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After running to practice I got in 4,500 yards today. I'm well on my way to averaging more than 4,000 yards per day this entire week. I did 3,000 yards of kicking, IM and pulling to start things out followed by an Animal Kick set. This is a set from my college days consisting of 10x100's kick on the 1:30. It's a great benchmarking set for me. In college I used to average about 1:21, I'd always start out pretty quick but could never keep the speed for the entire 15 minute set. Today I did the following set on just less than 2 minutes rest after my main set:

1:12
1:16

They cranked up the heat in the Jones Pool today for some reason, it's always harder to work out when it's warm like that. I managed to get in 4,000 yards before the college team got in. I'm still hurting quite a bit from doing lunges and dry land exercises the other day. I spoke with Skip, one of the meet organizers for the next Masters Meet at EMU in January. It sounds like it will be a good one. I'm going to try to get some new and old swimmers to make it to this meet. Eastern is a great venue and an even better pool.

I took Monday off to rest and catch up on some projects. Today I did dry land and weights as well as ran to practice. Once I got in the pool I was in SLOW MOTION big time. I was watching age groupers pass me left and right, it was pretty sad. I managed to get in 4,200+ yards and I'm glad I went but even happier that not many witnessed that practice!

After some dryland and bodyweight exercises I picked up an EMU workout and it wasn't until after the warmup that I started counting up the yards... It added up to 8,000! I knew this was more than double my typical yardage but I know I need to work harder to swim faster. I'm going to take all the solid parts of my training that have brought me some lifetime bests lately and work even harder while adding a moderate amount of yardage. I've done some great kicking sets but I'm not focusing enough on lung capacity.

14 hours after my 100 Fly lifetime best I'm back in the weight room, doing dryland exercises and in the pool to better myself. This weekend showed me that I'm on the right track but I need to do far more to achieve my goal. I have one month before a SCY masters meet at EMU on January 11th 2009. The next month will present quite a few obstacles to my training between the holidays and family events. I need to make sure I maintain a healthy balance, enjoy family and friends while keeping my goal in mind and continue training. I welcome the challenge.

I had a really fast 100 Fly (for me). I swam a 49.93! A full 2 second drop! I never train butterfly at all so being under 50 seconds is really good for me! My 50 fly split was also a lifetime best by 0.06 seconds at 22.58. I feel really great about my swims this weekend! It shows me I'm improving and quickly becoming the fastest swimmer I've ever been in every single event in every course. I'm going to review all three videos tonight and reflect on where I can improve. What a great weekend!

I still have a lot of work to do, but I had a great 100 Back at a 49.50! Its still 0.99 seconds away from my lifetime best but I'm VERY pleased with my performance! This is the fastest swim since college and about a 2 second drop from a few months ago. I took it out in a 23.73 which is a solid split. I'm really proud, I'm on the right track to break all my personal bests! I love swimming!

The meet director thinks he can get me in after a 1650 time trial so I have at least another 20 minutes after the events are over but I should have a chance to time trial the 100 Back.

I'm on my way to the Jones Natatorium to hopefully time trial a 100 Backstroke. Its been over a year since I've done a shaved and tapered 100 Back SCY (Short Course Yards). If the meet director can accomodate me I'll swim immediately after the morning session of the EMU Invite. This pool is by far my favorite short course facility. It was built very well in the 80's (like me). It has great gutters and solid walls (no bulkheads). I hope I can get a good swim in, I feel good.