August 2010
Back in the pool/gym today
I cut the palm hand open doing some manual labor on Saturday so I took a few days off, back in the pool today!
Focused on Kicking
I began with a 600 swim and moved on to a 6 x 100's Kick. I was feeling good so I moved my typical kick warmup interval from 1:40 to 1:30, the same as a normal animal kick. I felt like I was barely working but going fast. I ended up averaging 1:21 for the 6 of them. I had a heart rate of 22 for 10 seconds, meaning I was barely working. My kicking and abs are improving!
Post-Practice Weight: 169.6 lbs
Looking Forward to the Next 12 Months of Training!
I'm feeling great in the pool and my most recent Animal Kick was a great indication that I'm improving. A while ago I asked Coach Peter Linn what the fastest Animal Kick average he's ever seen was. He responded "1:05". I never heard who it was, but I'm making that my new overall goal. I want to average under 1:03 for all my kick sets. It's a TEN second drop from my already (personally) impressive time of 1:13.
BEST "Animal Kick Set" to date!
I'm really feeling like I'm back in my groove :)
I decided to do an old fashoned "Animal Kick" which is composed of
600y Free/Back
6 x 100y @ 1:40 kick w/board
10 x 100y @ 1:30 paddle pull
400y swim
10 x 100y Animal Kick @ 1:30
200 cool down
Post-Practice Weight: 170.9 lbs
mmm... Short Course Yards
Ah, my old friend, SCY. It's been far too long.
EMU switched over to Short Course Yards from Long Course Meters this weekend. I swam my first Short Course Yards workout in about 5 months. It always amazes me how different it is swimming 10% less distance with twice as many walls. I just feel like I'm flipping constantly.
Post-Practice Weight: 171.6 lbs
I'll take a day off... thank you very much
I didn't intend to, but I just didn't make it enough of a priority to get to a pool today. I'm pretty sore from lifting the other day so I figured it was a good excuse to rest up and put in a good two days this weekend.
I was going through some old video, I find video a great resource to learn from. I'm eager to get them back on the site!
Lift and Learn
Every so often I get a little unrealistic in the weight room. This was the case 2 days ago. I was doing 165lb (both arms) chest fly's along with plenty of other machines. Yet that one machine represented about a 50lb increase over normal. I consider myself a fairly intelligent individual but jeez... definitely a temporary lapse in judgement. My pectoral muscles are just desolated. I hurt in places I didn't know was possible. I truly didn't know I had muscles at the very center of my sternum. Yea...
Post-Practice Weight: 170.2 lbs
Sore but feeling good in the water
I'm already sore from the weight room less than 24 hours ago. Probably not a good sign. It felt great to swim again after two unplanned days off. I feel like the next 12 months will be really exciting. I have some great workouts planned and I'm feeling stronger every day. I'm beginning to make time to train again. Today I renewed my membership to the EMU Rec/IM. At $219.00 it's beyond a bargain for 12 months of access to a world class training facility.
Post-Practice Weight: 171.2 lbs
Making Progress with Weights
I've made some great progress on my weight training lately. I feel stronger and I'm moving down the weight plates on quite a few machines. Last night I tried the Elliptical Machine for the first time. I gotta say, I've never even tried it because frankly, I think people look silly using them. I'm not kidding at all. I see somebody on an elliptical machine and I think to myself "I don't want to look like that person". I'm talking about everyone here.
In Desperate Need of a Workout
I just got done working 31 hours straight. I really wish I had the energy to workout, it would feel great. I'm gonna hit the Gym for a late night pump up session. The place I workout just got an "Ab Coaster". A silly looking little workout machine. You really feel quite dumb using it but it's a heck of an Abdominal workout. Check out the hokey site:
www.abcoaster.com
Caution, it starts playing a movie immediately.
100 Meter Practice
Well the pool was closed so I hopped in for a Bandit 100 meters to cool off from 45 minutes of dryland. Don't tell.
