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Today was the last full day of students! I had NO facility today, the fifth grade took the gym for graduation then a party complete with a booming DJ, a super ddr station, lots of food and decor, and parents waiting on them hand and foot!
It was raining and cold out all morning so I had to hunker each class in their pod and show them a very cool dvd called "JUMP"! "JUMP" is a docudrama focusing on 4 different boys and girls training (and the road to) for the Jumprope Nationals. My kids worked hard on double Dutch and single rope tricks all year in warm-up stations so they really appreciated the difficulty of what these jumpers were trying to accomplish.
After lunch it stopped raining so I took the "little ones" (Kdg-2nd) outside. My youngest daughter randomly showed up at my school and spent the afternoon playing with the kids and I. This is finals week at the high school so they get out at noon.
Anyway Sarah's unexpected appearance was exciting for the kids, and put some sunshine in my afternoon!
Swim practice was COLD tonight. The ambient temp was 65 degrees, cloudy, and breezy. The water was around 75 degrees. I started out on a pretty good roll and felt fine, then a late-comer hopped in the lane and wanted to talk about what we were doing. I was tight and cold from then on.
Here's the workout:

800 freestyle warm-up swim
200 Backstroke kick w/zoomers
2 X 100 (back/breast)
________________________
4 X 150 Free on 1:30 descended
400 free swim moderate
4 X 150 Free on 1:30 descend again
200 Free moderate
8 X 50 Free (I tried to do these extra hard, it hurt) on 1:00
200 easy cool-down swim
3,600 LC Meters

I've read several blogs that have been discussing nutrition ideas and this led me to re-examine my own nutrition. It needs to improve without a doubt! I've had a good plan before and got out of the habit of following it. I've pulled the plan out today and studied it and wonder why I ever stopped following it. Just lazy I guess.

Thought I would give some background on why I ever got a nutrition plan in the first place. This is an issue I feel strongly about as I have seen many friends and swimmers I have coached get injured or have poor performances due to inadequate caloric intake. Obviously, it has also happened to me.

I'm just an average recreational athlete, but maybe by putting this information up, I will help somebody or encourage somebody. My hope is that any female athlete that reads this that has suffered stress fractures or even worries about her weight will think twice before cutting back on calories. From what I've read, most female athletes, especially swimmers are in negative energy balance so much of the time. EAT! I also hope those interested in the negative energy balance problem will take a look at the following studies:

http://www.healthline.com/hlbook/nut...ce-enhancement

http://www.sportsci.org/news/compeat/fat.html

http://mdsports.wordpress.com/2007/1...l-disturbance/

In 2000, I did my first triathlon and won the beginner's division. This got me fired up and I started training probably more than I needed to. I ended up with a stress fracture in the femoral neck, (this is the part of your upper femur that connects to the ball and socket joint in your hip) a very dangerous place to get a stress fracture. A full break can often result in avascular necrosis (blood supply to bone gets cut off resulting in death of the bone) which leads to having to get a hip replacement. Mine was already halfway across the neck. I had to be on crutches for 5 weeks which was miserable. Was not allowed to even bike and had to agree to wear a pull buoy when I swam and no flip turns. Even after getting off crutches, was not allowed to run for another 2 months.

After getting off the crutches, I wasn't ready to give up running or sprint or Olympic distance triathlons, but I wanted to make sure I didn't do anything again to re-injure my hip and end up with a hip replacement. Went to one of the best pedorthists around, Donna Robertson, out of Birmingham. Donna, also a certified athletic trainer, was the trainer for the U.S. Olympic Volleyball team in 1976. Got fitted for orthotics and she made suggestions for running shoes.

In addition, I got with Roy Benson (out of Atlanta) and had him look at my running mechanics to see if I was doing anything wrong. I also asked him to give me some training guidance for running so I would not get hurt again. He introduced me to heart rate training, one of the best tools you can use to keep yourself from getting injured.

And finally, at the suggestion of a friend, I consulted with Kimberly J. Mueller (now Kim Brown), a sports dietician out of San Diego who has written about nutrition for one of the triathlon magazines. I noticed that she recently put up an article on a website: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/kbrown5.htm. Her main page is at http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/kbrown.htm
Kim had me log all my activity (including sleeping) and everything I ate for 3 days. I was shocked when she wrote me back and said that I was "in severe negative energy imbalance, which is a contributing factor to diminished bone health."

