400 free warm-up
50 fly warm-up
100 breast kick
2x
{
400 IM on 6:20 (repeated 5:35)
2x200 IM on 3:10 (repeated 2:50)
4x100 IM on 1:35 (repeated 1:25)
}
4x25 free cool-down
Total yardage: 3050
Fun workout... hooray for distance two days in a row.
300 free warm-up with paddles
100 breast kick
50 dolphin kick
4x50 free on 1:00
500 free on 6:15
400 free on 5:00
300 free on 3:45
200 free on 2:30
100 free on 1:15
1 minute rest
100 free on 1:20
200 free on 2:40
300 free on 4:00
400 free on 5:20
500 free on 6:40
4x25 cool-down
In the first half of the workout I didn't really make much after the first 500 (which I got a whopping 3 seconds of rest on!), so I cut some 50s so I would make it. That was a pretty quick pace to maintain. I made the stuff in the second half, but it was painful.
Stayed in the pool again:
2x
{
2x100 breast kick
4x50 breast pull with paddles and pull buoy
}
4x100 fly
4x100 back
4x100 breast
4x100 free
100 cool-down
Total yardage: 6250
New circuit training regemin. Still three rounds of 0:30 muscular/1:00 cardio, with the exception of three stations that are one exercise for 90 seconds.
Station 1: Push-ups/run the hallway
Station 2: V-crunch with medicine ball/medicine ball toss while running in place
Station 3: Bench crunches/straddle step
Station 4: Down and back sprints with 5 jumping jacks inbetween (for whole station)
Station 5: Push-ups with row/bench step with weights
Station 6: Bicycle crunches/4-flight stairwell run
Station 7: All with stability ball: wall squats (round 1), back extensions (round 2), lower ab leg lifts (round 3) for whole station
Station 8: Side-to-sides (for whole station)
Could have used a better warmup after the massive yardage I did yesterday. I was definitely fatigued from that.
I definitely need more practice with the v-crunches -- I lack both the strength and coordination to do them properly. I partially blame my long legs and the crazy end-of-fulcrum weight effect that results. Perhaps I'll try them without the ball to see how that works as far as letting me more on the basic still first.
Saturday is a well-deserved day off!
It doesn't matter how much it feels like you need to throw up during an especially fast swim, so long as it never progresses beyond "feels."
One must be proactive when going outside after swimming when it comes to drying one's hair so that it doesn't freeze. However, when it's cold enough outside to freeze your nose hairs, it's sure as hell cold enough to freeze the water still hiding in your ear!
Hooray for middle distance day!
Having been given the stamp of approval for the events I want to swim in next month's meet, I was given the choice to do a middle-distance freestyle workout or an IM/breaststroke workout. Since it's been a long time since I've done any freestyle middle distance, I went with that. Started out with:
300 free warm-up with paddles
100 breast kick
4x50 free on 1:00
The main set consisted of a 500, 400, 300, 200, 100 ladder where your per-100 pace was supposed to increase on each rung. We got a 200 easy free in between each.
500 free -- swum in 6:22 at a 1:16+ per 100 pace
400 free -- swum in 5:03 at a 1:15+ per 100 pace
300 free -- swum in 3:42 at a 1:14 per 100 pace
200 free -- swum in 2:24 at a 1:12 per 100 pace
100 free -- swum in 1:06
Woohoo, I was successful! It was a really fun workout, though I would be interested to swim it again. I'm trying to get re-used to swimming sets fast enough so that I have consistent lactic acid pain, which is really important come competetition time. I didn't really feel much until the 300, which tells me that I could have swum the 500 and 400 faster, which would have made the last 600 yards really interesting. But we had a lot of rest and there was a HUGE difference between my 200 and 100 paces, which tells me I just need to toughen up start swimming faster.
I stayed in the pool later again today, though I certainly couldn't say that I hadn't gotten a good workout with the rest of the team.
4x200 breast with 15 sec rest, repeating about 3:15
1x100 breast kick, during which my adductors went out on me. No more whip kicks today.
