All Blog Entries

Drylands:

rehab ex, 15 min
standing wrist/forearm curls on machine (Teen Fort showed me these), 30-40 x 3-4 x 15
forearm/tricep exercise attaching rope to machine (basically an overhead tricep press moving the hands/wrists to the sides at the end), 40 x 3 x 25
good mornings, warm up, 80 x 4 x 8
rear delt flys, 55 x 3 x 25
explosive leg press, 190 x 3 x 10
ravers , 30 x 3 x 25
russian twists w/25 lb plate, 3 x 35
captains chair leg raise, 2 x 25
power wheel pike ups, 2 x 15
long arm crunches, 2 x 100
bunny hops over bench, 2 x 25
knee tuck jumps, 2 x 10
altitude drops, 10

30 minutes stretching, foam roller and yoga


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

Just hit the gym today. No time to get a recovery swim in at the pool. Wed is a busy carpool day cuz Lil Fort has both soccer and swimming. Ciao!

SCY

Warm up: (1000)
400 choice - 200 back/200 free
4 x (50 drill + 50 kick)/20sr
- back & free, 1 arm and fist swim for drill
4 x 50 burst + cruise/1:00 - all free

Main Set: (1500)

- this set all back
1 x 50 AFAP/1:00 - went 36
2 x 50 easy kick/1:30
2 x 50 DPS swim/1:30 - @ 15 SPL
1 - 2 min rest

- all back on this set
2 x 50 fast kick w/fins (under 15y) @ 95%/1:30 - 35 on both
2 x 50 easy kick/1:30
2 x 50 DPS swim/1:30- @ 15 SPL

- all free on this
3 x 50/2:00
1 = 80 - 85% - went 37
2 = 90% - went 33
3 = 95% - went 30

2 x 50 easy kick/1:30
2 x 50 DPS Swim/1:30 - free @ 13-14 SPL
1 - 2 min rest

4 x 50 w/fins @ 2:00
#1 = AFAP kick 15y UW
- did dolphin on belly to 15, then on back to wall each way, went 36
#3 = AFAP swim
- did fly, went 31
#2 & #4 = easy free
2 x 50 easy kick/1:30
2 x 50 DPS swim/1:30 - free @ 13-14 SPL

4 x 50 pull/1:00 free w/ buoy only ave 44 and 15 SPL

Warm down
200 easy free & back

Total: 2700 yards

Wed Oct 10th, 2012

Trained yesterday didn't blog
need to lift weights today


Whitney coached
SCY UT Swim Center Diving well
6:00 - 7:30, dove in at 6:02
Swam with Mike, Tyler, Marcio
beside Todd, Sloan, Larry,

Warm up
100 fr
100 FL KRLS
200 FR
100 BK KRLS
300 FR
100 BR KRLS

Main Set

8 x 25 FL on 30
ODDS 6 SDKs 2 fast strokes
EVENS k on bk

300 IM fast on fly, cruise the rest
1:00 break

8 x 25 Bk on 30
ODDS 6 SDKs 4 fast strokes
EVENS k on bk

300 IM fast on bk, cruise the rest
1:00 break

8 x 25 BR on 30
ODDS strong pull out 2 fast strokes
EVENS k on bk

300 IM fast on bk, cruise the rest
1:00 break

8 x 25 FR on 30
ODDS 6 SDKs 4 fast strokes
EVENS k on bk

300 IM fast on fr, cruise the rest
1:00 break

assigned: 1000 fr done 175 mod 25 fast no breath
Did: 5 x (125 fr, 50 break, 25 fl fast no breath)

8 x 125 on 2:00
odds done 100k 25 fl fast
evens done 100 IM 25 underwater (made em all)

200 easy

Next Meet:

Sat Dec 1, 2012 - Sun Dec 2nd

2012 South Central SCM Reg Championships
DAYS TILL


2013 South Central SCY Zone Championships
Fri Apr 5 - Sun Apr 7 (Tentative)
UT Austin, TX

Swam w/ Dave, Dave, Roger, Meredith, Ray, Leah and Wendy.

