June 2009

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Jun
30

100 Meter Backstroke of Course!

Posted by Kevin Doak on Tuesday at: 8:54pm (June 30th, 2009)
I forgot to mention I will be swimming the 100 meter backstroke at World Champ Trials. I hope to improve my butterfly and freestyle but for now, my backstroke is the only event I feel I excel in.

An acquaintance asked me today if I was still swimming. I smiled as I proudly said: "Yes, every day". I mentioned that I was swimming in the World Champ Trials in 2 weeks. Afterwards, they asked what that meant in the swimming world exactly... I started to explain that it was a big meet when I realized it's the highest profile Swimming Event in the United States this year!
Jun
30

Entered in the World Champ Trials!

Posted by Kevin Doak on Tuesday at: 2:10pm (June 30th, 2009)
Yesterday I officially entered into the 2009 U.S. World Champ Trials! This will be the 2nd largest meet of my life behind the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials. The time cut off was even more aggressive than the Olympic Trials cut, 57.69 vs. 57.99. I will swim on "Day 2" which is Wednesday, July 8th 2009. I'm attending simply for the experience since I'm deep into my training and don't care to let up too much for this meet. I will do my best as always but I don't have any set time goal for the event. I will do a 4 day taper for this meet and hope for the best.
Jun
29

Thank you!

Posted by Kevin Doak on Monday at: 11:56pm (June 29th, 2009)
I began practice motivated and feeling great! My warmup and pre-main set was all feeling really good. Once our 3,000 meter main set started I was wearing down and loosing my drive to work hard. I actually considered sending myself home. Two things kept me in the water tonight:

1. My fellow swimmers in lane 5 today: Liz Koselka, Lori Morton and Sam Wensman. Although I went last in my lane today (AKA "Swimming Caboose"), seeing them swimming hard, kept me going to finish the set.
Jun
29

Am I Actually in Shape?!

Posted by Kevin Doak on Monday at: 3:43pm (June 29th, 2009)
For the first time since college (or before college), I swam a meet and wasn't absolutely useless for the rest of the day. In the past I would swim "all out" and have a headache afterwards. This would last until I refueled my body with sleep, food and water and would usually take the rest of the day to start feeling normal again.
Jun
28

Decent times, fun meet!

Posted by Kevin Doak on Sunday at: 5:34pm (June 28th, 2009)

After some rain during my drive, I arrived in East Lansing and the weather was flawless! There wasn't a cloud in the sky, it was amazing timing. I got in a quick warmup while catching up with some old friends and fellow swimmers. The meet was hand timed so who knows how accurate the results are.
Jun
28

MSU Here I Come!

Posted by Kevin Doak on Sunday at: 12:46pm (June 28th, 2009)
I'm up early and headed to the MSU Munley Memorial Long Course Meet. Because of my work schedule I only got 4 hours of sleep. I feel the slightest bit shakey this morning, probably from lack of sleep and food. I have a few bananas with me for the 1 hour drive to East Lansing.

It looks a little overcast at this point so I'm hoping its done raining (this is an outdoor meet).

Jun
28

600 Meters and a Start (Meet Prep)

Posted by Kevin Doak on Sunday at: 1:49am (June 28th, 2009)
I just jumped in for 10 minutes today to loosen up for the meet tomorrow:

200 swim
200 Kick (front, back, right side, left side)
200 speed play (burst swimming)

And I finished up with a single start and a butterfly breakout. My start felt great so I left it alone.

I haven' t had time to look at the order of events but I'm hoping to swim:

50 Free
50 Fly
100 Free
100 Back
50 Back
Jun
27

Munley Memorial Meet tomorrow!

Posted by Kevin Doak on Saturday at: 4:49pm (June 27th, 2009)
I had a strong practice yesterday despite being quite tired from rollerblading. After a 2,000 meter kicking set, or main set was only 1,000 meters for the sprint group comprised of 5 other U of M men and women.

2 rounds:

5 x [50 Easy + 50 Fast] @ 1:00 (Descend +1 to -1 of 200 pace)
1:00 rest between rounds
Jun
26

Great Day to Rollerblade!

Posted by Kevin Doak on Friday at: 8:22pm (June 26th, 2009)
I made it a very early morning and got a jump start on my day. I finished work early which left me some time to go rollerblading in the sunshine. I probably saw a total of 10 people out on the paths, it was nice and quiet! I barely pushed it while rollerblading, I think a rough week at practice combined with a short night of sleep equaled zero motivation to skate fast. I was enjoying the scenery and the families out walking etc.

Yesterday at practice, after drinking a gross amount of water, I weighed in at 167.4 lbs! An adult alltime low. I literally laughed at the scale.

Jun
25

Heck of a workout day and Running in the Rain!