In the analysis, she noted that one day I had expended 4,000 calories but had only taken in 1800. Whoops! I wondered why I wasn't dropping weight like crazy if this was the case. She explained to me that your body goes into starvation mode and your metabolism slows way down. As she noted, my bones were taking a hit. Not a good thing at 34 years old. She suggested that I needed to be taking in 3100 calories a day. I was floored, but was willing to try it. Anything to prevent another dreaded stress fracture.

In any case, she suggested a breakdown of nutrients as follows: 60% carbs, 15% protein, and 25% fat. I wondered why so low in protein. She stated,"[T]oo much protein can be detrimental to bone health, as excess protein will carry calcium out of the body via urine. Chronic high-protein diets are related to decreased bone mass and development of stress fractures."

After I read that, I decided no athlete, especially a runner needs to be doing anything like the Atkins diet. Anyway, she suggested that to "enhance my training and sports performance as well as to help prevent further stress fractures," that I take in 3100 calories per day. I followed this plan pretty well for several years and as a result feel like I had some outstanding performances.

I actually lost a couple of pounds on this plan (got down to 135 at 5'9") and ended up having to eat more to get where I wanted (140 pounds) to maintain optimal power for my swimming events. My bodyfat at 135 was 14 to 15%. Before I got on the plan, it hung around 20% or even 21%. I really felt better, however, at 140 and 16%. I think the reason my body fat dropped was because I had to eat more often to meet my caloric goal for the day. (See first study above that explains why one has a higher body fat % when you don't eat frequently). I may have dropped a couple of pounds eating more simply because I had more energy to do more activities and because my body became a better fat burner.

In any case, some of my performances on the diet that I felt were noteworthy:

1. Six months after getting off crutches, ran a 44 (44:10 net, 44:52 gun) at Pike's Peak 10k in April 2001. http://www.mcrrc.org/racing/race01/pp01f.htm

2. Averaged 23.1 mph on the bike portion of a triathlon I did. http://www.coolrunning.com/results/0...Dog_set2.shtml Was in 35-39 age-group. Almost didn't put this one down as you will note the very long transition time between the bike and run - I ran out of the transition area to start my run and realized I forgot my running belt with my race number on it. Ran back into transtion to get it. Found out at the end of the race I didn't have to have it.

3. Ran a 20:32 in a 5k. http://run42k.com/2001frosty5k.htm This was a year and a few months after I got off the crutches.

4. Swam 4,650 yards on the USMS swim in 2002. http://www.usms.org/longdist/ldnats02/1hrresults.pdf Got 6th place in 35-39.

4. Had master's SCY PB in 50 fly (28.57) and 100 I.M (1:07.80) at Auburn Meet in early 2003.
http://www.ag.auburn.edu/~bailelc/results2003.htm (35-39 age-group)


In getting busy with my part-time job and my child's activities, I got into some really bad eating habits recently - not sitting down to eat regularly or grabbing the first thing I could get my hands on. As of today, I'm back on the plan. After thinking back, nutrition made a big difference for me.

I'm not doing triathons now, but I run, lift weights, and swim. Still holding out some hope that I can do one again and be competitive. I stopped doing the tris in 2006 because a neurological disorder that affects my heart (apparently this is a genetic thing) flared up. I've dealt with asthma all of my life but the combo of the asthma and the neurological disorder made it very difficult to be competitive in even sprint triathlons. I can say though that I have suffered no stress fractures since 2000 and have definitely had higher volume weeks than I had in 2000. Also had a bone density test done last year and doc said it was amazing - still in the plus range which apparently is not the norm for women my age. Glad the impact exercise has paid off in a good way.


My goal now is to be somewhere around 2500-2800 calories. No way will my better eating habits show up in time for Athens, but maybe it will make a difference at Nationals.

Here are some specifics the 3100 plan suggests:

Meats - 4 servings a day - lean mean/poultry /fish (1 serving equals 105 -300 calories) - Nuts count as meats as does peanut butter
Bread - 16 servings (1 serving equals 80 calories) - wheat bread, cereals, pasta, crackers, rice cakes, popcorn, or pretzels
Vegetable - 4 servings (1 serving equals 25 calories) - vegetable juice (V-8) counts
Fruit - 5 servings
Fats and Sweets - No recommendation - use sparingly
Milk - 4 servings - (1 serving equal to 90 -150 calories) - yogurt, cheese, cottage cheese

Here are some suggestions she gave me for meal ideas:

Spaghetti
Tacos/Burritos/Enchiladas
Stir Fry
Pizza
Omlettes
Beans and Rice

I love her snack ideas:
dry roasted nuts
graham crackers
bagel
sunflower seeds
vegetable soup
dried apricots
half a PBJ sandwich

Best of luck to everybody out there. I hope maybe something in this post will be helpful to somebody!

