August 2009

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Aug
30

Flume Video!

Posted by Kevin Doak on Sunday at: 6:20am (August 30th, 2009)
Well it only took a few weeks, but I've transferred the video from VHS and made a digital copy. While competing at the 2009 Masters Long Course Nationals I had the chance to swim in a "Flume". A Flume is a small pool which you swim against a constant current. This experience was made possible by the company "Endless Pools" sponsoring the event. There is a permanently installed Flume at the IUPUI Natatorium. You can read more about Flumes at the "Endless Pool" website: www.endlesspools.com
Aug
26

Taking a day or two off

Posted by Kevin Doak on Wednesday at: 2:02am (August 26th, 2009)
A day after my weight workout in Chicago the pain started to set in. I overlifted to the point that my arms are now officially classified as useless appendages. In fact, I had to type this entire post with my nose.

After another brief sightseeing trip I'll be back in the pool training for some masters meets coming up this fall! I can't wait for Short Course again!

Aug
23

Running along the Chicago Lakeshore

Posted by Kevin Doak on Sunday at: 4:21pm (August 23rd, 2009)
For as many movies as it's been in, I've always wanted to run along the Chicago lakeshore. It was a nice brisk morning so I took a jaunt along Lake Michigan. Forgive the poor pictures, I took them WHILE running.




Aug
22

Weight Lifting on the 40th Floor in Chicago!

Posted by Kevin Doak on Saturday at: 10:47pm (August 22nd, 2009)
While visiting some friends in Chicago I decided to at least get a weight workout in. It was an experience I've never had before. While working out, I was overlooking downtown Chicago from the 40th floor! It was really quite cool. I don't live in a big city so between sets I found it really interesting to look at all the activity and interesting looking buildings from the windows on two sides of the facility. The pictures don't do it justice at all but here are a few:
Aug
21

Gearing up for a 5k Run

Posted by Kevin Doak on Friday at: 4:04pm (August 21st, 2009)
After a short break from swim training, I've started training for my yearly 5k run. Since the pool I typically train in is closed for the next 10-15 days this gives me a great (forced) opportunity to avoid the pool.
Aug
19

Where to swim... Where to swim...

Posted by Kevin Doak on Wednesday at: 7:52pm (August 19th, 2009)
A quick call to my favorite Pool Guy, Tim White, answered a few of my pressing Jones Natatorium questions. The pool will be closed until September 5th but they're hoping to be done by the 1st. He mentioned that there is still about 5 feet of water at the bottom which still needs to be drained.

Tim wasn't as excited as I was regarding my plans to rollerblade in the pool once it was dry. I'm sure a crisp new $5 dollar bill might change his mind...

For now I'll be running and rollerblading on days I can't make it over to the outdoor Fuller Pool.

Aug
18

Yup... I missed it

Posted by Kevin Doak on Tuesday at: 8:11pm (August 18th, 2009)
I FINALLY got back in the pool Monday after a full week off! I felt very awkward in the water. It was really quite relaxing. I told myself I was just going to swim as long as I felt like... which turned out to be about 30 minutes and 1500 meters. I'm excited to get back into training! I really missed being in the water.
Aug
15

Gasp! Jones Pool is Drained!

Posted by Kevin Doak on Saturday at: 6:13pm (August 15th, 2009)
I was planning on hopping in the pool today for a bit however I figured I would call ahead since the university is between semester. The well informed Rec/IM phone attendant mentioned that both pools were drained and had no idea when they would reopen. I'm really hoping its sometime this decade.

I've enjoyed my week off swimming but I'm eager to at least start some aerobic workouts next week at fuller. I've done a small amount of dryland in the past few days and I'm surprised how quickly I lost strength in these areas!

Aug
12

Day 3 of Accomplishing NOTHING Athletic!

Posted by Kevin Doak on Wednesday at: 11:48pm (August 12th, 2009)
Alright, 3 days is about as much as I can handle. I'll probably hop in the pool or do a dryland workout tomorrow. The last 3 days have been really interesting from many angles:
  • I eat like a normal person, perhaps as little as 3 meals a day
  • I'm able to stay awake the entire day
  • I think about working out more than a few times a day, partially guilt, partially just missing it
Aug
11

50 Back - Post World Record Video

Posted by Kevin Doak on Tuesday at: 7:35pm (August 11th, 2009)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrXe5phYbjY&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0]
Aug
11

Walking to the pool before the World Record

Posted by Kevin Doak on Tuesday at: 7:22pm (August 11th, 2009)

Just a picture I snapped about an hour before we set the world record on Saturday in the 200 Medley Relay and my personal world record in the 50 Back.
Aug
10

Swimmers go Old School!

