02/28/09 - Sweetheart Meet

400 wu
4 x 100 @1:30
200 K
dive sprint

100 br - 1:10.03 - (14.69, 17.97, 18.40, 18.94)
200 IM - 2:13.20 - 29.32, 33.06, 38.89, 31.93
200 br - 2:33.85 - 34.42, 38.85, 40.00, 40.58

I had my best in-season altitude times at this meet and was pretty happy about it. I wore a cap today, which felt nice.

some notes, observations from other coaches and swimmers:
on my 100 br, I was "dolphining" my kick almost too much at the end. The BG coach pointed it out and said that I might want to watch that. I fixed it in the 200 IM and 200 br, though, and kept my legs in more of a streamline position instead. I think that may even be faster (streamline pos'n).

On the IM, my head was wagging around on the first 25 of backstroke. It was straighter on the second 25, but then I was not rolling enough to my right side.
My elbows were slipping on fly and free and not getting nice and high. I'll have to work on that.

200 breast, I was told by Randy, a very good breaststroker, that my form looked good but my amplitude might be a bit too much and I'm probably losing energy up and down instead of using it effectively to go forward.

02/27/09 - SCY

w/BAM

8 x 125 (2 @ 1:50, 2@1:40)
8 x 50 K/swim stroke @55

3 x (
4 x 25 (alt 20/30)
4 x 75 (alt 55/1:05) went 46-47 on the 55s
)

4 x 100 (50 dolphin K/25 stroke moderate/25 stroke fast) @1:55

75 ez

3 x 50 all out from blocks. Did breast, went 34 on all

~500 wd

Vasa, easy lifting + core

I swam the 75s strong, really focusing on the core. I was able to hold 46. When I tried to swim one harder, I went 47. I upped my turnover, but swallowed some water and missed a turn. I probably need to do some faster turnover swims to adjust to the speed and not have those mishaps. Onward and upward.

2/26/09 - SCY

JAM

400 ez
200 K IM on back
4 x 100 @1:30 (1:15, 1:10s) moderate
4 x 50 @1:00 faster

300 drill w/snorkel (100 fly, 150 br, 50 fr)

4 x 75 fly/bk/br @1:15
4 x 75 - 50 bk/25 br @1:15
4 x 75 bk/br/fr @1:15
(HR 140-160)

rest 1:00 (HR 110-120)

2 x 75 Br @2:00
1 - NT
2 - 58 s, 21 strokes
(HR 160)

100 ez

50 br fast - 36

4 x 100 ez @20 sec rest

DPS:
I almost always take 7 strokes per length for breaststroke when I'm working it. I kept counting during the 75s and every length of breast came out to 7. If I took 6, it meant I was gliding and taking it a bit easier. Without pullouts, that means my DPS is 3.57 yards (3.26m). However, my pullout takes me out past the flags, which are 5 yards, so I can estimate, say, 7 yards on that. Thus, I'm only actually swimming 18 yards per length. Using 7 yards per length for pullouts I swam that second 75 as 54 yards/21 strokes = 2.57yards (2.35m).

Stroke Rate (strokes/time in seconds x 60):
My stroke rate, again based on no pullouts, for the second 75 was 21 strokes/58 seconds x 60 = 21.72. However, my actual stroke rate is higher because I spend 1-2 seconds underwater off of the walls. An underestimate of 1 second underwater gives a stroke rate of (21 strokes/55 seconds) * 60 = 22.9. If I figure on 2 seconds off of the walls, I get a stroke rate of (21/52) * 60 = 24.2.

According to Salo, in "Complete Conditioning for Swimming", Appendix A the stroke rates for "Other elite US swimmers" (the "lowest" category for race analysis), the average DPS and Stroke rates are:
100 Br: SR - 50.85; DPS - 1.74m
200 Br: SR - 40.10; DPS - 2.03m

Now, the DPS that I figured above was close to that of Olympic top 8 swimmers (2.32m). Their stroke rate, however is 37.93, over 150% of mine based on loose turn estimates.

What's next for my breaststroke? I have to get my stroke rate up a lot higher. Maybe not 1.5 times higher, but higher, just the same. And hopefully I can do so without losing too much DPS.

One drill I know that I can use is the "Early Catch Hands" from GoSwim. Basically, I turn my hands out into my pull as soon as they recover in front of me. I'll have to work with this and try some 50s and 75s where I just force really fast turnover.

2/25/09 - SCY

w/BAM
4 x (50 drill/50 swim, 50 k) @3rd pers RI
16 x 25 (2 @25, 2 @20)

200 fr @15s
175 fr
150 fr
125 fr
100 fr
75 fr
50 fr
25 fr
Get faster as distances get shorter, all at ~15s

2 x {
200 fr @2:45
3 x 50 rotating IM @50
100 fast @1:15 (went 1:03s)
4 x 25 K fast
50 ez
)

6 x (
25 (odds from a dive)
went 15.1 on a br
50 ez recovery
)

100 all out K (went 1:17, my legs felt heavy)

125 ez

50 breast fast - went 36
50 ez
50 breast fast - went 36

125 ez

Vasa + lifting.

All of a sudden, I seem to be getting better acceleration into my glide in breaststroke. I feel like I'm doing a better job of getting my hips up and using them to drive the stroke more. My turnover is not as fast as it had been on fast breaststroke swims, but I feel like I've been surging into the glide lately. It's faster, for sure. I'm curious to know if I'll be able to keep that surge and up the turnover at the same time.

02/24/09 - SCY

w/JAM

500 warmup
200 IM K
100 Pull

4 x 500 IM (1. swim (6:50), 2. K, 3. swim (6:35), 4. 50 K/25 dr/50 swim by stroke)

300 ez

2 x vert K w/hands raised @40 (25 ez in between)
1 x vert K w/hands raised @50

50 breast fast, roll start, 39
50 ez

50 breast fast, from push, 35
I have no idea where this came from because I've been feeling beat up these last two days and breast is the hardest stroke to swim in that state. I tried to work the "cobra" position more and get a bit higher out of the water before attacking the recovery. That's something I don't do when I'm tired or trying to turn over faster.

50 ez

2/23/09 - SCY

OMO @ Meyers

500 warmup
5 x 100 K @1:50
500 pull
300 breast dr w/paddles, buoy, snorkel. I was trying to work on pulling myself forward before my breath. I started with all of the tools on and then removed them throughout the swim

5 x 50 breast fast/50-100 br drills. Descended 40 - 37. On the last 2, my drill was pull-ups on the wall, focusing on high elbows and a good press.

200 wd

This was a recovery day. After 4 days of race pace/sprints last week, I felt like a brick in the water. This week in general is going to be lighter than the 30K higher intensity work I've been doing.

2/21/09 - SCY

w/JAM

350 warmup
200 drill/swim by 25

4 x 100 descend 1-4 @20 sec rest (1:15, 1:11, 1:07, 1:04)

75 ez

100 IM from blocks - went 1:03.89
100 ez

50 br from blocks - 35.5
100 ez

50 br from blocks - 34.43
100 ez

100 free from blocks - NT
100 ez

75 ez
400 IM long
50 fly
150 free

12 x 25 @40

200 wd

02/20/09 - SCY Fast 100s day

w/BAM

2 x {
200 fr
150 fr alt breathe
100 fr w/hard kick
50 fast
}

5 x {
50 K/swim stroke @1:00
50 stroke, descend interval from 1:00 - :40 by set. I did br on the last 3, went 40, 39, 37
100 fr @1:25
}

8 x 25 odds @20, evens @30

vert kick, 45 s

4 x 100 @2:30 fast
Went (fly -1:10, br - 1:18, bk - 1:06, br - 1:18)

75 EZ

2 x 125 fr
3 x {
75 K w/fins @1:40
125 K w/fins @1:40
}

200 EZ

4 sets on Vasa
3 sets of plank (bridge) and reverse bridge

12 x 25, odds @20, evens @30

2 x 50 fast @2:30
did br, went 38 (stopped to fix goggles), 36

2 x 100 fast @2:30
br, roll start, went 1:15, 1:16

75 EZ

5 x 50 double arm bk/swim

250 ez

I fiddled around with my nose blocking on the last little set. I think I exhale too much water out when I'm dolphin kicking. When I made a conscious effort to either block my nose better (still let water in) or blow out less, I felt less gassed when doing underwater kicks.

