March 2010

It was a rough Saturday as the Scuba Diving class repeatedly swam under, close to, and collided with my body as I attempted to train. I will never understand how the trajectory of lap swimmer swimming within two lane lines can be so confusing for a scuba diver. I basically pass the same area every 15 seconds or so, repeatedly, for an hour straight. Yet, without fail, one of these divers thinks its no problem to surface in the middle of my lane with no regard to his surroundings at all.

I'm unsure if the two are related, but I've taken a break from P90X and I'm swimming really well :)

I know I've been pushing myself more, but I seem to have more motivation than the last few months. I suppose it could have had something to do with cold weather months, but I feel like a new man lately! I've really been tearing it up in practice no matter what pool I'm in. Today I was at EMU and focused on some 50 meter sprints long course. I was swimming 50 meter butterfly in 28 seconds flat and 50 meter backstroke in 29's. Both times are pretty good for me from a push!

For not being a really muscular guy, this picture took me by surprise!

Look at that ARM! It looks so bumpy! Haha

I'm happy to report I just had a fantastic practice! I once again drove to Ypsilanti to swim at EMU because I believe it makes the most significant difference in my training.

Ignoring the fact that EMU is a world class facility, I think it boils down to water temperature (no pun intended). Community pools are kept warm because people don't get their heartrates up enough to appreciate colder water. Let me assure you, nothing feels better than cold water during a tough set... At times it doesn't feel like it could be cold enough!

I've noticed an issue I'm having while on this P90X workout program. There have been quite a few days lately that I haven't been able to squeeze a second workout into my day after swimming. The P90X takes a minimum of an hour and 15 mins to complete. That's a long time if you're busy or tired.

The issue I notice is that when I DON'T do P90X is that I do nothing dryland related that day. In years past I would always do something outside of the water each day. Rarely would it be over an hour of exercise but at least I was working my muscles somehow.

I've often discussed how much a nice facility meant to my training. Lately I've realized how much this opinion has to do with my current training situation.

I was onsite at EMU for the MAC meet this past weekend and watched my 100 Back Championship Record of 48.51 DOMINATED by a swimmer from Missouri State, Roko Simunic. He swam a fantastic race at 47.67. He took out the first half of his race exactly as I did with a high 22.xx but really turned up the heat on the 2nd 50 yards. He broke the Meet Record, Pool Record and Conference Record. It was a really impressive swim, Congrats Roko!

I got an email from Skip today informing me that my 50 Back Long Course Meters World Record of 26.64 was broken by an Olympian from Japan. Here is his Wikipedia information: