November 2009

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Nov
30

Staying active over the holiday weekend

Posted by Kevin Doak on Monday at: 12:50am (November 30th, 2009)
After a challenging week of training, I took today off as my day of rest. I'll be back in the pool bright and early along with a good ab workout later in the day. I'm feeling really positive about my training. I feel myself getting stronger and smoother in the water. My weight training has been progressing and I'm also stepping up my dryland training. Since I probably won't make it to Chicago for the TYR Grand Prix meet in early December, I'll try to make it to ether the Dewitt meet or perhaps simply time trial somewhere locally to get a few benchmark swims.
Nov
26

Practicing with a High School Team

Posted by Kevin Doak on Thursday at: 6:02pm (November 26th, 2009)
Over the holiday, my best option is to train with a local High School. I swam around 3,500 yards with them yesterday. It was a solid workout for me with a few challenging intervals on an IM set. Overall it was a good workout. Later in the day I did weights at home and some ab exercises. I feel empowered lately. My renewed interest in serious training along with my personal victory in training on Tuesday by dropping 4 seconds on my animal kick set has left me with a very positive outlook for my future swimming career!
Nov
25

WHOA! Lifetime Best Animal Kick!

Posted by Kevin Doak on Wednesday at: 9:22pm (November 25th, 2009)
I've mentioned many times how much I enjoy "benchmarking" sets because they help me determine where I am in my training. Yesterday I surprised myself. Every so often I do an "Animal Kick". A set I learned swimming for Peter Linn at EMU:

10x100's Kick @ 1:30
Nov
24

I'm Determined to be the Best Swimmer I've Ever Been

Posted by Kevin Doak on Tuesday at: 4:41pm (November 24th, 2009)
My athletic motivation is on fire lately. I have a totally renewed interest in becoming the best swimmer I've ever been. I have some interesting training ideas I'll be implementing. Ideas I've personally never heard of anybody trying. I find myself thinking about swimming and training just as much as I was leading up to the 2008 Trials. I see the differences in my daily life, I make time to lift, to stretch, to rest and to swim. I'm excited to see what else I can accomplish :)
Nov
24

The Wonder of Video

Posted by Kevin Doak on Tuesday at: 1:46am (November 24th, 2009)
I need to thank all the people in my life nice enough to hold a camcorder during my races the last few years. I just spent about 20 minutes watching some race footage and it's just a fantastic study tool. We live in such a wonderful time in technology... harnessing the ability to relive a moment in our lives. My race footage enables me to study my strong points as well as my faults. On this website, it enables me to show family and friends, some who are thousands of miles away, a race I competed in. We all take it for granted, myself included.
Nov
21

16 Out of 23

Posted by Kevin Doak on Saturday at: 12:36am (November 21st, 2009)
I had set a goal back in October 2008 to break every single lifetime best time within 12 Months. It was a lofty goal, I knew that going into it. I'm a little embarrassed to admit that I didn't achieve my goal. But at the same time, I didn't really give myself enough time to ramp up my training and attack it the way I would have liked. The actual result was that I broke 16 of 23 Lifetime Best Times in 12 months. Still not too shabby. The events which I didn't achieve Lifetime Bests in are:

50 Free SCY (0.03 off)
50 Back SCY (0.56 off)
100 Back SCY (0.99 off)
Nov
18

Practice with EMU

Posted by Kevin Doak on Wednesday at: 5:33pm (November 18th, 2009)
I made time to take some pictures for the EMU diving team on Tuesday and hopped in the pool with Easterns team for a brief 1 hour practice. The team had a fantastic kick set which totaled around 2,200 yards with variable intervals along with 12 minutes of vertical kicking. I enjoy my time training with a team.
Nov
16

Lifetime Best 50 Breaststroke

Posted by Kevin Doak on Monday at: 8:35pm (November 16th, 2009)
Well it doesn't take much to tag a lifetime best in the 50 Breast... it was quite an ugly race for me, but I bested my 2007 time by 3 tenths and brought my 30.69 to a 30.32! The rest of my races all felt great but I had mediocre times. Videos on the way.
Nov
15

Up early and ready for West Bloomfield

Posted by Kevin Doak on Sunday at: 2:37pm (November 15th, 2009)
I'm excited to swim in a local masters meet I've never had a chance to participate in! An unfamiliar pool and a new experience. I feel a little run down from a challenging week of training but I'll do my best. I'm planning on just swimming all four 50's and maybe the 100IM for today, nothing too hard. Updates later!
Nov
13

Yup, that hurts

Posted by Kevin Doak on Friday at: 7:18pm (November 13th, 2009)
I'm on day 4 of my renewed interest in swim training. I'm hurting pretty bad, I've been running a short distance each morning and swimming at least 3,000 yards along with vertical kicking. Today I'll do some more dryland and prepare for an easy day tomorrow in the pool leading up to Sunday's meet in West Bloomfield. I can't imagine I'll swim very well on Sunday since I'm a little broken down, but I'll do my best as always. I'm actually gonna try to swim the 50 Breast! It's been almost 3 years since I first swam it and I'm looking to lower my pathetic time of 30.69.
Nov
13

Welcome 10,000 visitors!

Posted by Kevin Doak on Friday at: 7:16pm (November 13th, 2009)
It kinda snuck up on me, but I wanted to thank 10,000 unique visitors to my site! Hits are only counted from a single computer once in a 24 hour period. Thanks for your interest in my swimming!
Nov
12

Off to a great start!

Posted by Kevin Doak on Thursday at: 9:19pm (November 12th, 2009)
I woke up early again and ran 2 miles to the pool. I was cautious not to push the running too much after my ankle injury. I did some dryland once I arrived and then jumped in for a 1 hour, 3,200 yard workout. I finished up with some vertical kicking and ran back to my car. I'm off to a great start with a renewed drive for bettering myself! I've impressed myself by fitting in swimming around my always busy schedule and no other priorities have suffered!

By the way... These are some COLD mornings to run!
Nov
11

A Turning Point

Posted by Kevin Doak on Wednesday at: 4:17pm (November 11th, 2009)
The last few months of my training could be described as mediocre at best. I've made it to the pool a few times a week, but I find that when I arrive, I lack motivation to work hard. There have been changes in my work and personal life which have attributed to these changes. The fact remains that I let these changes occur, and my training has suffered. It started with simply taking a week off after Masters Long Course Nationals in mid August. One week turned into two, which was followed by an ankle sprain injury which has only recently felt mostly healed.
Nov
10

Long Course... ouch

Posted by Kevin Doak on Tuesday at: 5:14am (November 10th, 2009)
Prior to the Coach Jones service at EMU, I had a chance to practice with a friend (and current EMU swimmer) Tim Everett. The pool staff had just switched the pool from short course to long course, so we modified the intervals accordingly. It turned out to be a much harder set than expected. The long course just tore me up.

I finished the 2200 meter main set of 100's with two "All Out" 100's on the 2:30. As expected, they were pretty ugly, I felt like I was drowning. The first was a respectable 1:07 and the second was a 1:21... ouch.
Nov
7

Coaching EMU for the Day

Posted by Kevin Doak on Saturday at: 7:31pm (November 7th, 2009)
While the travel team is out of town in Buffalo, NY and Akron, OH I was asked a few weeks ago to fill in coaching the swimmers who chose to continue training. Its honestly some of the first coaching experience I've ever had an opportunity to partake in.

I'd like to share an ironic situation I feel as I stand on the deck of the Michael H. Jones Natatorium. For years, like everybody else who has swam for EMU, I was instilled with an overwhelming respect for Coach Mike Jones.

Nov
5

Thank you for everything Coach Jones

Posted by Kevin Doak on Thursday at: 2:42am (November 5th, 2009)
Although it was expected from people close to the situation, I'm saddened to report that the Father of EMU swimming, Coach Mike Jones has passed away. I've been told he was with his family during his transition and he felt no pain.
Nov
2

4x75's

Posted by Kevin Doak on Monday at: 4:03am (November 2nd, 2009)
I had a chance to get in before attending the EMU meet this past Saturday. After a brief warmup, I joined a current EMU swimmer during a set of 4x75's on the 6:00. I'm was fairly proud of my times. I held :38's on each one of them. Certainly not stellar, but I felt it was a good point to be at. I stepped on the scale after practice and saw an alarming 179.4lbs... getting dangerously close to that nice round 180 number!

I'm hoping to step up my dryland training this week and get on a more normal training schedule.