After giving up potato chips last night, I fell asleep almost an hour earlier than normal. Woke up with a lot of energy. Decided to go to my first am spin class in a couple months.

60 minute spin

Wasn't too bad. I didn't kill it, as I was planning to swim later. But pretty fun. Why is standing and biking at an 8-9 level easier than sitting and biking at a 7?

Core/RC Work:

incline crunches w/10 lb weight over head, 2 x 25
elevated crunches w/med ball, 2 x 25
V Ups w/med ball, 2 x 15
crunches on bench w/10 lb DB held by feet
external rotators, 10 x 2 x 15, each side
prone scapular scrunches w/hand weights, 2 x 25
arm extensions w/3 lb hand weights, 2 x 15 forward, V, side

10 minutes of stretching

Swim/SCY Solo:

Warm up:

750 variety warm up of swim, kick & drills

10 x 25
odds, backstroke shooter, no fins
evens, easy

Main Set:

10 x 25 fly w/fins @ :35
4 x 100 kick w/fins @ 2:00,
Amanda Weir style:
6 SDKs on first 25, 8 SDKs on second 25, 10 SDKs on third 25, UW shooter on last 25
(This was NOT easy!)
100 EZ

10 x 25 fly w/fins @ :40
4 x 100 @ 2:00, done:
25 fast doggie paddle drill, 25 easy dolphin kick on back, 25 fast breast, 25 easy dolphin kick on back
100 EZ

10 x 25 fly w/fins @ :40
4 x 100 backstroke kick @ 2:00
75 EZ kick, speed into last turn and blast last 25 AFAP with 10 SDKs
100 EZ

Speed Work:

10 x 25
odds, AFAP free
evens EZ

100 EZ

Total: 3600

BTW, I really like the workout Patrick posted earlier today. I think I'll do that tomorrow. Or perhaps after another lactate set day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nutrition Update:

My 10 week+ effort to see if food = drug started today. (I realize 10 weeks probably isn't long enough to see lasting benefits -- is it? -- but I thought I'd reevaluate progress then.

I don't plan to blog it every day and bore everyone to tears. Perhaps just to get me going. Here's what I ate/plan to eat today:

Breakfast:
(Forgot about the "no bread rule" right outta the box. lol)

1 slice whole grain wheat bread w/peanut butter
blueberries

Post Spin Snack:

12 oz G2 (I know it's got sugar, but RecoverWrong makes me nauseous)
high protein balance bar

Lunch:

Salad: romaine lettuce, avocado, tomatoes, grilled chicken, pomegranate arils (probably the only seed I like), currants

Post Swim Snack:

banana, plum, cherries and a couple of slices of grilled chicken

Dinner:

salmon (thank god my kids love this!)
broccoli
tomatoes

(I won't eat the rice or pasta I make my kids.)

(If I cheat, I'll edit)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CrossFit on Stretching:

Crazy's comment about stretching for 30 minutes got me thinking. I found this article called Hamstrung on the crossfit website. Here's the preamble to it:

Stretching sucks. It does. There, it's been said. You can't brag about your best stretching time, you don't get to write your stretch PR on the wall, and there is no immediate "Fran"-like gratification that you are really tough. And despite the fact that flexibility is one of the ten CrossFit pillars of complete, well-balanced fitness, increasing flexibility potential remains the ungreased squeaky wheel of most athletes' training programming. According to the ten general physical skills list, flexibility is allegedly as important as power or strength. So why don't we take it more seriously? Because, typically, we simply fail to frame flexibility in terms that are important to us: increasing performance.

Stop kidding yourself. Lacking flexibility in crucial areas has a crushing impact on your athletic abilities; to say nothing of the host of pains and problems that inflexibility predisposes you to. If you know you have tight hips, calves, hamstrings, quads, thoracic spine, or shoulders and aren't actively, aggressively striving to fix them, then you must be afraid of having a bigger squat, faster rowing splits, or a more explosive second pull. Or, you must be very lazy. Because if you are tight and a CrossFitter, you are missing a huge opportunity to get better, stronger and faster. Simply put, not stretching is like not flossing, and the results are not pretty. There are many areas of restriction in the typical athlete, but it makes sense to begin a discussion about flexibility and performance at perhaps the most commonly neglected and profoundly underaddressed area of the body, the hamstrings. The goals of this article are to help you understand how hamstring restriction impedes performance and function, learn to identify tight hamstrings with a few simple assessment tools, and above all, know how to address the problem.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/zaino14.htm

27 May 09 - Dryland (missed the time at Folsom)
Lords Gym- Endurance Conditioning
Warm up - Plank 1:00, Double Leg Rotation, Crunches and Extensions on the ball.
2x8 Assisted Pull-ups and Dips
Hang 45's x2
3x15 on everything; Upper and Lower
Modified Straight arm pull-down with 3x15 25lb each arm
BK simulator 3x15 15lb.