Shortest practice ever.
Post-Practice Weight: 173.1 lbs
Pardon me, would you have any Grey Poupon?
I was invited to train at a local Country Club this morning. It was a 26 meter pool. That's not a typo. Why you would ever make a pool a single meter longer than an international regulation length is beyond me. It was a good practice alongside some current College swimmers. I can't imagine I'll be making this a normal routine partially due to the sheer quantity of hairballs floating around the pool. I saw them (yes, plural) as soon as I started swimming but hoped they would just stay away from me.
2,800 with the MURPH
Ran into Scott Murphy at Eastern. The current MAC Champion, MAC Record Holder in the 200 Breaststroke and all around good guy. I totally play favorites, and he's one of the cool ones. We were short on time so only got in 2,800 Long Course. He's sticking around till December so we've been discussing training together until then and traveling to a meet before the new year.
A little sore from the gym the other night. Feeling like I'm making progress though.
Post-Practice Weight: 172.2 lbs
Swimmin' in the rain
It's a rare treat to swim in the rain. Most rain is accompanied by some lightning or thunder which closes pools faster than you can you can imagine. Yesterday it was just a light drizzle for most of the day. I got to swim backstroke without staring into the sun the whole time.
Finally porting in all times
I've been slacking on my times database. Finally porting in all my swimming times from my entire life. I'm almost done with the 100m Back LCM... it's a big job. Probably won't swim today but I'll get to the gym for sure
3,800 at Fuller
It just keeps getting better, I had a lane to myself for 1.5 Hours this morning. The pool must not even been open, there was nobody there at all. I feel like I really missed the boat on the end of summer meet. Everybody just kinda passed me up with tapers. I didn't start training in time to make a taper really worth it. I'm going to focus on some of the Masters meets this fall for a taper.
4,200 Meters SOLO
I hope it's the beginning of some great solo workouts. As the EMU/CW group winds down for the summer, I'll be forced to push myself in some solo practices. I committed to, and followed through with 4,200 long course meters by myself.... and I pushed it. I'm proud of myself!
600m Swim (100 Free/100 Back)
600m Kick @ 1:50 with Board
100m Easy
5 x 100m @ 1:40 Pull no equipment
5 x 100m @ 1:40 Paddle Pull
100 Easy
8 x 100m @ 2:00 Kick no board
6 x 100m @ 2:00 Swim D1-3
4 x 50 @ 1:00 Fly
200 cool down
Post-Practice Weight: 171.2 lbs
Practice Type: Kevin Kreation
Ok, that was gross
I walk into the shower area at the pool today and I see a guy pick up his dirty, inside out sock and wipe his face and clean out his ears with it. In hindsight, I'm surprised I didn't say anything while it was happening. I think I was just in shock that it was actually happening... call it literally "speechless".
Not like I'm some sort of clean freak, but jeez... The sock you wore working out and sweating in... on your face?!
A glorious 45 minutes with my own lane at fuller!
I swam with CW the other morning and thoroughly enjoyed a fully 45 minutes swimming outdoors with my own lane! I don't think I've ever been in that pool and had a lane to myself for that long. It was a really nice morning to be out catching some rays. Our main set was:
12x50 Butterfly @ 1:00 (50 2/3rd Drill, 1/3rd Swim THEN 50 1/3rd Dril, 2/3rd Swim, THEN 50 Swim)
It was pretty rough after the first 9 or so but overall a great set, the practice was only 3800 Meters
Post-Practice Weight: 171.9 lbs
Shrt on tme
I've been slammed busy and short on time to blog but training is going well. I've been in the pool each day doing 3,000-4,500 meters a day. I FINALLY went to the gym for the first time in a month the other night. I've been doing some dryland at home instead. I really want to get on a normal schedule again, I find I train better when I follow my plan.
Back to work!
Post-Practice Weight: 172 lbs