SCY

650 Warm up

200 Kick - 3:00 (made 3:02)
50 Fly/Free / 150 Kick - 2:55 (already way behind)
100 Free/100 Kick - 2:50 (Still off the pace)
150 Free/50 Kick - 2:45 (Catching up)
125 Free/75 Kick - 2:50 (Finally got a couple seconds rest)
75 Free/125 Kick - 2:55
200 Kick - 3:00 (made 3:05)
100 Easy
Tough set and a bit out of my reach. I could probably make it w/o a drag suit.

4 x 125 Free - 1:45 (Made 1:20-1:25)
50 Easy
4 x 125 Stroke, IM Order - 2:00
50 Easy

12 x 75 - 1:15 Sliding IM
100 Easy

12 x 25 - :30
Odds free no breath
Evens Fly no breath
:30 is pretty tough for me. I could probably make :35 and definitely :40. I did do 4 of them but needed one breath on the other 8.

4 x 200 - 3:00 Convert IM to pull

200 IM Easy - Cool down

(5550 Total)

...or something like that...

I keep reinjuring my knee...ran 3 miles Thursday nothing..not a peep...did maybe 3.5 to 4 and I feel it tighten and now it's inflamed and painful again. Taking off all week...no running for 2 weeks...then see how it goes...if it pulls again...going to see a doc.

Doesn't feel like "damage" but I'm not an ortho...

Shoulders and elbows aching alittle this morning so did an easy workout and some dolphin kickouts.

Saw a Hammer fizz in my office on the shelf so I used it today. I have to admit I am bad on nutrition and need to get better with it.

1000 as 200 swim/200 pull/200 swim/200 kick/200 swim
8x25 torque drill w/strapless paddles
8x25 shooters w/monofin
100 dolphin kick on back w/monofin
5x50 from block good kickout and fly breakout +cruise
400 free kick w/zoomers
200 EZ

total 2350 yards

swam 2K @ 0530. first time i did this during the week. pool was crowded but everyone had a lane. this was def the get out of bed older crowd that wasn't playing around.

This swim took a lot out of me and was the first swim at my old training pace since I was sick. it's amazing how congested I was!

warmup

300 sw
300 k

2x 100
2x 200
2x 300

100 k

100 cd

I was tired most of the day after yesterday's 6100 yard workout...and then John threw us this intense non-freestyle workout:



Warmup:
400 Free DPS Build

12 x 50 Core Kick w/ fins @ 1:15 (this was easy)
10 x 50 Flutter Kick w/ fins @ :45 (this was not so easy*) (held :40-:41s)
*I do use the short fins while everyone else has long fins...makes a difference

10 x 25 V-Sit Scull @ 1:15
(1750/1750)


Main Set:
10 Rounds of

• 100 Stroke (non-free) in groups of 2 (EZ 100/Fast 100) @ 1:45
• 2 x 25 Sprint of the same stroke @ :45

(Went Fly/Back/Breast/Breast/Back) for my "groups of 2"
100s fast times: 1:07, 1:12, 1:18, 1:19, 1:11

200 EZEZ
(1750/3450)

16 x 75 (4 times through IM Order) @ 1:45

• Build a 50 (this means increase kick intensity)
• :10 rest @ 50
• SPRINT a 25 (mega kick)
• recover before next sendoff

(1200/4650)

250 EZ

-----------------------
4900 Yards


Not a huge amount of yardage...but it sure feels like a lot right now...
It's gonna be a looooooong day tomorrow...

Swam with Dave, Dave, Peter, and John. Glad to be back in the pool with them. Still trying to make up for the two week layoff. It wasn't necessarily pretty, but at least I made the intervals.

2x500 on 7:30
100 Back
3x300 on 4:30
100 Back
5x200 Free w/paddles (started wearing down)
on 3:00
100 Back w/paddles
10x100 Free w/paddles on 1:30
4x50 Kick

4400 yards
80 minutes

Swim/SCY/Solo:

Warm up & Pre-Sets:

600 various
4 x 50 caterpillar fly drill @ 1:10
4 x (25 scull kickboard drill + 25 EZ) @ 2:00
-- http://www.goswim.tv/entries/5770/sc...board-sit.html
-- great for the forearms and hands
50 EZ
8 x 25 shooters w/fins @ :40
50 EZ
8 x 25 burst + cruise @ 1:00
100 EZ

Main Sets:

I modified Workout #4 from the HIT forums:
http://forums.usms.org/blog_post.php?do=newblog

