After a long rest

RAM Summer Long Course Meet - Day 1

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12 Comments

, August 15th, 2015 at 05:26 PM (2168 Views)

I had another good night of sleep and my chest infection is a distant memory. I think my day off on Thursday was a big help. I woke feeling pretty good. I reshaved last night, so pretty much got up, ate, and headed to the pool.

I helped Tom print and post heat sheets and generally helped with the pool and meet setup. I did my normal meet warmup:

400 free
8x50 drill
4x50 open, close, easy, fast
200 easy
4 dives

On my program today was the 50 free, 50 breast and the anchor leg of the 800 mixed free relay. I was hopeful of going under 25 on the 50m free today and was also confident I could swim faster then my time at the Frisco meet on the 50 breast. The real goal however, was to beat the National Record on the Mixed 160-199 800 Free Relay.

First up up was the 50 free and I went 25.39 which is a good time but not as fast as I had hoped. I somehow got into breathing like it was a 100 instead of a 50 and took 4 breaths including one inside the final 10 meters. I had a good start and felt smooth but my tempo is so not a 50 swimmer. If only I could get my tempo up a little I would have a great 50. This was slightly faster than I went in the individual 50 at worlds last summer so I can't be upset. However, this feels like a race where I made so many basic mistakes and any one would have got me my goal time. This one is so frustrating. Oh well!!

I made the decision earlier this year to swim some off events this long course season and the 50 breast was most certainly one of these. I felt really good the whole way and never died but somehow I just spin on breaststroke. I went 34.40 which is a pretty decent time and likely will be a top 10 time. Tomorrow I do the 100 breast and think I will have a good one based on how good I felt on the 50 breast.

Last up was the big relay. We have been planning this one for quite a while and I was confident we would beat the National Record and we did. The record was 8:54.37 and is a suite era record, and our team went 8:50.2 which is a great time and a new National Record!!!

Yesterday I had false started 50% of the time in practice so decided to play it very safe. Despite a very safe takeover I had a good swim and my split was 2:04.x my wife said I was 2:03 but maybe she got it wrong. Either way I am pretty stoked and this is my first National Record. We have another shot tomorrow with the 400m free record although it will be much harder.

I am off for a long nap and an easy evening. Tomorrow I have the 400 free, 100 breast and 50 fly before doing the anchor leg on the 400m free relay. Should be a lot of fun again!

Updated August 15th, 2015 at 05:44 PM by StewartACarroll

Categories: Masters Swim Meets / Events

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Comments

mcnair - August 15th, 2015 07:58 PM
Wow, sounds like you had a great day! See you there tomorrow.
StewartACarroll - August 15th, 2015 09:22 PM
We had a lot of fun. I am looking forward to tomorrow. See you in the morning.
pwb - August 16th, 2015 11:07 AM
Stewart,

These all sounds very good and like you managed an extended taper (and some illness) incredibly well to race. As for the 50

this feels like a race where I made so many basic mistakes and any one would have got me my goal time. This one is so frustrating.

, I completely agree. As much as we mid-d to d-swimmers might mock sprinters from time to time, the 50 is a race that requires a level of precision and perfection that is hard to deliver.

Good luck today.
chowmi - August 16th, 2015 01:33 PM
Excellent swims! WOW!
flystorms - August 16th, 2015 03:40 PM
Fantastic job! How exciting to have a new national record to your name, too! Congratulatoins.
knelson - August 16th, 2015 03:53 PM
Woohoo!
StewartACarroll - August 16th, 2015 05:45 PM
Originally Posted by pwb

Stewart,

These all sounds very good and like you managed an extended taper (and some illness) incredibly well to race. As for the 50 , I completely agree. As much as we mid-d to d-swimmers might mock sprinters from time to time, the 50 is a race that requires a level of precision and perfection that is hard to deliver.

Good luck today.[/COLOR]

Thanks Patrick. I believe you and Leslie commented on some of my earlier tapers that I was not resting enough and I really think you guys were onto something. This taper and the one I did during scm season I did my taper meet and then held it for another week and swam again. I really have done well on both of these despite the sickness challenge. I also really like the back to back meets because we train so hard and have so few fast masters meets it gives me two shots and/or do some different events.

As for the 50 it's a tough one. I used to scoff at the 50 but after trying it, I have realized it is so hard to nail and I so admire those guys who are able to rock a 50 season after season.
StewartACarroll - August 16th, 2015 05:47 PM
Originally Posted by mcnair

Wow, sounds like you had a great day! See you there tomorrow.

alex, it was terrific meeting you and your son today. You did great on that 1500. I hope our paths cross again soon. Safe travels home!
StewartACarroll - August 16th, 2015 05:48 PM
Originally Posted by chowmi

Excellent swims! WOW!

thanks Michelle. It was a lot of fun.

I hope we can twist your arm to swim with the North Texas team at the Woodlands in November. It would be awesome to swim with you and Steph.
StewartACarroll - August 16th, 2015 05:52 PM
Originally Posted by flystorms

Fantastic job! How exciting to have a new national record to your name, too! Congratulatoins.

I would be lieing if I said it felt anything other than awesome. I had a great meet and had a lot of fun.

Sorry you you could not make this meet but hopefully we will do it again next season and you will get to compete in Rockwall. Many of the out of town teams were asking about us hosting another meet so it seemed to go really well.
StewartACarroll - August 16th, 2015 05:52 PM
Originally Posted by knelson

Woohoo!

Thanks Kirk.
ande - August 20th, 2015 05:32 PM
congratulations