Of Swimming Bondage

Saturday - All Aussie

I had an incredibly busy morning Saturday getting the pool and ramadas as spotless as possible for a combo birthday party for my youngest daughter and dinner party for my wife and I. In a great confluence of people, our daughter has befriended kids whose parents we really like, so, while our daughter thought the evening was all about her, my wife and I actually felt like it was our party as we had so much fun with the adults. I had to squeeze in my swim before 3pm so I could have my jaw drop time and time again watching the Men's D1 NCAAs, but managed to get in a very good repeat of my Aussie 400 workout in SCM:

Warmup sets (1,050)

• 1 x 300: IM, kick-drill-swim
• 3 x 100: on 1:30, free swim, descend with snorkel
• 6 x 50: on 0:55, w/monofin going 8-10 fast SDKs off each wall, odd laps on belly, evens on back
• 4 x 25: on whatever, odds fast from blocks, evens easy
• 1 x 50: easy

Aussie 400 set (3,000 set / 4,050 total)
My goal today was to try to see if I could lock into my target 1,650 pace (1:01+/1:02-) in SCM (e.g., about 1:08) with perceived, sustainable mile effort. It took awhile to get there, but I finally found the groove on the 3rd round. I did a 50 easy after each round.

• Set #1 is 4 rounds of 3 x 50 - 1 x 100
  
  • 50s on 0:45
  • 100s on 1:30
    
    • 10-29-13 - 1:07,1:07, 1:07, 1:06+++
    • 05-23-14 - 1:06+ to 1:07
    • 06-27-14 - I swear I once saw a 1:08, but the rest were 1:09 to 1:10
    • 09-04-15 - 1:09+, 1:08+, 1:08, 1:09
    • 10-03-15 - 1:06, 1:06, 1:06, 1:06+
    • 03-26-16 - 1:10, 1:09, 1:11, 1:10
  
  
• Set #2 is 4 rounds of 2 x 50 - 1 x 100
  
  • 50s on 0:50
  • 100 on 1:40
    
    • 10-29-13 - 1:07, 1:07, 1:06+, 1:07
    • 05-23-14 - solid 1:06s with a 1:05+ at the end
    • 06-27-14 - pretty solid 1:10 to 1:11
    • 09-04-15 - 1:08, 1:08+, 1:08, 1:08+
    • 10-03-15 - 1:05, 1:05+, 1:04+, 1:05
    • 03-26-16 - 1:09, 1:09+, 1:08+, 1:08
  
  
• Set #3 is 4 rounds of 1 x 50 - 1 x 100
  
  • 50 on 0:55
  • 100s on 1:50
    
    • 10-29-13 - 1:07, 1:07, 1:06+, 1:08
    • 05-23-14 - 1:05/1:05+
    • 06-27-14 - skipped
    • 09-04-15 - 1:08, 1:08, 1:08, 1:08+
    • 10-03-15 - 1:06, 1:05, 1:06, 1:06+
    • 03-26-16 - 1:08, 1:08, 1:08+, 1:08+
  
  
• Set #4 is 4 x 100 on 2:00
  
  • 10-29-13 - 1:07+, 1:08, 1:07, 1:07+
  • 05-23-14 - 1:05+, 1:05-, 1:05-, 1:04+
  • 03-26-16 - 1:07+, 1:07+, 1:08-, 1:08-

TOTAL: 4,050 SCM

Sunday - "C" grade Montanan
I had entered USMS Forums Coach Mark Johnston's Postal Pentathlon (https://www.clubassistant.com/club/m...2303&smid=7259) earlier this spring, but have not done any of the required events for Stage 1. I figured I'd knock them all off in one workout today with my daughter timing me, but I was slow right from the start and had zero motivation to have a go at the 100 IM (it seemed SOOOOOO long) after 4 x 50 fast.

I had done a pretty routine 1,500 warmup and then went 4 rounds of a 50 fast from the blocks timed by my daughter followed by 5 x 50 active recovery. I probably added an extra 60-90 seconds rest in there and produced these times in SCM:

• 50 fly - 30.72
• 50 back - 34.47
• 50 breast - 37.92
• 50 free - 28.34

Nothing special, but it was still fun to do. I imagine that my slight (ok, maybe heavy) over-indulgence last night did not help with generating fast times I'll try to get the 100 IM done this week before the end of the quarter so I get a full entry into Stage 1.