3 x (6 x 25) @ :45
-- did free/breast/free
1 = smooth DPS
2 = 6 strokes fast
3 = 10 strokes fast
4 = EZ
5 = 25 fast @ 100 pace
6 = EZ

100 EZ

1 x AFAP 50 free w/fins, 22 high-23 flat
200 EZ

1 x 50 AFAP fly-back dive from side, 28 flatish
200 EZ

6 x (25 + 50 + 25) backstroke w/fins
25 = fast @ 100 pace + :10 rest
50 = smooth @ 200 pace + 10 rest
25 = EZ
-- whew, this was a major aerobic set for me

125 EZ

5 x 40 w/bungee cord
-- from a backstroke start, kick fast UW until cord is taut then take 10-12 fast kicks and cruise back

125 EZ

Total: 3650


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

Still suffering from DOMS in the water today. I may stick with just one upper body exercises at the gym. Doing another 36-40 reps seems to take a toll. After last season, I considered bagging upper body work entirely in SC. However, it seems to keep my shoulders healthier. Need to hit the foam roller tonight.

Teen Fort laughed at my 2XU compression top and tights yesterday, claiming that "no clothing would speed recovery."

For the Sprint Classic, I think I'm tentatively going to enter:
100 free (50 split)
100 breast
100 IM
50 back (if not too tired to swim it)
4 x 25

I may just swim 2 events. Not sure, I'd like to pop off a fast 100 IM (which might not happen if I swim 2 events prior). Might swim through the 4 events a couple times next week.

600 as 200 swim/200 kick/200 pull
16x25@:45 shooters every 4th on back w/zoomers
100 EZ

5x200@3:00 Free w/strapless paddles & bouy descend 1-5 went 2:50, 2:47, 2:44, 2:40, 2:37

500 kick w/zoomers every 3rd 25 fast

broken 500 1-2-3-4-1-2-3-1-2-1 dolphin kick off every wall and turn minimum 7 meters

Total 3100 yards

Tuesday 10/9

PM only SCY

500 swim
5x100 @ 1:50 scull/kick/50 DPS w/ buoy

w/ fins:

5x200 @ 3:00 kick odd: on back 5 fly kicks off each wall, even: w/ board
10x50 @ 1:00 25 FAST under H2O kick/25 aerobic kick
12x25 (did R.I.M.O in sets of 3)
1 @ :40 FAST under H2O kick
1 @ :35 FAST swim
1 @ :30 aerobic kick

100 EZ

5x200 @ 2:50 w/ strapless paddles 2 PINK/3 RED
3x100 @ 1:40 50 kick/50 drill
5x200 @ 3:00 2 RED/3 BLUE
3x100 @ 1:40 50 drill/50 swim

100 EZ

Total: 5600

Swam w/ Dave, Dave, Dave and John. Got a flu shot yesterday. That left a special lingering soreness in my left shoulder. Dave offered to punch my right shoulder to even out the pain.

SCY

700 Warm up

2 x 500 - 7:30 (6:05, 5:55 <- pull buoy, no paddles)
100 Easy

300 Free/IM/Free - 4:30
300 IM/Free/IM - 4:30
300 Free/IM/Free - 4:30
100 Easy

200 IM - 3:00
200 Pull - 3:00
200 Kick - 3:00
200 Pull - 3:00
200 IM - 3:00
100 Easy
Got started :30 late so I did touch and go until I caught up. Made 2:50 on the last IM

10 x 100 - 1:30
1-5 Descend (1:25, 1:20, 1:14, 1:10, 1:05)
6-10 Ascend (1:05, 1:12, 1:15, 1:20, 1:25)

12 x 25 - :40 Odds hard stroke, evens no breath

200 Cool down

(5400 Total)

Went at the crack of dawn again this morning - haven't been able to get away at lunch for a while - office is so darn busy! Got a meet this weekend, and I'm starting to really get butterflies in my tummy for the events on Sunday. What was I thinking? And why does the 800, 200 Breast & 200 IM have to be on the same day? Seriously.

So, swam solo today, since ATAC only does early morning practices MWF during the school year. Total of maybe 6 people in all 22 lanes. No one to push me, and I really just wanted time in the water & to work out the soreness from tennis last night. I had to hold myself back from going too hard - I was feeling really strong in the water this morning - but I know tomorrow will be a killer workout & I sort of need to rest a teensy bit for the meet this weekend.

