All Blog Entries

Gave blood Monday afternoon and it zonked me. I could hardly stay awake through dinner. So I went to sleep right after eating. Then, since I didn't spend anytime with my girls Monday night, I stayed home Tuesday morning to see them and walk them to school. Then I was out of town Tuesady night and Wednesday morning, so didn't swim Wednesday either. Made it to small group Thursday and back to the pool today. Work is really busy and stressful and we are in the middle of replacing all of the flooring in our house. One bright spot this week is that Dad seems to have turned a corner and started to slowly get better. All that adds up to a lot of stress, a lack of sleep, and a whooped David. I was present at the pool, but that was about it.

Swam with Dave B, Dave M, Peter, and Ray. Really shortened my workout hoping to be better tomorrow.

3x300 Free on 4:30
100 Back
8x150 Swim/Kick/Swim on 2:30 (alternated Free/Back)
200 Free
8x75 Free on 1:15
8x50 on :50 Back w/paddles
100 Back
100 Free

3600 yards
80 minutes

The weekend doesn't look much better. Swim at 5:00. Men's breakfast at 7:30. Then start putting in flooring the rest of the weekend. My wife has suggested skipping swimming and just start on the floors - fortunately she will still be asleep when I leave.

My first instability event occurred exactly one year later, in June of 2009. I was at my work gym using the weight machines, doing my usual routine, when I reached up to begin a wide lateral pull-down set at 50lbs. As soon as I started the pull, I felt a rip, crunch, and a pop in my shoulder. I immediately let go of the bar and thought to myself “what the hell was that?!” As soon as I asked myself that I knew what had happened. I was a bit shaken, but there wasn’t a lot of pain. When I got home I told my husband that I thought I had re-dislocated my shoulder.

The next day, my shoulder was pretty sore. The weakness, coldness, and pins and needles all came back. It was only at this point that I went on the internet and started researching shoulder instability. I learned that my shoulder had ‘subluxed’ (i.e., partially dislocated) and then reduced on its own. I also learned that this was fairly common for people who had experienced a traumatic dislocation previously. So I didn’t really feel the need to go in and see the doctor, as I felt like there wasn’t much to be done besides ibuprofen, rest, and to start up those tubing exercises again.

But of course, the following weekend I was at my pool, testing my shoulder out, lol. It felt much like after I had dislocated it the previous year, so I just took it easy. Again, not a lot of significant pain, just the soreness and nerve issues.

I won’t go into deal about all my subluxation events, but here’s a brief description. From June 2009 to June 2011, I think I experienced almost a dozen subluxations, occurring when:

-Putting on a shirt
-Reaching out to close my car door
-Reaching back to grab my seat belt
-Reaching out to stretch (You know, that big yawn/back arched/arms in the air stretch you do when you sit up in bed in the morning? This one happened a few times before I finally learned to only do this with my right arm in the air, lol.)
-Reaching up to change a light bulb, and then sneezing
-Leaning down to tie my shoe, and then pulling ‘too hard’ with the final tug of the laces

As you can see, every day activities could cause a rip/crunch/pop/subluxation situation for me. Eventually I learned to just try and keep my elbow close to my body. But, I just carried on. Over these years I continued to swim ~2500 yards, once a week. I knew that swimming itself wasn’t causing these events, so I just took it easy in the pool whenever I needed to. Every once in a while, I’d swim a 50 or 100 of backstroke to check on “the click” to see if it still existed (yep), and pretty much just lived with it.

Swim/SCY/Solo:

Warm up:

600 various
10 x 25 DPK shooters w/fins @ :40
50 EZ
8 x 25 burst + cruise @ 1:00
50 EZ

Main Set:

3 x through w/fins:

25 AFAP kick + 75 EZ
50 AFAP swim, broken @ 25 for :10 + 150 EZ
50 AFAP + 150 EZ

Round 1: flutter kick w/board (11 flat), 50 fly/back (22 flat), 50 fly (23 low)
Round 2: back shooter (9 low), 50 fly/back (21 high), 50 breast (28 flat)
Round 3: belly shooter (9 high), 50 fly/back (21 high), 50 back shooter (20 high)

4 x (25 barge kick w/board + 25 EZ kick) @ 1:30
50 EZ

Total: 2900


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

Felt sore and tired during warm up, though times today were solid. In retrospect, I should have designated this as a recovery week and skipped drylands. This was 5 weeks in a row of drylands, and I usually only go 3-4 before taking a week off. So I'll just do swim + yoga next week, then gear up drylands for another 3 weeks, then take a week off before the Sprint Classic on Oct. 28. I guess I need to pay more attention to my FLOG!