4x50 breast pull with buoy and paddles, 15 sec rest
2x500 free with 45 sec rest, did the first one in about 6:15 and the second in about 6:25.
2x100 dolphin kick
1x100 cool-down
I've ommited some yardage from the main workout, so the math may not add up but I did 5350 yards today. That's the most yardage I've done in a single workout in many a year. Let me tell you, I ate the hell out of some food when I got back.
Alas, no more swimming for me until Monday, but I'll get to go to four practices next week!
So Mimi is really hardcore and wants us to enter 5-6 events in the meet. Thankfully it's just straight finals, since I'm not in the shape I was in when I was fifteen and could do that prelims/finals thing. Not that I wouldn't like to still be in that kind of shape, but I don't have time for 8 swim practices a week. Ah, the fun of getting older and having to be a functional and responsible member of society instead of a carefree high-schooler. What is up with that shit?
But I digress.
I know I'm going to swim the 400 and 200 IMs... no question about that, I've been training for them, I can do them. Unfortunately, when I only have 2-4 hours a week in the pool instead of 27 hours a week like in the days of yore, I can only really train for a couple of events. I'm not ready to compete in breaststroke the way I would like to. I've been putting in great times in my 400 IMs in practice, but I cannot say the same of my 100 breast, which I time-trialed this morning in an oh-so-slow 1:19.
I'll probably sign up for the 100 breast despite my lackluster performance and the fact that it is immediately after the 400 IM. Even better: since the IM is more than 200 yards, they may combine male and female heats, which means there is a very distinct possibility I would get out of the pool from the 400 IM and hop right back up onto the block for the 100 breast. Can they just take the 100 breast time from my 400 IM and count that? That would be a lot less painful!
I'm not sure that swimming the 200 breast would be a good idea. I have done zero zip zilch training for it, and haven't actually swum anything more than a 100 breast in practice in ages. Probably not a good move.... but it is the last individual event of the meet, so I'm not going to completely rule it out.
I think I'll do the 200 and 500 free. Gotta do some of that middle-distance and show off my shiny new-and-improved faster and more efficient freestyle! We swim lots of freestyle in practice so I'm not worried about them.
I'm toying with the idea of signing up for the 100 IM just so I can get that sixth event in there. It's the first individual event of the meet, plenty of time before the 400 IM, and it wouldn't be that bad. I'm just really amused by the idea of swimming a 100 IM, since the last time I could compete in that event was when I was 12! It could be a fun nostalgia swim and a great way to kick off the meet. Oh, wait, shit... I can only enter three events a day, and the 100 and 400 IM, 100 breast, and 500 free are all on the same day. Well, I think I would get more out of the 500 free. Sorry 100 IM, it would have been fun, but my need for some quality middle-distance outranks your sprinty and ephemeral frivolity.
Alright. I have decided now, as this is post really documented my thought process as I was going through it. I'll swim (pending coach's approval, of course):
Friday:
Event 13: 400 IM
Event 15: 100 breaststroke
Event 21: 500 freestyle
Saturday:
Event 31: 200 freestyle
Event 37: 200 IM
Event 43: 200 breaststroke (why the hell not, I've got nothing to lose)
Today was supposedly a sprint day, even though it contained way less sprints than I am used to in a sprint workout!
200 free with paddles warm-up
100 breast kick warm-up
4x50 free on 1:00
3x50 fist freestyle drill on 1:00
1x50 free on 1:00
4x50 freestyle drill (kickboard in between legs, reaching back to touch it on each recovery) on 1:15
2x50 free on 1:00
50 fly time trial (with racing start) -- done in :32
100 breast time trial (with racing start) -- done in 1:19
50 free sprint relay -- done with only two breaths
50 breast sprint relay
50 free cool-down
This was technically the end of practice, but we had swum so few yards that even though I was sore from the little sprinting we did and from circuit trianing yesterday I stayed in the pool to swim some more. The IMs had to be swum very gingerly as my right lat was KILLING me, but I got an extra 2300 yards in.