28 May 09- Folsom Aquatic Center
http://www.folsom.ca.us/depts/parks_...on/aquatic.asp

The pool is set up SCY with the 2 ends set apart for diving and kids. The lanes are reserved for "lap swimming" from 10:30 - 12:30 pm. Music playing on loud speakers (modern pop) and there are built in underwater speakers, sound is not too bad. It was distracting at first.
It was BYO w/o, so I had a Pat Cantrell and a Mark / Chris S. workout. Started with Pats warm-up then changed to the other.
Solo / BYO

Warm - 300 Swim, 250 Stroke Drills (dog paddle, Gallop, one arms) 150 Kick (w/fins on side with pull buoy), 100 FR build

6 x (4 x 50) 1-3 Descend 4th Easy on 1:00
Alternate BK & FR

100 easy

100 BK2:00
2 x 200 BK 4:00
100 BK 2:00
(omitted the 2x 300)

100 EZ
6x25 Sprint IM order, then BK / FR on :30
150 w/d

3100

I don't think Ive swam this much backstroke, ever...I can say that I properly flip-turned at every wall and gave at least a kick or two before breakout. I'm getting to be a fan of Marks workouts, and Chris writes them so they're easy to understand. So thanks guys

SCM, Solo

200 swim free
200 kick choice
200 pull free
200 IM drill

3 x 50 w/15 sec. rest:
#1 kick breast on your back with a tight streamline;
#2 kick breast on your stomach with a tight streamline;
#3 is the "butt drill": kick on stomach with hands on glutes, trying to touch heels to hand before kicking back...
50 easy free

8 x 25 breast w/15 sec. rest as below:
#1-2 pull with fly kick
#3-4 pull with free kick: really work on accelerating during the lunge phase so you don't get the hands stuck under your body
#5-6 3 kicks/1 pull
#7-8 2 kicks/1 pull
100 easy

8 x 25 breast with 10 sec. rest:
#1 swim as long a stroke as you can with a 3-count glide, counting strokes. This is your stroke length.
#2 stroke length +1
#3 stroke length +2
#4 stroke length +3
repeat

100 easy

pull 6 x 75 free on 1:30 with paddles & buoy: descend 1-3 and 4-6

swim down 200 easy
--
2250m

Thu May 28th, 2009

Larry & Tyler are doing the Postal 10k this Saturday at 6:30 am, I'm thinking about it, haven't swum that far in years.
What do you think?


the:
FINA WORLD MASTERS RECORDS - SHORT COURSE METERS MAY 2009


NEXT MEETS

Thu June 11 - 14, 2009
Austin, TX
Senior Circuit #3
Austin, TX
Events Entered:
04 400 Freestyle (2) 5:07.03 scy 500 fr
10 050 Freestyle 24.50 LCM
14 200 Freestyle 1:50.70 scy
18 200 Backstroke 2:21.04 LCM
20 100 Butterfly 51.80 scy
28 200 Individual Medley 2:24.08 LCM
38 050 Butterfly (3) 51.80 scy


Fri July 18 - 19 2009
Woodlands, TX
USMS South Central Zone Long Course Championship Meet
Meet Entry Form
Found out Aerosmith is playing with ZZ Top on
Friday July 17th at the
Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavillion in the Woodlands
Tickets


weights at world gym

lat press 8 x 40 8 x 45 8 x 50 6 x 55

lat pull 8 x 165 6 x 205 6 x 205

bench 8 x 135 6 x 185 3 x 195 3 x 195

leg press 8 x 180 8 x 270 6 x 360

bands



TODAYS SWIM PRACTICE

LCM
6:30 - 8:00
whitney Coached
TSC main pool
swam with russell, chris, tyler, todd, doug, amy, brandon, & larry


warm up LCM
500 fr
400
300 k
200
100

Main LCM


20 x 50 fr on :40
made em

10 x 100 on 1:20
made em
held 1:10's & 11's

20 x 50 fr on :40
made em

5 x 100 on 1:15
made em held 1:10's

100 easy

11:00 AM to Noon at the Downtown YMCA (SCM) coached by Jann.

