10.29.09 - more fly

700 ez warmup
500 IMK

2 x 500 @7:00 -
1.) 100 fly/100 fr/100 fly/200 fr
2.) 100 fly/100 fr/100 fly/100 fr/100 fly

Had to leave early again.

10.28.09 - somethin' fast

600 swim
500 IMK
10 x 25 @40 fast fly
100 ez

I've been pretty busy with baby stuff, work, and my master's class this week. So this is all I could squeeze in today.

10.27.09 - fly day

500 S
500 K
500 Dr

4 x 300 fly creeper @4:30
1.) alt 25 fly/25 fr
2.) 50 fly/25 fr
3.) 75 fly/25 fr x 3
4.) 125 fly/25 fr x 2

300 ez

10.22.2009 -= Strength + Power work

Been balls to the wall busy these days... Got in a good 70 minutes in the pool today tho.

550 swim
350 pull
300 fly/fr/br K
3 x 100 @1:30 desc (1:15 -> 1:09)

6 x 50 @1:00 w/pull buoy odds bk, evens br, increase turnover every 2
200 pull @3:00
6 x 50 @1:00 w/ankle straps, odds fr, evens bk, increase TO every 2
200 ez pull w/ankle strap, work on body pos'n
4 x 50 @1:15 w/parachute odds fly/evens br.
300 rec
2 x (3 x 50 - free, fly, br) @1:15 w/bungee cords
200 rec
4 x 50 fast IMO @1:00
300 ez

Tuesday survival swim

Hella sore from doing flooring in our office for 9 hours yesterday.

500 swim
300 K

2 x {
200 fly K @3:20
2 x 100 fly K @1:45
4 x 50 fly K @55
8 x 25 fly K @30
} descend as distances get shorter...

8 x 150 @2:15 as:
odds: 150 stroke, IMO
evens: 150 IMR
(150 fly, 150 fly/bk/br, ...)

300 ez

10.16.09 - quality 400 IMs

700 bk/fr

EN1-ish
150 fly @3rd pers.
2 x 125 @1:45
4 x 75 @1:05 - fly/fr/fr
5 x 50 @45 - fly/fr
6 x 25 @25

EN2
250 - 125 fly/125 fr
150 - fly/bk/br
3 x 400 IM @5:25(5:09, 5:12, 5:16)


600 IMK

200 ez

10.14.09 - fly

500 fr
400 IMK
4 x 300 - 50 fly/25 free
5 x 50 @1:30 alt swim/drill
100 ez

10.13.19 - 1 more recovery

still pretty tired today.

500 ez swim
200 IMK

5 x {
200 free @3:00
4 x 50 desc @55
} did (1 all free, evens Kick, 3 & 5 200 free/50s fly)

300 pull - 200 w/buoy @ankles to work on rotation/100 with legs stacked

8 x 50 K - evens 25 bk dk/25 front dk, odds free

300 ez pull

10/11/09 - SCM meet at EPIC

1200 warmup - swim, drills, turns, some starts

400 fr - 4:47.98
200 br - 2:47.?
200 fly - 2:29.90
200 free - 2:16.98ish

10/10/09 - SCY Meet

Meet warmup ~1000 + 3 sprints from blocks

200 IM - 2:12.17
100 fr - 55.4
400 IM - 4:45.83

300 warmdown

400 IM is feeling pretty good this year.

10/12/09 - back to work...

Pretty exhausted today from all the racing over the weekend.

warmup
2 x {
100 free @3rd person
3 x 50 stroke/free @3rd pers
4 x 25 sprint K @3rd person
}

tnx
1 25 @25, 1 @35
2 @25, 1 @35
3 @25, 1 @35
4 @25, 1 @35
50 @45, 50 @55
2 @45, 1 @55
3 @45, 1 @55

main, en1/2
all @3rd pers RI
25 fly
75 free strong
50 fly/back
150 free
75 fly/bk/br
225 free
100 IM
300 free

4 x 75 descend @1:10
150 @2:10
3 x 100 @1:20
4 x 75 bk@1:30 - odds R/L/Both, evens S/D/K by 25

400 IMK
300 warm down

10.07.09 - fast 100s free

100 fist
4 x 25 sprint k
100 fist
4 x 25 drill
100 fist
4 x 25 desc

7 x 25 strong @25/20
75 @1:00(49)
5 x 25 strong @25/20
75 @1:00(47)
3 x 25 strong @25/20
75 @1:00(47)

100 @1:15(1:07)
2 x 25 ez @30
2 x 100 @1:20 (1:07, 1:05)
4 x 25 @30
3 x 100 @1:25 (1:04, 1:03, 1:03)
6 x 25 @30
4 x 100 @1:30 (1:02, 1:03, 1:03, 1:03)

25 fly
50 fly/bk
75 fly/bk/br
100 IM
75 bk/br/fr
50 br/fr
25 fr

6 x 50, alt K/sw|dr/sw @1:00

hot tub :)

One of my best practice performances in a while. It helped that I'm not lifting this week and that I got 8 hours of good sleep last night. I'll have to enjoy the week and some fast swimming this weekend before it's 3 more weeks of beatdown.

10.05.09

400 swim
2 x {
125 swim @15 s
5 x 25 @30
} 1 - bk, 2 - br

100 @1:30
2 x 100 @1:25
3 x 100 @1:20 (1:09s)
4 x 100 @1:15 (1:08/07/08/07)
3 x 100 @1:20
2 x 100 @1:25
100 @1:30

3 x {
2 x 25 swim/50 K w/fins @1:25
} IMO

3 x {
2 x 50 @50
50 @40
}

200 warmD

10.03.09

700 swim
300 K

3 x {
3 x 200 - 25 stroke/25 free - fly @3, br @3:15, bk@3
4 x 50 K @1:00
100 ez
} IMO

200 warm down

10.02.09 - friday fly day, 300 fly swim

250 ez
300 mod
5 x 50 K @1:05

4 x 100 fr @1:15
1 x 50 bk @1:00
3 x 25 fly/75 fr @1:20
2 x 50 bk/br @55
2 x 25 fly/25 bk/50 fr @1:25
3 x 50 br @50 (38, 38, 38)
100 fr @1:30
4 x 50 br @45 (37, 37, 37, 38)
50 ez

2 x {
3 x 25 @20
1 x 25 @30
2 x 25 @20
1 x 25 @30
1 x 25 @20
1 x 25 @30
} set 1 swim, 2 K

300 fly
600 IM K

300 warmdown

I haven't been swimming much breaststroke but when I have, I've been focusing on trying to grab a lot of water with my kick. It seems to be helping. I'm starting to be able to hit times that I had to sprint for last year with fewer strokes/less effort.

10.01.09 - 400 IM

700 fr
400 IM K
4 x 100 @1:30, fly creeper

2 x 100 fly @1:30
100 fr @1:45
2 x 100 bk @1:30
100 fr @1:45
2 x 100 br @1:30
100 fr @1:45
2 x 100 fr @1:30
100 fr @1:45

400 IM - 5:04

400 IM K
300 pull w/buoy @ankles +snorkel
200 pull w/snorkel, no kick
200 ez

09.30.09

1500 warmup

main set:
2 x {
150 build @2:00
5 x 50 strong @45
100 strong @1:15 (1:04/1:05)
4 x 25 IMO @25
100 IM @1:30 (1:09, 1:11)
50 ez
}

2 x {
6 x 25 w/fins @40
} set 1 - K, set 2 IMO + 2x SA

400 IM K
200 ez

09.29.09

4 x 200 IM K -
25 fast/25 ez
50/50
100/100
200 fast

2 x {
4 x 50 fly @1:00
200 ez @3:30
4 x 50 free/fly @1:00
200 ez @3:30
}

2 x {
100 fly @1:45
25 fr/75 fly @1:40
50/50 @1:35
25/75 @1:30
}

500 IMK
200 ez

09.28.09

500 warmup

2 x {
75 fly/bk/br @1:20
50 drill @60
25 K @25
25 K @25
50 drill
75 fly/bk/br
}

100 IM @1:40
100 fr/bk/br/fr @1:35
100 50 fr/br/fr @1:30
100 fr @1:25
100 fr @1:25
100 50 fr/25 br K/25 fr @1:30
...
100 IM K @1:40

200 free fast (2:10)
3 x 50 rec @1:00
200 IM fast (2:25)
3 x 75 rec @1:20
200 fly fast
3 x 25 rec @40

150 ez
600 IM K
200 WD

09.25.09 - 200 fly day friday

warmup (1000)
300 swim
6 x 25 @25
5 x 75 pull @1:00
25
6 x 25 @25

EN1(2000)
5 x 100 @1:20, travelling 25 nf (fly)
5 x 200 @2:50, travelling 100 IM
5 x 100 @1:15 w/fins travelling 25 K

50 ez
5 x 50 @1:00, 2 turn 50s IMO
100 ez

400 IM K
200 fly (2:30)
200 ez

09.24.09

600 fr
400 IM K
4 x 100 @1:30 desc
2 x 4 x 25 IMO @45

EN1 Fr/En2 IM
4 x 150 @2:00
4 x 125 IM, rotate 50 of ea stroke @2:00

4 x 100 fr @1:20
4 x 75 IM continuous @1:20

4 x 50 fr @40
4 x 25 IMO @45

50 ez
50 breast (36.47)

200 warmdown

09.22.09

600 swim
400 IM K
4 x 100 desc @1:30

4 x 50 fly @1:00 desc.
K, @20s after each:
25
50
75
100
75
50
25

3 x 50 fly @1 desc
K:
25
50
75
75
50
25

2 x 50 fly @1 desc
K:
25
50
50
25

50 fly sprint (29.02)
2 x 25 sprint K

200 warm down

09.23.09

2 x {
100 alt dk/sw by 25
100 alt nf/fr by 25
100 fist/fr by 25
100 build
}

3 x {
3 x 50 IMR @50
3 x 75 @1:05/1:00/55
100 fast fr@1:15 (1:03s)
3 x 25 ez @30
}

3 x {
4 x 50 K @55
2 x {25 UW, 25 sprint, 25 ez} all @30
50 ez
}

200 ez
400 IM K
300 swim w/buoy between ankles, work on core
100 IM K

3 x {
3 x 50 IMR @50
3 x 75 @1:05/1:00/55
100 fast FLY@1:15 (1:13, 1:12, 1:12)
3 x 25 ez @30
}

300 warm down

09.21.09

800 warmup

main set:
2 x {
200 IM @3
250 fr @3
150 K @3
200 fr @3
}

09.19.09

1100 fr

EN1/2 mixed(2000)
5 x {
4 x 50 @1:00
200 @3:00
} set 1 IM, 2 fr, 3 fly, 4 fr, 5 IM

200 cool

09.18.09 - 200 fly day friday

warmup(1250)
4 x 100 - 25 K/50 sw/25 K @20s
3 x 150 - fr/br/bk @20s
2 x 200 IM @3:00 (2:33, 2:30)

EN2 Stroke/fr (1200)
3 x 75 @1:05 (br 1:02, fr, br 59)
75 fr @55
50 ez
2 x 75 @1:05 (br 59, bk 57)
2 x 75 fr @55
50 ez
75 br @1:05 (59)
2 x 75 fr @55 (50,52)
75 fly @55 (54)
50 ez
4 x 75 fr @55 (50,50,50,49)
50 ez

En1(450)/SP1(150) K
3 x {
4 x 50 K @1:05,55,45,35
did br on 1:05/55...
}

500 IM K

50 ez
200 fly @1.48 s/stroke - 2:31. Weights + yesterday's test set made this tough.