Posted by Kevin Doak on Thursday at: 11:09pm (June 25th, 2009)
I've filled today with quite a few activities. I woke up, worked, decided to get some sun while swimming at Fuller Pool. Today I just felt like cruising. I literally did zero hard swimming. I did some slow backstroke and moderate kicking and most likely got in about 1500 meters in 1.5 hours in the water! I ran into my friend Rodolpho Palma, the coach of Ann Arbor Masters. We caught up for a few minutes before he began training. Rodolpho has always been a fantastic resource for swim training and all things athletic.
Jun
25

In The Best Shape of My Life

Posted by Kevin Doak on Thursday at: 3:25pm (June 25th, 2009)
I'm making incredible progress :)
Jun
25

Quick 100's

Posted by Kevin Doak on Thursday at: 5:50am (June 25th, 2009)
I ran to swim practice again. I find I have much slower times when I start my practice like this. Today we swam:

8 rounds:

100 drill on 2:00
100 kick on 2:15
100 MAX on 2:00

I did 4 rounds backstroke and held 1:10 on each one. Then switched to freestyle and was a rock solid 1:03 on each one. As usual, I expected more but it was all I had. I've learned I'm just a meet swimmer, no matter how fast I train, I'll never be much of a practice swimmer and I'm ok with that. I can almost always rev it up for competitions.
Jun
24

Standing My Ground on Tech Suits

Posted by Kevin Doak on Wednesday at: 5:07pm (June 24th, 2009)
The lastest ruling by FINA (The international governing body of swimming) has readopted the recently illegal suits as legal. All 198 banned suits have been added to the approved list of 202 suits (basically all suits legal before 2008). USA Swimming released a statement that it was disapointed with the FINA ruling and will push for stricter regulations on competition suits.

Here are a few good articles:

Commentary on how Tech suits have impacted summer league swimming
Jun
24

Triceps, Running and a Huge Kick Set

Posted by Kevin Doak on Wednesday at: 4:08am (June 24th, 2009)
I woke up and began "Phase 2" of the P90X program. Today was "Chest, Biceps and Triceps. It was solid amount of pushups, curls, seated dips and chest fly's. I finally found a piece of this workout system I am absolutely incapable of achieving on any level. The 1 arm pushup. I tried many times. I CAN NOT do a single 1 arm pushup.
Jun
23

30x100's Backstroke

Posted by Kevin Doak on Tuesday at: 5:29am (June 23rd, 2009)
Following a 40 minute warmup and pre-main set, we began a set of 30x100's. It was a challenging set for me but I held it together quite well. As usual, I wanted to be much faster, but I held my heart rates exactly as directed:

10x100's @ 1:35 [5 white + 5 pink]
2x200's @ 3:00
10x100's @ 1:40 [5 pink + 5 red]
2x200's @ 3:00
10x100's @ 1:45 [5 red + 5 blue]
2x200's @ 3:00
1:00 Rest
100 ALL OUT
Jun
22

Registered for USMS Long Course Nationals!

Posted by Kevin Doak on Monday at: 1:33pm (June 22nd, 2009)
I've been dragging my feet this summer on signing up for meets. I finally kicked it into gear and used the fancy new online registration for the USMS Long Course Nationals meet this August. The following times aren't necessarily my fastest because the USS times aren't in the USMS database. Here is my lineup:
Jun
22

Shoot! Forgot about the 12 Month Goal!

Posted by Kevin Doak on Monday at: 12:30pm (June 22nd, 2009)
I've been so focused on training, I've lost track of my 12 Month Goal! I only have 4 months to drop some huge time.

SCY (Short Course Yards)... I've almost already run out of time, I need to achieve 4 Lifetime Best times in some of my best events. Since I made the goal at the beginning of the SCY season, I had literally only a few months to both get in shape and achieve all my times due to the "seasons" of the courses available... poor planning on my part! At this point it will be tough to find a meet to compete in before October.

SCY (Short Course Yards)
Jun
21

Calm Water, Month 1 of P90X and Training Reflections

Posted by Kevin Doak on Sunday at: 5:22am (June 21st, 2009)
It's been a busy few days but I've been keeping up with training both in and out of the water. Both Friday and Saturday were VERY rough practices for me, I was in survival mode. I was so broken down and I was just trying to make it through alive. Both days were Short Course Yards due to a large diving meet occupying the deep end of the pool. It was actually sort of nice to have some new sights to look at in the pool area, just a good change of pace.
Jun
18

Tonight I Finish Month 1 of P90X!

Posted by Kevin Doak on Thursday at: 8:00pm (June 18th, 2009)
I'm excited to finish my first month of the P90X tonight! Its been a rough month and a half regarding life and schedule but I'm happy to say I'm 1/3rd the way done with the program!
Jun
18

48x50's long course and TIM EVERETT returns!