Posted by Kevin Doak on Monday at: 6:57pm (August 10th, 2009)
Thanks to Nadine Day and Patrick Saucedo for giving me the heads up on this article!

http://usaswimming.org/usasweb/ViewNewsArticle.aspx?TabId=1267&Alias=Rainbow&Lang=en&ItemId=2582&mid=4153


The swimmers in the final heat of the 200 IM at the U.S. Open made a pact to wear low tech suits to even the playing field, I LOVED this article (and idea!)
Aug
10

2009 Long Course Nationals Videos Posted!

Posted by Kevin Doak on Monday at: 6:32pm (August 10th, 2009)
I've posted the videos from this past week on the Video Page
Aug
10

14 out of 23 Lifetime Best's in 10 Months

Posted by Kevin Doak on Monday at: 3:33pm (August 10th, 2009)
I had a great meet, achieving 4 personal lifetime best times. Checking my progress on my 12 month goal, I'm very proud of what I've accomplished. I've swam faster than EVER before 14 times in 10 months! I still have 9 lifetime bests to accomplish in 2 months. It's a bit unrealistic for a few reasons... availability of meets and current swimming ability. Here are the swims I still need to achieve:

50 Back SCY - 22.22
Aug
10

THANK YOU!

Posted by Kevin Doak on Monday at: 2:39pm (August 10th, 2009)
Thank you to everbody who helped me achieve this past week:

Dan Doak
Barb Gray
Kristen Gray
Nikhil Borkhetaria
Alec Mull
Patrick Saucedo
Camron Mull
Skip Thomson
Sally Guthrie
Derek Weaver
Jim Pogue
Jeff
Corrin Popps
Mark Gill

Aug
9

Great Day but 100% less World Records Achieved

Posted by Kevin Doak on Sunday at: 8:44pm (August 9th, 2009)
I had a great day today! I woke up, shaved and took a 30 minute power nap and relaxed a bit before heading to the pool. Everything went really well preparation wise. I prepared for my 50 Free and had a great swim! My race was as flawless as can be expected. I fell apart at the end but the time didn't really show it. I swam my lifetime best without a tech suit! My best is a 23.76 with a Speedo LZR and I swam a 23.96! I was VERY happy with that! My first time under 24 seconds without a tech suit!
Aug
9

Up Early and Ready for Day 4!

Posted by Kevin Doak on Sunday at: 1:54pm (August 9th, 2009)
I got a good night's rest and I'm ready for the last day of the USMS Long Course National Championship meet! Up until yesterday it's been a mixed bag in regard to my performances. I started out with a good 50 Fly on Thursday but Friday was a disappointing 100 Free and 100 Back. Saturday started out bad with the 800 Free Relay and 400 Medley Relay but ended great with the 400 Free Relay and 200 Medley relay which earned us a World Record and me a Personal World Record in the 50 Backstroke.
Aug
9

Double World Record!

Posted by Kevin Doak on Sunday at: 1:20am (August 9th, 2009)


After further review our 200 Medley relay also broke the Masters World Record by 0.10 seconds! That makes two masters world records in one day!

The team was:

Kevin Doak
Patrick Saucedo
Camron Mull
Alec Mull
Aug
8

I'm back! World Record! 50 Back!

Posted by Kevin Doak on Saturday at: 9:30pm (August 8th, 2009)
Plenty of other great news for today but the biggest is MY FIRST WORLD RECORD!

I lead off the 200 Medley Relay with a 50 backstroke... I knew I was feeling good and the relay excitement just fueled the fire! I had a perfect start and spun to the other end to touch in 26.64 seconds! I broke the world record set in 1994 by .04 seconds!

I'm so excited to have had a great swim and a lifetime best time in a speedo brief suit. I bested my previous mark of 26.75 I achieved at the same meet as my 57.00 last March when I was wearing a full body Speedo LZR tech suit!

I had a GREAT DAY!

Aug
8

I just swam a 200 free?!

Posted by Kevin Doak on Saturday at: 2:15pm (August 8th, 2009)
First time ever... I swam a 200 freestyle as part of a 800 freestyle relay!