My last practice in the U.S.

Warmup:
400 free - every 4th dolphin breast
4x25 2 kicks/pull breast drill on :40

Main Set:
3x175 free descend on 3:30 - 3:15, 3:00, 2:45
4x50 fast breast on 1:10 - :50, :53, :53, :52

3x150 free descend on 3:00 - 2:50, 2:40, 2:31
4x50 fast breast on 1:10 - :52, :55, :55, :54

3x125 free descend on 2:30 - 2:15, 2:05, 1:50
4x50 fast breast on 1:10 - :54, :54, :54, :54

Warmdown:
100 im drill
100 easy back

2550 meters

Notes:
I am glad I could sneak away from my last day in the office to make my last practice with my team. Breast stroke workouts are difficult in that they hammer my legs. The intervals weren't as fast as I had hoped, but I felt like my stroke was decent. I liked the long descending free intervals as a change.
Hopefully I will find a team to start practicing with soon so that I don't miss that much time in the pool.
I'll talk to you all from the other side of the pond.

I hate on-call, I hate on-call, .....
Today after the first 1500 I had to stop for about 20 minutes to handle computer problems. I hate on-call.

Felt like I had a great backstroke today.

1000 Free by 200 swim/pull/swim/kick/swim
5x100 @ 2:15 back kick w/fins and rotation my kick felt slower than usual

I hate on-call.... 20 minutes of computer issues

5x200 @ 4:15 Back w/paddles went 3:58, 3:46, 3:46, 3:42, 3:41 felt stronger as I went
5x100 @ 1:45 Free w/paddles & bouy held 1:36's
5x100 @ 2:00 as 50 free/50 back
500 Free EZ

Total 4000 meters

Chris, I think most people need a schedule for periodization to work well for them, because their inner "I'm broken down" threshold is set too low. A schedule also gives them an end in sight, which can be a powerful motivational factor.

Fort, June 14 is soon! The end is in sight!

--Mr. Qbrain in a comment on a recent Chris Stevenson blog

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:

1. Severe nausea of the sort where the stomach contents are storming the esophageal sphincter if not yet breaching same
2. 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
3. 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

------------------------------------------------------
Saturday, May 23rd at Sewickley YMCA

lifted 53,000 lb.--see earlier vlog
------------------------------------------------------
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
------------------------------------------------------
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

------------------------------------
Tuesday, May 26th at Sewickley YMCA
lifted 66,000 pounds in lieu of tennis singles because of rain
------------------------------------
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

-----------------------------------------------
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.

Friend of mine asked me to run this morning, so headed out in the steam room-like weather and ran 5.7 miles at a 9 minute per mile pace. Temp was 72 degrees and humidity was 94%.

Swam 3600 SCY late this afternoon. Got several sets of 75s in as I try to prepare for 50s in a long course pool. Experimented with bending my elbows more on fly for faster turnover.

No asthma medicine or breathing problems today.

Feeling blah this week so I am skipping weights.

Got a swim in though:
500 W/U
2 x 300 IMO K/DR/S
200 FR DR/S by 50
10 x 125 2:10
200 EZ
5 x 100 BK Roll Drill/Swim by 50
100 Cool

flying out of austin monday afternoon, i had a great arial view of lake travis. at its current low level it really resembles the river that it actually is... switching back upon itself often. i don't know if any of my relay mates are having the same thought, but i would really like to do a solo dam to dam 63.7 mile swim in the near future.... maybe this autumn sometime around thanksgiving. of course, this depends on the lake level being high enough to start at the dam separating travis from marble falls and the water temp being somewhere between 68 and 74. i met mauro giacona http://press.crystal-lagoons.com/vie...?video=22&w=&h
at the tampa bay marathon last month, and though neither he nor i had much command of the others language, he has inspired me to attempt a 24 +/- hour swim sometime. lake travis seems like the ideal place to do it for many reasons. (and hey... its in austin!) so, if any of my fellow trekkers read this, keep me posted on the precipitation situation and give me another excuse to visit!

today i swam with the wassner twins. no coach but bec wrote the practice.
300 swim
300 pull
5x 50 drill/swim
4x 50 kick
3x 50 build/fast
2x 50 (don't remember)
1x 50 (don't remember)

500 on 5:50 1x 100 on 1:50
400 on 4:50 2x 100 on 1:40
300 on 3:50 3x 100 on 1:30
200 on 2:50 4x 100 on 1:20
100 on 1:50 5x 100 on 1:15

4x 250 pull
200 bk

i missed the 5:50 interval but caught up on the 100 on 1:50 with time enough left to locate my lungs.