Got a deep tissue massage today. Should've booked it for longer. Oh well. My forearms were apparently a mess.

Yep, that's right. I'm pulling a PWB and practicing at a different location today. I ended up having to come down to Oregon City, OR today to pick up certified copies of my divorce paperwork from my first marriage that ended in 2004 (for my daughter's passport). It was a big enough hassle that I got 5 copies of it today, so I won't have to return in the future.

Well, I was only 10 miles away from the town where I lived in, and coached with the swim team for 4 years in Canby, OR. I dropped in there and surprised the guys at the pool too. We had a good talk about the fires in Wenatchee, and life in general. Then I got into the pool with a "don't worry about it" fee...always the best!

Pool was 85 degrees, but it actually felt pretty good. The pool is mostly used by seniors in the area, beside the swim team in the afternoon, but they have to keep the majority of the people happy.


------------------------

I did a workout similar to my age group team workouts, yet different to my liking.

Warmup:

5 x 100 Free @ 1:30 (1:08s felt easy)
12 x 25 w/ fins @ :30

• Odds SDK on back 1/2way underwater
• Evens Fly, Back, Free, Fly, Back, Free (ALL FAST)

200 Free Pull

Kick Set: no rest between, just stayed on interval

4 x 100 Kick w/ board @ 1:55 (went 1:37-1:42s)
4 x 75 SDKick on back w/ fins @ 1:15 (went :55s)
4 x 50 Kick w/ board @ :50 (went :46s)
4 x 25 SDKick on back w/ fins @ :20 (went :15-:16s) These were "fun".

Main Set:

1 x 100 Free Pull @ 1:30 (went 1:08)
2 x 50 Free Fast @ 1:00 (:31s)
1 x 200 Free Pull @ 2:30 (went 2:11)
2 x 50 Free Fast @ 1:00 (:31s)
1 x 300 Free Pull @ 3:30 (went 3:15) (1:05avg)
2 x 50 Free Fast @ 1:00 (:32s)
1 x 400 Free Pull @ 4:30 (went 4:22)
2 x 50 Free Semi-Fast @ 1:00 (:33s)


100 EZEZ

------------------------
3500 Yards

Nathan and David were surprised at my performance during this swim. They do believe I'll be under 5:00 in the 500 this year.

I also found out that my normal swim practice back in Wenatchee is cancelled again tonight due to the smoke in the pool area. I guess no need to rush home to 'double it up'.

Now I can just visit the grandparents for a while before my 5+ hour return trip home.

At home with Susan.

Warm-up (1000)
1 x 200 easy free
4 x 50 drill
4 x 100 @ 1:45, gentle descend free, just focus on warming up the body
4 x 50 @ :50 build each to fast

Set I (1200 set / 2200 total)
6 x 25 @ :40 underwater SDK w/monofin
6 x 100 @ 1:30 dolphin kick with fins, even on front, odd on back
6 x 50 @ :45 back kick with fins
6 x 25 @ :40 underwater SDK w/fins

Set II (1200 set / 3600 total)
3 x
* 4 x 50 @ 1:00 free, odd focus on technique, evens fast - went :30 .. :32
* 4 x 50 @ 1:10 choice, odd focus on technique, even fast - went back (:37, :37), breast (:37, :39), back (:35, :37) by round

Set III (600 set / 4000 total)
2 x 200 pull @ 2:40, 2:50
2 x 100 pull @ 1:20, 1:25

** 4000**

I felt slow and sore for the first part of this workout, but I eventually warmed up enough to do fairly well in the main set.