4x200 IM on 3:15 -- repeated on 2:55
4x100 breast kick with 10-15 sec rest
2x500 free with 45 sec rest
100 cool-down
Total yardage: 3600
I'm really glad that I stuck around so that I feel like I at least got a decent yardage in, especially since today and tomorrow are the only days this week that I'm going to get to swim. The meet is coming up in just a few weeks!
More circuit training.
I was definitely trying to kick my own ass since I was going station-to-station with the other Lt and the guy running the session is on my swim team.
I'm going to start doing more stairwell runs. When I did it in the last round yesterday it seemed like it was practically a warm-up -- far from being exhausted, I was really energized when I got my breath back.
I finally got some new running shoes, so I'm going to get some screws put in them so I can run outside without slipping on the ice and falling on my ass. I'll start running outside once the temperature gets warmer. And by warmer, I mean warm enough to run outside without ice crystals forming in your lungs or getting bronchitis. It should be warmer out in a couple of weeks :)
200 free warm-up
4x50 free on 1:00
10x:
{
2x100 free on 1:30
1x100 IM on 1:30
}
8x50 kick on 1:05
8x50, 25 stroke 25 free on 1:00
4x50 free on 1:00
Total yardage: 4000
Around the 19th 100 I hit a wall like I have never hit before. It felt like I was going to have total muscle failure in the middle of an aerobic workout, and I don't know about you, but my personal philosophy is that if you are going to have muscle failure, you should not be in a large body of water when it happens. I've been a lifeguard, and what's more is that I have managed teenage lifeguards... I know how much more mind-numbing it can be to watch people swim laps than play in the pool and I know how teenage guards can be particularly inattentive.
So I got out of the pool. I came back at the 23rd 100 and finished it out, swimming very slowly. Not fun.
Perhaps I'm getting sick. Perhaps my body is angry with me because I stayed up for 28 hours and then slept for 12 so that I can work days for the next couple of weeks. Who knows? I just wish I could have claimed a good workout today.
200 free warm-up
200 free with paddles warm-up
100 breast kick
100 dolphin kick
4x100 free on 1:45 warm-up, repeated on 1:20
(It should be noted that only a few weeks ago 1:20 was pretty fast for me)
2x400 IM
100 breast drill -- two kick, one pull
2x50 breast pull with paddles and pull buoy
4x100 breast kick
100 free easy
4x100 free on 1:45, repeated 1:08
(This is the fastest I've gone in years!)
Total yardage: 2900
I felt great when I got out of the pool, which was kind of surprising because I almost didn't go to practice -- I just really wasn't feeling it. I'm so glad I made myself go swim though!
I also hopped on a scale for the first time in several months -- they tipped at 147. Not too shabby at all, since I don't think I have weighed that since I was 16. My body composition probably isn't much different than it was back then either, since I wasn't lifting or doing dryland or strength training outside of the pool.
I attribute this to not only staying active but also the eating habits that I've picked up since moving to Alaska. Because I work long shifts, I make myself bring huge amounts of food that mostly consist of fruits, vegetables, a sandwich, or a bowl of homemade soup. I'm eating a lot of small, healthy meals and really focusing on getting more fruits and vegetables. I don't buy beef or chicken anymore either, as fish is so plentiful here and so much healthier for you. In addition, since I'm here alone and don't have many friends yet, I'm not eating out much at all. This means I know exactly what I am putting in my body, and I'm doing it in smaller portions (not to mention for less money!). Today I realized that I haven't felt that stupifying I'm-so-full-I-can't-move feeling in a really long time, which is good. I try to keep my hunger levels steady and eat something healthy every two to three hours so I'm never starving and never full.
And hey -- it seems to be working! I'm swimming faster than I have since probably my sophomore year of high school, and I'm looking pretty damn good, if I do say so myself.
Hooray for swimming!
Same circuit training routine as last week, but started on the walking lunge station instead.
Also replaced some of the hallway running with stairwell running -- whew, that's a different feeling!
Felt pretty blah today, so I made myself get in the pool, but my heart wasn't in it.
400 free warm-up
100 breast kick
100 dolphin kick
4x50 free on 1:00
2x400 IM
2x200 IM
2x100 free
Total yardage: 2200
Pretty lackluster, but I figured it was better than nothing. Plus I was sharing a wall lane, which makes swimming IMs really difficult.