600 back/free
2 x 300 P no paddles
300 Kick
5 x 200 on 3:00 - just steady state
6 x 150 IM twitch w/fins on 2:20
100 easy
Total: 3500 SCY

I was planning on doing 7 x 100 on the 1:20 after the IM twitch, but again, I remembered that I should probably take it a bit easy today - which is why I didn't wear my paddles onthe 2 x 300 pull. I'm sure Terry has 9 x 200 or 12 x 100 on the 1:20 base tomorrow for me. Gotta take it easy while I can!

Warmup:
400 Free
400 Kick on side w/ board (right side/left side) place 1 arm on board, lay head on arm and kick
10 x 100 Free Pull @ 1:30 breathe every 3 & focus on rolling from the hips

16 x 75 Kick w/ fins @ 1:10 did SDK on back (went 1:01-1:05)
I sooooo wanted this to end around #12 or so.

Main Set:


6 Rounds of:

• 200 Free Desc. 1-3, 4-6 @ 3:15 (last 50s always FAST "use your legs")
• 2 x 25 Free SPRINT @ :45
• went 2:20/2:15/2:11 then 2:22/2:15/2:09 - didn't really feel like GOING FOR IT tonight.
• the 25s I "faked it" on the sprinting...it's only a 25.

200 EZ


20 x 50 IM Order @ 1:00

• 5 of each stroke
• EZ, Fast, EZ, Fast, EZ

400 Swim cooldown

------------------------
6100 Yards


=================================

Out of the first 3000 yards, 1600 of it was kicking! ...and then the somewhat kick intense descending set with the sprints in the main set as well. Then the FAST FAST IM stuff at the end... I'm dead...

As the coach gave the main set, he asked us, "Do you guys know why we're doing these types of sets all the time?"
My smartass self replied "Because we love it!"
That got a smile and a "good answer" out of John. Then he said, "actually it's to train your bodies to negative split your races without even thinking about it."

Believe me, it works. I was able to do my first ever negative split race (that I can remember) in my 500 last weekend.

Monday 10/8

AM and PM SCY

AM swim:

500 swim 4/6/2 turns
500 pull w/ buoy + strapless paddles + snorkel
200 kick w/ board + fins

5x200 @ 2:30 D1-3, hold 4 and 5
5x100 @ 1:15 D1-3, hold 4 and 5
5x50 @ :40 D1-3, hold 4 and 5

8x50 @ 1:05 25 under H2O kick/25 FAST swim w/ fins

150 EZ

Total: 3500

PM swim:

500 swim every 4th 25 BK
5x100 @ 1:30 gentle D1-5

2x
200 @ 4:00 kick w/ board
3x100 @ 1:30 IM D1-3
3x300 @ 4:30 pull w/ buoy + paddles + snorkel D1-3

3x (STRK was IM order by round)
3x100 @ 1:30 FAST
100 @ 1:30 EZ
6x50 @ 1:00 D1-3, 4-6 STRK
200 @ 3:00 drill

100 EZ

Total: 6600

It went from mid 80's and sunny to the high 50's and raiiny in 24 hours. WTH? Still congested but made it through this quick one.

10 min choice
-Got in late and did 200 w/bouy, 200 IM dr/swim by 25

2 rounds of
4 x 100 kick @ 2:15 no board
#1 75 free/25 dolphin
#2 50 free/25 dolphin
#3 25 free/75 dolphin
#4 100 dolphin
4 x 25 @ 45
-15 yrds under water fly sprint to wall
50 EZ @ 60

300 pull @ 500 pace but negative split
-500 pace for me is 1:12/13. I failed the task here and went 3:38 (1:11, 1:14, 1:13)

50 EZ

8 x 100 on coaches whistle
Odds 3/5/7/9 spin strokes of each wall
Evens no breath between flags

300 pull @ 500 pace descend by 100
-This was worse than the first one. I was able to descend but was out too slow. 3:44 (1:16, 1:15, 1:13)

50 EZ

6 x 50 @ 60
-odds stroke, went fl, bk, br
-evens free EZ

200 w/d

3600 scy

I think it was a fairly good workout for me. Pacing has always been an issue for me. Baby steps.

I'm loving that the weather hasn't closed our outdoor pool yet. Had another great swim in the sunshine at noon today. And pool temps are cooler because of the cold nights (26° last night) which is even better.