Posted by Kevin Doak on Thursday at: 12:20am (June 18th, 2009)
Today I was excited to see the return of a great Eastern Michigan University athlete. A swimmer by the name of Tim Everett returned for the summer from the University of Chicago where he transferred last year to pursue a degree in Political Science. When I talk about Tim, I'm proud to say we attended the same college. He's a great teammate, a skilled swimmer and an all around good person with a very bright future. I was happy to hear he will be training with the workout group at EMU. As a fellow backstroker, Tim will push me each day in practice. Glad to have you back Tim!
Jun
17

3,000 Meter Kick Set and "White Knight"

Posted by Kevin Doak on Wednesday at: 12:12am (June 17th, 2009)
The phrase of the day is "White Knight". I've never heard this one used in any sort of training context until today. During a warmup set, a swimmer in the next lane was apparently sandbagging most of the set only to go all out during the last 200 meters. The phrase I heard was... "and then went White Knight on the last one". We all laughed at the comment and I immediately filed that one away for the blog :)
Jun
16

X Stretch

Posted by Kevin Doak on Tuesday at: 5:06pm (June 16th, 2009)
I did a workout from P90X last night called "X Stretch". I fully admit I don't stretch enough, and my experience last night was evidence of why I don't. This workout was beyond boring. I understand it's probably impossible to make stretching an exciting event, but 60 minutes of static stretching was enough to put me to sleep, and it eventually did.

I know stretching is a necessary part of working out, and I will try to do it more, but this X-Stretch is tough to sit through. It was a nice evening of rest though, which is probably what it's meant for.
Jun
16

A Nose Clip Just Rocked My World

Posted by Kevin Doak on Tuesday at: 3:16am (June 16th, 2009)
Today I was recruited to create a backstroke lane. It ended up being me, and 4 other swimmers including Lori Morton, the incredible kicker. I was really feeling sore today after 3 workouts on Sunday. Not that I didn't expect that to happen, but I really should have taken it easy with the weights in the morning. The lunges and squats causes me to classify my rear end and legs as "DEMOLISHED". I have a hard time sitting down in cars and walking is fairly painful as well. The swimming seemed to help loosen my leg muscles up a little.
Jun
16

Fuller Pool Picture

Posted by Kevin Doak on Tuesday at: 3:16am (June 16th, 2009)

I climbed to the top of the waterslide for this elevated shot.
Jun
15

3 Workouts, 1 Day

Posted by Kevin Doak on Monday at: 4:57am (June 15th, 2009)
I woke up and did a 1 hour P90X legs and back workout to begin great Sunday! It was a beautiful morning so I headed to Fuller Pool for an outdoor swim. The pool opened at 11am for lap swimming and I was there shortly after. There were 8 long course lanes and 8 people, it stayed that way the entire time I was swimming. When I got in, I noticed my good friend Jim Pogue was swimming right next to me. Jim is active in the Masters community and a very good swimmer. To my other side I noticed a fast swimmer I couldn't identify.
Jun
13

First Double Day in a long time!

Posted by Kevin Doak on Saturday at: 12:13am (June 13th, 2009)
I did two swim practices today, the first time in a long time. Commonly referred to as "doing doubles", which I haven't had time for in my schedule for a long time. It felt great to swim that much in a day, however, my second practice was noticeably slower than the first.

We did quite a few 200m race pace 50's this afternoon, I was holding 30-33's on them. I wanted to be much faster but I was quite worn out. Our kicking set after warmup was fantastic. Right up my alley!

3 Times Through:
200 @ 4:00 Casual Kicking
2x100 @1:50 No Board Negative Split
Jun
12

Beautiful morning for a swim

Posted by Kevin Doak on Friday at: 2:01pm (June 12th, 2009)
Today I woke up early and swam to make up for my malnourished practice yesterday afternoon. What a great way to start the day! I've been so busy and up so late that morning practices haven't been in the cards for quite some time. The swimmers and coaches were understandably surprised to see me there.
Jun
11

Shaky at Practice

Posted by Kevin Doak on Thursday at: 9:28pm (June 11th, 2009)
I got in a mere 1,500 meters before sending myself home today. I forgot to eat 2 hours before practice and by the time I remembered it was too close to my training. I was feeling pretty shaky by the time warmup ended and I called it a day. I'll do P90X tonight and go to morning practice tomorrow to make up for my missed workout.

I felt kind of pathetic giving up in front of everybody but I know what's best for my body. Lesson learned.