200 warmdown

09.17.09 - Test 100s

warmup (1300)
1000 free
50 K
8 x 25 IMO Fast w/fins@40
50 ez

6 x {
100 ALL OUT right into
250 recovery
@6:00 per round
}

Results:
#1 Fly :30.08 :32.75 1:02.83
#2 Free :28.64 :31.05 :59.69
#3 Fly :30.62 :34.18 1:04.80
#4 Free :28.37 :30.21 :58.58 HR 17
#5 Fly :30.79 :33.81 1:04.60 HR 18
#6 Free :28.30 ::30.33 :58.63 HR 17

500 IM K
400 pull w/snorkel + buoy at ankles
300 IM K
200 pull w/snorkel + buoy @ ankles

09.15.09 - fly w/fins set

warmup(1500)
400 swim
400 IM K
400 fly/br drills
3 x 100 desc @1:30 (1:14, 1:10, 1:08)

EN1 fr(900)
3 x 300 @4:00
1 - first 100 fast
2 - second "
3 - last "

EN2 fly (1200)
4 x 150
odds 100 fly K/50 fly @2:35
evens 50 fly K/100 fly @2:3

4 x 150 W/FINS
odds 100 fly K/50 fly @2:20
evens 50 fly K/100 fly @2:15

EN1 fr(900)
3 x 300 @4:15 same as above

400 K - 25 sit K/25 fast flutter/50 cruise br

200 warmdown

09.13.09 - EN3 fins set

700 alt bk/fr

1000 m of some other stroke + free, forgot what it was

EN3 (1150)
2 x 200 fr w/fins @30 sec rest (2:20, 2:23)
150 IM no fr w/fins @30s rest (1:57)
150 fly/bk/fly w/fins @30s (1:55)
2 x 125 fr w/fins @30s rest
2 x 100 fly w/fins (1:20)
50 ez

EN 1 stroke (400)/EN 2 K(400)
8 x {
50 dolphin K strong @1:10
50 fr/fly rec @1:00
}

300 ez

09.11.09 - 3:16 300 free

warmup(700)
200 ez
2 x 50 K @1:00
2 x 25 nf/25 K @55
2 x 50 nf @50
2 x 25 fr/25 bk @45
2 x 50 fr @40

EN2/3 (900) + EN1/rec(900)
4 x 25 @30
100 fast @1:30 (1:05)
4 x 50 @10s rest
200 fast @30s (2:12)
4 x 75 @1:00
300 fast @30s (3:16)
4 x 50 bk @10s rest
200 fly @30s (2:28)
4 x 25 bk @10s
100 br (1:15)

EN1 (600)
4 x {
25 @10s rest
50 @10s rest
75 @10s rest
} Rotating IM order by each 25y w/fins

EN1(900)
400 fr/bk
400 IM K
100 fr


200 fly @1.48 s/stroke - 2:27

My strokes were a lil short


200 ez


Dryland

09.10.09 - aerobic IM + fly speedwork

warmup(1600)
400 Swim, worked on connecting kick with pull
400 IM
400 Fly alt 25 drill/25 K
4 x 100 @1:30 - 100 free, 75 fr/25 fly, 50/50, 25 fr/75 fly

SP1 (700)
20 x 25 @45 FAST w/fins
8 x 25 @1:00 ALL OUT w/fins

EN1 IM (1600)
1600 IM, done as:
800 IM - 100 swim/50 K/50 swim ea stroke
400 IM swim
200 IM K
200 IM swim
continuous

200 warm down

09.09.09 - EN1/2 + pace kicking

warmup (800) - missed 150
125 fr/75 K
125 alt stroke/fr, 75
125 fist, 75 build
5 x 25 fast /75 fast

EN1 tnx (800)
6 x 25 - 2 slow @30, 2 mod @25, 2 fast @20
50 fly fast @40
6 x 25
100 IM fast @1:20
6 x 25
150 fly/bk/br @2:00
50 ez

EN 1/2 stroke (1000)
2 x{
2 x 50 @50
2 x 50 @45
6 x 50 @40
}


EN1 IM (750)
6 x 125 IMR 50 stroke @2:00
300 K
350 ez

Dryland
Vasa 3 x 20
3 x plank @45
30, 24, 20 leg drops

EN1 (1200)
125 fist, 75 build
5 x 25 fast /75 fast
6 x 25 - 2 slow @30, 2 mod @25, 2 fast @20
50 fly fast @40
6 x 25
100 IM fast @1:20
6 x 25
150 fly/bk/br @2:00
50 ez

EN 2 K(900)
3 x{
50 @50
2 x 50 @45
3 x 50 @40
}

300 K

09.08.09 - mostly aerobic.

Warmup(1600)
400 Swim
400 K IMO
400 pull w/buoy btw ankles to work on core
400 IM - 50 drill/50 swim ea stroke

EN 1/2 (2100)
Ladder, free @1:15 base, IM @1:25 base
600 fr
500 fr
400 IM
300 fr
200 IM
100 fr

100 ez

Sprints + Pace(200)
4 x 25 IMO @1:00
(14.5, 14.5, 17.5, 12.98)
2 x {
50 fast @1:00
(fly - 30.5, br - 37.5)
50 ez @1:30
}

200 warmdown

09.06.09 - speedwork, drills, etc.

50 ez
3 x 200 @3rd person

2 x 125 fr @1:40
2 x 100 fr/25 stroke @1:45
2 x 75 fr/50 stroke @1:50
2 x 50 fr/75 stroke @1:55
2 x 125 fr @1:35

16 x 25 K, odds mod @40, evens fast @30

8 x {
75 fast w/fins @50
25 ez @50
}
50 ez

3 x 50 breast 25 arms only/25 swim @1:05
3 x 50 br 25 flutter K/25 swim @1:05
3 x 50 br 25 dolphin K/25 swim @1:05

300 pull

12 x 25 alt fast fly, ez fr/bk @30

09.04.09 - Some Basic Endurance, Some Fast. Mixin' it up.

warmup(950)
250 ez
10s rest btw/each distance:
25/50/75/100
100/75/50/25
200 reverse IM

Kick w/snorkel(450)
25 stroke @35
50 choice @1:05
2 x 25 stroke @35
2 x 50 choice @1:05
3 x 25 stroke @35
3 x 50 choice @1:05
50 ez

Race Pace/Tempo (675) + Rec(675)
3 x {
100 fr @1:10 (held 1:00 @0.70 s/stroke)
50 ez rec @1:00
}

3 x {
75 stroke @1:00
fly - 1.45 s/stroke - 49
bk - 0.65 s/stroke - 49
br - 1.55 s/stroke - 58
75 rec @1:15
}

3 x {
50 K fast @55
100 ez rec @1:30
}

EN1 (1500)
6 x 150 @2:10, odds pull, evens fly/bk/b
200 ez
400 IM K

Aerobic EN1 (1400)
2 x {
225 free, build by 75 @3rd person
5 x 25 stroke, DPS @3rd person
100 IM perfect strokes @3rd person
5 x 50 fast @45, odds K, evens fr
}


EN1/2 (1200)
3 x {
150 @2:00 (held 1:42/3, did back on #3, 1:50)
100 @1:15 (>1:10, did fly #3)
50 ez rec @45
}

300 K (4:25)

SP1 (350) + rec (100)
2 x {
75 K all out (54.5, 54.0)
4 x 25 IMO sprint @30
50 ez @NT
}

200 warm down

09.03.09 - Threshold fly

warmup(1500)
300 swim ez
200 alternate fists, L fist, R fist
300 swim w/buoy btw/ankles, working on core rotation
400 IM K
100 br K
200 ez

EN2 fly(1000) + EN1 free(1000)
2 x {
100 fr
75 fr/25 fly
50 fr/50 fly
25 fr/75 fly
2 x 100 fly (held 1:13 on 100s fly)
25 fr/75 fly
50/50
75/25
100 fr
} all 100s @1:30

EN1 K
300 K on back

200 warmdown

08.31.09 - IM, K stuff

warmup(1100)
100 fr
2 x 50 bk/br
100 fr
3 x 50 K
100 fr
4 x 50 bk/br
100 fr
5 x 50 K

EN1/2 (1150)
4 x 75 desc @15s rest
100 IM @5s
3 x 75 desc
100 IM
2 x 75 desc
100 IM
75 desc

100 IM

EN2 (1200)
4 x 300 @30s rest:
1.) w/snorkel
2.) desc. 100s
3.) desc 75s
4.) swim

150 ez

EN 2(1000) + SP1(500) K
600 IM K @NT
6 x 50 K sprint @1:30
(2 ea IMO, 37.hi on fly, 36 hi on free, 44 low on br)
400 IM K @7:00
4 x 50 IM K sprint @1:30
(fly - 37, fr - 35, br - 44, fr 35)

100 ez rec

400 IM, good form, long strokes - <5:10

100 ez

08.30.09 - Race Pace, Power, Sprints

warmup (1500)
3 x 125 @1:55
3 x 25 stroke @30
3 x 125 fr @1:55
5 x 25 stroke @30
3 x 125 fr @1:55
7 x 25 stroke @30

EN1 K/Dr (650)
12 x 25 K, odds fr, evens nf @35
6 x 50 breast pull w/padds + snorkel, work on sliding forward
50 bk ez

Power (800)
8 x 100 fast fr w/padds @1:30 (held 1:04/1:05)

Race Pace work (450)
2 x 75 @1:30
2 x 75 @1:40
2 x 75 @1:50
all fly, held 49/50

Sprint(300)
6 x {
25 SDK w/fns @40
25 sprnt @40
}

200 ez

08.29.09 - Aerobic Day

Warmup (800)
Last 25 of each swim stroke:
200 (missed 100)
175
150
125
100
75
50
25

EN 2 (3400)
5 x 200 @2:30 (held 2:20)
2 x 50 @1 min
4 x 200 @2:30 (2:14, 2:11, 2:14, 2:14)
2 x 50
3 x 200 @2:30 (2:14/2:15)
2 x 50 @1
2 x 200 @2:30 (2:18s)
2 x 50 @1
200 IM (2:24)

EN 1/2 K(600)
4 x {
75 DK @1:25
75 flutter @1:15
}

200 warmdown

08.27.09 - mostly fast, mostly fun.

warmup
500 swim w/forearm fulcrum
500 fly K/drill

SP1 (500) + rec(500)
4 x 25 fly @1:00 (14s)
4 x 25 fly @1:00 w/TT
13.28 (1.30)
13.11 (1.20)
13.16 (1.10)
13.28 (1.00)

50 ez

2 x {
50 fly, 1.20 tempo @1:00 (28.93, 28.90)
100 ez @2:00
}

50 ez
4 x 25 back @1:00 w/TT
14 (NT)
14.47 (0.70)
14.40 (0.65)
14.67 (0.60)

2 x {
50 bk, 1.30 tempo @1:00 (29.49, 29.34)
100 ez @2:00
}

200 IM, broken @50 to adjust TT
30.98 (1.45)
10s rest
31.94 (1.45/cycle)
15s rest
37.04 (1.60)
20s rest
29.08 (0.65) (watch came off @the end, so I swam last 10y holding it)
total: 2:09.04 (1:02.92, 1:06.12)

300 warmdown

2 x 15 x 80 crunches on machine
2 x 15 x 5 - external rotation, catch position

08.28.09 - bangin' out yards

warmup(1350)
100 ez
800, every 3rd length bk, every 5th K
3 x {
25 IMO
50 IMR(otating)
75 IMR
} @3rd person

EN1/2 (1800)
4 x {
4 x 100
(set 1 @1:20; set 2@1:15 IM w/fins; set 3 K @1:40; set 4 alt IM @1:20/fr @1:15)
2 x 25 ez
}

EN2 (600)
3 x {
50 fly @50
50 fr @45
50 fly @40
50 fr @40
make swims by at least 5 sec
}

400 IM K
50 ez K

EN1(750)
3 x {
25 K
50 drill
75 IM, no fr
100 free
} @3rd person

--something else here... can't recall--

EN 2/3 (750) + Rec(250)
2 x {
3 x 75 descend @1:05
150 hold fast 75 pace @1:50
5 x 25 rec @30
} set 1 free, set 2 IM, no fr made the 150.


SP1 (525) + Rec(225)
3 x {
2 x 50 sprint K @1:00
3 x 25 sprint bk, fly, fr@30
75 ez
}

100 ez

08.26.09

EN1(2300)
150 ez
3 x 150 @2:10
100 @1:15
50 stroke @1:00
2 x 150 @2:10
2 x 100 @1:15
50 stroke @1:00
150 @2:10
3 x 100 @1:15
50 stroke @1:00

50 ez stroke
400 IM - K/swim by 50

EN2 (1250)
3 x 400 @5:10, 1, 3 w/padds
50 ez

EN1(1100)
4 x 125 - alt fr/stroke IMO @2:00
400 K IMO
200 K IMO

SP3(300)
4 x 50 FAST @2:00
(br - 36.98, fly - 30.5, free 28, br --)
4 x 25 sprint @1:00
(fr - 13.0, br - 17.0, fly 14, bk 15)

200 warmdown

I ran and did some cords and core work yesterday and I was feelin' it today.

08.24.09 - Adrift but not Rudderless

warmup (750)
350 - alt fr/stroke by 25
250 K
150 drill

En1 (1200)
3 x 100 @1:25
3 x 50 @45
2 x 100 bk @1:20
4 x 50 IMO @50
100 @1:15
5 x 50 IMO + bk @55


Sprint (1500)
2 x {
50 ez @regroup
25 sprint (K - 18, Fly - 14.4)
100 ez @regroup
50 sprint (DK - 37.95, Br - 36.97)
150 ez, regroup
75 fast (K - 1:00, Fly - 49.2)
200 ez, regroup
100 fast (DK - 1:20, Br - 1:16.57)
} set 1 K, set 2 SA on fast swims

150 ez

(recover)
400 K IMO
200 K IMO

Aerobic, EN1(1300)
3 x {
125 fr @3d pers
75 choice @3rd
}

4 x {
25 DK
25 breast
100 free
} @2:20 (held 1:50)

Aerobic/Threshold IM EN 2/3(2000)
4 x 75 IMR (Rotating) @1:00
250 ez
4 x 75 IMR @1:00
200 ez
4 x 75 IMR @1:00
150 ez
4 x 75 IMR @1;00
100 ez

100 warm down.

warmup(1000)
400 ez
400 K
4 x 50 pace @1:00, held 37

800 - 9:52
Felt pretty good. Tried to stretch it out + use my core rotation.

200 ez

rest 30 minutes

warmup 2 (600)
400 ez
4 x 50 - 25 sprint fly/25 ez

50 fly - 29.86
75 ez

100 fly - 32.00 1:06.56(34.56)
125 ez

200 fly - 2:35.5
36.13 1:15.26 (39.13)
40.54 1:20.04 (39.50)

250 ez


400 IM - 5:19.86
35.25 1:15.89 (39.64)
40.71 1:20.11 (39.40)
44.56 1:29.71 (45.15)
38.08 1:15(37.05)

200 warm down

06.03.09 - breathing (again) + 200 breakthru

200 ez
200 bk
50 breathe every 3
150 bk
50 breathe 3
100 bk/br
50 breathe 3
50 fly
50 breathe 3

8 x 100 @1:30.
I tried out different breathing plans on each one, did 1.) every other R, 2.) every other L 3.) every 3, 4.) 50 R, 50 L, 5.) 2 R, 2 L 6.) 3 R, 3L 7.) 50/50, 8.) 50/50

200 @2:40 (went 2:30)
100 mod @2:00
200 @2:45 (2:32)
3 x 50 @50
1 x 50 @40 (35)
4 x {
150 @2:00,
50 @1:00
} Held 1:54 on the 150s

4 x 100 K @2:00, odds fly, evens fr

3 x 300
1.) 150 fly/bk/br, 150 alt br
2.) 100 fly/bk, 200 alt br
3.) 50 fly, 250 alt br

6 x 50 K @1:10
4 x 50 K w/fins @1:00

warm down

I breathed every other stroke to the right on the first 200. It's way faster for me. Way, way faster. 2:30 was a practice PB for me in a 200m free. In fact, I went 2:29 in a race last year.

On the 150s, I alternated odds doing 50 breathe every other R/50 L/50 R with evens 50 L/50 R/50 L. I was holding the same pace either way. It seems that the main thing is just establishing a breathing rhythm to one side and sticking with it for a length or more. Switching sides slows me down.

I used to think breathing every other stroke was for some reason a no-no. Not anymore. I'm converted.

06.02.09 breathing

SCY - worked mostly on breathing
200 swim ez
400 pull
300 K
200 pull w/snorkel + buoy
100 swim w/snorkel
100 - 25 K on right, 25 on left
2 x 50 6K switch

400 swim - 200 breathe every stroke to R, 200 to L (4:50)
300 free - breathe every 3rd (3:34)
500 free - breathe 2 L, 2 R (6:04)

LCM - IM set
100 - 50 K/50 dr
5 x 100 fr desc @1:35 (went down to 1:15)
4 x 50 IMO drill @1:00
2 x 100 - 50 fly/50 bk @1:40
2 x 150 - 50 fly/100 bk @2:20
2 x 200 - 50 fly/150 bk @3:10
2 x 150 - 50 fly/100 bk @2:20
2 x 100 - 50 fly/50 bk @1:40
100 ez rec
2 x 100 - 50 bk/50 br @1:45
2 x 150 - 50 bk/100 br @2:40
2 x 200 - 100 bk/100 br @3:20
2 x 150 - 100 bk/50 br @2:30
2 x 100 - 50 bk/50 br @1:45

I skipped the last set of br/free swims b/c I had to head to work.

warm down.

Today I was working on the breath/hand connection that Patrick mentioned yesterday and discovered a couple of things, with the help of the eagle-eyed coach Lani:

1. Breathing to my left throws my stroke out of balance.
2. I don't have a breathing plan and so I just breathe randomly. It's screwing with my rhythm, especially when I breathe left at irregular intervals.

So I need to go into every swim knowing how I'm going to breathe during that swim. That really seems to help smooth out some of my extension issues. As for racing, I'll need to experiment with different patterns for different distances, but I should probably seriously think about just breathing to my right and not worry about bilateral breathing.

05.28.09 - resistance

Ended up jumping in with the USS team.

600 ez
2 x {
4 x 50 IMO @1:00
3 x 100 desc @1:30
}

8 x {
25 DPS
12.5 tempo/12.5 ez
} w/blue bungee cord

4 x 100 K rec @2:00

8 x {
25 drill or K
25 hard
} w/parachute

4 x 100 K rec @2:00

6 x {
25 DPS
25 fast
} w/shoes on

4 x 100 K rec @2:00

16 x 25 sprint @40 IMO
8 x 25 sprint w/fins @40 IMO

warm down

I wasn't planning on swimming with the USS team, but they started later than they usually do this morning, at my normal workout time. So they were there and I was there and I figured, what the heck?

I like their workouts. They do a nice mix of speed and aerobic stuff. I wish I had that kind of program when I was younger. For me, the resistance work really helps to let me know where my stroke needs work because I get nowhere if I'm not swimming with good form.

05.27.09 - c-c-c-cold

I decided that I'm going to make the 20 minute trek to do some outdoor LCM this summer. I was going to just swim near my house all summer but swimming outdoor long course is too enjoyable. The break-even point on the summer pass is a little over 1.5 workouts per week, so I'm doin' it.

LCM @Carpenter

400 wu

4 x {
2 x 200 @3:00 (went 2:50 on first 2 sets, 2:45 on sets 3 & 4)
1 x 100 stroke @1:50
}

The water was Very Cold. Very. I didn't even warm down. Once I stopped moving on the main set, I just got out and went right to the hot shower. I thought I'd heard it was mid-70's before I got in but the official reading ended up at 67.

An interesting effect of the cold water was that I became hyper-aware of my stroke. It really made me focus on head position and really relaxing my hands and pulling with my forearms.

I need over 1000 yards/meters before I can work up into any kind of speed. If I try to go fast under that, I feel clunky.

05.26.09

700 ez w/snorkel, worked mostly on hand entry.

400 cruise w/snorkel
2 x 50 fast fr@55 - (33,32)
300 cruise
4 x 50 fast fr @55 - (held 30)
200 cruise
6 x 50 fast fr @55 - (held 30/31)
100 cruise
10 x 50 fast fly @1:05 (held 33 for first 7, then 34, 35 36 on 8,9,10)

200 ez

8 x (75 K fast, 25 ez) @2:00, odds fly, evens free. Held just under 1:05 on all fly, 1:04, 1:04, 59, 1:00 on the free.

300 swim w/paddles and strap (inner tube)

w/d

"Fast" is EN3/SP1 for me. The free swims were more on the low EN3 side. My HR was ~170 at the end of the 10 50s fly and those got anaerobic around 5.

400 IM Race analysis.

I went through my 400 IM video with a fine-tooth comb today. I counted my strokes and timed all turns + swim times. Then I figured out my DPS, stroke rate, and velocity in yards. Because the only data I have to compare it to is in LCM, I also did some conversions to meters times. I used the 1 yard = .9144 meters conversion factor and converted each length to its corresponding meters distance. I know that there is a larger discrepancy than just the straight conversion due to the extra turns, but I figured this would give me some ballpark figures to work with.

The quick numbers,
yards:
leg SR DPS Velocity
100 36.28 2.80 1.69
200 26.20 3.37 1.47
300 36.42 2.17 1.32
400 32.21 2.91 1.56

meters:
leg SR DPS Velocity
100 36.28 2.56 1.50
200 26.20 3.09 1.35
300 36.42 1.98 1.20
400 32.21 2.66 1.42

2000 OT Qualifiers:
leg SR DPS Velocity
100 50.72 1.85 1.55
200 36.08 2.33 1.45
300 41.57 1.75 1.24
400 43.90 2.12 1.61

There are many factors that don't make this an exact comparison -- the first original fastskin had just come out in 2000 and I wore an FS Pro, arguably a faster suit. I figured my DPS and velocities off of a conversion of .9144 meters to 1 yard. If I do some crude conversions using the Swimming World conversion utility, I get something like 5 seconds slower in fly, 9 in back, 7 in breast, 11 in free.

There are a few trends that jump out pretty quickly. My freestyle is the furthest off of the elite performance data, by almost .2 m/sec. My backstroke is next at .11 m/sec off, and my 2 short axis strokes are only off by .05 m/sec and .04 m/sec on the fly.

My stroke rate is a lot lower: almost 14 strokes/min on fly, 10 stroke cycles per minute in the back, 5 on breast, and 11 cycles per minute in free. My DPS is higher, but again, I get 2x as many turns.

That indicates, without a doubt that as an IM'er, freestyle is my weakest leg. It's interesting that the backstroke is the second weakest leg, since the 200 backstroke is arguably my strongest event right now.

Some thoughts on technique and turns after several viewings:
* My turns and transitions are pretty slow. I probably lost seconds on the walls.
* I came up pretty high on the fly. Need to keep the arms closer to the water.
* My left arm was not straight on the backstroke. It kept bending. Lani said I do this from time to time in prac. Not sure why the inconsistency.
* My breaststroke pullouts were decent. My DPS and stroke rate both fell off on the second 50 of my breast, though. My split reflects that.
* My turnover is too slow on the freestyle. I get good power but don't get my arms going fast enough. My turns were very very slow on the free... especially the 1st one.

Another thing I need to start working with in practice is tempo. I don't think I've really ever done any swims where I'm just trying to hit certain tempos. I get good DPS, sure, and pretty good power. I think, though, that it's like pedaling a bike uphill in a lower gear: I can get good power that way, but it's much faster and easier to put the bike in a higher gear and let my legs spin more.

5.22.09 - Drillin'

My free's been feeling like the stink-stink lately, so I got in and did several 50's and 100's drill. I don't remember how much of each but I did:

* body pos'n kick with hands at side, kicked ez and tried to maintain good posture
* superman swimming w/snorkel
* head up w/snorkel, watching hands
* swim w/ankle strap, worked on posture
* 1 hand on kickboard, 1 hand swimming to keep my left hand/arm from crossing over
* swim w/catch-up stick, mainly to keep my right arm from sweeping out

4 x 50 @15s K w/fins, arms at side. I alternated odds with a more relaxed posture, what I usually do, and evens with my neck extended more and flatter back. I did 2 moderate then 2 fast, trying to keep my kick at the same intensity and the turns the same across the 50s. The fast one was 2 seconds faster with the extended neck + flatter back.

2 x 100 @2:00, just working on everything
1:11, 1:08.8

50 free fast: 27.7
50 fly fast: 29.5

warm down

I might go back later to swim a workout with the Senior USS kids if I get out of work early enough. We shall see.

05.21.09 - Comfortably Numb

I made it over the pain hump to the comfortably numb stage. On Monday and Tuesday nights, my back and legs were stinging with all of the fresh acid from ramping up training again. As of this morning, everything feels nicely buffered and will probably stay that way until July sometime.

SCY @Meyers, Lani coached. I swam in the shallow end <5'.

200 K, w/snorks
6 x 50 - 25 body position K on side w/pull buoy in front hand/25 swim
3 x 100 desc @1:35 (1:14, 1:12, 1:10)

6 x 75 K @1:45, 50 fast/25 ez.
I did 2 rounds of dolphin, flutter, breast:
1 - 38, 39, 44
2 - 38, 35, 44

50 ez

5 x 400, thus:
400 - 100 strong/200 DPS/100 strong @5:30
(1st - 1:08, last - 1:09)
400 - 100 fly/300 mod free @6:00
(fly - 1:17)
400 IM @ 6:00
(1:14, 1:23, 1:26, 1:13)
400 - 100 fly/200 mod/100 mod+
(fly - 1:16, last - 1:12)
400 - 100 strong/200 DPS/100 strong
(1:09/1:09)

100 ez

4 x {
50 fast, 25 rec @2:00,
25 fast, 50 rec @2:00
}
(fly - 30.8, 13.7; br - 37.5, 17.7; fly - 30.18, 13.1; free - 28.5, 13.1)

long warm down

Getting my hands narrower sooner in the fly is definitely faster. My fast 50 fly swims felt a lot better. It feels stronger and I can turn it over faster.