I need help and am hoping all the knowledgeable swimmers and/or coaches will be able to give me some great advice.

I swam in college (with NO prior training!) and for 4 years my times only improved (swimming freestyle 50 and 100 yd). Now jump forward 30 years without any further training or practicing (yikes!).

I am now 54 and in the last 4 years I have had 4 surgeries on my right arm for ulnar nerve entrapment. (I will spare everyone the gory details, but the last surgery this January was supposed to last 2 hours and the surgeon finished 8 1/2 hours later!). Now movement is KEY to keeping my body from scarring down this nerve again.

I started swimming about 6 weeks ago at my local YMCA. The surgeon is thrilled and cannot believe I am swimming over half a mile 3-4 times a week. He says I can now swim as much and as hard as I want (within reason, of course).

So...I now have it in my head that I want to compete again. I have read all the workouts, focusing more on the 'beginner' ones because yardage is still an issue. I am up to 1200 yards and want to soon get up to a mile.

What I am looking for are workouts that perhaps test me within my low yardage ability right now. I feel until my arm is stronger, 1600 yds. will be my limit.

I, of course, have NO idea about repetition times, etc as I have not attempted to time myself yet. I know what I did in college..

If anyone can offer any low yardage, fairly intense workouts, I would REALLY appreciate it. Also, is it unrealistic to think about swimming at the nationals in Indy in August? Are these National meets only for the topnotch swimmers?? Or can everyone come and try to improve their own times? Or would I just be wasting everyone's time since I would not be of 'National' caliber??

Thanks in advance for any help!

Short Run:

No time for a swim this am. I had the 4:30 am driving shift for Mini Fort's swim practice. Couldn't really fall back asleep until after I got Lil Fort to school. So only had time for a quicky 3.5 mile loop on the trail.

Then I went to get a deep tissue massage. Lordy, I was sore! My massage therapist said I have "swimmer's toe" because, when lying down, my toes are still in a natural "point" position.

LC Meet:

Sent in my entries for the Terrapin Cup LC meet on June 21 today. I entered:

50 back, 33.50
100 back, 1:14.50
50 fly, 31.75

These are very fast untapered times for me. In fact, I've never swum them untapered. Wolf Girl would be so proud. I just hope I don't end up in a wall lane, as I seem prone to do at mixed male-female meets.

Nutrition:

I am contemplating working on this area. I've always exercised, in part, so I can eat and drink whatever I want. I've never dieted, just eaten in a healthy fashion. So, I'm contemplating giving up chips (lol, my favorite evil addiction and not mine alone. ), bread, desserts, and late night snacks until Nats. Not going so far as to give up Pinot/Chard, , though I did read Susan Dawson Cook's excellent article in USMS Swimmer with interest. And the Cross Fit website proclaims that super healthy eating WILL enhance performance. In this regard, I have a friend who's been on a somewhat strict diet along the lines indicated above, who says he/she is slimmer and swimming faster than ever in practice.

Most people I know embarking on this endeavor keep a food log. Ugh, not really a fan of doing this. As I say, I'm just mulling it over. The hardest thing for me would be giving up late night snacks, as I'm always hungry late in the evening. And I don't like carrots much!!

I am feeling frustrated as I am coming up on my six months review (end of June) and I am not any faster. I have joined a Masters swim group, I lift legs weights, I swim a least three times a week and always swim over 2500 yds at a clip, I have gone to a swim clinic, I blog, I read blogs, and still I feel confused about my stroke and can't seem to make any headway timewise. I see other newbies with leaps and bounds. I remain stagnet and now I am sad.

Today's workout
On my own after being away on vacation for 7 days I was glad to be back in the pool, but still the same ole turtle...no hare here.

100 IM warm up
500 free warm up
250 kick wiht fins
250 kick
10 x 50's on 45sec
10 x 25's on 25secs
(felt out of shape on these)
Past month or so my lungs hurt when I take a deep breath.
2 400 IMs
450 swim
3100 yds.

First OW swim 3k in Pinhearst this week-end. I will do what I can...I guess.