In general, I am working on my breathing technique. On every stroke, it seems, I just explode a exhale before I go to air. Except backstroke, of course. When I consciously start breathing out earlier in fly, back, and free, I find that I get more air and feel a better rhythm to my stroke. Especially during breaststroke. But, lo, when I'm swimming fast I'm still not breathing out quite enough. Something to work on.

02/19/09 - SCY

w/JAM

400 wu
300 K - build/fast/ez by 25, IM order by 75
6 x 100 @1:30

200 fr cruise @3:00
4 x 50 @1:30 all out IM order (fl -32, bk - 31, br -37, fr - 28)
200 fr cruise @3:00
3 x 50 @1:30 all out (fl - 31, bk - 31, br - 37)
200 fr cruise @3:00
2 x 50 @1:30 all out (fl - 31, br - 38)
200 fr cruise
1 x 50 @1:30 all out (br, roll start from side - 35)

300 pull w/paddles

400 IM - (25 drill/25 K/50 swim)
400 IM - (50 stroke/50 free) - went 5:10
400 IM - all swim. 5:21, Negative split (1:20/1:25/1:25/1:11)

200 ez

4300 yards

02/18/09 - SCY

w/BAM

3 x {
125 free
100 IM
75 build
50 K fast
}

3 x (5 x 25 @25, 1 x 25 rec @35)

3 x {
3 x 50 @55, IM order
3 x 100 @1:20
200 broken (75, 85% effort/75 build/50 all out)
50 ez
}
I did 1 - fly (54/54/33 (2:21)), 2 - fly (57/57/34 (2:28)), 3 breast (61/60/39 2:40)

100 ez

6 x 100 K (odds free @1:35 (1:28s), evens breast @1:45 (1:39/1:40))
2 x 50 br K @55 (went 48/49)
4 x 50 br K @35 (went 22/23)

Vasa - 2 x 35, 1 x 30
Plank - 1:45, 1:30

2 x {
3 x 50 @55, IM order
3 x 100 @1:20
200 broken (75, 85% effort/75 build/50 all out)
50 ez
}
I did both free. Held 50 on the 75s, 32 on the 50.

400 pull
200 wd

Vasa - 1 x 30, 1 x 20
Plank - 1:45

6500 yards

2/17/2009 -- SCY

300 swim
300 K
400 pull
300 IM - K/Dr/Swim by 25

6 x 50 fly @50, descend 1-3
100 ez
100 fly fast -- 1:08

6 x 50 back @50, descend 1-3
100 back fast -- 1:07
100 ez

6 x 50 breast @55, descend 1-3
100 ez
100 breast fast -- 1:18

500 wd

3300 yards.

I did an extra long warmdown today because my muscles felt tired during the workout. Probably due to the running and extra lifting over the long weekend. My freestyle has felt awesome this week, though. Usually it's my stroke that feels better. I've been doing a lot of IM work these last couple of weeks and I think I hit a wall for the moment.

I was happy to end on a 1:18 breaststroke swim. I've been trying to get my core back into it now. For a while, I was just working on my pull and kick timing and not getting my core + hips up. That takes a lot of energy :).

02/17/09 - SCY

375 wu

3 x 75 IM, 2 x 75 fr @1:20

--forgot what this set was, something around 300 to get HR up.

375 fr, 350 mod/25 fast @5 sec rest
350 fr, 300 mod/50 fast @10
325, 250 mod fr/75 fast IM @15
300, 200 mod fr/100 fast IM @20
275, 150 mod fr/125 fast IM (50 fr) @25
250, 100 mod fr/150 fast IM @30
225, 50 mod fr/175 fast IM @30 --skipped to go to bathroom
200 fast (did 100 back/breast @1:14)

200 ez

Kick set:
200 Kick mod (went 3:10)
6 x 50 K fast @45
100 K mod (went 1:35)
8 x 25 K fast @25, held 19s, went 18 on last one

100 ez 3850

5 x 150 @1:55
100 @1:55
4 x 150 @1:55
100 @1:55
3 x 150 @1:55
100 @1:55
2 x 150 @1:55
100 @1:55
150 @1:55 (went 1:37)

200 ez

Vasa -- 4 x 30 (actually, 37, 33, 30, 30)
Plank -- 1 x 1:45, 1 x 1:30, 1 x 1:35

7000 y

40 minutes of lifting + abs

I had the day off today, so I put in a 3 hour beaster.

