Picking and choosing
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)