Wed May 27th, 2009

weighed 218 after practice,
hope to be 210 - 212 when Sen Cir 3 arrives.

noticed the: FINA WORLD MASTERS RECORDS - SHORT COURSE METERS MAY 2009


NEXT MEETS

Thu June 11 - 14, 2009
Austin, TX
Senior Circuit #3
Austin, TX
Events Entered:
04 400 Freestyle
10 050 Freestyle
14 200 Freestyle
18 200 Backstroke
20 100 Butterfly
28 200 Individual Medley
38 050 Butterfly


Fri July 18 - 19 2009
Woodlands, TX
USMS South Central Zone Long Course Championship Meet
Meet Entry Form
Found out Aerosmith is playing with ZZ Top on
Friday July 17th at the
Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavillion in the Woodlands
Tickets



TODAYS SWIM PRACTICE

LCM & SCY
6:30 - 8:00
whitney Coached
TSC main pool & diving well
swam with mike & nate
beside larry, russell, brad, & jon



warm up LCM
100 fr
100 fl drill
100 fr
100 bk
100 fr
100 br
100 fr
100 fr

4 x 50

moved to diving well SCY

main set

8 x 250 IM on 3:45
done 25 fl, 50 bk 75 br, 100 fr
desc 1 - 4, hold 5 - 8
4 - 7 were around 2:54
went 2:48 on #8

10 x 100 k on 1:30
all were under 1:20
under 1:15 on #10

100 easy & got out early to make a meeting

SCM, Solo

300 swim free
400 reverse IM alt. kick/swim by 25
200 pull free w/p&b

swim 3x around (all free)
{
3 x 50 on :55, smooth (went :42-43)
2 x 75 on 1:25, make the interval, (went 1:07 -1:10)
150 FAST on 3:10 (went 2:10, 2:10, 2:05)
}
The 3rd 150 should be all out; pace the other repeats, keeping the walls long with tight streamlines

50 easy

swim 8 x 25 on 40: build 1-3; #5 and 8 fast(went :19± on the builds, :16± on fast ones, :22± on the rest)

swim down 200 alternating back/free by 50

Total: 2700 meters

Weight training tonight

Today was my 100's day with a few 50's mixed in here and there. I did the fly to ward off another flailer from joining me. I actually felt fairly good on the fly. I will try to do some every day until mid next week. Have a 200 fly at a meet on the 6th of June.

10x100 @ 1:50 Free held about 1:45's

5x100 @ 1:50 Free kick w/fins
10x50 @ 1:10 Free w/fins & snorkle alt 50 kick/50 swim this was my snorkle work I am trying to do more of it paying attention to head position on free

10x50 @ 1:00 Fly w/fins held :51's

10x100 @ 1:40 Free w/paddles & bouy was all over the place went 1:35, 1:35, 1:38, 1:36, 1:35, 1:38, 1:39, 1:37, 1:35, 1:39

500 alt by 100 free/back/free/back/free EZ

Total 4000 meters

We all know them.

In fact, many of us are them.

The "more is more" philosophers of swimming known as either yards whores or, in polite company, triathletes.

The very wise Britisher, Mr. Richard Skerrett, a swimmer from Wales whose USMS discussion forum name I should know but don't, who is nevertheless as capital a chap as can be found in the blessed realm, sent me a fascinating link this morning that I strongly urge you to read.



Look at Mr. Skerrett and ask yourself this: Can you imagine any Dylan Thomas/Richard Burton-esque Welschman with so handsome a weathered face ever steering you wrong? My god, man! He appears to have learned about the sea and the ways of water from Admiral Nelson himself!

Take to heart the wisdom in his link, which I shall reproduce here:

http://www.brianmac.co.uk/swimming/swimspeed.htm.

Alas, we live in hurried times, rushed times, times when there is very little time whatsover to stop and smell the pixilated roses depicted on your computer screen.



Smell this, you Type A bastards, you!

For those of you too busy to read the link, let me excerpt a key passage:

Research into the effects of high-volume swim training on performance suggests there is no advantage to piling on the kilometres. The legendary US physiologist Dave Costill has undertaken a great deal of research on swim training over the last three decades. In one study, his team of scientists followed two groups of swimmers over a 25 week training period. Both groups began with once daily training, but one group moved to twice daily training in weeks 10 to 15, reverting to once daily for the rest of the study period. At no stage of the 25 week training period did this group show enhanced performance or increased aerobic capacity as a result of their extra training. It was a waste of time.


