February 2009

strict warning: Declaration of views_plugin_style_default::options() should be compatible with views_object::options() in /home/kevindoa/public_html/sites/all/modules/views/plugins/views_plugin_style_default.inc on line 24.
Feb
25

Double Amputee Mermaid!

Posted by Kevin Doak on Wednesday at: 10:33pm (February 25th, 2009)
I just happened upon this video of a Double Amputee who's dream was to be a mermaid. She contacted a special effects studio and worked with them to design a dual prosthetic limb which looks and feels like fish scales. It enables her to swim and uses a internal hinge to pivot the limb up and down opposite of her movements. Very cool project!


[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9jCsbii5rs&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1]
Feb
24

Rough Weekend

Posted by Kevin Doak on Tuesday at: 6:31am (February 24th, 2009)
I had a great practice Friday, a full 4,400 Yards. I took off Saturday and Sunday to rest up and recover from life and training. I was back in the water today for 4,200 yards. I don't normally take 2 days off, so it felt good to restore the balance in my schedule after a difficult weekend.

I want to congratulate the Eastern Michigan University Men's Team for their 2009 Mid American Conference victory this weekend! After weathering a very difficult year they swam well across the board and certainly made myself and the other alumni very proud. Great job guys!
Feb
20

Run Down but Practicing Great!

Posted by Kevin Doak on Friday at: 6:17am (February 20th, 2009)
I've been pounding out 4,000+ yards a day with weights or dryland and I'm feeling the effects of the training. It's wearing on me but I feel better each day. I've had a new found interest in improving my starts and turns lately. I've (finally) started tucking more on my turns and with the help of my friend Sarah, I've concluded that they are indeed faster than the old method. It's tough to change something as routine as my flipturn after doing it a certain way my entire life. My daily underwater training is paying off, I feel stronger and more comfortable each day.
Feb
17

4,200 Yards and double the underwaters!

Posted by Kevin Doak on Tuesday at: 5:52am (February 17th, 2009)
I stepped up my underwater drills today to double the amount I typically do.

For weeks now I've committed to doing 16x25's with 15 meters underwater fast. I do these on my back butterfly kick. After I finished my 16 today I did a 300 easy and did another 16 of them fly kick on my front. I've tried other drills to improve my underwaters but I've never felt a noticeable difference in speed or endurance while kicking. I think the combination of doing this drill EVERY DAY will actually make a difference.
Feb
16

Bear with me through the upgrades!

Posted by Kevin Doak on Monday at: 1:30am (February 16th, 2009)
Thanks so much for your patience through the last few days, I've been doing some much needed upgrades to the site. I apologize for my dust as I make the site faster and better. Lately I've been investigating ways to improve my videos to offer faster downloads and higher quality. You may see that I've overhauled my Times Database. It's FAR from done as I slowly add ALL my times from every source possible. I will organize the database so it's searchable once I'm done. It's a huge job!
Feb
14

Good Training and Populating My New Database

Posted by Kevin Doak on Saturday at: 7:51pm (February 14th, 2009)
I've had two good days of training both days between 3k and 5k, I used my underwater camera for the first time the other day with the help of my friend Sarah. The underwater camera/camcorder will help me analyze my own stroke and learn from it. I'll post some video soon!

I've been adding all my times into my new database, it's gonna be nice to reference every single time I've ever accomplished all in one place!
Feb
12

Finished Up Database Integration!

Posted by Kevin Doak on Thursday at: 6:45pm (February 12th, 2009)
Certainly a tech oriented post but directly relating to my swimming and this site.
Feb
11

12 Month Goal Progress

Posted by Kevin Doak on Wednesday at: 7:09pm (February 11th, 2009)
I set a goal on October 5th 2009 to break every single Lifetime Best Time I had ever achieved in every event I've swum in the last 3 years. This goal covers 23 events and 3 courses (SCY, SCM, LCM). It is a lofty goal and will be very difficult.
Feb
11

Great Training Day and Planning the State Meet

Posted by Kevin Doak on Wednesday at: 5:39am (February 11th, 2009)
I took Monday off to reward myself for such an awesome race on Sunday. I was back in the pool today and created a well rounded practice that fit into 1.5 hours.

500 Warmup Choice
10 Backstroke Starts (with a nice Daktronics pad)
10 Freestyle Starts
16x25's with 15m fast underwater
500 free/back (50 fast 50 easy)
5x100's pull no equip
400 Free/back
4x100's Back fast on 1:30
300 Free/back
3x100's Free fast on 1:30
200 Free/back 50's
2x100's kick on back on 1:30
4 x (30 sec vertical kicking + 30 sec rest)
200 Easy
Feb
9

Awesome Birthday Meet!

