tips, I hope you'll continue with both!

[newmastersswimmer]

Thanks for editing the post about your 200 I.M......The extra detail helped me to get a better feel for your whole experience that day.....You swam a lot of back to back events also......you must have been very tired when that 200 free finally ended.

BTY ....Via your newly edited message, you have now answered my questions regarding the agegroups for Ross Davis and Josh Davis.....They are also very fast swimmers for thier respective age groups!....The Southwest Zone sounds very fast in general.


Newmastersswimmer

[ande]

Ross trains really hard and looks very fit.
He's tough.

Josh hasn't been training much but he was able to go 1:49 in the 200 LCM free at Olympic trials July 2004.
since josh has a a wife and 5 children he stays busy giving talks and doing clinics and doesn't have much time to train. But because he's been so fast in his life time he can take a little break and maybe bounce back for 2008

Ande

Originally posted by newmastersswimmer
Thanks for editing the post about your 200 I.M......The extra detail helped me to get a better feel for your whole experience that day.....You swam a lot of back to back events also......you must have been very tired when that 200 free finally ended.

BTY ....Via your newly edited message, you have now answered my questions regarding the agegroups for Ross Davis and Josh Davis.....They are also very fast swimmers for thier respective age groups!....The Southwest Zone sounds very fast in general.

Newmastersswimmer

[ande]

today I showed up at practice late and swam an easy 1,000
I'm pretty worn out from the meet and feel like I could be getting sick. Hopefully I'll get some good rest. I didn't sleep very well last night and woke up at 6:30 to my wifes alarm. Usually I don't use an alarm and wake up between 5:00 am - 5:15

I'm starting to think about what I want to focus on next season or even next year and what I need to do to improve?

I think for now I'm going to train for the
400 IM and 500 Free.

One thing throws a big kink in my summer training plan is I'm going to Philmont scout ranch in New Mexico with my son for a back packing trip from Sun July 3 - Saturday 16. I'm pretty sure I won't have a chance to swim at all during those two weeks.

My time in the 400 IM was 4:25.91. I'm curious to see how much I'll improve in a year when I focus on the event. I've really enjoyed training breastroke and learning the new technique. Plus I'm fascinated with easy speed and splitting races correctly.

Ande

[ande]

woke up at 6:15 am, to arrive at practice on time I need to leave my house at 5:45 am. I feel like I might be getting sick, my wife and son have had a cough and a fever.

This morning at practice Tommy Hannan was training with our group. Tommy swam for texas and made USA's 2000 olympic team in the 100 fly. He swam pretty fast in the 2004 olympic trials but didn't make the team. Alegra was coaching.


4 x (125 on 1:45 done 75 free 50 stroke followed by 3 x 50 stroke on :45)

4 x (75 free on :55 followed by 3 x 50 stroke on :40)

easy 200

weighed 211

Soon I'll figure out my goals and a plan for this upcoming season,
plus ask myself what do I need to do to improve.

Ande

[ande]

I almost showed up ontime today
Patrick was coaching.

The main pool at swim center was set up short course and we had it all to ourselves

today's warm up was 2 snakes

a snake is where you swim one length in each lane. Turn, go under the lane rope swim your next length in the next lane and so on till you get all the way across the pool.
there were 21 lanes set up so it was really

2 x 525 for warm up

5 x 100 k on 2:00 no board breast kick

8 x 50 fr on :45

10 x 25 on :30

I feel like I may be on the verge of getting sick, (my wife and kids may have shared it with me) so I'm taking it easy. Friday I go to scotsdale AZ till sunday morning for a biz trip.

[ande]

Thu April 14
felt sick, throat hurt, coughed a lot,
stayed home, didn't swim, didn't work,


Fri April 15

200 fr
4 x 50 on :45
100 easy
200 fr 2:17 ish
3 x 50 on :40
100 easy
200 fr went 2:03
2 x 50 on :40
100 easy

8 x 75
odds on 1:15 25 no breath 50 free
evens on 1:30 25 fast 50 kick on back

10 x 50 on :50
fast and steady held 28's and 29's

100 easy

weighed 208
still coughing and sore throat
I'm not going on my Arizona trip today.

[newmastersswimmer]

weighed 208
still coughing and sore throat
I'm not going on my Arizona trip today.
originally posted by Ande


Sorry to hear about your health problems!....(and that you are missing out on an out of town trip to sunny Arizona!).......Eat some Chicken Noodle Soup...get rested....get well!


Newmastersswimmer

p.s. Looks like your losing a few pounds though....which is good right?

[ande]

thank you for your encouragement,
Great to hear from you

Getting sick happens, it's not so bad
my wife had it much worse

I was a little lighter today than I've been in a while, though
I'd like to get down around 200 or so plus increase my strength, I need to get back in the weight room.

Ande

Originally posted by newmastersswimmer

Sorry to hear about your health problems!....(and that you are missing out on an out of town trip to sunny Arizona!).......Eat some Chicken Noodle Soup...get rested....get well!
Newmastersswimmer
p.s. Looks like you're losing a few pounds though....
which is good right?

[ande]

Saturday April 16th

Today we trained outdoors at Circle C
Whitney was coaching

I missed 400 fr and 200 k in warm up

300 sw
150 k
200 sw
100 k
100 sw
50 k


5 x 100 free on a hard interval, make them 1:15
300 easy
5 x 100 free on 1;10
300 easy
5 x 100 on 1:05 I didn't make them ave 1:07
300 easy
5 x 100 hard 2 or 3 sec rest not sure what time
300 easy
(each of the 300's were different but I can't remember)

12 x 25
1 fast
2 no breath
3 fly
4 easy

swim down

still have a cough and sore throat

[ande]

My throat felt like it was on fire last night. It was hard to sleep and hard to swallow. I'm coughing up gross green gunk. I've started taking antibiotics, should have started them sooner. Hope they start working I'd really like to feel better and not miss many work outs. Yuck

I can't wait to be healthy again.

Ande
(hey smutdog, wanna play goop tag?)

[ande]

The drugs are kicking in, I feel much better than I did Saturday night but still kinda sick. I never use an alarm clock, I just wake up when I do and today I woke up at 6:30am, which was 45 minutes past when I needed to leave for practice, so I didn't go. Guess I needed the extra sleep. I may go to noon practice, I brought my swim gear.

We'll see,

Ande