My mantra for the upcoming meet: superior competition through positive thought!
Mimi gave us a great "see what you're made of" set today. We started swimming as long a distance as we could for 3:30. The next was on 3:25, then 3:20, and so on, down to 1:15. When you couldn't make the interval, you knocked a 50 from your distance. Everyone was doing them freestyle except Yours Truly, who had the honor of doing them all IM. Seriously, it could have been much worse. The nice thing about 200 IMs is that after a while they stop hurting and you just go numb.
I made about eight or nine 200 IMs before I kicked them down to fly/back/breast. Doing that, I made it down to about 2:15 before I started with the 100 IMs, which I did until we got to 1:25. I finished up the last two with a 50 fly and a 50 back.
Honestly I think I could have swum the workout harder, but I was still so sore from circuit training two days ago that I didn't want to push it too hard and hurt myself. I had also been up for 21 hours at that point, so I surely wasn't going to perform at my best.
Today's stroke ideas:
Backstroke -- relax the hands - reject Ze Claw! You don't need the claw to get a good catch when you roll your hips and shoulders enough and really stretch out your arm on entry. Saw improved stroke rate when doing this as well. And for the love, keep your head still!
Freestyle -- again, roll the hips. This gives you the power you need in the catch and pull so you don't have to do out searching in the periphery of the periphery with that right arm. Perfect that elbow bend through proper rotation.
Breaststroke -- well, shit, I just don't have enough time to spend in the water to strengthen up my adductors to the point where they can take that wide, powerful whip kick. Without that, my breaststroke is very lackluster. I will not be able to rely on it in the meet next month to be in a wide lead going into the freestyle. Looking back, a fitting motto for my glory days would have been "Better IMs through breaststroke domination," but now it looks like I'm a jack of all trades -- and a master of none.
Really sore from Thursday (lets me know I did something good for myself!), so I took it kind of easy today. Just did the elliptical:
20:00 Around the World hill program on level 13, then 10:00 of same program on level 15.
5:00 cool-down.
Tomorrow I get back in the pool.
Did some circuit training today for a change.
3x8 stations, with each station having a strenth component and a cardio component. First and third time through: 0:30/1:00, second time 0:45/0:45.
Station 1: Seated row with resistance band/run in place
Station 2: Medicine ball crunches/medicine ball toss while running in place
Station 3: Incline or decline push-ups/straddle bench stepping
Station 4: Wall sit/run the hallway
Station 5: Front and lateral raises/run the hallway
Station 6: Tricep dips/mountainclimbers
Station 7: Stability ball crunches/jumping jacks
Station 8: Bicep curls/walking lunges
It's been a loooong time since I've done walking lunges... anticpate much soreness tomorrow.
I was super-energized after doing this workout and a nice long stretch-out afterward. It was definitely a lot more fun than just doing cardio in the gym.
Sprint day at the Buckner Masters Swim Team!
200 free with paddles warm-up
100 breast kick warm-up
4x50 free on 1:00
3x100 free on 2:00
3x100 free on 1:45
3x100 free on 1:30
(Repeated the 100s on 1:10)
50 easy
3x50 free on 1:15
3x50 free on 1:10
3x50 free on 1:05
3x50 free on 1:00
(Repeated the 50s on :33)
50 easy
Sprint 50 relays: fly, breast, free
2x25 easy
Total yardage: 2300
IM day. Apparently we IMers aren't allowed to say that 400IMs hurt since "we're good at them!" :)
200 free with paddles warm-up
100 breast kick warm up
4x50 free on 1:00
2x400 IM on 6:30 (repeated on 5:40)
4x200 cycling IM order by 100's (100 fly/100 back, 100 back/100 breast, etc) on 3:30
8x50 IM order on 1:00
Total yardage: 2500
I was keeping up with Mimi on the 50 frees on the last set -- a first for me! I feel like I made a breakthrough in making my right arm do a tighter s-curve, which has been a perpetual problem for me!