Fast Fri Sep 21st, 2012

Whitney coached
Mabel Davis pool was 77, several swimmers wore wet suits, I love cool pools

6:00 - 7:30
swam with Jim, Korey, & Keith
beside Chris, tyler, Jeff, & [ame="http://www.usms.org/forums/member.php?u=1257"]U.S. Masters Swimming Discussion Forums[/ame]

Warm up
did 900 to 100

Main Set

6 rounds of:
100 free fast 100 free easy (on 5:00)
100 choice fast 100 easy (on 5:00)
did all from a push except for my last one
did all FR except for last 2 fast choice 100's which were kick 1:24 & 1:20
started out FR held 1:09, 10 & 11, 1:07 on last



Next Meet:

Sat Dec 1, 2012 - Sun Dec 2nd

2012 South Central SCM Reg Championships
DAYS TILL


2013 South Central SCY Zone Championships
Return to UT in early April, 2013
The 1st time since 1999!
Tentative dates: Fri Apr 5 - Sun Apr 7
it wont be
April 19 - 21 UT Swim Center Events Schedule say there's the TXLA Long Course Kick Off
26, 27, 28 is too close to nats so it's likely to be 5, 6, 7 or 12, 13, 14

Swam w/ Dave, Dave, Dave, Leah and Ray. Just got back from donating platelets so here's my fuzzy recollection of what we did today.

SCY

600 Warm up

5 x 300 - 4:30 (Odds IM, Evens Free)
100 Easy

8 x 150 - 2:30 (50 Kick sandwiched inside a 100 IM)
100 Easy

8 x 75 - 1:15
* 1-4 Convert fly to back
* 5-8 Convert back to breast

8 x 50 Pull - :50 2 Easy/2 Hard
Made :27-:28 on the hard

200 Cool down

(4700 Total)

I saw the Ortho doc a few days after my shoulder dislocation in June 2008, and he pretty much just told me to keep the sling on for a few weeks, referred me to physical therapy, and gave me clearance to go back to work. I actually don’t remember much from that appointment at all. Now that I look back on it, things should have went down very differently. I should have been asking LOTS of questions….but back then swimming was only a peripheral part of my life, so I didn’t really think of it.

So, I went back to work a few days later. I work a desk job so nothing traumatic or anything. I do remember that it was hard for me to keep my arm in that damned sling….it actually hurt to NOT move it! It felt much better to change positions and move it around occasionally. If anything my shoulder felt less pain if I kept my arm down at my side. After a week and a half I pretty much abandoned the thing.

Sleeping was difficult. I’m a side sleeper, so not being able to sleep on my left side made for some restless nights. To this day I still can’t fully sleep on my left side, and I will feel some pain if I sleep on that side for too long.

My first visit to the physical therapist was short and sweet. It was about two weeks after I saw the Ortho doc, and I was feeling OK. He tested my range of motion which was just fine. Of course my shoulder was still very weak, and I still had some numbness, the “cold” feeling, and occasional pins and needles shooting down my arm, but nothing was overly painful. Overall, he seemed quite impressed with my strength and flexibility for having dislocated only a couple weeks prior. “You’re young, you’ll be fine,” he said. He gave me some tubing and a series of exercises to do - all of which were familiar to me since we did them all the time back in my age group days. I asked him when I could swim again, and he said to give it at least six weeks and to ease back in slowly. And that’s the last I saw of him. Again, looking back, I should have been way more involved in my treatment and rehab process. But at the time I had no idea what this injury would mean to me in the future.

Six weeks later I was back at my local pool. I had just watched Phelps go 8 for 8 in Bejing and I was rearing to get back ASAP! I had only been swimming 2000-2500 yard workouts once per week before my injury, so I just started back with a bit less yardage. I don’t remember any overwhelming pain – just a lot of soreness/weakness and my stroke feeling weird because of it. It was a little painful to breathe on my usual right side, so I just switched to the left. Everything seemed OK otherwise, until I attempted some backstroke and first experienced “the click”. Whoa! Never felt that before. My shoulder clicked with every stroke (right before the hand entry), so I just avoided backstroke from then on. I wasn’t really painful per se, but I knew it probably wasn’t good.

SCY, Solo

Did this workout a year ago.

Warm up (700)
300 free
400 --> Alternate: 25 kick - 25 Drill - 25 Scull - 25 Swim

Swim Sets
4 x 100 Free/1:40 build each
- times were 1:20± on these

10 x 50/1:00 Every 3rd FAST
- did this set all back, fast ones 37±, the rest were around 45

8 x 50/1:15 - 12.5 smooth then accelerate into the Wall, Tight, Fast Turn, tight streamline with fast, narrow SDK and explosive breakout and burst to mid pool, then smooth to finish.
- did 1-4 free, 5-6 fly, 7-8 back.

