August 2014

It's been an exciting week for my training.  Attending world championships was suprisingly motivating.  It clarified to me that I'm not content swimming average times (for me).  I'm consider myself goal oriented and I need to bring my training in line with the rest of my life.

My evening involved some new weight exercises.  While coaching the other day, I recommended "interval training" to a friend.  I took my own advice and developed some interval training of my own. 

After being motivated by the Triathalon I spectated, I chose to bike instead of doing the eliptical.  It's a choice I'll continue to make.  I got a much higher intensity workout from the bike!

I ended my evening with a 15 minute ab workout from P90X.  It was a heck of a workout day!

I might be hooked that easy...

I headed over to Island Lake to spectate a friend competing in a "sprint" triathalon.  For those as ignorant as I was on the topic.  A sprint tri is a:

750-meter (0.47-mile) swim, 20-kilometer (12-mile) bike, 5-kilometer (3.1-mile) run

As any swimmer would agree that's a real quick swim followed by a brutal bike and a horrible run.  I'm fearful and excited to attempt one of these competitions.  I've been thinking about it for years, it's almost time to make a move.  I still lack a bicycle, I might need one of those first.

Last night I was in the gym for 1.5 hours trying out some new endurance exercises I've been considering for the last few months.  I ended with 30 minutes on the elliptical machine.  Today I swam a 1.0 hour 3,000 meter workout.  I'm motivated to improve, I want to be proud of my times and this is the way to do it.

This was my first 100m race in the secondary pool. Since the pool is a ways away from the main action, it adds a level of stress to the afternoon. It requires you to plan your warmup and then the trip over there. Since you have no idea when the heats before you swim, you move your schedule forward to accommodate any scheduling irregularities. In the case of this swim, I didn’t want to walk 15 minutes, then swim a 100 Back. Normally I would see a 15 minute walk as “great exercise”. Yet, when I’m preparing for my most painful race, I have no intention of wearing my legs out any more than I need to. Therefore, I opted to take the bus. A decision I don’t know if I would repeat. It added an extra layer of stress to my pre-event preparation. As I mentioned above, the bus doesn’t leave till it’s full. When I got on the bus, I took the last seat. I honestly thought we would leave within a moment… I was wrong. We sat there for nearly 15 minutes as people trickled onto an already full bus. Only when we couldn’t fit another living, and intact, human body on the bus, did it start to move forward. I was amazed, there were people spilling onto each other, faces with butts right in front of them, people uncomfortably touching strangers, it was just silly. Meanwhile I’m stressing out about getting to my race on time. We made the trip and I sort of jogged the rest of the way to the pool. I was sweaty when I arrived. I tossed on my race suit and headed to the marshalling area. I arrived JUST in time as they called my heat up. I almost walked on the deck still wearing my sunglasses on my head. I might have just swam with them up there if I had arrived any later. I felt a bit out of breath as I hopped in the water for my race. It wasn’t an ideal race-prep that I did. I positioned myself on the horrible “Omega” timing pad and prepared to slip off it and ruin my race. Miraculously I managed a conservative (slow) but non-slip start to flip at the 50 in 29.60. I gave that last 50 everything I had as I reached in for the finish to see a 1:01.92 on the board. I had a feeling I was going to be a 1:01.xx. It’s a long way from my 57.44 a few years ago but still respectable for minimal training. As I passed my friend Eric who competes in the 75 year old age bracket, I told him about my mediocre 1:01 race as he and his friend chuckled at my disappointment considering that time would be superhuman for his age group, it was a light-hearted moment that we all smiled at. I congratulated a few other backstrokers on my way out and headed back to the main pool to warm down. I’m struck with how wishing somebody a “good job” is sort of universal with regard to languages. In each one of my races, I touched the wall and reached over to my competitor and either shook their hand or gave them a “thumbs up”. I know a majority of them didn’t speak English, yet we always shared a smile. It just feels good to share a good-will moment with somebody who hails from the other side of the planet. We’re so different, yet all the same in that instant.

I was out in a 29.60 and finished in a 1:01.92 for a 5th place finish

Back-to-back butterfly days!  Fly is becoming my favorite stroke.  I find that I'm more consistent in my butterfly races and I worry a lot less about my start.  Naturally since this meet is a "FINA" meet, we are cursed with the horrible "Omega" touchpads.  In short, these are the worst designed touchpads the world has ever seen.  How the landed the FINA contract must have either involved bribes or widespread ignorance toward the laws of physics.  Moving on...

100m Butterfly RACE RECAP

My day today was relaxed with a 4:28pm estimated heat start time.  I got to get a bunch of work done and began my 30 minute subway ride around 3pm.  I did a short but sufficient warmup and began my contortionist ritual to get into my race suit.  I videotaped a friend Jim who swam 20 heats before me and then relaxed before my heat was called.  While waiting for my race, I ran into a few fellow masters swimmers.  A few short light-hearted conversations took any stress away from the pre-race feeling.  We were marched out to the deck and I found my place behind lane 8.  The two minutes I waited to begin my race might have been the most annoying pre-race situation ever.  I was swarmed by little gnats or fruit flies landing all over my face and body, they were everywhere.  I was swatting these things away every 5 seconds, it just felt a bit disgusting.  I've never been so eager to jump in the water.

We were called up on the blocks and the gun went off.  Again, I entered with what I thought was a fair time, but turned out to be a slower seed time than I was capable of.  I entered with a 1:01.70, I was out in a 26.96 and home in a 32.46.  I touched the wall in 59.42, although a far cry from my 54.83 in 2012, it was a respectable time.  Before the race I told myself I would be satisfied with any 59.xx, therefore I'm contractually required to be satisfied with my performance.  I finished first in my heat but that's only because I miscalculated my abilities when signing up.  I waited 5 hours for results to post and found out I finished 3rd in my age group.

Tomorrow I have 4 relays spanning my entire day. It will be a long one considering the venue can't keep the wifi running for more than a few seconds at a time.  I fear I'll have to communicate with another human face-to-face without the help of technology.  I'll let you know how it goes.

Almost surprisingly, my first swim went as well as can be expected considering my training level.  I entered the event with a 56.51, a conservative time based on some recent SCM meet performances.  2 years ago at long course nationals, I swam a lifetime best of 51.59, a time I considered downright epic for my capabilities.

100M FREE SWIM RECAP

I took it out very controlled.  I was concerned that I would get too worked up and rush the first 50m.  I've been known to take out this race fast and die at the end.  I dove in, took a few butterfly kicks and found myself almost a body length ahead of my competition when I brokeout.  The rest of the first 50m I was smooth and long through the water.  Watching the video later I saw that my arm/leg speed was much slower than my heat, a fact that I'm comfortable with.  By the first wall, I was in 5th position in my heat.  Since I had planned my race, I was relaxed about that.  I began to pile on the effort coming home, all while gaughing my energy level to ensure it wasn't too ugly the last few meters.  I had started to gain on the 5 swimmers that were ahead of me by the time the last 15m buoy passed.  I set my sights on a swimmer to my left and sprinted to the finish.  In hindsight I should have made that last effort sooner.  Teammates watching me told me later how much I gained on the pack in the last 5 meters.  I had too much energy left at the end.  I touched the wall in a 56.26 and finished 2nd in my heat, passing all but one swimmer in the last 5 meters.  Although I'm happy with my swim, it should have been a 55 second race.

I finished 14th in my age group, a stat I can accept.  I'm wishing I had at least lost some weight for this meet.  I'm attempting to tow around too much fat.  I need to lose about 15 lbs.