On this, my 22nd consecutive day of daily hard exercise, I think I have begun to get some clues that might help my fellow swimmers decide if you are trying enough in practice--and
not succumbing to that inner babyish voice that cries out, "Ease off!
Pamper yourself! You have crossed the threshhold into the realm of being overly broken down!"
At tonight's practice, I underwent not one, not two, but
three separate specific and measurable characteristics that suggest I was trying enough.
These are:
- Severe nausea of the sort where the stomach contents are storming the esophageal sphincter if not yet breaching same
- Cramps in the thighs and calves that made just finishing a final "sprint" 50 an epic adventure of the sort that Homer might have written a trilogy about
- And finally, the quote delivered to me, directly and with a look of "oh my god, I wish I'd paid more attention in that CPR class" anxiety, from a sophomore college swimming woman, "Are you okay?"
I am not maintaining these three above characteristics, even in combination, are sufficient to prove beyond all doubt that I was trying in practice.
I will, however, suggest they represent a sort of
sine qua non triad the absence of which probably indicates you are not trying hard enough.
Near
vomiting,
cramps throughout the entire span of the legs, and the
concern of a coed who really thinks she is about to see her first corpse: these are necessary, if not absolutely sufficient, conditions for trying.
I am not sure exactly could push one over the edge into absolute, definitive proof. After motorscootering home post-practice, I lay down on the couch to watch
a few minutes of Countdown with Keith Oberman 
before lighting the grill and putting on my dinner of
four Costco lamb chops.
When I stood up from the couch, I suffered
a blood rush from the head that all but blackened out my visual field entirely, if only momentarily, forcing me to remain standing based on no more than a lifetime of experience in what this requires.
I
could have fallen.
I could have also actually vomited during practice, seized up with such cramps as to not be able to finish my sprint 50 at all, no matter how slow, and finally I could have expired right after answering the coed's concerned inquiry with a simple--heroic even--"No."
Maybe this is what is sufficient to prove I tried hard enough in practice. I don't know. I guess when I get to that point where the question becomes moot, this vlog will have run its course.
So, here are my last three practices, each one, in its way, emblematic of the new Costillian maxim I am trying to put into practice: i.e.,
intensity trumps volume. (Note: I do have a bit of volume here, too, usually at the beginning, but these
lengthy warm ups tend to be done at a very leisurely and relaxing pace, which I find is increasingly necessary
to cajole the creekiness out of my joints and alleged muscles...)
Friday, May 24th, at Trees Pool (U. Pittsburgh)
Pre warm up: 1,500
Warm up 4 x 200 on 3:30 (2:30; 2:25: 2:25: 2:18)
10 x 100 on 2:00 (ez, med, fast, repeat--from pushoffs)
[fast ones for me were :59 1:01 :57]
kick 200 rest; regroup
Swim 8 x 50 on 1:15 (ez, fast, repeat-from pushoffs)
[fast ones were :28, :28; :28’ :27]
kick 200 rest; regroup
12 x 50 karmic meditative --no breaths down, breathe ad libertam back, chant “peace” and “calm” throughout
Total 4500; total arm-deadeningly hard yards for me: 500 yards
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Saturday, May 23rd at Sewickley YMCA
lifted 53,000 lb.--see earlier vlog
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Sunday, May 24th at Sewickley YMCA
3 hours, 15 minutes of doubles tennis; won 3 sets to one with hobbled partner Bill (suffering from gastrocnemius, also documented in previous vlog); a little water volleyball later
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Monday, Memorial Day, May 24th at Sewickley YMCA
Bill White: present
Jim Thornton: present
Everybody else on our team: not present
Pre Warm up: 1500 easy
Warm up: swim kick pull on your own from 12:00-12:15
Heart accelerating set: 8 x 100 on 1:30 (just a tad bit faster than you want to go)
Main set (in homage to Jocelyn and with thanks to Jen at Pitt who invented this):
5 sets of 8 x 50 on 1:15, EZ on the odds; fast on the evens; with regrouping between each set
1.the fast ones are your 200 pace +2 seconds (for example: 32s if your 200 time is 2:00)
2.the fast ones are your 200 pace +1 seconds (for example: 31s if your 200 time is 2:00)
3.the fast ones are your 200 pace +0 seconds (for example: 30s if your 200 time is 2:00)
4.the fact ones are your 200 pace -1 seconds (for example: 29s if your 200 time is 2:00)
5.the fast ones are your 200 pace -2 seconds (for example: 28s if your 200 time is 2:00)
recovery set: swim easy for 5 minutes
Total 4600; total arm-deadeningly hard yards for me: 1000 yards
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Tuesday, May 26th at Sewickley YMCA
lifted 66,000 pounds in lieu of tennis singles because of rain
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Wednesday, May 27th at Sewickley YMCA
Pre warm up: 1200 easy
16 x 50 on :55 moderate
4 x 50 on 1:10 moderate
5 x 100 on 1:30 odd ones fast (1;04, 1:04; 1:03)
2:20 rest (swam slow 50 to recover)
5 x 100 on 1:40 odd ones fast (1:02, 1:03; 1:02)
2:40 rest (swam slow 50 to recover)
4 x 100 on 1:50 odd ones fast (1:04, 1:05)
[near vomiting and co-ed asks, “Are you okay?”]
4 x 50 sprint odds
[massive cramping on second sprint, almost unable to finish but force myself to waddle in, kicking with hip muscles alone]
4 x 50 on :40 “cool down”--coach Bill’s idea of whimsy
Total: 4100; total arm-deadeningly hard yards for me: 800 yards
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Tomorrow, if the weather is okay, I will be playing tennis; weight lifting if it rains. Friday out to Pitt again, hopefully for the first long course swim of the season, though that's still up in the air how the pool will be set up.
Today, as suggested earlier, was my 22nd consecutive day of exercise, and I am not sure how long I can keep these up without a break. But it's been kind of rewarding to think that I might be slouching ever so slowly back into okay shape.
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