SCM
Warm up: (1100)
200 swim --> 200 IM Drill --> 200 IM Kick
4 x 75/1:30 Freestyle build up (25 Catch up - 50 DPS)
8 x 25/30 Free, Strong effort

Main Set - Free or Back (1000)
- did this set all free
1 x 150/2:35 smooth - went 2:20
2 x 100/1:40 strong builds - went 1:30, 1:32
4 x 50/1:00 Fast Pace - went 44-42-42-41

2 x 100/1:40 smooth - went 1:34, 1:35
3 x 50/1:00 strong builds - went 43-42-40
4 x 25/40 FAST - went 18±

Kicks:
8 x 75/1:30 with fins; 25 shooter/25 streamline/25 easy swim w/FAST over kick
- 1-4 free, 5-8 back, times were around 1:10

Warm down
100 easy free & back

Total: 2800 meters

I finally swam beyond the pier at Coney Island—far beyond the pier! Yesterday I swam 7 miles from Coney Island to Sandy Hook, NJ as part of a test swim of conducted by CIBBOWS. We met up at the Coney Island Aquarium between 4 and 4:30 am, and the swim got underway a little after 5. Air temps were around 50, so the few minutes of waiting around on the sand after I had relinquished my clothes and sent them out to the waiting boats were a mite chilly. But the water was still relatively warm at 67 degrees, and as soon as I got and things got underway I felt comfortable.

The first hour of the swim was in the dark, and I loved it. The night was clear, and the bright quarter moon was reflected off the water, making for a good bit of ambient light. My escort kayak had lights fore and aft, and I could see my kayakers Teddy and Danika (it was a double kayak) silhouetted against the western sky as I swam along. A few white phosphorescent glows met my fingertips as I stroked through the water, and any air bubbles I made on my entry were lit up too. Everything seemed so calm and magical, and I wasn’t at all afraid. An idle resolution passed through my head: Night swimming is so wonderful it’s the only kind I’m doing from here on out. If only that were halfway realistic,..

Out in the water with me were three other swimmers, John, Willie, and Dan. We each had our own escort kayak, as well as three motorized boats supporting the swim. On the boats were the four swimmers who would be making the return journey, along with a number of CIBBOWS volunteers who were supporting the swim and collecting data for future crossings. For a while I could see the other kayaks’ stern lights ahead of me, as well as some of the boats’ lights in the distance, but by the first feed I couldn’t see anything else around me except for my own kayak. That was actually nice—when I breathed to my left, on the non-kayak side, I could pretend I was all by myself out in the big ocean.

As I stroked along the sky to the east began to brighten noticeably, then broad strata of pinks and oranges began to appear. I was breathing to my left more and more to admire the pre-sunrise show. The water began to get choppier at this point, with the wind kicking up some waves from the west which made breathing left the easier option, as well. Occasionally the waves were big enough to splash over me, and when they did this I could see the reflection of the green blinking light attached to my goggle strap.

Things were seeming very calm until around sunrise, when the grey support boat appeared in front of us, and we appeared to be making a left turn. Then I started seeing the sunrise on my right—were we making a u-turn? I did a stroke of breaststroke and looked over at Teddy—why had we changed directions? “We have to wait—do you want to swim or stop?” he asked. Aha—we must be near the shipping channel. “Swim!” I said reflexively, then started stroking again. But then I decided I wanted see what was going on. I stopped and looked around, only be told “There’s traffic—we have to get out of the channel.” Before I could finish saying “I want to see the traffic!” I looked ahead and saw a very large barge in the distance, heading our way. Nearby was another of our support boats, this one with all the swimmers for the return trip on deck on board, and they were all pointing to the left. I got the message—swim that way. I did, and got well clear of the shipping channel, then swam eastward, while waiting for the tug and its barge to cross. Teddy pointed out that there was another tug/barge approaching from the other directions. They crossed paths almost directly in front of us, a more-than-safe distance away. It was a really cool sight, with the sun glinting off the barges’ loads. It was interesting to see how far the tug boats were from the barges, and see the chains attaching them stretched between the two. I dipped my head down into the water to hear the deep clanking sound they made as they passed by.


