December 2010
Progress or Maintenance?
It struck me last night while swimming that it may help me to determine whether what I'm doing that day is simply maintaining my training or improving my speed or strength. Last night I was doing nothing more than maintaining. Yet there are some days where I'm SURE that I've made forward progress in my training.I think I'll be adding a feature to my blog for me to rate my progress for the day or for the week.
Post-Practice Weight: 170.5 lbs
Happy Holidays!
I think any swimmer would agree it's tough to find pools during the holidays. After all these years swimming I still struggle to schedule my swims through the difficult pool availability. I did pretty well so far. I've been in about 4 times a week, yet missing the 24th, 25th and 26th because there literally wasn't a single pool open. I'm back in the water tomorrow! Looking forward to a new year and lots of meets!
4 Days this Week
A long way from where I want to be. Pool closings due to severe weather don't really help much. All the more reason to always aim for 7 days a week and plan on snow/ice days for community pool closings. Planning on a meet at Lake Orion in January!
Back in the water!
After an entire week off of swimming I made my not so glorious return to the water. I swam a relaxed 3,100 yards in a community pool. I was approached mid-practice by a high school swimmer who had a few questions for me. I always seem to have the most fun at community pools however they never offer fantastic training environments. Feels great to be back in the water!
"I saw you stretching over there and thought, he's either really good, or really bad. Then you dove in and kicked 15 meters with a breakout and I thought... ok." - Trent (High School Swimmer)
A week of tough prioritizing
I took a week off of training. A full seven days. It wasn't planned, which is perhaps the worst part. I was doing really well but got buried with work to the point I was having a hard time finding time to eat and sleep let alone swim. I hope to get back on track next week. I feel guilty that I let myself slip that far off my awesome 6 day a week roll.
Side Stitch
I swam almost the entire practice with a side stitch. This gave me a good reason to learn more about "side cramps" or "side stitches". I used to get them while running and frequently at the beginning of practice swimming in college. I never quite knew the reasons. After reading up, I turns out side stitches occur the most in swimming?! Crazy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Side_stitch
"He swam underwater all the way from the blocks under all the lane lines!" - A father teaching his daughter to start off the blocks
I swam alongside a huge group of Parents and their boy scouts this evening. I have to say, this group was among the most respectful, fun loving group of children I've seen around the pool in a long time. The parents should be proud