02/14/09 -- dryland w/the wife

Erin and I went to the Apex center in Arvada to run on their indoor track, lift weights, and hit the hot tub.

I ran 2 miles in 13:50, then took a water break. Then I ran another mile in ~ 7:00.

Lifted for ~45 minutes. Did a little of everything. They have a nice torso rotation machine that is a good swim-specific ab workout.

2/14/09 - swim straight

300 w/u
200 k cruise

Kick set -
25 fast/25 ez
50 fast/50 ez (35 on the 50)
75 fast/75 ez
100 fast/100 ez (1:14 - 34/40)

50 front scull/50 finish scull/50 mid scull/50 scull thru stroke

6 x 100 desc 1-3 (went 1:04 on #3, 1:02 on #6)
50 ez

500 pull w/paddles

4 x 25 fl, 5 x 25 bk, 6 x 25 br, 7 x 25 free @25
I held 19s on the breast, 15/16 on the free.

200 ez w/d

Nice one. I'm really starting to notice the vasa + plank sets I've been doing 3 days a week. When I swim freestyle, I'm starting to get the feeling like I'm pulling myself along a rail. I've gotten a lot better about keeping my head straight over the last 2 months. When I get tired, I still have a tendency to let my head waggle, but I usually notice and lock it back in. Same goes for the rest of my body. I'm swimming with less waggle overall.

02/13/09 - SCY

4 x 125 (k/dr/scull/sw/sw) @3rd person RI

75 IM (fl/bk/br) @4th pers
175 fr
75 IM
125 fr
75 IM
75 fr
75 IM
25 fr

6 x 150 pull @2:10. Held 1:44-1:45

2 x {
4 x 75 IM (50 fl/25 bk, 50 bk/25 br, ...) @1:20
Went 52 fl/bk, 54 bk/br, 54, 50 fr/fl on 2nd round
150 fr @2:00 - 1:41/1:40
6 x 25 stroke sprint @30
50 ez
}

200 ez

20 mins vasa + abs

3 x broken 200 IM, 10 secs btw 50, 100-200 ez recover in between
went 2:15 (31,35,38,31); 2:12(29,35,37,31), 2:14 (31,35,38,30)

Need to work on swimming a faster backstroke 50 in the IM.

~4700 yards. Can't remember how much recovery swimming I did, but it doesn't matter.

2/12/2009 - SCY

Pretty basic workout today.

300 w/u.
300 K/drill/swim by 25.
10 x 50 bk @50 (held 35s on 1-6, then went 33/34s on 7-10)
50 ez
10 x 50 br @1:00 (held 40s on 1-8, went 39, 38 on 9 and 10)
50 ez
100 fly (went 1:10) rest 40
50 fly (33) rest 30
2 x 25 fly (15s)
100 ez
3 x 300 negative split, 10s rest @150, 30 s rest btw 300s
Went 1:52/1:46, 1:50/1:45, 1:50/1:44

I tried to keep track of my SPL on the 300s. Interesting thing -- I almost always took 14 on the way out and 13 on the way back for each 50. 27 strokes per 50. It stayed pretty constant between paces too. I was kicking more on the back half of each 300, so even though I was turning over faster and my strokes were a bit shorter, my kick was making up for the stroke length difference.

2/12/2009 - Try to get back to blogging

I have continued working out for the last 3 months since my last workout blog. I just have been swamped at work and so haven't updated my blog with workout info.

Anyhow, I've stepped up the yardage and intensity over the last 3 weeks. I went from doing ~15-20 K/week to 27-32 K per week lately (27, 32, ? this week). I know, I know. What's the point of just increasing yardage? There isn't a point to it if the yardage doesn't mean anything. However, I've increased yardage mainly by adding quality kicking and/or a second main set. I was really wiped out after the first week and didn't even make to Saturday's workout after doing 5K+ a day avg. I'm starting to adjust now and am not feeling as beat up. I also blew a seam on my big drag suit. So now I'm down to my smaller drag suit and have been able to go a little faster. I'd like to fix my big drag suit but I will likely not start wearing it again regularly until after Nats. It's time for me to get some more speed in workouts.