On the 100s, it helped but I had to fight to keep my hands from drifting out on the last 25 when I'd get tired. I still have to work on a better glide at the top. I have a tendency to let my hands sweep in slightly right after the entry when I'm trying to lengthen it out (or when I get tired) and then my timing gets off.

On freestly, Lani pointed out that my right hand sweeps out at the top and my left hand sweeps in. This ends up steering me toward the right side of the lane. It also probably explains why I get knots in the muscles in the right side of my back but not my left... So I spent the whole set of 400s focusing on what my hands were doing up there. I had to watch those suckers sometimes to keep them from wandering. Looks like that will be a focus point on my free swims for a while until I get that little kink ironed out.

05/20/09 - lots of legs.

I rode my bike to the pool today, approximately a 15 minute ride. I wanted to do a lot of kicking and thought this would provide a good warmup. 3 minutes from my house, I realized I'd forgot my watch. My watch is nice to have but is not necessary, so I pedaled on.

After I got to the pool, though, I realized that neither my suit nor my goggles were in my bag. Crap-O-La. So I pedaled 15 minutes back to my house and again 15 minutes back to the pool. We'll call that dryland for today .

400 K/swim by 25 w/snorkel
8 x 50 scull/drill by 25 @15s rest

8 x 25 fly, odds drill, evens swim fast
I alternated btw 5 K/2 pull drill and 2 K @top/2 K @ bottom -- mostly to work on my timing.
went (14.7, 14.5, 14.7) on the fast ones

Test set: 3 x 300 @1:00 rest. Goal is to determine Anaerobic threshold. I went:
3:28.24 (1:07.52/2:20.72)
3:31.94 (1:07.9/1:11.29/1:12.75)
3:30.71 (1:08.83/1:12.00/1:09.88)

2 x 300 K @4:45 (4:42, 4:37)
4 x 75 K fast @1:30 (1:00.00, 59.85, 1:00.36, 59.76)

4 x 50 fr swim w/tennis shoes on @1:15.

warm down

Test set analysis:

I pulled the 3 x 3 test set from Salo and Riewald's Complete Conditioning for Swimming. The 300s are supposed to be swum fairly hard yet at a sustainable pace and your aerobic threshold pace is supposed to be your average 100 time across all 3. My average 100 time works out to be 1:10.1. I was hoping to average 1:09-low but the clock doesn't lie. My notes about this set:

* I missed turns on #2 and #3. #3 was particulaly ugly and I just barely got a toenail on the wall and almost stopped dead so I stopped my watch, turned around, went back to the wall, started my watch, and took off again.

* My splits were not great. I went out too fast on the first 2 and paid for it some. Probably would have been better taking those out easier.

* My head was all over the place. When I turned out to breathe, I was turning my head too far up. When I returned my head back to the water, I was rolling it all the way past center. I have to work on better discipline there and try to just let it turn with my body roll.

* My extension was ok, but not as streched out as it should be. I rarely felt like I was connecting my pull to my hip, which is how it feels when I get in a good rhythm for longer swims. I felt choppy.

I might try this set again next week and try to build the swims to see where that ends up. Of course, I'll have to ride my bike around for 45 minutes and then do the same in-water warmup to keep all of that constant .

Butterfly notes:
I watched the Eddie Reese on Butterfly video yesterday. That's where I grabbed the 5 K/2 pull and 2 K @top/2 K @ bottom drills. But, more useful than those drills was his comment on the underwater portion of the stroke.

He showed the long pull part under the body with the hands a lot closer together than I usually have them on my stroke. His hands were close enough to where "if you stuck your thumbs out, they would touch". I usually pull farther outside than that. So today I worked on bringing my hands in closer together on the press. It feels easier but smoother, more effective. Of course, I've only used it on 25s so far, so we'll see what the effect is when I do some longer fly swims.

05/19/09

600 drill/swim by 25
6 x 75 K/dr/swim @15s rest
300 K - 25 build/25 fast/25 ez

600 -- neg. split and descend last 3 100s
(3:48/1:13/1:12/1:11)
400 K - neg split, descend last 4 50s
(3:20/45/44/43/40)
200 IM done as 2 x 100 IM neg split
(1:20/1:16)

2 x {
3 x 100 Rotating IM 25 drill/50 swim, work tnx/25 drill @1:40
200 IM @ 3:00 (2:35/2:36)
}

3 x 200 pull @3:00 w/ankles bound

1. buoy + paddles
2. buoy
3. paddles

Next set, I'm not sure what to call it. It's all fly, 15s rest between each swim:
100/75/50/25
75/50/25
50/25
25
Held about 20s/50 except the last 3 swims, then picked it up (36, 15,15)

warm down

20 minute circuit on the weights and 5 minutes of stretching.

The 200 pulls with my ankles bound reminded me that I really need to press my chest into the water more. If I didn't, I got pretty vertical on those. I need to work on it even when I can kick.

Summer Season Plan

First, My goals:
1.) Improve my butterfly -- Colorado 30-34 200m fly record is 2:37 something. It's one of the softest records here for my age group. I'm going to try to get it. The larger goal and benefit of this work is to be able to take my SCY 400 IM out comfortably at 1:00 or better.

2.) Get faster in freestyle -- across the board, but particularly shorter freestyle events. I'm going to work on my speed in the 100/200. I'm going to swim those events in meets. I rarely do so and usually do middle distance stroke stuff and distance free. The main goal is to try to bring my 400 IM home in 1:00 or better.

Notice a theme here? It's all about improving my 400 IM. Last year was "breaststroke year" and I worked on it all year specifically to improve my 400 IM. Now I'm going to focus a little more on the bookends for a while -- building a long, strong easy speed fly, and working on speed in the free so I can sprint it home.

3.) Kick faster. My best 100 SCY Kick time last year was 1:15. I used to be under 1:10 for a flat out 100 and was able to do an animal kick set on 1:25, holding 1:18s. I'm going to try to get back down there, maybe even without a board.


Target Dates and meets:
There are 2 big events that I will be training toward at the end of this summer. I may do none, 1, or both. I'm mainly using them to plan out a training cycle.

1.) LCM nationals, August 6-10. Chances of me actually going to this are at ~30% as of right now. There's a good chance my parents might be out in Denver during this time. I'm going to start training for it though, and see what happens.

2.) Horsetooth 10K, August 16. I did this swim last year and will probably do it again this year.

There's also a State Games of the West dual-sanction meet at the Air Force Academy in CO Springs on August 2nd. It's SCY, and is at 6000+ altitude, so I probably will just train through it.

There are a multitude of open water options that I'll probably take throughout the course of the summer. I usually do a few of the 1 mile swim + 5k stroke and stride races up in Boulder on Thursday nights. There's also an aquaman series that offers various swim distances up to 2 miles on Tuesdays in July. I'll probably do some of those.

There aren't a lot of USMS meets here in the summer, but USS has something pretty much every weekend. I'm going to get a USS membership for at least this summer to get some pool racing in.

Training options:
1.) Get a summer membership for BAM again and do 3 days at Meyers/3 days in Boulder.
Pros: I could train outdoor LCM and will get a lot of distance freestyle work in. They'll be good Horsetooth workouts.
Cons: I don't get nearly as much quality kick/drill/stroke work as I like. I have to drive 20 minutes to the pool. It'd cost $200 for the summer + gas to drive back and forth.

2.) See about training w/USS team a few days a week and do Masters 3 days a week
Pros: I'd be challenged. It might make me step up a bit more. I could do almost all training close to my house.
Cons: I don't get my own lane every day (not really a big deal, but swimming butterfly is mighty nice when you don't have to dodge people). That's where the masters workouts come in though, I could do my own tailored workout in (most days) my own lane a few days a week. I'm not sure how often the pool will be set up for LCM, so I might not get in as much LC training as I'd like. It could cost extra money.

3.) Train w/JAM 3 days a week and do the other days on my own.
Pros: I could tailor my whole summer season to my whims. Training would be close to my house. It would be the cheapest option.
Cons: Not sure how much LC training I'd get. If I get the blahs it's harder to motivate (though I'm OCD enough to where I can usually push myself pretty well). I might have to write workouts.

I started out on 3 right now. I'm going to decide the main course of action soon though. I can also think about mixing and matching -- ie, get a BAM membership and go up there 1-2 times a week to get some LCM and do 4-5 days at Meyers by my house. I trained up in Boulder all of last summer and by far the biggest expense in doing that was the gas to drive up there and back 4-5 days a week for the whole summer.

My seasonal plan, if I train OMO.
If I lean more to option 3 above.

BASE PORTION:
As of today, I've started my base phase portion of the season. This base phase will last until the end of June and will be broken up into 2 smaller cycles of 2-3 weeks of building with 1 week, from June 4-11 of recovery. We're going to Wisconsin for a wedding then, so I'm just going to figure my workloads with that in mind and will try to get in some running for aerobic endurance and whatever swimming I have time for during that week.

I plan on doing more distance (both free and IM), lots of kicking, and a lot of butterfly on stroke specific sets. Drills, of course, will be done in every workout. I'm going to wear my green monster drag suit during this part of the year to build some strength in the water, but will wear a regular brief for faster swims.

I'm also going to try to do an average of 30 minutes per day dryland during this part. I might not do dryland every day and will do an hour or more some days, but I'm trying to break myself down pretty good for the next month and a half.

I'm going to try to do something fast on most days -- at least a small set of 25s/50s to keep my speed up.

COMPETITION PHASE:
I'll start increasing the race pace and speed work through the month of July. This often means days where the main set is broken 200s/400s/400 IMs. I'll probably drop the drag suit and go with jammers or briefs to unload a tiny bit.

I'll cut back on the weights some through July to where I'm doing dryland every other day, but I'll also start doing more parachutes, paddles, and in-water strength building.

"TAPER"
If I do get to go to LC Nats, I'll probably taper around 7-10 days for that. If Horsetooth ends up being my end-of-summer main event, I'll probably only rest a few days and will adjust my race pace training to include a lot of free pacing.

After that ??

05/18/09

SCY OMO @ George Meyers. I wore the green monster drag suit today.

600 drill/swim w/snorkel by 25
200 K w/snorkel
200 pull DPS w/snorkel - ~10 strokes per length

4 x 25 @40 IMO Fast

7 x 100 fr @1:20, descend last 3 (1:10/1:11, 1:11, 1:09, 1:08)
3 x 100 fr @1:30 strong (1:07s)
HR ~160

50 ez

3 x {
25 K/25 drill/25 swim
25 drill/50 swim
75 swim
} all fly, sets 1,2 @1:15, set 3 @1:20

50 K/25 swim fly @1:20
50 drill/25 swim fly @1:40
75 fly faster - 54
HR 170 after the last fly

12 x 50 K IMO, descend 1-3 @55

4 x 100 IM @1:30, long strokes, good glides on short axis

4 x 50 fast @1:00
1 - free - 29.58
2 - fly - 32.10
3 - dolphin K w/board - 41.13
4 - fly - 31.97

warm down

15 minute circuit on the weights and off to work.

05/16/09

LCM @George Meyers
300 ez
200 K w/snorkel
6 x 200 @3:30 prog descend 1-3 (3:00 --> 2:41)
400 IM - 25 K/25 dr/50 swim
2 x 200 IM @3:30 (3:05, 3:03)
3 x 50 fast fly/50 ez recovery @2:30
warm down

So ends my active recovery week. Next week, it's back to the beginning again with a couple months of base building and open water fun. Last summer, I did mostly lsd training all season. I'm going to do a good deal of that in this summer's base phase but I've resolved to get some speed work in there ~2 days/week.

05/14/09 - all the toys

200 ez
200 K no board
200 scull - 50 front, 50 mid, 50 rear, 50 mixed

7 x {
flutter K w/fins @20s ez, 20s HARD
dolphin K w/fins @20s ez, 20s HARD
}

2 x 100 breast drills w/snorkel, lobed fins, green paddles - played w/timing
2 x 100 fly drill w/snorkel, lobed fins - alt nemo drill, R, L, 3R/3L
200 fly drill w/snorkel, lobed fins, Phelps drill - 1R/1 full/1L/1full

200 ez pull

I don't generally use toys this much during a workout but it's an active recovery week so I'm mostly playing around with equipment and ideas. The USS coaches gave me carte blanche to use any and all of their team's equipment so I'm going through their closet and trying different toys.

