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After a very busy work weekend I didn't get a chance to swim or run on Friday or Saturday. I worked all day Sunday but did plyometric workouts through the day and fit a run in late at night. The night air was brutal on my throat and ear canals. It was really miserable, I will try to avoid the cold air from now on.

I've been crazy busy the last few days but I've managed to get in a 1 hour pool workout each day. Considering the sheer number of hours I've been working I'm really proud of myself that I always make exercise a priority. I've been swimming about 3,000 Long Course Meters per workout. I'll be stepping it up to around 3,500 to 4,000 in the coming weeks. I did my typical 3,200 meter workout yesterday and chose to do an "all-out" 100 Back at the end from a push (no dive). I was sore from weights and dryland workouts but managed to hit the wall, look up and see a 1:04.

Yesterday I took my time and did a full body workout in the weightroom and then went for a quick swim. I attempted to go for a run this morning in the heavy rain. I didn't get too far before my shoes lost traction because of all the water. My left foot slipped out from under me and I almost went down. I think I just sprained it a little, nothing serious, but needless to say I stopped running for the day. I'm going to try to swim today instead.

This morning I ran my typical (as of lately) 1.5 mile run. I finished in 13.09! I literally dropped about a minute from two days ago at 14.04. I love these huge performance gains when starting something new, what a confidence booster! I took it out in a 6:42 and my second lap was a 6:27. This means my first lap was 29 seconds faster than 2 days ago! My second lap was 26 seconds faster. I'm really proud of my progress for not being a runner. My body is adapting well to the impact involved in this sport. Today, just like two days ago, was totally painless on a health level.

I typically use a kick board, pull buoy and paddles in a normal practice. Tonight I was a little short on time because the pool closes at 9pm so I didn't pick up my bag of toys. I had a good practice which involved a 1,200 LCM warm up and some dolphin kicking on my back.

Tonight I negative split an athletic performance for the first time in my life!

Brace yourself, I'm gonna throw some big phrases at you:

I had a great swim practice today after a short weight set due to work conflicts. I find it a fun challenge to balance training with a career, it keeps me on my toes!

I did about 3,000 long course meters focusing on dolphin kick sets on my back to build back some core strength I feel I've lost lately. I also caught up with some Eastern swimmers for their first practice of the season after my workout. I hope to finish up some weights later and go for a quick run if I can stay conscious long enough!

I just finished another 1.5 mile run, I'm really proud of myself! I lengthened my stride through the entire run, I think it also helped my sore knee. It seems like when I take a longer stride I "bounce" up and down less. This puts less strain on my knees and I run faster. Although I didn't time myself I'm confident this run was much quicker than the last time. I'm on pace for a great 5k later this month.

I've added two meets to my schedule. I'll add quite a few more when I have time to figure out my work obligations. I'll go to the Milan meet in mid October and the TYR Grand Prix at IUPUI in late October. I think going to lots of meets will keep me motivated to further my training. I really want to break the Masters World Record in the 50 Back Short Course Meters (SCM). I'm a tenth of a second away at a 25.15, the record is a 25.05. I'll work on my pull more this fall as well as doing underwater kicking at least a few times a week.

I had a good swim practice today, I did about 3200 yards. EMU's Jones Natatorium is back to Short Course Yards (SCY) till the spring. I did 1700 warm up and an "Animal Kick" set we used to do in college. I like it because it's a simple set that benchmarks my performance level quickly. It's 10x100's on the 1:30 best average. In college I used to average about 1:21 meaning I would get about 9 seconds rest before swimming again. Before I got my trials cut I was about a 1:18 average. Today was fairly sad at a 1:27 average. I'm making this my first goal now that I'm back in the pool.