Posted by Kevin Doak on Monday at: 12:57am (February 9th, 2009)
I had a fantastic meet! I achieved lifetime best times in 3 out of 4 events!

100 Back:
I used this event as a warmup, It was still a decent swim at 56.43 SCM which converts to a 50.56 SCY. A solid swim for my first performance. This was the fastest 100 Backstroke I've ever swam on my Bday.

50 Free:
Feb
8

Headed to Brighton

Posted by Kevin Doak on Sunday at: 3:51pm (February 8th, 2009)
I woke up early and I'm headed to Brighton for the masters meet starting at 10:15am. From the sounds of it, the first SCM meet of the year will draw a decent group of swimmers. My friend John made the drive from Chicago last night for this thing! The plan is to stick to my 100 back, 50 free, 200 back, 100 fly lineup. I'm hoping to run into Alec Mull or Patrick Sussido for some great butterfly competition! Jason Mallory attended the meet last year and shattered the 200 backstroke record. It would be great to get pushed in that event today.
Feb
7

Practice With Skyline High School

Posted by Kevin Doak on Saturday at: 6:46pm (February 7th, 2009)
Due to a busy day, I had to practice before EMU was open today. I contacted my high school coach Sean Hickman who was chosen to coach the new Mens Team at Ann Arbor Skyline High School. He was nice enough to allow me to join his new team for a Saturday Morning Practice. The new school is transitioning one class of students in per year, so this year is 9th graders only.
Feb
7

3,100 SCY and Developing a Roadmap

Posted by Kevin Doak on Saturday at: 5:30am (February 7th, 2009)
I'm feeling the effects of all the weights and dryland and increasing from 3k to 4k per day. I had a hard time feeling motivated to do more than 3k today but I threw in the extra 100 yards to overachieve. I've had two days of really good results doing my daily 16x25's underwater kicking directly after warmup... I'm gonna make it a tradition.
Feb
6

Brighton Masters Meet

Posted by Kevin Doak on Friday at: 5:50am (February 6th, 2009)
Today I swam 4,700 yards all alone and it was a great workout! I chose to do my 16x25's that I've added to my EVERY SINGLE DAY routine directly after my warmup. I found it prepared me for some great underwaters for the rest of practice.

I decided to swim in the Brighton Masters Meet this weekend because it's both on my birthday and it's in my home town. I really enjoy racing on my birthday for some reason. I've swam a 100 Backstroke for the last 4 years on the bday. I'm still working on my event list, here it is so far:

100 Back
50 Free
200 Back
Feb
5

Ann Arbor Masters Team

Posted by Kevin Doak on Thursday at: 3:21am (February 5th, 2009)
Tonight I practiced with the Ann Arbor Masters Team at the Mack Pool! This was my first practice with the group. Rodolfo Palma was our coach for the night. He planned a well balanced sprint/mid-distance main set of backstroke/freestyle which kept me on my toes. The main set were 200's, 150's, 100's and 50's twice through. Overall I was pretty worn down due to my 3+ hour practice the night before. I wasn't very impressed with my times at all but it was a good workout.
Feb
4

21 Second 50's in Practice

Posted by Kevin Doak on Wednesday at: 5:27am (February 4th, 2009)
I had a great evening training! My workout was over 3 hours total. I did a full weight routine and set a personal best of 144 lbs x 8 reps of lat pull downs. I don't consider this an impressive number, but it represents a fantastic improvement for me from one year ago when I was just over 100 lbs. It was the first weight set in my life when I noticed I had to focus on staying on the seat! It was enough weight that it would pull my body up off the seat into the air unless I used my legs to keep me stationary! I had to chuckle to myself as I'm sure I looked silly... Ah...
Feb
3

3K / Dryland / Weights and the Phelps Drama

Posted by Kevin Doak on Tuesday at: 4:57am (February 3rd, 2009)
It was just one of those days, I barely squeaked 3 grand in the pool. I've been targeting at least 4k per day but it just wasn't in me today. I made a judgment call and sent myself home after a good 1 hour workout. Throughout the rest of the day I fit in my EVERY SINGLE DAY workouts plus some extras.

Since I've been asked so many times today about the Phelps drama I figured I would touch on it. For those who hadn't heard, there was a photo released of Michael Phelps apparently posing, or using drug paraphernalia.
Feb
2

EVERY SINGLE DAY

Posted by Kevin Doak on Monday at: 5:55am (February 2nd, 2009)
The boring updates are that I've been doing really well on training. I've been swimming 3k-5k daily along with occasional weights and dryland training. As always, I want to be making more progress than I am, but I've been adding small amounts of yardage to move my weekly average higher.