Catching up with some MAC Champions
May
28Catching up with some MAC Champions
Posted by Kevin Doak on Thursday at: 4:31am (May 28th, 2009)
During practice this evening I noticed Derick Roe speaking to Coach Peter Linn. Towards the end of practice I saw Matt Ense walk on deck. It's been years since I've seen Matt. Derick Roe was a MAC Champion over the last few years and placed 17th at the 2008 USA Olympic Trials in the 50 Freestyle with a 22.65. Matt Ense won the 1650 during his time at EMU and graduated in 2002. I had a chance to catch up with both guys after my practice.
We had a chance to discuss college swimming, coaching, masters swimming and Matt's time coaching at The Race Club. We all seemed to have a common interest in the P90X program. I explained how much I was enjoying it. Roe mentioned I looked a little more defined than last year.
I had a painful practice (get ready for whining). The combination of my enduring elbow injury, combined with my ankle hyper extension, added on top of my left knee hurting like heck... meant a painful 2 hours in the water. Our main set was some "Red" and "Blue" 200's and 150's. Colors denote a "Pace" that you should swim at. I'll explain in more detail someday but the ranking is:
I did much better than I expected. Still not impressive in the big scheme of things, but it shows I'm getting better. Last week I had trouble going 2:46's on a 200 backstroke. Today I was down to 2:35 multiple times. That's a huge drop for me, and much closer to what I should be.
I've enjoyed meeting some of the kids at practice (yes, they're kids). Every moment I'm there I feel old. The other day I practiced with the youngest swimmer there at 16 years old. His name is Max. We had the oldest and the youngest swimmer in the same lane, and were pretty much practicing at the same speed.
I swam with Lori, Ashley and Emma during the backstroke set today. They are all considerate swimmers, which is really nice. Sometimes you get stuck with somebody who likes swimming down the middle of the lane, or doesn't apologize when they run into you. It's a supportive environment, we motivate each other and it's a good feeling.
I'm hurting, tired and worn down. I'll get through it.
We had a chance to discuss college swimming, coaching, masters swimming and Matt's time coaching at The Race Club. We all seemed to have a common interest in the P90X program. I explained how much I was enjoying it. Roe mentioned I looked a little more defined than last year.
I had a painful practice (get ready for whining). The combination of my enduring elbow injury, combined with my ankle hyper extension, added on top of my left knee hurting like heck... meant a painful 2 hours in the water. Our main set was some "Red" and "Blue" 200's and 150's. Colors denote a "Pace" that you should swim at. I'll explain in more detail someday but the ranking is:
(SLOWER)
White
Pink
Red
Blue
Purple
(FASTER)
White
Pink
Red
Blue
Purple
(FASTER)
I did much better than I expected. Still not impressive in the big scheme of things, but it shows I'm getting better. Last week I had trouble going 2:46's on a 200 backstroke. Today I was down to 2:35 multiple times. That's a huge drop for me, and much closer to what I should be.
I've enjoyed meeting some of the kids at practice (yes, they're kids). Every moment I'm there I feel old. The other day I practiced with the youngest swimmer there at 16 years old. His name is Max. We had the oldest and the youngest swimmer in the same lane, and were pretty much practicing at the same speed.
I swam with Lori, Ashley and Emma during the backstroke set today. They are all considerate swimmers, which is really nice. Sometimes you get stuck with somebody who likes swimming down the middle of the lane, or doesn't apologize when they run into you. It's a supportive environment, we motivate each other and it's a good feeling.
I'm hurting, tired and worn down. I'll get through it.