Thoughts and Observations

The Team

• They are a tight knit group, everybody gets along
• They support each other at practice
• Others (and myself) are appropriately praised after a hard set with a "good job (name)"
• "Post Grads" as we're called, have significantly greater flexibility in dryland workouts (almost too much)
• The womens team and mens team seem to respect each other, this is not the case at all Universities
• For the most part, swimmers are courtious and make room for each other while holding on to the wall or while starting or finishing
• Communal bottles of shampoo are kind of a great idea
• "M" tattoos are everywere

 The Pool Itself

• The underwater speaker is pretty effective
• Songs can be distracting at times
• Aerosmith - "I don't want to miss a thing".... is not motivating at all during a high intensity set
• I really enjoy the yellow line at 25 meters and the rope above the pool at 25 meters.  It really helps on the burst 25m sets
• The countdown to the 2012 Olympic clock is motivating, even if it's not your goal
• The blocks are nice
• I wish the non-bulkhead walls had some grip, they have stainless steel gutters extending 10 inches below the water, bad for legal backstroke starts
• Whoever had the idea to install that hot tub, I'll buy them lunch any day.  What a great way to end a hard day

 The Pool Practices

• Workouts are a manageable amount of time and total distance
• Diving in with fins on makes almost no sense to me
• Practices are abstract and keep it interesting
• I can't figure out why sets are written with "3x25's" and no solution for making up the additional 25 meters back to the wall.  It leaves the team wondering how they should best cover the remaining distance.  This is not a complicated process, although it wastes time as we weigh where it leaves  us (which side of the pool) for the rest of the set.  I can't logically see why not just make it either "2x25's" or "4x25's" so we don't have to work it out ourselves.  Or at the very least, just write "easy 25 back to the wall"
• We do a minimum of 8 starts a day, a maximum of 24, average being around 12 per day.

 The Dryland Practices

• Good equipment, lots of options, all within close proximity of the pool area
• Boxing is something I never thought I would partake in while training to swim
• The ab workouts are manageable but challenging
• Workouts are organized and well thought out

 The Coaches

• Expertise is evident by their track record, their speech, their motivating comments and their pratice writing
• Coaches are busy people but available if needed
• Splits are given at appropriate times
• I haven't seen any of them sit down yet (I wouldn't think less of them if they did), they are always moving

 Myself

• I've had a challenging week
• I'm beginning to feel more welcomed around the team, a little less like an outsider
• I've had nice conversations with guys on U of M's team as well as the other "post-grads"
• I'm noticing a mutual respect from other swimmers, perhaps simply because I show up, do what I'm told and don't complain
• The dryland is manageable but I still have a lot to learn and improve upon.
• I haven't noticed any change in my body really, I assume in the coming weeks I'll start to see a little more muscle definition
• I'm keeping up with others in most sets
• My major weakness seems to be sets with little rest, I'm just not used to the fast turnaround time expected of me.  This is a serious deficiency in my training, other guys can do an all out 50m and get right up on the blocks and blast off another fast 50m.  I'm significantly lagging behind on these sets
• Kick sets I find myself being just slightly above average compared to the group
• I've gotta be the oldest person to ever train with CW
• I don't have any sore joints after one of the hardest training weeks (including the transition from zero training) of my life
• I think every muscle in my body is sore
• It's difficult to describe how nice it is not worrying about where I'm going to practice each day.  A consistent schedule and available pool time each day is an amazing feeling.