4 x 50/1:00 Pace
- free, at 38±

1 x 400 IM Kick

1 x 400 pull, free w/buoy and snorkel


Total: 3000 yards

SCM, Solo

Recovery day today. Am pretty sore since I resumed strenght training after a 2 month lay off.
Took this from Leslie's HIT week 36.

200 swim
200 IM drill
100 kick
4 x 25 scull
8 x 25 shooters w/fins @ :45

Main Sets:
4 x 50 free drill @ :30 RI
4 x 25 human drill @ :20 RI
4 x 25 free DPS @ :20 RI
4 x 25 1 breath free @ :30 RI
50 EZ

4 x 25 breast drill @ :30 RI
4 x 25 breast DPS @ :20 RI
4 x 25 breast kick @ :30 RI
1 x 100 IM kick
50 EZ

4 x 50 back drill @ 30 RI
4 x 25 back DPS @ :20 RI
4 x 25 back swim strong @ :45

100 EZ

Total: 2300 meters

Last night I attended my first diving practice. Not diving as in racing starts, but springboard diving!

The team I swim for—Team New York Aquatics—added a diving team in January of 2011. Last March the local meet we held included a diving competition. I stuck around and watched. I saw not only former collegiate divers doing spectacular things, but also some of my lanemates who were relative beginners doing credible dives. I was smitten, and decided that I had to try it out.

Over the spring and summer I stayed pretty busy swimming but kept the diving in mind. So last week when I got a team email about a diving boot camp for anyone interested in trying out the sport, I signed up right away. I spent last Sunday afternoon learning some basics, and then ventured out to Queens last night for my first session on the boards.

And I loved it! Our coach is really great, and really focused on doing the basics right and progressing slowly, so the beginners group (there are five of us) just worked on jumping off the board correctly and doing some forward line-ups (basically getting your body aligned, bending over at the waist, then falling off the board in a diving position. We did these skills off both the 1m and 3m boards. The latter was a little scary at first, but having keys to focus on for each skill was helpful.

And for the record, that jumping off the board thing—it’s a little harder than it looks! The technique is a little different than jumping on land—you want to use your legs to push the board down as powerfully as possible, then get yourself into a straight, stiff line by the time the board reaches its lowest point so that it can vault you up into the air as high as possible when it rebounds. That means straightening out the spine, which is designed with curves to absorb shocks—a good thing in real life, a bad thing if you want to fly as high as possible off a springboard (or glide as far and fast as possible after flipturns)., A lot of our dryland work last night focused on getting that straight spine.

I have absolutely no background in diving. I did take a trampoline class in college, and loved that, so the idea of eventually being able to do flips in the air again appeals to me. I plan to try this diving stuff over the next few weeks or months and decide if it’s a keeper as an activity. Some questions I have: Can I do this without too much risk of an injury that will affect my swim training (I’m especially worried about my wrists and elbows—they’ve already proven somewhat delicate)? Will I be too scared once we progress to more complex skills? Is taking up springboard diving in one’s mid-40s completely insane? And if it is, do I care?

Answers to all these will come soon enough. For now, I’m having fun learning some new skills in a new sport!

Got in the lane beside Sela today - wise choice as the workout went by.

500 back/free
500 Pull
5 x 100 fly/free/breast/free on 1:30
12 x 100 on 1:20
100 easy
10 x 50 kick on 1:00
8 x 25 4 cycle speedplay on :30
100 easy
3 x 200, free/pull/breast
500 P neg split
100 breast easy
2 x 50 fly/free
100 easy
Total: 5000


It is still so hard for me to do 1:20's over and over and over again. I long for the day when they feel like 1:30's do now. Working fairly hard (80%?) I come in around 1:12/13 consistently. I want that to be coming in at 08/09 consistently. BUT, I can feel myself getting stronger!!
Swam beside Sela today, and also one wave behind (so I left 5 sec behind her) - and easily caught up and passed her on each of the 12 x 100. I'm hoping if I do this enough that she will soon relinquish the lead position to me if we are forced into the same lane. Especially since my actual goal is to be able to do 100's on the 1:15 with the "ease" that I do 1:20's now. Then I'll bet my 500 free would have a rockin' time! Still, gotta admit doing 9 x 200 on 2:40 & 12 x 100 on 1:20 is bound to help the 400 & 800 free that I'm doing in October (3 weeks away?!). The knee has been nicely cooperative this week & I've been able to get in some good breaststroke. Tomorrow I've got a tennis match during ATAC practice, so will attempt to get in a little bit on my own in the afternoon - if only to stretch out the muscles I'm not used to using!

I will try doing sprints tomorrow at the Y in the short course pool. Today just seemed best to do distance even though I need another float day.

Taper starts next week for my big fall meet.

500 free
500 kick w/zoomers
4x400@7:00 w/paddles & bour descending went 6:26, 6:15, 6:08, 6:01 really wanted to go under 6 but couldn't get there today.

400 EZ

Total 3000 meters

Kneeling cable crunch
3 sets of 10 @ 100 lb.

Chin-ups
10 sets of 3 @ body weight (171 lb.) + 30 lb. @ 1:00

Squats
2 set of 5 @ 115 lb.
4 sets of 5 @ 205 lb.

Wide-grip overhand cable rows
1 set of 10 @ 80
1 set of 10 @ 90
1 set of 10 @ 100

Adductor machine
2 set of 10 @ 160 lb.

I think this was the first time I have been able to do 10 sets of chin-ups with 30 lb. It was definitely as heavy as I could handle today.

Well, practice for the swim team got cancelled tomorrow. The Wenatchee area is so dense with smoke that it's almost unbearable. Luckily the pool at the YMCA in East Wenatchee is open, and smoke free. It's amazing how much about 5 miles distance can make, plus going up in elevation out of the river valley. I just got into lap swim and I was the only one there tonight alongside the swim lesson groups.


I did a somewhat sprinty-type workout tonight on my own:

Warmup:

100 Free stretch out, then stretch my arms (sore from last night's practice)
200 Free
300 Free Pull

4 x 100 Kick w/ fins
(25 SDK on back/25 Flutter on back) w/ 5 underwater kicks @ 1:30 (went 1:23ish)

5 Rounds of:

• 100 IM @ 1:30 Desc. (went 1:20/1:18/1:15/1:15/1:13
• 50 Free Fast @ 1:00 (went :31/32s)

16 x 25 @ :30 (min. 5 underwater kicks on all)

• Odds SDK on Back
• Evens Sprint Free

150 EZ relax

1 x 100 Free AFAP from a push (went :58)
My legs didn't die on the final 25/50 either this time, in fact they actually began accelerating. I guess the coach is right about our training how it will just come automatically in a racing situation if we practice it daily.

100 EZ

1 x 100 Free AFAP w/ paddles & shorty fins (went :53)
same result, legs didn't really hurt (yes they hurt, but the hurt from kicking, not from dying)

200 EZ and out

----------------------
2800 Yards


Tomorrow, early morning, I'm taking a road trip down to Oregon City, OR. I have to pick up a few certified copies of my divorce paperwork from my former life, and I have to get them on Friday. The best part of my former life is my oldest child of course, which is 100% mine. The U.S. Govt. is waiting for the certified version for my daughter's passport, and they don't give you much time to get the papers. I'm not about to lose the money I've already paid, so I guess I'm headed to Oregon.

I may try to surprise the old head coach that I used to work with in Canby, OR tomorrow as well. Maybe they have a lunchtime lap swim and I'll just walk in as a paying customer, and he'll be like "WTF??"

Drylands:

rehab exercises, 15 min
power wheel roll outs, 3 x 15
captains chair leg raises, 2 x 20
total ab machine, 120 x 4 x 12
rear delt flys, 65 x 1 x 15, 70 3 x 15
super pullover, 110 x 1 x 15, 120 x 3 x 10
good mornings, 65 x 1 x 8, 75 x 3 x 8
leg abductor, 130 x 3 x 6
extreme angle iso squat, 4:00
TRX squat jumps, 15

Stretching/Foam Rolling, 20 min


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

I didn't feel like going to the pool today. It was a little soon for drylands, as I just hit the gym on Tuesday, but I went with my mood. Hopefully, I can do a kick ass HIT workout tomorrow. And then I have a massage scheduled! I haven't had one since June.

Interesting article on taking time off:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...sj_share_tweet

--- I sometimes wonder if more of us should do this. Perhaps it is the best way to faster times and ideal training, though it would take some patience to let yourself fall out of shape and then rebuild. Jimby was forced to take two weeks off for a retina detachment, and came back stronger than ever. I believe Jeff Commings takes chunks of time off on occasion too.


Swimming & Stress -- surprised they needed a survey for this
http://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-rel...164401676.html

Fast forward to May 2008. At this time I was married, living in Portland, Oregon, and had been working my first 'real' job at the state Public Health Division for about two years. I was swimming once a week at my local pool, but I was starting to feel a bit old at the ripe age of 26. I felt like I needed to do something crazy, so I decided to take up something that I’ve always wanted to learn: skateboarding.

Things started off really good. Six weeks into it, my balance was much improved and I was feeling really comfortable cruising around at some fairly good speed, and I hadn’t hit the ground once yet! A friend of mine decided to take up skateboarding with me, so on the weekends we would hit up deserted parking lots and cruise around. One sunny evening in June, we were out at Swan Island cruising around the huge FedEx parking lot. I was cruising around, and I remember that I was headed towards a wet patch that the sprinklers had created. Well, least to say, I didn’t make it through that wet patch. It tripped me up for some reason, and I fell spot on my left shoulder.

I immediately knew I had dislocated it. Mainly due to the obvious popping sensation that I had felt, plus I couldn’t move my arm. I was on the ground, and I couldn’t get my arm to move to get myself back up. Then, the pain came. HOLY HELL! And my friend was nowhere to be found. I knew she must have been waaay over on the other side of parking lot, so I laid there and waited…and waited….and waited. It felt like 15 or 20 minutes before I knew that if I wanted medical attention any time soon, I would need to get up and find her. So, I took a deep breath, and managed to get up. Holding my arm as pain went searing through my body, I hobbled to the other side of the parking lot and found her.

After I finally got to the hospital, it was still a good two and a half hours worth of waiting before my shoulder was put back into place. First, I had to wait my turn in the jam-packed ER. Then, I had to get X-rays to confirm that my shoulder was *actually* dislocated before they would give me pain meds (WTF!). Finally, I was prepped with an IV, as they knock you out so they can get your shoulder back in more easily. I was all ready to go when the doctors came over. But then they told me that I looked “more flexible” than average (thanks to swimming??), and that they were going to try to reduce it without knocking me out. I had to lie on my stomach with my arm dangling over the edge of the table, and it was only 2-3 seconds of intense pain before they got it to pop back in. Most relieving feeling ever!!! I was sent home in a sling and was told that the Orthopedics and Physical Therapy departments would be calling me soon. I thought to myself, “Well, I guess I get a few days off work, and I have pain meds, so thats not too bad!”

A few days later, I found myself sitting in my living room flipping through the TV channels, when I came across the ‘live’ airing of the 2008 Olympic swimming trials on NBC. I looked down at my arm in my sling, and then the realization came. I then thought to myself, “Oh F*&%, what have I done?!”

Thought I'd write up a bit about my swimming backgound first for some context before I get into all my shoulder mumbo jumbo....

I started swimming at an early age. Both my parents had relatives that had drowned, so I was put in lessons as soon as I was out of diapers. At age five, I joined WAVE Aquatics (then known as Totem Lake Swim Club), located in Kirkland, WA. My mom actually wanted to sign me up for synchronized swimming, but they didn’t accept kids younger than six. So swim team it was (thank goodness).

My age group ‘career’ was fairly short and sweet. From ages 10-14 I won several state and regional championships (fly, IM, and free...dont ask about breastroke lol), and placed well at a few Zone meets. When I was 12, our 400 free relay ranked #1 in the NAG top 16. Right after I turned 13, I broke the minute in the 100 fly, which was probably the highlight of my swimming career. I remember at the time my goal was to swim for the University of Washington, and make the Olympic team for Sydney 2000. A kid can dream, right?

However, around that same time, my parents got divorced. It was pretty ugly, and I was an only child in the prime of my adolescence. It was also expected that I move up and start training with the Senior group, which was rough for me because I was very attached to my friends and my age group coach. I remember my emotions were all over the place, and I was crying at a lot of practices and swim meets. Long story short, I couldn’t handle all the change, and it showed in my lack of improvement. So, right after I turned 15, I hastily decided to quit swimming. Just like that. No one around me seemed to question that decision, including myself. I continued to swim high school season up until I graduated, which was actually a lot of fun without all the pressure. I did still manage to make a few finals at the HS State meet, but of course I never came close to my old club times.