05/13/09 just dryland

22 minute run with the dogs
25 minutes - IP/core/pull-ups/swim-specific lifts/jump rope

05/12/09

300 ez swim
400 K mod
300 of different butterfly drills w/snorkel
-Nemo drill (3-4 kicks, then a pull, to work on timing)
-1-arm fly, working on keeping my arms low
-whale drill, working on timing, high elbow catch position
?? pull w/snorkel- didn't count yardage, just played with my hand pitch and worked on the relaxed hand thing
200 K ez
200 swim ez

25 minutes of easy dryland - injury prevention, light lifting, core work.

5/11/09 - cross-training

I stayed out of the water today and did some cross training instead. I'm just going to do some easy swimming this week--lots of drills and such--and do some cross training to keep my aerobic base up.

30 minute run w/my dogs
30 minutes of external rotation/injury prevention exercises, pull-ups, jump rope, core + stretching

Floswim Videos

100 Breast
200 Back
200 Breast
400 IM

Man, I need to work on my butterfly. I was coming up awfully high.

'98 vs '09 -- 200 Back

1998:
PRE 29.17 - 31.35 - 30.24 - 30.58 02:01.34
FIN 29.60 - 31.59 - 29.85 - 30.78 02:01.82


2009:
3 Cox, Michael 31 CMS 2:04.97 2:00.42
28.52 59.01 (30.49)
1:30.10 (31.09) 2:00.42 (30.32)

'98 vs. '09 -- 400 IM

1998:
PRE - 27.67 31.57 33.08 32.17 37 87 39.64 34.38 34.85 04:31.23
FIN - 28.62 33.06 34.37 34.09 37.72 38.49 32.10 31.57 04:30.02

2009:
5 Cox, Michael 31 CMS 4:46.91 4:29.11
28.70 1:01.13 (32.43)
1:35.48 (34.35) 2:09.02 (33.54)
2:46.36 (37.34) 3:25.05 (38.69)
3:57.42 (32.37) 4:29.11 (31.69)

First off, I was very happy with this swim. I don't think I could have swum it much better. It's only the 3rd time in my life that I've been under 4:30, and 2 of those were prelims/finals of the same day. My splits were so close to that 4:30.02 swim, but slightly faster on all 100s except the freestyle :).

That said, I'd like to drop that last 100 to 1:00 or better, while holding the first 300 at least close to the same. There were quite a few who went 4:23-4:25 on similar 300 splits. Looks like one of my next training goals is to get faster in the freestyle.

05/06/09 - last taper workout

300 swim long
300 fr K, worked walls, SDK
200 IM dr/swim by 25

4 x 100 @1:30, DPS (1:08, 1:09s, 11 SPL, HR 140)

10 x 25 choice @whenever from mid pool, build into turns/good breakouts

1 x 50 breast cruise pace - 35.58, HR 150

200 ez

Everything felt smooth. My 50 breast was a nice, controlled, swim. Hopefully I can manage 4 of those in a row on the 200 breast :).

05/05/09 - Here it comes...

the taper energy rush. It started coming on at about 10 this morning. I was pretty sore and a little crusty the last few days, normal for taper. After practice (and my DDS appt.) this morning, I started buzzing.

Just in time :), I'm ready for a good weekend. I've had taper manifest in multiple ways, sometimes I feel cruddy until I'm on the blocks for my first race. I like to get through the cruddy feeling before then, though. It's always been a good sign to hit the buzz phase right before the meet.

When I drop in altitude, I should really be feeling good. As long as I race smart :).

Anyhoo:
300 swim
200 IM K
400 IM drill, really ez
4 x 100 @1:30 (all 1:08, 11-12 SPL, HR 140-150 range)
3 x 2-turn 50s, IM transition on 2nd turn fly/back, back/br, br/free
5 x 25 from mid-pool @25, focus on fast walls @45

2 x 50 br @2:00 rest - 34.2, 34.3
I felt much better on the 2nd one. I spun a lot going out on the first one and I swear it took me like 11 strokes to get to the wall. The second one, I settled down and got a better grab. I split them both 16 something/18.something.

warm down

I had a conversation last fall with my highschool friend and sometime swimming rival Marc. Marc coaches up in Aspen and was (and probably still is) an excellent IMer/breaststroker. I told him that I was shooting for a 1:15/1:16 breast split in the 400 IM this year and he thought that I should probably work on being able to go sub-35s from a push in order to get in that range. Well, here I am. At the very end of the year, I'm going sub 35s from a push. I sure hope he was right.

The spinning shouldn't be so much of a problem in the 400 IM because I'm usually tired enough to where I don't/can't start out the breast leg on blast. I'll have to be a little careful on the 100/200 breast, though, to just build that first 25 and not spin so much.

05/04/09

300 swim
300 IM K on back
300 IM 50 drill/25 swim

4 x 100 @1:30 (1:09.05, 1:08.57, 1:08.67, 1:07.36) - held 11 SPL for most.
SPL = Strokes per Length

4 x 25 IM order @45 FAST - 13.85, 15.12, 16.98, 13.76

3 x 50 IMO, no fly @2:00
bk - 31.26
br - 34.81
fr - 26.87

long warm down

05/02/09

300 swim
400 K
300 - 50 dr/50 swim
4x100 @1:30 (1:14, 1:11s)
4 x 50 @1:00 IMO
4 x 25 @45 FAST IMO

2 x 50 w/fins @2:00 - #1 fly/back, #2 br/free
3 x 50 @2:00
bk - 30.48
br - 35.54
br - 35.83

warm down

400 IM split times from college,

Mike Cox Fr Alma 4:41.64 4:35.58 4:32.04
PRE 29.66 - 33.81 - 33.55 - 32.39 - 39.32 - 39.35 - 33.49 - 34.01
FIN 29.05 - 33.67 - 33.60 - 33.14 - 38.30 - 39.24 - 32.59 - 32.45

Soph:
Mike Cox So Alma 4:42.11 4:31.23 4:30.02
PRE - 27.67 31.57 33.08 32.17 37 87 39.64 34.38 34.85
FIN - 28.62 33.06 34.37 34.09 37.72 38.49 32.10 31.57

Sr:
M Cox The Alma College 4:36.25 4:22.94 4:24.42
No splits up for that one, but I remember fly being 58.mid and feeling pretty easy.

I moved past my high school times this year at altitude. I'm now somewhere in my freshman/sophomore years in college, in-season times-wise.

Can I match my Sophomore year 400 IM?

I'd be happy beating my freshman times, but my real challenge (to myself) is to jump right out to the sophomore IM times.

05/01/09 - FS Pro swims

Regular suit + drag suit for warmup
400 swim
300 K
300 IM - 50 drill/50 swim
4 x 100 @1:30 descend (1:09, 1:07, 1:07, 1:04)
4 x 50 IM build @1:00
4 x 25 fast choice @45, did IM

changed into FS-Pro full body.

50 - 25 free/25 SDK, get count to 15m (13 kicks)
3 x 50 rotating IM, work on transitions @1:00

broken 200 IM, 15s @50.
(28.50, 31.96, 34.39, 28.89) - 2:03.74

200 ez

2 x 50 breast @2:00 - 33.91, 33.38

warm down

I tried out my new suit today because I wanted to get a gauge on how it would feel. It feels slippery, as if I had shaved down. It's basically a full body paper suit. My stroke count was down about 1 stroke per length across the board. I'm glad I tried it and got some times in it because I would have had no idea where I was at, pace-wise at nationals. That, and my strokes are a bit different in it. Breaststroke in particular is more slidey.

My initial goal on the broken 200 was to go ~400 IM pace feel. That went out the window when I took off on the fly. I swam the fly and breast harder than I'll go in the 400 IM. Back and free were closer to the right effort. Back was ~1-2s faster than my 400 IM goal 50 splits. Free was close to ideal as far as feel goes -- cranking it out with whatever I have left. As far as time goes, I would love to split 29s on the free. That would beat the heck out of my goal splits of 31s. I am wishing I would have signed up for the 200 IM. My broken 200 IM times are usually real close to my race swims, and I'm pretty sure now I could go a 2:03/2:04 at nationals. Oh well, another year I guess.

I threw in the breast swims because it's the most finicky stroke for me and I have to keep on it. And it changes a bit with the full body suit. Actually, if I swim it correctly with the suit on -- flatter and working on going forward vs up and down -- it feels pretty awesome because I feel like I'm really sliding forward. If I let myself get too much amplitude, I lose a lot of the benefit.

I noticed something about my breaststroke catch today, too. Sometimes I try to sweep out and up a little, and I bob my chest down when I do that. When I'm doing it right, I'm pressing down more and almost starting to curl my fingers (and hands, and then forearms) down toward the bottom of the pool.

04/30/09

Meet warmup:
300 swim
300 IM K
300 IM 50 drill/25 swim
4 x 100 @1:30 free desc to ~mile pace(1:10, 1:07, 1:07, 1:04)
4 x 50 @1:00 IM build
4 x 25 fast @45

4 x {
100 fast
50 ez
rest a few minutes
}IM order, supposed to be close to goal IM splits.
(1:05, 1:05.hi, 1:14.92, 58.49)

I have 50 splits thanks to Lani but I left them in my car and don't have time to post them until later. It'd be an interesting way to split a 400 IM (2:11, 2:13).

My breaststroke was 35 something/39 something. The total time would be a great IM split, but I don't know if I'd want to split it like that. The funny thing is that the second 50 felt smoother and Lani thought it also looked better. Hmm. I'll have to think about building it more maybe. Hmmm.

04/29/2009 - T-minus 1 week

300 swim
300 K w/snorkel
300 IM 50 drill/25 swim
4 x 100 @1:30 descend to ~mile pace (1:12, 1:11, 1:07, 1:07)
4 x 50 @1:00 IM build to 400 pace
4 x 25 @45 FAST

200 back kick, arms at side
200 back - 25 R/25 L, opposite arm at side, armpit dry

100 back fast - 1:02.27
From a push. Started watch, pushed off, finished, stopped watch.

100 ez recovery

200 breast K - 50 on back, working on getting good knee bend without letting knees come out of water, 150 alt 25 hands back, trying to touch heels to hands/25 hands out front, trying to keep good flex in the kick
200 breast drill w/snorkel, alt coil+strike w/1 dolphin K, 1 breast K per arm stroke

100 breast fast - 1:13.40
Started off of the blocks. Started my watch, took my mark, then dove in.

200 ez

4 x 25 fly @1:00 rest - long, 400 IM stroke with good stretch on extension
NT, 15.57, 15.43, 15.70

50 breast fast - 35.65

warm down

Did more gross yardage today but about 1/2 yesterday's race pace yardage. I debated whether to do 200 pace on the 100s or just go for it. I went after it, figuring that the 100 speed work would be more beneficial at this point.

I'm glad I did because it forced me to get my turnover up higher on the back and breaststroke. Doing that, I lost some of the flow in both strokes and the timing felt somewhat off -- I felt spinny. That was sort of the point, though, to push that boundary of turnover vs. getting a good grab on the water. My breaststroke timing felt better than it used to, and judging by the time, it was. But it can still be better. I know because when I really hit the timing right on, I feel like I'm really surging forward on each kick/recovery.

Anyhow, I did a 50 breast at the end of practice and dialed it back just a tad. The timing felt better, still not totally in the zone, but if I can swim a 400 leg with that timing, I'll have one of my better 4IM breast split.

I really worked on keeping those 25's fly long. I really stretched forward toward the opposite wall on every stroke and it felt great. That's how I want to swim it going out on the 400 IM -- really getting a good extension forward and feeling a good stretch in my lats at the start. It's about the speed/feel I'm looking for, and it keeps me from turning over too fast. I was going 15.mids with 6-7 strokes per length. That'd be perfect. I just have to remember to breathe :)-- no breathing first stroke up, then 2 up, 1 down, 2 up, 1 down, repeat.

04/28/09

200 IM K on back
200 IM drill, 25 R/25 L
200 free K
200 pull
4 x 50 build @1:00
8 x 25 fast @45

400 IM from blocks - 4:50.69
33.01, 36.09 [1:09.10]
36.66, 37.63 [1:14.29]
41.00, 38.69 [1:19.69]
1:07.61
(2:23.39, 2:27.30)

400 pull w/ankle strap. Worked on extension.

5 x 50 @2:00 (fly - 31, breast - 36.8, breast, 36.2, back - 31.4, free -27.5)
I was going to do a 6th but my watch came off. I took it as a sign to stop :).

warm down

I was really tempted to do a second 400 IM for time because I wanted to see if I could go under 4:50 but then I thought better of it. That just sounds like a classic taper mistake :0. Besides, I started my watch, then went down and did a start and stopped the watch after I touched the wall on a finish, so I was probably under 4:50 anyhow :).

My backstroke turnover was a tad slow. I usually want to turn the arms over a bit faster. I strolled a little on that leg.

