Monday and Tuesday = Mixed Results

It's been a rollercoaster of a two days regarding training.  Monday morning started with weights.  Mostly low reps and 80-90% weight.  We are doing 3 rounds with a plyo related exercise between each round.  Afterward I opted to join to the Middle Distance group rather than doing the "power set" that the sprinters were assigned.  I primarily did so because the Middle Distance was doing a kick set.  I swear, I could never get tired of kick sets.  I don't feel as though ANY swimmer is doing enough kicking unless you are dominating each wall to 14.99 meters and surfacing with speed.  The set was basically a 200m white kick plus 6 x 50's.  This pattern was repeated with the 200m intervals getting slower with lower effort while 50's would decrease in quantity and increase in rest/interval.  The last round being a 200m orange and 1 x 50 green.  Each 50 was followed by a 25m underwater kick (not easy).  Most swimmers did pretty well.  I held with others in the 1st heat in both the 200 and 50's but was definitely sub par on the 25's underwater.  I didn't make a single one, most others did.  I was very impressed with the back to back fast kicking this group is capapble of.  I consider anybody under 32 seconds in a 50 kick to be MOVIN'.  These distance swimmers (including some Olympians) can kick back to back 31 second 50m on :50.  That's just crazy.  I was around :35 on the same set ending with a :32.4 on the last green 50 kick.  The set took a lot out of me.  The evening I was back with the sprinters after a brutal 30 minute ab session.  It might have been the most difficult ab session I've ever done.  I was dripping with sweat and I'm very sore.  The evening swim was only an hour and a half of moderate aerobic. No biggie.

Tuesday morning was crazy with work and I was not able to join the sprinters for the morning of "cleans" lifting and "speed" swimming.  The tragic result of balancing life, work and swimming.  Something my teammates don't have to deal with (which is good for their training/goals). I chose to catch up on work and nap.  The nap was a much needed luxury I don't ever seem to have time for.  I arrived to evening practice ready to train!  We began with a 45 minute stretching session.  Myself and a fellow post grad swimmer chose to soak up some sun and stretch outdoors.  Today was a 100m Race Pace day.  The set was very applicable to a race.  It is listed below.  Since I had the honor of being joined by a talented U of M backstroker for the set, I chose to do the entire set backstroke.  For some reason, nobody ever does the main sets backstroke, this typically leaves me swimming alone or against freestylers.  The situation is never a big deal since it's difficult to ever really see your competitors during a backstroke race.  It just feels a bit better to hear some times which are close to your own.  Otherwise it sounds like "person #1... 24.5, Doak.... 28.4.  Big gaps in times like that are never good for the ego but at the same time understandable when your heat is swimming freestyle off the blocks and you're doing backstroke from a wall start.

The set began ok.  My first 50 was solid at 28.7.  It felt faster than a high 28 unfortunately.  The first 50 was followed by a 25m of easy swimming (orange).  After 15 second break we did a mid pool start and finished the 100m with a 25m green (fast) finish.  The last 25m was not timed due to inconsistent starting times of each swimmer.  With about a 30 second break we got ready to start again, other swimmers got back up on the blocks, I prepared to do another backstroke start.  I gave it a full effort and touched in a 31.2.  I was not impressed.  The point of the set was to add your first and last 50's up to get your ideal 100m time.  In my case the first round added up to a 59.9.  I was very disapointed.  The other backstroker was a 57.3, a respectable time and in line with his best meet performance.  The times were written on a dry erase board to you could see how other swimmers were performing.  Many swimmers had very impressive times, practically everyone... except me. 

Sadly round 2 went about the same.  The second round started with an improved 28.4 but my second 50 was a wash due to a bad start.  I slipped on the pad and did a back smacker with no underwater kicking.  In hindsight, I should have just stopped and restarted for an honest time.  Instead I just finished it in a ridiculous 33.1.  The time meant nothing to me due to the bad start.

Round 3 was bad as well.  A first 50 of 28.4 and a last 50 of a 30.6 for a grand total of 59.0.  Still, nowhere near where I should be.  The other swimmer was a 56.1 on that round, another backstroker that joined was a 55.1.  Both very good times and they had been doing the same training as me lately.  I have no excuse for the bad swims.

As soon as I finished the set I decided to do another round.  Other swimmers were swimming down and leaving the pool.  I decided to change to Butterfly.  I needed to know if I was slow across the board in every stroke, or if it was just backstroke.  I'm really glad I made this choice.  I did a quick "tween" set of about 6 x 50m which was about the same as every other round and asked a coach to time me for an additional round.  I heard a swimmer yell "Doak, going overtime!" along with "Doak, gunning for that bonus check!".  The comments put a smile on my face :)

I got up on the blocks a bit tired from 3 rounds of hard swimming.  I started and felt great in the water.  I was pulling water and breathing every other stroke.  I let up at the end a little just so I didn't overdo it.  I heard "that was a 25.5".  I smiled, because that's a fantastic time considering my fastest 50m butterfly is a 25.09.  I was right on track for a great swim!  My fast 25m finish felt good too (no time given).  I got back up on the blocks and prepared for my last 50m.  The second 50m went a lot like the first.  I was catching water and breathing perfectly to the 25 meter mark, after that I started breathing every stroke, not ideal but I was still moving well.  The last 5 meters was ugly but touched in a 27.3 for a grand total of 52.8!  It was a blazing fast time for me!  It was everything I needed to keep my confidence high.  Comparing to other swimmers, it was among the fastest butterfly times of the day.  The perforamance raised a few questions.  Namely, why is there such a massive gap between butterfly and backstroke?  We're talking about 6.2 seconds!  That's way beyond a margin of error even considering the block vs wall start.  My coach suggested I switch up my stroke for the next week to give my backstroke a rest.  Neurologically it may help to alternate my training a bit and use my muscles differently for a bit.  It also made me wonder once again if I'm actually a better butterflier than backstroker.  If we take these times seriously, a 52.8 in a 100m butterfly is a very respectable time!  It also doesn't quite add up when considering my best 100m fly to date is a 56.30.  Once again it makes me believe that I am capable of an Olympic Trial cut of 55.29 in the butterfly.  I know I can do it, I really just have one more chance in Austin before Trials.  If I don't get it, it's not the end of the world but it would definitely be icing on my 2012 Olympic Trials Cake!