Sunrise over the Ambrose Channel (photo credit R. Davies)

(One reason this swim requires so much support is that it goes across the Ambrose Channel, a major shipping lane used by traffic entering and leaving New York harbor—a lot of very big boats, barges, container ships and the like pass through here. Near the beginning of the swim I could see a huge cruise ship making its way across in the darkness, its decks all aglow.)

Once the ships were past we got the green light to continue on. The water seemed to have gotten rougher, but the chop was mostly from the sides and behind rather than head-on, so it remained easy going. I could tell when I stopped for feeds that the wind was blowing from the west—while Danika did the bottle hand-offs, Teddy maneuvered the kayak to keep it from blowing into me during the stops. I could also see some heavy clouds moving in from the west, and hoped any bad weather they were bringing would hold off until I finished my swim.

After another feed or two Teddy told me he could see the beach ahead. I didn’t put much stock in this, since I had learned in the Cape Cod swim how long it can take to reach a beach you can see. But over the next half-hour it did seem to be betting rapidly nearer. When I looked forward to sight I could see strange tall dark figures standing at regular intervals along the sand—the phrase “Easter Island statues” popped into my head. I looked again to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating, but they were still there. It took me a bit to make sense of what I was seeing—fishermen, in dark waders, casting into the surf.

As we got within a mile to half-mile of shore I could feel some large swells propelling me forward. I thought about stopping and asking my kayaker if there would be breakers to contend with when exiting the water—sometimes when there’s biggish surf at my Florida beach swimming into shore feels like this. But I decided that I would be able to judge that better for myself as I got nearer shore. Around this point there also seemed to be some odd currents—sometimes when I would place my hand in the water it would feel like it was being pulled downward or to the side by the water. I worried a little about the current changing before I reached the beach—it can get strong around Sandy Hook, making finishing after slack tide has passed difficult. I picked up my pace to make sure I would make it in. But every time I looked up I was very noticeably closer to shore, so it seemed like I was making good progress.


Approaching Sandy Hook (photo credit R. Davies)

As I neared the beach Agent Orange came around beside me—I could see Rondi and Dave on board and I waved to them mid-stroke. Right before I landed it seemed like my kayak was getting between me and the shore for some reason—I wondered if they were getting pushed towards me by the wind and surf, but then looked up and saw that they were leading me around some fishing lines to a safer place to land. The sandy/pebbly bottom came into view—the sand is much coarser here than at Coney Island., I swam until my fingers touched, then stood up and walked ashore. I was done, in just under 3 hours.

I hugged and congratulated Willie, who was already on shore, then hugged and thanked my Teddy and Danika, who had landed their kayak nearby. The fisherman—wrapped up in waders and layers of clothes—looked at Willie and me as if we had landed from outer space. “Where did you come from?” “Coney Island!” They just grunted and went back to their poles.

I waded back out into the water—it was warmer there--then saw the other two swimmers heading towards shore. I went over to cheer them in and give them hugs after they landed, then we all headed back out to the boats. As I was wading out a crab pinched my toe. I yelped just a little, but no harm was done. I did get my feet up off the bottom pronto, and out swam to Agent Orange. I climbed aboard, put on some warm clothes—my brief time on the beach had chilled me a bit—then settled in to enjoy the return trip. Four new swimmers got into the water for the return crossing, the kayakers stretched and readied themselves for another few hours of feeding and guiding swimmers, and off we were.

The return trip was interesting and fun. The sky clouded over and it eventually rained, but the wind had died down and water conditions were nice and calm for the return swimmers. I used all the clothes I brought—long underwear, wool pants, rain pants, wool sweater, swim parka—but managed to stay pretty warm. Being out on the water is just nice, even when it’s rainy and cold.

And I got to see firsthand all the behind-the-scenes stuff it requires to get swimmers safely across shipping lanes. Dave and the other boaters were constantly on the radio with each other, with our Coast Guard escort, and with commercial traffic, discussing the swimmers’ positions and when they would enter and exit the channels (besides the Ambrose, we go through two lesser boating lanes, the Sandy Hook Channel and the Coney Island Channel). Occasionally we would intercept smaller boats that were zipping by and alert them to the swimmers’ presence. The kayakers also had radios, and used them to get instructions or give reports to the various boats. It made me appreciate all the coordination and care it takes to pull this sort of event off. I’ll never again look at Sandy Hook from Coney Island, and wonder if I couldn’t just swim over there on my own.

The tides gave us a slower trip on the way back, but by 1 pm we were all back at Coney Island. I hopped ashore and went gratefully up to the Aquarium to warm up, change out of my rain gear, and say goodbye to other swimmers and all the kayakers and volunteers who had made the day possible. It was a good day out on the water, and I hope everything goes equally well for the other swimmers who will be test-swimming this route over the next three weekends.

This was my last OW event of the season, and I was happy with how things went—it was pretty much an all-fun-all-the-time experience. I loved swimming at night, I thought it was really cool to see all the various other vessels out on the water, I felt well supported and safe, and greatly appreciated the chance to spend some quality time with the water on a glorious morning. It was a great way to end my 2012 season. And as a bonus, the 7-mile trip nudged me over 500 miles in GTD—so I got a free swimsuit out of the day as well. Thank you CIBBOWS!

This was the last event of my 2012 season:

• May 4: Inaugural Arizona SCAR swim, Saguaro Lake (9 miles)
• May 5: Inaugural Arizona SCAR swim, Canyon Lake (9 miles)
• May 6: Lake Roosevelt, Arizona (10 miles)
• May 13: 2 Bridges test swim, Hudson River at Poughkeepsie, NY (5K)
• June 1: IGLA North Atlantic Midnight Open Water Swimming Challenge, Nauthólsvík beach, Reykjavík, Iceland (250m)
• June 26: 8 Bridges Stage 2, Hudson River, Kingston-Rhinebeck Bridge to Mid-Hudson (Poughkeepsie) Bridge (18.3 miles, 6:31:19, finished 4/4)
• July 7: Kingdom Swim, Lake Memphremagog, Vermont (10 miles, 5:00.28, finished 21/50 overall, 6/19w)
• August 21: P2P Plymouth to Provincetown swim, Cape Cod Bay, Massachusetts (20 miles, 11:45)
• September 9: USMS 2-mile national championships, Lake Hopatcong, New Jersey (2 miles, 52:36.49, 1st in AG)
• September 15: Bannerman’s Return test swim, Hudson River near Cold Spring, New York (10.5K, 3:20)
• September 22: Little Red Light House Swim, Hudson River, NYC (10.2K, 2:06:46, 38/284 finishers, 8th woman, 1st in AG)
• September 30: Bannerman’s Return test swim, Hudson River near Cold Spring, NY (10.5K, 3:25)
• October 7: CIBBOWS Coney Island to Sandy Hook test swim, (7.5? miles, 2:57:47)

Swim/SCY/Solo:

Warm up/Pre-Sets:

600 various
5 x 50 caterpillar fly drill @ 1:10
16 x 25 shooters w/fins @ :40
-- 8 DPK back, 8 DPK back + sprint last 5-7 yards
100 EZ
4 x (25 V sit scull + :5 rest + 25 burst + cruise) @ 2:30
100 EZ
4 x fast VK for :15 + :5 rest + 25 EZ @ whatever
100 EZ

Main Sets:

2 x (5 x 50 w/fins + 100 EZ) @ 1:30
1 = 15 burst + cruise
2 = 25 fast + cruise
3 = 35 fast + cruise
4 = EZ
5 = AFAP

Did round 1 dolphin kick w/board (25 on 50) and round 2 evil (28 flat on 50)

3 x through w/chute & fins
25 fast breast + 25 EZ @ 1:30
25 fast back + 25 EZ @ 1:30
25 fast free + 25 EZ @ 1:30
50 EZ
-- went 21 (evil), 19 (back), 18 (free)

8 x 50 free smooth @ 1:00

Total: 3450


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

Ugh, felt awful today, really sore. This was one of those days where weights killed a workout. My upper body was toast from yesterday. I considered bagging a HIT workout, but decided to slog through it. I did a couple pre-sets from HIT workout #2 and a main set from #1: [ame="http://forums.usms.org/showthread.php?p=276116#post276116"]U.S. Masters Swimming Discussion Forums[/ame]. Probably should have put on compression gear last night. Will go do so shortly.

This is very funny and so unlike me. I saw a post on FB where someone was wishing the old tech suits were legal at least for yards. My first thought was "NO, I'm doing relatively better vis-a-vis my competitors since they were banned." Then I started wondering how fast I might go with them. I definitely miss them most in free and breast and, especially, long course.