My breaststroke timing was off until after the first turn. I really found the timing on the 2nd 50 of the breaststroke. I need to try to set up that timing and rhythm as soon as possible in that first 25 in order to maximize that.

Breathing rhythm is hugely important too. I didn't really establish my 2 up/1 down on the fly. I might've done it, but I didn't think about it and don't recall what was going on with it. I've gotten better about setting up a rhythm on my backstroke breathing. The breaststroke breathing sets up nicely when I have the timing down. And on the freestyle, it works pretty well if I breathe every other stroke for the first 75. At least at altitude. At sea level, I'll have to start out breathing every other for at least 25 yards and see how my oxygen is doing.

Still spliting the front and back 200 pretty close - 3.91 diff today. Ideally, I'd like to be under 10 seconds in between, so this is great. I was 16 seconds in the CO state meet, which is closer to how I traditionally split the race. When I resume regular training this summer, I'm going to work on pushing the front 200 a little more AND being able to split under 10 seconds difference. Which brings me to strategy.

There's a wildcard here in the altitude difference. I've never swum the 400 IM during season at altitude and then down tapered at sea level. So I keep kicking around whether I want to push the fly a bit and trust that the oxygen difference is going to carry my back 200. I know it will kick in, I just don't know how much I can push that first 100. It's a high risk/reward strategy for me -- either it will set up a perfect 400 IM or I'll feel like shit coming home on the free.

The other way I can swim it is to go out feeling easy. It'll guarantee a very good race and probably close to ideal 200 splitting. This is a low risk strategy that I know will work pretty well, just based on practice times. It'll allow me to really sprint that last 100.

There's also the full body suit. I haven't swum a 400 IM in one ever and I know it will make me feel like going out real fast. Really, what it comes down to is that I'm going to go out pretty fast unless I really program into my head over the next week that I need to really rein in that first 100 fly and commit to that.

Hmmmmmmmmm...

04/27/09

300 kick
300 pull
300 IM drill/swim/drill by 25
3 X 100 descending @ 1:30

8 X 50 with fins @ 1:15
#1-4 - very fast dolphin on back underwater to 15 m mark swim the rest of the 25 backstroke, same thing back
#5-8 - dolphin on front underwater as far as you can go - swim the rest of the 25 fly, same thing back

8 X 50 @ 1:30
#1-4 2 breaststroke pull downs as far as you can go swim the rest of 25 breaststroke, same thing back
#5-8 flutter or dolphin on stomach as far as you go underwater swim the rest of the 25 free, same thing back

200 back broken - break at 100 for :15 and 150 for :15
(1:06.62, 32.51, 33.21) - 2:12.34

200 ez recovery (more if needed) plus 4 - 5 minutes rest

200 breast broken - break at 100 for :15 and 150 for :15
(1:15.37, 37.86, 37.62) - 2:30.85

200 ez recovery (more if needed) 4 - 5 minutes rest

3 X 75 @ 1:20 work on good turns/breakouts stroke transitions
50 fly/25 back
50 back/25 breast
50 breast/25 free
(supposed to do 6 of these but I had to warm down and get out)

My breaststroke is better than it has ever been. My backstroke is about where it should be at this point in taper.

4/25/09 - 2 courses

LCM
300 swim
300 K
300 Drill
3 x 100 desc @1:45 (1:24, 1:21, 1:19)

6 x 100 25 K/50 drill/25 swim @20 s rest

8 x 50 build @1:00

400 IM broken 20s @100s
(36.36, 42.26) - (1:18.62)
(42.05, 43.53) - (1:25.58)
(45.28, 48.20) - (1:33.28)
(1:14)
(2:44.2, 2:47.28) - (5:31.48)

100 ez

SCY
200 ez
400 IM, broken 10s @50s
(31.62, 33.24) - 1:04.86
(34.39, 33.90) - 1:08.29
(37.67, 37.73) - 1:15.40
(29.85, 30.60) - 1:00.45
(2:13.15, 2:15.85) - 4:29

If I split my 200s that closely in the 400 IM, I'll shit pants. I mean, it would be awesome, but my average difference from first half to last is usually around 15 seconds. My fly will be faster, just because of the dive. And my back *should* be a smidge faster because it's a stronger stroke for me. I'd be ecstatic to split a 2:15-2:16 on the back half though. We'll see.

My breaststroke timing felt good. That makes a huge difference, because it means I can swim a faster breastroke with less effort and then have more left over on the free.

04/23/09

6 X 50 25 drill/25 swim rest :15

300 choice kick

3 X 100 free descending @ 1:30

8 X 25 choice fast @ :45

100 ez

3x{
50 drill rest :30
100 kick rest 1:00
150 straight swim rest 2:00 - 3:00
200 broken 100 + 50 + 50 break for :20
100 ez + rest 2:00 - 3:00
}
1 set fly, 1 set back, 1 set breast
fly
150 - 1:48
200 - 1:06,33,33
back
150 - 1:44
200 - 1:05,32,32
br
150 - 1:58
200 - 1:18, 38, 37

400 pull DPS plus no breathing 1 stoke in and out of walls

8 x 12 1/2 work on breakouts

warm down

I didn't even bother taking my heart rate today because everything was faster than I expected.

My breaststroke is on again/off again with the timing. My 150 was off on the first 50 and then it clicked on the last 100. At least I can tell when it's on now so that if I'm not there I can feel it out -- usually I just have to kick a tad sooner for it to be "on". Still, it'd be nice to find the right timing consistently right off the bat every time.

04/23/09 - "taper" time

300 swim ez
400 IM K w/snorkel
200 scull/drill breast
2 x 100 @1:30 desc to pace (1:14, 1:09)

2 x {
300 swim
rest 20s
100 faster, around 400 IM pace (1:05?, 1:03)
}
Set 1 pull the 300, set 2 swim

100 ez

4 x 200 @60s rest, strong (HR 160+)
1.) back - 2:25
2.) IM - 2:30
3.) breast - 2:49
4.) IM - 2:28

200 ez

8 x 50 FAST @2:00, 4 each short axis, 4 long axis fast turns, good breakouts
br - (36.57, 36.02)
fly - (30.00, 30.07)
bk - (31.55, 31.30)
fr - (28.54, 27.89)

8 x 25 choice working on breakouts, finishes

warm down

I was only going to do 4 short axis 50s at the end, but I felt pretty good after the first 4 so I tacked on 4 long axis as well. I swam the first free swim with more of a stretched out stroke and then tried for more turnover on the 2nd, just pinning my shoulder blades to my spine and trying to start the pull immediately after my hand dropped in the water. On the 400 IM, I'll need both styles (hopefully). I want to build that last 100 starting with the longer stroke for 50 yards or so and get into the last 25-50 where I really go to more of the sprint stroke (hopefully with just enough energy left to pull that off).

At the state meet, I tried to floor it right away on the last 100 and it cost me some time. I think I'm better off building that swim.

I tried to keep a more relaxed hand on the free swims because Lani told me I'm keeping my hand too tightly closed. It feels better in general to swim with my hand more relaxed -- I can get a better grab on the water. It seems to ease some forearm tension too. It does come with a higher cost of strain on my lats right now because they have to pull more water that way. That's a good thing though.

It's taper time. The yards dropped by ~1000 or so today and I didn't have as big a main set.

04/22/09 -- Good times, bad times...

...you know I've had my share. All my strokes felt great today and I had a great broken 400 IM. Then, on the 25s near the end, I felt a pop on the outside of my left shoulder and that shoulder started getting a warm -- not usually a great sign. Shit! I thought. I immediately started a long warmdown with lots of easy kicking and tried to assess what happened.

I don't think I did any serious damage because it didn't hurt -- there was just the pop and the warmth. I have full range of motion and no pain, so that's good. Nothing feels torn or strained. Still, I'm going to RICE it and monitor it closely for the next few days.

At least I've reached the point where I'm supposed to start resting more and more.

300 kick - no board

300 IM 50 drill/25 swim

300 free pull DPS

4 X 75 free descending @ 1:15 #4 very fast

4 X 400 @ 6:00 50 free moderate/50 stroke fast
#1 fly (5:01)
#2 back (5:01)
#3 breast (5:21)
#4 IM - work the last 100 free (4:59, 1:09 free)

200 ez

Broken 400 IM for time - see where we're at. Break at 100's for :15
(Did this w/silicone cap on)
(1:10.32, 1:11.15, 1:18.80, 1:05.16) - 4:45.43

200 ez

12 X 25 @ :50 choice stroke
#1 12 1/2 fast/12 1/2 ez working on breakouts
#2 12 1/2 ez/ 12 1/2 fast working on finishes
#3 25 fast working on breakouts and finishes
SKIPPED last 3 to start warmdown.

supposed to do 4 X 50 @ 1:30 but SKIPPED it to warm down

2 fly 2 breast fast

warm down

I wore my Speed V silicone cap on the 400 IM. I wanted to get a feel for how my cap would feel with my new goggles. The reason I got new goggles is that the cap is pretty tight and it pulls the corners of my eyes a bit, so my Swedes were filling with water more often than I'd care for. So I got new goggles to try. The new setup worked a little better, but I still have to be careful to pull the goggle straps back underneath my cap some.

04/21/09

Breakouts: I have to really start working on smooth, quick breakouts in the next 2 weeks. Sometimes I just get hung up underwater, and it really hurts my momentum. Probably want to start doing 25s of just working on a fast breakout + first couple of strokes.

SCY
300 swim
300 IM K
200 dr/swim IM
100 breast w/snorkel
8 x 25 IM order fast @40.

4 x {
200 ez speed
rest 45s - 1:00
150 strong
rest 1:00
100 fast
rest until ready (usually ~1:30)
50 sprint
100 ez/drill
}
Set gets faster, with a little more rest as distance is shorter. I generally tried to hit HR of 160-170 after each swim and let it recover to 120- before the next one.
Did:
1.)Back (2:24; 1:48; 1:08; 32.31)
2.)Breast (2:45; 2:01; 1:18.35 [39.88, 38.47], 36.61)
3.)Free (2:19.38 [1:09.36, 1:10.02]; 1:44.30 [33.66, 1:10.64]; 1:04.35, 29.11)
4.)Fly (2:42.27 [39.55, 41.01, 42.82, 38.89]; 1:56.49 [38.42, 40.43, 37.64]; 1:12.62 [36.30, 36.32]; 32.33)

200 ez

5 x 25 resistance/25 assistance w/blue stretch cord (3 free, 2 breast)

warmdown

Seems to me that 1 stroke is usually slower than normal on a given day; today that stroke was freestyle. All of my other strokes felt great, and I even did full butterfly all the way through the last set 'cuz it felt pretty smooth today. But I couldn't get my freestyle crankin' today. I'm not really concerned about it. I've gotten in a lot of quality free swims over the last 2 weeks, and it seems to be a pattern that 1 stroke is a bit off each day.

I flattened out my breaststroke a little bit. I noticed on the warmup breaststroke that I did with the snorkel that my head was going far enough under to fill the snorkel with water. That's diving a little too much. So I tried to focus on keeping my upper body closer to the surface today and shooting my hands forward with the kick. I definitely noticed a difference in undulation -- it tightened up.

The funny thing is that it *feels* less powerful in a way -- and it may be if you were to chart the total power output -- but judging by DPS/time, I'm able to put more power into going forward, the only direction that matters in swimming. My DPS was down about 1-2 strokes per length. I was taking a pretty regular 6 strokes per length on the 200, 7 on the 150, 9 on the 100, and I didn't pay attention on the 50 because I was just trying to crank it out. And my times were as good or better than they've been in practice. So I'll have to keep focusing on this until it becomes my regular stroke. I had to think about it a lot today.

04/20/09 - Aerobic IM day

400 K w/fins IM order 50 ez/25 build/25 fast
300 IM 50 dr/25 swim
200 IM DPS
100 IM fast

5 x 500 IM creep @6:15.
1.) 100 free/25 stroke (6:07)
2.) 75 fr/50 stroke (6:14)
3.) 50 fr/75 stroke (6:26)
4.) 25 fr/100 stroke (6:37)
5.) 500 IM (6:41)
I ended up doing this on about 10-15 s rest between swims. Originally, I thought I'd just go on 6:15 until I couldn't make the interval but that didn't last very long and I decided to just take 10-15 rest in the interest of maintaining stroke integrity. I would've liked to be under 6:40 ON that last 500 but I was wearing down.

200 ez

3 x 300 w/buoy + inner tube to work pull ez/mod/fast by 100 @4:20 heh, heh

50 ez

4 x 50 br fast @1 min rest (38.54, 38.22, 36.98, 37.20). Trying to get my breaststroke speed up again.

