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I'm not really sure why this workout was so difficult. I did the "Legs and Back" workout last evening. I don't think I've sweat so much in my life, I was dripping. My legs were literally failing, I was stumbling and falling occasionally. It was beyond rough. The workout has plenty of squats and lunges using handweights. The wall sits were unbelieveably hard last night, the first round was just two leg wall sits for 1 minute 30 seconds. The second round is one-leg wall sits. If you've never tried doing this, give it a shot for a good laugh.

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 did a series of 8x50's yesterday that I thought was beneficial to the 2nd half of my 100 Back. It seemed silly at first because you begin each 50 with a hard 5 second wall kick. I remember doing wall kicks as an age group swimmer. You're literally holding on to the wall and kicking toward it. It looks humorous, trust me.

Over the course of a few weeks, I've lost about 6lbs. I always weigh myself after my workout (I typically lose 2lbs of water during a swim workout). Although not the most scientific of comparisons. I notice that I was 168lbs at the time of my fastest 100m backstroke (57.00) in April 2008. By June 2008 I had ballooned to 175lbs and I swam .7 seconds slower yet I was tapered with more rest. Here I am again under 170lbs and feeling pretty good. I think slight weight fluctuations are normal but I often consider power to weight ratio.

I woke up early today for a Memorial Day practice. I knew I would be able to tell immediately if I could make it through a practice. There was a decent amount of pain my first few strokes. It wasn't enough to give up, but it didnt stop me from thinking about it! I survived through 4,000 meters, which took a little over an hour. When the paddle pull set of 5x300's came along, I decided to kick. I know I could have made it through it, but I had no intention of pushing it my first day back. I ended up doing about 5,500 meters in the time everybody else did 6,300.

After a full 3 days off swimming, my arm is a little improved. I'm going to try a light swim workout tomorrow morning. I've kept up with P90X each day so I haven't been too far gone during my absence from the pool. Tonight is the Yoga workout. The workouts are really difficult but I love the feeling when I finish the hour and a half of exercise.

Wish me luck.

I figured I would give the "arms and shoulders" workout a try last night since I couldn't swim. Surprisingly I felt zero pain doing normal extensions on my injured arm. It's really only lateral movement which affects the ligament. I will take the whole weekend off and try to swim Monday morning. I still feel some pain, it's only slightly better than it was yesterday but it seems to be healing.

My plans sort of changed, but I planned on going on a trip soon. I'm starting to plan my training locations. It's really exciting to think about seeing some new facilities and swimming venue's. I'm planning on visiting some people along the way, both swimming and non-swimming friends.

I'm not exactly sure how I'll formulate my practices, I'm hoping to get some workouts from the EMU swim group and use them while I'm away. Otherwise I'll try to join up with some teams at each pool.

I'm going to give myself credit for trying. I went all the way to the pool, got ready, stretched and dove in, took a single armstroke and had to stop at the 15 meter mark. I limped back to the wall and just shook my head. The joint hurts so much that I can't swim at all. I did 200 meters of kicking and just felt like taking the day off to rest.

Chalk this one up as the shortest practice EVER at 230 meters. Its supposed to be a beautiful weekend so I plan on perhaps swimming tomorrow and rollerblading or enjoying some metroparks while I get some exercise.