Jun
10

Worlds Largest Pool makes it official

Posted by Kevin Doak on Wednesday at: 3:17am (June 10th, 2009)
After unintentionally taking Saturday, Sunday and Monday off all forms of workouts I was back in the pool today for a good sprint workout.  After doing Yoga last night I was a little sore today.  I have to say I'm kinda hooked on the Yoga.  It's now my favorite dryland workout.  I still really struggle with some of the postures, but I'm getting much better at it across the board.
Jun
7

Health Rundown

Posted by Kevin Doak on Sunday at: 3:47pm (June 7th, 2009)
As much as I like sharing my swimming experiences with friends and family, this blog is also a great tool for me to keep track of my training and health. Here's a little health rundown:

Sickness
Jun
6

Just can't make 6 days!

Posted by Kevin Doak on Saturday at: 8:47pm (June 6th, 2009)
I was on a roll there. 5 days straight in the pool and this morning missed my alarm and couldn't make it to practice in time. I finally did Kempo X last night which put me back on track with my dryland workouts. I may swim tomorrow to make up for today if I can. Tonight is Yoga!
Jun
6

Lake Orion Picture

Posted by Kevin Doak on Saturday at: 2:11pm (June 6th, 2009)
I just dug up this photo from January 2008. The first Masters Meet at Lake Orion High School. I broke the pool record in the 100 Backstroke with a 51.22 (only to break it a year later with a 49.84). If I remember correctly, the local paper wrote a little article about the meet and mentioned my name. It was a great honor and the meet was great press for USMS!

Jun
6

New Little Website Addition

Posted by Kevin Doak on Saturday at: 4:51am (June 6th, 2009)
I just added a "Current Training" blurb to the left of this window, I'll update it every month or so with my latest workout regiment so the folks who don't read this frequently (Gasp!) can quickly find out what I've been up to. As always, thanks for reading!
Jun
5

Crazy Schedule

Posted by Kevin Doak on Friday at: 6:20pm (June 5th, 2009)
I never got to do the Kempo X last night, my schedule has just been insane. I really want to finish a full week of swimming. This will be my first week of making all 6 days in the pool (if all goes well). The last few weeks something always comes up and I miss a practice. I've yet to make it a week of 12 practices (6 swim, 6 dryland). I've missed 3 days of P90X this week alone. I really need to get back on track. I can tell how much better I feel in the pool when I don't do P90X, it's really noticeable in fact.
Jun
5

I found my BIG KICK

Posted by Kevin Doak on Friday at: 12:23am (June 5th, 2009)
Today we did a beneficial, yet incredibly boring set of 50x50's. It was split up:

3x (10x50's @ 1:00 + 100 easy @ 2:00)
2x (10x50's @ 0:55 + 100 easy @ 2:00)

All of it was #1 stroke with fins, I did mine backstroke with fins and one set freestyle with fins. I stayed on pace with the group for the entire workout. I pushed it a little but I was mindful of my elbow injury.
Jun
3

THATS how tired I am...

Posted by Kevin Doak on Wednesday at: 11:59pm (June 3rd, 2009)
Well, I just woke up from a totally unintentional nap sitting straight up in a chair. I had a great practice in the pool, somewhere around 6,000 meters. it consisted of 5 times through 4x50's and 4x200's FRIM on a descending interval. I was doing great on the 50's as well as the 200's up till the last two. The interval on the FRIM (Free, Back Breast Free... aka FRee/IM) had gotten down to the 2:50 long course. This was really pushing it for me. I held on for as long as I could, I made 2 of the last 4 of the 200's. I just had nothing left to give after the 18x200's.
Jun
2

Core Synergistics

Posted by Kevin Doak on Tuesday at: 5:25pm (June 2nd, 2009)
WOW. I completed my first "Core Synergistics" workout last night. This week in P90X was a "Recovery Week" but I honestly don't know how this was anywhere near anything that could be considered "recovery". I did so many new and interesting variations of exercises I don't even know where to start. It was really tough, especially the "Running Pushups" where you run in place horizontally in the upward pushup position and then run in place in the downward pushup position. This is all while rotating your hips to keep your knees from hitting the ground.
Jun
2

Yoga + 6,000 meters

Posted by Kevin Doak on Tuesday at: 2:33am (June 2nd, 2009)
I was tired BEFORE this afternoon's swim workout started. A late night of Yoga just ruined me... feels great though :)

It's interesting that certain parts of the Yoga workout have gotten easier and others have gotten harder. I still struggle with the "Twisting Half Moon" pose, which is held for 30 seconds per side. Doesn't sound like much, but this one is directly after other challenging poses. I have yet to make it through this pose successfully. My legs just end up giving out entirely.
Jun
1

A Weekend of Supporting Others

Posted by Kevin Doak on Monday at: 3:03am (June 1st, 2009)
I had a great weekend supporting friends. I had a chance to support my friends Sarah Volpe, Mary Jo Desprez and Chris Easthope as they competed in the Dexter Ann Arbor 5k Run. I got some great pictures of them finishing their race.