200 wd

04/18/09 - racin' 300s

300 K/dr/swim
200 K
8 x 25 fast @45s, IM order

4 x 250 @3:00 (2:52, 2:53, 2:55, 2:56)

300 bk/br/free by 100
(1:08.81, 1:22.5, 1:08.8)
200 recovery

300 bk/br/free
(1:09.5, 1:22.2, 1:07)
200 rec

300 fly/bk/br
(1:10, 1:18, 1:24)
200 rec

Some 50s of breaststroke drills, working on timing and moving forward.

Apparently my elbows come out of the water on my breaststroke, meaning I'm coming up way too high and wasting energy up and down instead using it to go forward. I'm going to work on not pulling my arms back so far and not getting up so high out of the water and see where that leads. On those last 50s, I was able to swim 25 yards in 3-4 strokes, pretty decent for me. Of course, that was with a loooong glide.

I also have to start my kick a little sooner. When the timing is right, I feel like I'm coiling up like a snake and then striking forward. If it's off, it feels like I'm diving my hands forward and then kicking. I'm trying to come up with some way to remember the timing kinesthetically, and this is the closest model I can think of -- the "striking snake" feeling.

My free was more linear today and I felt like I was keeping a tighter forward line. If I'm not constantly thinking about it, my right hand/arm will surf outside of my shoulder line and fudges my streamline.

04/17/09

300 choice kick - nothing too hard just loosen and warm up your legs - you will need them later on. (insert evil laugh)

6 X 50 choice 25 drill/25 swim rest :15

200 25 build/25 easy

8 X 25 choice fast @ :40

12 X 150
{
#1 - 4 @ 2:40 50 hard kick + 100 swim 1 of each stroke IM order - Kick hard enough so heart is up for the 100 swim
(fly - 43/1:14, bk 43/1:13, br 47/1:21, fr 43/1:10)

#5 - 8 @ 2:20 swim 1 each stroke IM order
(fly - 1:52, bk - 1:50, br - 2:04, fr - 1:46)

#9 - 12 @ 2:50 same as #1 - 4
(fly - 45/1:15, bk 43/1:14, br 48/1:24, fr 43/1:09)
}
200 ez

3 X 300 @ 4:20 work last 100 of each 300
(did these with inner tube around ankles to work on body pos'n)
#1 buoy and paddles
#2 buoy only
#3 paddles only -- not being able to kick b/c of the inner tube, my legs were like a sack of hammers.

6 X 75 @ 1:15 work the turns good streamlines etc.
50 fly/25back
50 back/25 breast
50 breast/25 free

200 warm down

My breaststroke was a lil off at the end of the 150s. I tried, on the last 100, to go for a big kick and I think that came at the expense of stroke rhythm. I was pulling up too much, not forward enough and trying to dive into the kick too hard. Breaststroke works much better for me if I establish rhtyhm first and then try to work the kick once my stroke rhythm is set up.

I was working the backstroke a little more today, too. I really felt like I was able to get a good flow to the stroke today and was able to swim it closer to how I'd like to swim it during the IM.

Also, my butterfly yardage has increased significantly these last couple of weeks. In addition to the percentage of high intensity -- which is important and has been up also -- I've been doing a much higher percentage of yardage butterfly. I'll call it YOB (yards of butterfly). I'm getting to the point with it now that 100 yards of it isn't causing fatigue to the point where my stroke gets too short because my scapular stabilizer muscles are fried. It still raises my HR more than just about anything (except my cut fins), but my stroke isn't breaking down like it did when my YOB was <1% of total yardage. I'd guesstimate my YOB to be closer to 15-20% now, depending on the day. This will make a difference in the 400 IM (as long as I just try to go out long and smooth on the fly and don't just dive in and start sprinting my ass off).

4 days until taper.

sore

I'm getting progressively more sore as I sit here at work. Especially my hamstrings, lats, and serratus posterior muscles.

Must stretch later. And warm up a little more tomorrow; probably a good 1500 before I hit it too hard.

04/16/09

200 swim
200 K
100 fly - bend/arch drill
100 br w/snorkel, working on breathing timing
100 bk drill, hands @sides, working rotation
2 x 100 fr swim mod

3 x 200 back @2:45
1.) 100 free (~1:11), 100 back fast
2.) w/fins
3.) w/fins

200 back for time (2:28 mid)

3 x 200 br @2:55 - same as bk

200 breast for time (1:19/1:23)

2 x 400 IM swim, working fr, @1:00
1.)(1:16.97, 1:20.30, 1:25.84, 35.33, 35.40) - 5:13.84
2.)(1:15.44, 1:22.50, 1:27.99, 34.57, 34.93) - 5:15.43

My watch band kept coming undone during the back and breast on #2 and I had to fiddle with it a few times there.

400 IM for time w/fins (1:09.32, 36.56, 38.39, 1:17.78, 1:03.54) - 4:45.74

200 ez

2 x 50 bk fast, 50 recovery. went 33, 32.31

w/d

My backstroke was not peppy today. Everything else felt pretty good. Especially my free... I've been working on closing my IM swims with a good effort on the free and I'm starting to feel stronger at the end of those 400s.

Like a dumdum, I didn't do any build or sprint before the main set, so I started out on the backstroke portion with pretty low turnover. I need to make sure to throw in some build swims or quicker swims to get my limbs moving faster before I hit the main set. It really helps. Duh, me.

Anyway, backstroke. I'm still rebuilding it a bit so I have several things to think about while I'm swimming it -- head back and straight, hips up, arms finishing close to body, throwing my arms over my head, kick toward the sides of the pool on the rotation, good rotation, swim in the middle of the lane. That and I've been riding my bike a lot and working my legs. Backstroke responds well to rested legs :). I'm not really worried about it because it'll be there when it comes time to race and not think about it. Still, I kind of want to work on picking up my back split in the 400 IM to get a better sense of how I'll actually swim it in the race.

My lats and back muscles are getting pretty tired.

I'm doing a lot of IM volume, instead of doing most of my volume in freestyle. It's a little tougher but I like it more. Too much freestyle gets boring. That, and I can get my HR up to A/T threshold (160/170 for me these days) easier doing IM sets. With free, I can get stuck in aerobic mode (140/150).

04/15/09 - tax day

200 K
200 pull
200 drill
4 x 50 build @45 (37,36,34,33)
8 x 25 fast @25 (5 fly, 3 breast)

2 x (
50 fly/100 back @2:10 (1:49, 1:54)
50 back/100 breast @2:10 (1:59, 2:03)
50 breast/100 free @2:10 (1:54, 1:58)
rest 30s
500 IM @7:00 (went 6:43 on both. Worked fly on first round, ez fly on 2nd)
50 ez recovery @1:00
HR was 160-170 after each swim
)

100 ez

2 x 400 done 200 ez, 100 mod, 100 fast (went 1:11, 1:07)

4 x 50 fly fast @1:30 - went 33/32. HR 170. Pretty tired

4 x 25 w/parachute, 2 breast, 2 free

200 wd

quick lats/back/tris circuit

04/14/09 -- more broken 200s, 400 IM

6 x 50 25 drill/25 swim
200 K
200 pull
6 x 50 25 build/25 ez

100 K - back, work on shoulder rotation w/arms @side
100 drill - back

3 x 200 back @5:00
1.) 15s @100, (1:07/1:07) - 2:14
2.) 15s @100/50/50 (1:08.79/34.89/34.64) - 2:18.32
3.) 15s @50 - (32.95, 34.33, 34.00, 34.34) - 2:15.62

100 K br (w/snorkel)
100 br drill (worked w/snorkel)

3 x 200 breast @5:00
1.) 1:21.32, 1:21.43 (2:42.75)
2.) 1:20.47, 39.96, 39.63 - 2:40.06
3.) 37.97, 38.84, 39.03, 39.08 - 2:34.92

200 ez

400 IM done as 4 x 100 IM continuous, work on transitions. Went a lil under 5:30

400 IM, broken 10s rest @50s:
fl - 33.34, 35.23 (1:08.57)
bk - 37.33, 36.25 (1:13.58)
br - ??, 39.69 (~1:20) (watch was coming off on first 25, had to stop it for 50)
fr - 33.60, 32.74 (1:06.34)
(4:48.49)

300 w/d

04/13/09 - tons 'o IM

100 ez kick
100 kick build each 25 all kick is choice
100 fast kick

400 I.M. 25 drill/25 swim/25 drill/25 swim

300 25 build/25 fast/25 ez

(600 500 400 300 200 100 I.M.)
600 (8:12.59) and 500 (6:49.13) are long and stretched out working on DPS
400 and 300 are hard swims
400 - (35.79, 38.30, 39.87, 42.48, 41.86, 44.06, 34.97, 35.39 - 5:13.80)
300 - (54.63, 1:02.93, 1:05.78, 54.35 - 3:57.69)
200 and 100 are with fins working on speed
Rest :20 - :30 between each swim

200 ez

12 X 50 3 sets of 4 #1-3 @ 1:00 #4 @ 1:30

1 - 4 are back (went 34/35)
5 - 8 are breast (38, 40, 40, 39)
9 -12 are I.M. order (32, 33, 38, 30)

8 x 25 Fly #1-3 @ :30 #4 @1:00

75 ez

6 x 25 resist/25 assist w/bungees.

200 wd

04/11/09 - LCM

200 K
100 sw ez
4 x 100 fr/bk by 50 @1:40
200 bk
100 fly

5 x 300 @4:35 (held a little under 4:15 until 5, then went 4:08.
100 ez

I can't remember what else I did... Mostly, I recovered from yesterday and worked on my distance stroke a bit--tried to keep a good line and pulled from the hips. Off tomorrow, then the hammer comes back down on Monday.

04/10/09 - Race Pace 200s/400 IMs

A doozy. I got a little nauseous by the end.

100 dolphin K, arms at sides, bend butt up, arch shoulders out.
300 K/drill/swim
4 x 100 @1:30 descend (1:12,1:11,1:08,1:07)
8 x 50 fast @40 - IM order, 2 of each stroke

Then, the fun:

6 x 200 race pace, broken 15s @50, 3 min rest after each
1.)Bk - 31.47, 32.97, 32.73, 32.75 (2:09.92)
2.)Br - 37.17, 39.78, 38.12, 38.23 (2:33.30)
3.)Bk - 30.87, 32.43, 32.69, 32.68 (2:08.67) -- 100,150 splits are to feet
4.)Br - 37.05, 38.65, 39.25, 39.76 (2:34.71)
5.)Bk - 31.76, 33.88, 34.40, 34.60 (2:14.64) -- 50,100,150 splits to feet
6.)Br - 36.42, 38.15, 39.23, 38.91 (2:32.71)

3 x 400 IM, 20s @100, 4 min rest after each. Goal was to hold +3/4s over goal pace per 50, so 35/36 on fly, 36/37 bk, 41 br, 35 fr.
1.)34.27, 36.78(1:11.05); 36.72, 37.93 (1:14.65); (1:22.20); 33.24 -- (missed last 50 free); (4:21.14 @350)
2.)35.56, 35.53 (1:11.09); 36.23, 39.24 (mistakenly stopped after 1st 50bk) (1:15.47); (1:20.97); (1:08.06)
(4:55.59)
3.)34.83, 35.58 (1:10.41); 36.24, 37.28 (1:13.52); 41.40, 40.38 (1:21.78); (1:09.15)
(4:54.86)

400 pull, work on hand entry

Whipped.

I noticed something on my 200 breast swims vs. 400 IM breast -- during the 200, I was trying to generate a lot more power with my arms on the pull. On the 400 IM, I was just trying to establish decent turnover and I let my body pull my arms through faster. So my turnover was a bit higher, but the effort seemed less. Something for me to think about, but I think the higher turnover stroke is what I want in the 4 IM.

Videos

I watched The Race Club "3 styles of Freestyle" video yesterday. It's 45 minutes long, with probably 1/2 of it showing trippy interludes of people swimming and hanging out underwater. There's even a small fishing segment near the end where some of the members are hunting fish with spear guns. I thought it was great. It reminded me how much of a visual learner I really am.

I felt like I got a lot out of it just from the 15 minute discussion from Mike Bottom on his 3 styles of freestyle coupled with the excellent footage of swimmers working those 3 styles. I thought everything else was just them screwing around. But today I find myself thinking about some of those musical interlude scenes and I realize that they were showing swimmers doing different drills and exercises that they use. It was purely visual instruction, no talking or text involved. They actually managed to get a ton of information crammed into 45 minutes, much of which was purely visual.