Every once in a while I would drop in on the team for a visit since they practiced at my high school pool. I'm pretty sure they all thought I was pulling an Anthony Ervin because I was all 'alternative' looking (this was Seattle in the 90s, what would you expect? lol) and I'm sure I smelled like cigarette smoke (soooo cool, right?). But really, I stayed out of any real trouble and had a part-time job. My grades stayed decent and my parents made it clear that I was still going to college, despite my lack of enthusiasm for it. When I was applying for college, I was actually offered small scholarships to swim at two in-state colleges, but I passed on those.

After I graduated and went off to college and then grad school, I never let swimming get too far away. I swam for PE credits, and on my own when I had exhausted the number of PE credits I could get each year. I also had worked as a lifeguard and taught swimming lessons at the local athletic club. I think in the decade after I graduated high school, the longest time I went without having at least a once a week swimming routine was about 6 months. So, I have always held on to my identity as a swimmer.

A few extra moments so here it is! It's been really IMmy lately, but that's 'cause I happen to be going on Tue/Thurs.

SCM, Baylor Fitness Center
IM day!

400 warm up

12 x 50 on 1:00
3 rounds of 4
fly/back; back/br; br/free; free/fly

50/100/150/200/200/150/100/50 pull :45 base
====>you have got to be kidding me. no. absolutely not. I did every other 50 and made the 4 x 50 of the 2 x 200 very strong; descend 35 to 31.

5 x 100 on 2:00
1, 3, 5 fast IM
2, 4 recovery
1:19, :19, :17

8 x 50 kick on 1:00
==>not really. I was so wiped out I flopped and did all sorts of not-what-the-set-is-suppose-to-be 50's.

The End

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ok! That was pretty strong IMming for me today. Not the greatest, not any breakthroughs, but strong. If I keep this up, then I would like to get closer to 1:15s. Not sure how long this IM/stroke phase will be.

I still haven't gotten my key lime pie. I did get some interesting kettle style waffle chips, but they are sort of hard to eat. You really have to concentrate on the bite, instead of the lazy fly-dissolving action of eating something like Lays. I'm used to putting my tongue between the waves, but when it's waffled, that makes it confusing which way to bite!

Next up: Golden Corral tomorrow!

Santa Clara Swim Club Masters - SCY
Gary coaching

Warm-up (1450)
1 x 300 (got in early)

2 x 200 @ 2:45
2 x 50 @ 1:00 choice
2 x 150 @ 2:05
2 x 50 @ 1:00 choice
2 x 100 @ 1:20

50 easy

Set I (400 / 1850)
3 x 100 @ 2:00 kick, descend
100 easy

Set II (300 / 2150)
12 x 25 @ :30 streamline drills: 2 kick in streamline, 2 ??, 4 one-arm, 2 hesitation, 2 swim

Set III (1700 / 3850)
10 x 100 @ 1:30 pull with agility paddles and buoy, best average (went 1:04 on first, 1:06 & 1:07 on remainder)
100 easy
10 x 50 @ :45 pull with agility paddles and buoy, best average (went :32 & :33 on all)
100 easy

Set IV (1250 / 5100)
5 x
* 1 x 75 @ 1:00 free (went :49 - :51)
* 1 x 50 @ :45 choice
* 1 x 25 @ :25 choice
* 100 active recovery

** 5100 yards **

What a difference a day makes! I was feeling beat-up all day yesterday and seriously considered skipping practice this morning, but I decided I would go and just bail if I felt too bad. I got in early to stretch out a bit, which helped get me ready for Gary's typically fast-paced warm-up.

The instructions for the drill set were to "feel" the streamline, so I took that to heart and really thought about my body position and the feel of the water on my hands and arms. This must have had the desired effect because I have never done a 1:04 in workout and my normal pace for 100s on 1:30 is about 1:13. I was going second in my lane, but I was leaving 10 seconds behind the leader and he is much faster than me so I don't think I got much of a draft. My leg cramped on the first 75 of the last set so I ended up using a pull buoy on most of them.