In another study, Costill tracked the performance of competitive swimmers over a four-year period, comparing a group averaging 10 kilometre per day with a group averaging 5 kilometre per day in relation to changes in competitive performance time over 100, 200, 500 and 1600 yards.

Improvements in swim times were identical for both groups at around 0.8% per year for all events. Again, even though one group did twice as much training, both groups benefited to the same extent in the long term.


To quote Costill directly: 'Most competitive swimming events last less than two minutes. How can training for 3 to 4 hours per day at speeds that are markedly slower than competitive pace prepare the swimmer for the maximal efforts of competition?' Research from France supports Costill's conclusions. A team of scientists analysed the training and performance of competitive 100 metres and 200 metre swimmers over a 44 week period. Their findings were as follows:

• Most swimmers completed two training sessions per day
• Swimmers trained at five specific intensities. These were swim speeds equivalent to 2, 4, 6 and a high 10 mmol/L blood lactate concentration pace and, finally, maximal sprint swimming
• Over the whole season, the swimmers who made the biggest improvements were those who performed more of their training at higher paces. The volume of training had no influence on swim performance.

--with thanks to Rapheal Brandon

So, the next time you are tempted to swim nonstop at a plodding pace in the hopes of doing your competitive swimming some benefit, think twice. Even if you kick it into somewhat elevated gear, but don't give yourself too much rest, chances are that once you've trained your aerobic fibers to the max, you're not adding much.

Dare to make yourself uncomfortable, in fact, very uncomfortable with more race pace practice than you want to do, even if this drastically reduces your overall yardage.

I am not sure exactly what i think of the famous feminist work, A Vindication of the Rights of Whores [ame]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Vindication_of_The_Rights_of_Whores[/ame]

However, I am increasingly critical of all who would vindicate the rights of yardage whores, particularly our plodding freestyle lane hogging brethren who only swim in order to be able to finish the first leg of triathlons.

On this note, let me segue to my growing acceptance that weight lifting, if not necessarily the source of swimming speed, may be--in my case, at least--a possible mild protector against swimming injuries, which in turn is allowing me to do more race pace sets in practice without long bivouacs on the couch under bags of ice.

Today, my 21st day of consecutive exercise, I managed 66,000 lb. of Nautilus weight--a meaninglesss amount, I know, given that it depends on the number of sets, etc. However, it does show that I am improving quickly from my first session three weeks ago, when my total weight lifted was 18,000.

Today's film, which boasts perhaps the poorest quality of anything yet posted to YouTube, shows a weekend day in the life of exercising Jim.

It took place on Saturday, when I lifted 53,000 lb. in preparation for Sunday's tennis match (alas, not shown), which lasted for 3 hours and 15 minutes and was the first time this season that Bill and I actually won not just the Women's Championship (2 sets Bill/Jim to 1 set John/Rick) but went onto claim the Men's Championship, as well (Us 3 sets; them 1 set.)

I looked into my Nike shorts after successfully driving the final shot of the match down the unprotected alley, noted what now so handsomely resided there inside my underwear after weeks of punishing losses, and proclaimed, oh so happily, "It's a boy!" Or maybe it was a geoduck.



Either way, it was cause for celebration.

Herewith today's vlog: 53,000 Pounds. (In case you can't figure out the initial action, I am riding a Honda Metropolitan Scooter down a closed road while simultaneously trying to film.)

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5hS-MGlMzY"]YouTube - 53,000 Pounds[/ame]

Okay, I know this is a swim workout blog but I'm not swimming tonight and I still want to blog so if you were interested in hearing about one of my stellar and creative techy swim workouts (yes I'm joking) you can stop reading right................now!

Today was "Field Day" for my 780 students at TM.
Putting this thing together is a huge job. I've organized some big things in my days, but field day is still a killer.
My goal is for everyone to be engaged in mvpa at least 85% of the entire day. I have made-up lots of creative and "earth friendly" based cooperative and competitive physical games and challenges.
Anyway the weather channel was predicting storms all day today and worse yet tomorrow. I worked way too hard yesterday for nothing.
The luck of the German came true for me today and we got a sunny, tropically warm, inviting Indiana day!
I was running the "water challenge" area. There's nothing that makes me feel much better than sweeping the entire fields and dales of TM and seeing all the kids Kdg-5th grade (parent volunteers too) rocking and rolling outside and having a blast! That makes it all worth it for me!
Tonight it's a long shower and a glass of wine. ( I was running around the fields and setting all the equipment out from 5 am till the event ended at 3pm). Tomorrow I will fall back into my swimming fix and maybe post a respectable swim blog.