One thing that helped me trim up my stroke a bit was thinking about keeping my upper arm closer to my head. I have a tendency, especially on the right arm pull, to let my hand and arm surf outward some. If I'm thinking about keeping my upper arm in tighter toward my head, it helps to prevent some of that. (It seems that my hand still wants to pitch out and feel around sometimes though, instead of going fingers down into the catch. Always something.) They didn't discuss the upper arms at all, I just noticed that every one of the swimmers in the video was doing it.

04/09/09 - More distance

300 - L/R/6 K switch
8 x 50 @55 1->4 descend

5 x 500:
odds free hold 3:40, 1:12, sub-1:10 @6:30 (5:55, 6:00, 6:04)
evens IM - 75 long, 50 hard @7:00

200 ez

6 x 50 fast K @1:00 odds fly, evens fr. No board for me, trying to work on body position.

2 x 100 fast, 100 ez recovery [fly - 1:08.81, free - 1:03.97(30.50, 33.47)]

6 x 50 w/bungee cord - out resistance, back assistance (out - fly, fr, br, fl, fr, fr)(assist - fly, bk, br, bk, bk, bk)

300 ez

I tried out my new watch today for pacing some of the 500s and timing the fast 100s. It's a basic ironman with chronograph and interval timer. On the 500s, I set the interval timer for 1:13, 1:13, 1:13, 1:12, 1:10. It worked well on the first 2, but then I got off a little bit and took the 3rd 500 out slower. I stopped quick @ the 400 on that one and timed my last 100, trying to keep it under 1:10 (1:09.47). Overall, my free felt great.

The stopwatch works pretty well. It has a big button on the front that's pretty easy to hit with my thumb when I'm streamlining.

My fly was dragging a lot today. I need to figure out how to swim a moderate butterfly without going too vertical. It seems to be either high effort and I'm ok or moderate effort and I go vertical. Maybe I'm picking my head up too high, trying to get big breaths... not sure. I might experiment with breathing more often than 2 up, 1 down -- like 3/1, or even every stroke.

04/08/09 - 400 IMs

Today is the start of a pretty intense 2 weeks of training before taper. Here we go...

8 x 50 25 drill/25 swim @15s rest
300 K - fly/choice/br by 25 (did w/snorkel)
12 x 25 build @40 (3 of each, reverse IM order)

2 x 400 @5:40 -
1.) 100 fly hard (1:05), 300 free
2.) 100 free, 100 back (1:10), 200 free

Broken 400 IM @6:45, 15s @100s - (1:10, 1:11, 1:22, 1:07)

2 x 400 @5:40
1.) 200 free, 100 breast (1:22), 100 free
2.) 300 free, 100 free hard (1:10) :(
HR - 160+

Broken 400 IM w/fins @6:45, 15s @100 - (1:05, 1:07, 1:18, 1:05)

200 ez

4 x 50 FAST @2:00 (fly - 31, free - 30, fly - 32, free - 29)

400 pull, NB in + out of walls

300 ez

Most of the 400 IM set was right at AT, HR 160s. Some was over, like that first 100 fly @1:05. That last 100 free hard at 1:10 felt like it was faster, but I think I was hitting some decent lactate at that point. Which is good, I need to get there and learn how to deal with it to crank that last 100 free out closer to my fly split.

04/07/09 -- SCY

@George Meyers

Goal for today was to just get in and loosen up after swimming lots of high intensity yardage last weekend.

1500 swim ez, drill, K w/snorkel
2 x 50 free fast @1:10 (29,28)
100 ez
2 x 50 free fast @1:00 (29,29)
200 ez

I'm going to start doing fast 50s of free pretty regularly for the next few weeks, to see if I can dial in that speed gear. I need it for the end of the 400 IM.

CO State Meet - 400 IM

29.60 33.76 (1:03.36)
36.46 35.62 (1:12.08)
(2:15.44)
40.73 41.09 (1:21.82)
34.56 35.09 (1:09.65)
(2:31.47)
4:46.91

Hmmm. I need to work on getting my freestyle split down. I probably could have let up some on the fly and gained 2 seconds in the freestyle. I felt like my first 300 yards is how I want to swim it, though, at Nationals. My backstroke felt excellent.

I think I need to do some more speed/lactate work on freestyle. I've done a lot of it for the backstroke/breaststroke leg this year and that has paid off -- My middle 200 was close to that of the 2 guys who went 4:32 -- but I couldn't find that sprint gear at the end. I swam it with the 1000 stroke.

I need to be doing more fast freestyle when I'm tired to get that final leg down closer to 1:00. It'll go down when I drop in altitude, I'm sure, but I can't just rely on that; I need to do some work on top of that.

CO State Meet - 1000 Free

My second swim was the 1000 freestyle, and I swam it with a lot better control. I mainly worked on keeping a steady rhythm with my kick.

33.05 35.11 (1:08.16)
35.38 35.72 (1:11.10)
35.17 34.91 (1:10.08)
35.33 35.13 (1:10.46)
35.20 34.88 (1:10.08)
(5:49.88)
34.84 34.72 (1:09.56)
34.85 34.87 (1:09.72)
34.86 34.98 (1:09.84)
34.54 34.96 (1:09.50)
34.63 34.08 (1:08.71)
(5:47.33)
11:37.21

I got a massage before this swim also and I felt really relaxed going out. I then built into it instead of the other way around and felt pretty good.

I'd like to be able to close faster. Even though my last 50 was the second fastest one, I'd like it to be closer to the first 50.

CO State Meet - 1650 Free

31.61 34.09 (1:05.70)
33.98 34.21 (1:08.19)
34.49 34.66 (1:09.15)
34.72 35.05 (1:09.77)
35.08 35.36 (1:10.44)
(5:43.25)
35.24 35.21 (1:10.45)
35.63 35.76 (1:11.39)
35.76 36.18 (1:11.94)
36.19 36.42 (1:12.61)
36.42 36.17 (1:12.59)
(5:58.98)
(11:42.23)
36.68 37.14 (1:13.82)
36.79 36.96 (1:13.75)
37.28 37.58 (1:14.86)
37.33 37.66 (1:14.99)
37.43 37.94 (1:15.37)
(6:12.79)
37.83 37.85 (1:15.68)
37.33
19:48.03

OUCH! This one hurt. I took it out too fast. I should have taken it out easier and BUILT a rhythm. But I took it out fast and was in pain by the 1000. After the first 500, my left foot was also cramping a bit. That was probably from not enough water or just trying to crank out a fast swim. Not a smart swim on my part.

It felt so good for the first 500, though :)~. At Nats, I'll have to make sure to take it out pretty easy.

04/02/09 - Meet warmup

500 swim
400 IM K
4 x 100 build @1:30 (1:10, 1:10, 1:06, 1:08)
5 x (
25 sprint
50 ez/drill
)
200 ez

04/01/09

George Meyers

1200 warmup - swim/K/drill
4 x 100 build @1:30 (1:11 -> 1:05)

100 breast scull
200 back/breast drill

4 x 50 ez speed @1:30, IM order - 31, 32, 35, 31

warm down

03/31/09

Day 10 of my Roman taper, actual swimming.

500 swim
300 K
300 drills

6 x 100 @1:25, mile pace (I was 1:08s)

75 ez

3 x 50 fast from blocks, 100 ez recovery
1.) Breast - 33.54
2.) Free - 25.6
3.) Back - 28.4

75 ez

600 drill/swim

Felt clunky, swam fast.

Roman Taper

I'm calling it the Roman taper. My wife and I went to Rome from 03/22/09 - 03/29/09. I didn't get back into my regular workout routine until 03/31/09 because we were traveling all day on the 30th.

I swam once in Rome -- about 1500m, with some fast 50s when I could get around the other people in my lane. My legs got a lot of work because we walked everywhere. My wife and I probably averaged 5-7 miles a day on foot walking around and sightseeing. My upper body did not get so much work.

We ate well. Lots of gnocchi, ravioli, and pizza. So I'm carbo-loaded.

I came back and am just doing some taper workouts until the state meet this weekend. No use in trying to build up yardage until after states.

We'll see how it goes...

03/21/09 - SCY - 400 IM for time

300 wu
3 x 200 K, pull, drill

4 x 100 build @1:30

2 x (
200 - 100 fly/100 bk
200 - 100 bk/100 br
200 - 100 br/100 fr
) @3:00

100 ez

400 IM for time - 5:06 (1:13.mid, 1:19.mid, 1:23.mid, 1:09.mid)

200 ez

6 x 25 IM order @50
6 x 25 IM order 2/fins @50

03/20/09 - SCY Timed 1000! (and fast 50s)

BAM
3 x 100 @1:20
75 ez
2 x 100 @1:20
1 x 100 @1:15
75 ez
1 x 100 @1:20
2 x 100 @1:15
75 ez
3 x 100 @1:15
75 ez

10 x 50 (35, 40, 45 by 3)

100 ez

Timed 1000 - went 11:36 (5:45/5:51)

8 x 25 K @30

200 ez

9 x 50 fast @2:00 - went fly 30, bk 32, br 36, fr 27, fr 27, bk 30, fly 29, br 35, br 34


200 ez

Today was all about working my hip rotation and using that to drive my stroke. On the second set of 50s, I went long axis/short axis pairs for the sake of getting a better hip rotation on my backstroke and better undulation on my breaststroke. I felt good on the free, got a good pop off of my hip, but I still let my head wander. On the 2nd 50 back, I felt like I was getting a decent rotation and keeping my head still.

I got a good tip from the Race Club site yesterday: don't try to hit a home run in the backstroke. That is, aim for getting to the recovery faster instead of finishing as though I'm trying to hit a home run. That way, I'm getting to the power phase at the beginning of the backstroke faster.

03/19/09 - SCY - breastroke felt awesome (after an adjustment)

JAM

600 swim wu - work on DPS
300 IM K
200 DPS

4 x (
300 K/dr/sw by 25 @30 s rest
200 swim @45 s rest
100 fast @1:00 rest
50 sprint
) IM order

400 wd

stretching + ER/IR

Fly was rough starting out. The 200 was supposed to be moderate, but I can't really swim moderate fly and keep a decent stroke. I hit 170 HR on the 200 fly and my upper back felt torched on most of the fly portion during and after the 200.

During the back, I worked on keeping my head still and still rotating. Tried to keep my pull in pretty tight and recover my hands thumb first. It's slower right now b/c I have to think about all of this.

Breaststroke felt awesome. I noticed on the first 50 of the 200 that I was letting my right hand pitch out and get above my elbow. So for the rest of the 200 I just tried to work on keeping my right arm 1 unit and keeping my elbow higher than my hand. I fell into a good rhythm with it and went ~2:48 or so. The 100 was ~1:15 and I felt great. I was actually surprised on this because I hit the wall and thought the clock said 1:15. I was kindof surprised because my 100 breast efforts lately have been around 1:17 - 1:18. But I stood up and took my goggles off and the clock still hadn't hit 1:20. Not sure what my 50 time was, ~36 seconds or so.

Freestyle felt pretty good. I really focused on pulling water with my whole forearm, especially on my right arm. I also focused on using my hips to pull my arms through instead of my shoulders. My turnover is a little lower and I feel awkward but my DPS is better (11-12 spl, as opposed to 13-15) and I'm able to hold better times. I went ~27 on the 50 but my head was spinning right to left with my hips. I'll have to work on that.

In general, I'm getting to where I can swim a decent breaststroke even when my muscles feel like they're on fire. That's been one of my main goals this year, really. Well, I guess the real goal is to be able to swim a good 200 breast and to bring home my 200/400 IMs better than I ever have, but to do those things I need to be able to swim a strong breaststroke even when my muscles are screaming.

03/18/09 SCY 50s breast fast

BAM

6 x (25 dolphin K, 50 swim) @3rd pers RI

3 x (
25 underwater
50 SDK/flutter
25 sprint choice
50 fast
) w/fins all @3rd pers RI

2 x (
6 x 100 (2@1:30, 2@1:20, 2@1:10)
6 x 50 (2@45, 2@40, 2@35)
100 all out
50 ez
)
Worked on driving my stroke with my hips. It feels awkward and very powerful.

4 x 25 fly @30
50 @45
4 x 25 bk @30
50 @45
4 x 25 br @30
50 @45

200 ez

8 x 50 breast @2:00 all out - (36, 36, 36, 36, 36, 35, 35, 35)
I really worked on snapping my kick and trying to get more drive out of it

200 ez

3 x (
10 s vert flutter K w/brick
20 s rest
20 s vert breast K w/brick
30 s rest
)
My breast kick is a lot more powerful but slower on 100s

300 ez

vasa, stretching

I'm getting excited about my breaststroke. I've felt a better rhythm with it lately and my times have dropped.