Its difficult to describe how much I didn't want to swim this event but I buckled under the peer pressure of Alec Mull and agreed. I warned the team how poorly I would swim but they wanted to give it a shot anyway. We were going after the National Record of 8:13.xx. The relay was comprised of:

Camron Mull
Kevin Doak
Patrick Saucedo
Alec Mull

Aug
8

USMS Nationals (Day 2)

Posted by Kevin Doak on Saturday at: 3:29am (August 8th, 2009)
I had a few mediocre swims today. I wish I had better news to report:

100 Backstroke (1st Place)
50 meter split 27.9
100 meter time 59.05

100 Freestyle: (3rd Place) Lifetime Best Time
50 meter split 25.9

Aug
6

USMS Nationals (Day 1)

Posted by Kevin Doak on Thursday at: 7:23pm (August 6th, 2009)
There are a ton of Tech Suits here! I would estimate the number at 90% of all racers are wearing a full body suit. The another 9% are wearing leg skins or an older full body suit. I've only seen one other guy with a brief on. They're even selling more tech suits here at the meet! I'm amazed there is still a market for them. I've overheard swimmers talking about how they know they will be banned but they want to milk it for everything its worth until they're illegal. I have a feeling there are going to be a lot less records broken next year!
Aug
6

Walking to the "House of Champions"

Posted by Kevin Doak on Thursday at: 2:31pm (August 6th, 2009)
I got to sleep in this morning and I decided to take the brief 1/2 mile walk to the pool instead of driving. Its a beautiful morning here in Indy and I got to check out the "riverwalk" for the first time. I was really impressed! Its quite a neat piece of engineering. I hope I can take a longer walk when I have more time to burn. I've arrived at the pool, My 50 Fly begins at an estimated 10:26am
Aug
5

Just Kidding, one more practice at EMU

Posted by Kevin Doak on Wednesday at: 7:55pm (August 5th, 2009)
A hectic work day put me behind schedule for my trip to Indy. I'm back at EMU for my meet warmup swim this afternoon and will leave straight from practice.

I'm really excited to compete! I like the idea of swimming at IUPUI without the typical pressure of being around the pro swimmers. I have a feeling the meet will be pretty laid back but will last all day, every day.

Looking at the heat sheets which were released a few days ago, there is going to be some great competition.

Aug
5

Ready to Go!

Posted by Kevin Doak on Wednesday at: 4:46am (August 5th, 2009)
I had my last practice in Michigan before leaving for IUPUI and the 2009 USMS Long Course National Championships! I did about 2,500 meters with some variable sprints and starts. Everything feels good and I'm ready to go fast! I'll leave as soon as possible tomorrow and hope to practice at IUPUI Natatorium before the meet starts on Thursday morning.

I'm breaking out some new goggles and a new race suit for the meet, obviously just a Speedo Brief... representing pure competition!
Aug
3

Always a Battle

Posted by Kevin Doak on Monday at: 7:38pm (August 3rd, 2009)
I've done my best lately to eat enough and get adequate sleep leading up to my big taper meet this year. Its always a battle balancing life, relationships and friendships along with a full time work schedule with swimming every day. Thus far I've done a great job making everything happen and making few sacrifices on each portion of my life. Although something must always suffer. I've noticed its time with friends which seems to go by the wayside when I have such a deep commitment to work and training.
Aug
1

Preliminary 2009 USMS Top 10 Ranking

Posted by Kevin Doak on Saturday at: 10:28pm (August 1st, 2009)
The preliminary results of the Masters Swimming National Top 10 List has been published:

I think this year (so far) is among my best finishes, I rank in the top 10 in the nation in each event I've swam short course yards this year:

(5th Nationally) 50 Free: 21.21
(6th Nationally) 100 Free: 46.42
(1st Nationally) 50 Backstroke: 22.78
(1st Nationally) 100 Backstroke: 49.84
(5th Nationally) 200 Backstroke: 1:55.05
(2nd Nationally) 50 Fly: 22.49
(5th Nationally) 100 Fly: 50.66
Aug
1

Saturday Off - Sunday On

Posted by Kevin Doak on Saturday at: 5:58pm (August 1st, 2009)
I had a great practice at Canham Natatorium (U of M) on Friday morning. I'm feeling like I've tuned up some of my strokes well with a lighter workload of under 4,000 meters per day. At least one set per practice focuses on variable sprints. I really enjoy these sets. They're typically. 8x50's on the 1:00 and you mix up which parts of the 50 meters you swim all out fast. I typically do 1/3rd Fast, 1/3rd easy and 1/3rd Fast. I'll mix up the strokes every few 50's.