How quickly they turn...

One day everyone enjoys swimming with you. There is peace, love, happiness. Then the next day that love turns to sideward glances, under-the-water comments like "aren't you in the wrong lane?" and mysterious holes in your goggles. This is what happens, my friends, when you have one good distance day in the lane. It's called abandonment and I don't like it one bit! My new motto is "heck, no - I won't go!" * (*unless, of course, I like the other lane intervals better or I get kicked out.) You can't get rid of Katie O that easily. ;)

Great workout today, here is what we did:

6 x 50 alternate drill/free
3 times thru:
100 on 1:45
50 easy on 1:05
50 sprint on :45
50 easy on 1:05
Main set: 12 x 150
1-3 on 2:35
4-6 on 2:25
7-9 on 2:30
10-12 on 2:20

Great job by all - we had nearly a full lane today with I, E, SB, KBB, and C (who is joining us for the summer).

Autumn in New England?

I had this terrible hazy morning today where I woke up and thought that it was fall. It was dark, cold, and rainy. Part of me was trying to figure out what was going on (and what to wear - very important) when I double checked the calendar and it said May 27. Phew. I did not sleep through the summer, but many of us are a little bewildered by the stark differences of the weather this weekend and today. But you have to have the bad days to appreciate the good ones, isn't that right?

It is Wednesday, which means it was distance day. Here is what we did:

4 x 50 free
2 x 100 stroke/choice
4 x 50 drill/swim
2 x 100 gallop/choice
800 free pace keep 200 times on :60 r
100 stroke easy
800 broken at 200s for :10 seconds
100 stroke easy
600 pace on :30 r
100 stroke easy
6 x 100 free on 1:35

There is not much to say on this - just a lot of swimming! Great job by everyone today.

Holy Coaches Choice, Batman!

It was really super sweet of Bill to give us our own set today, rather than the 10 x 200IM the other lanes were doing. He must have taken one look at us (me, E, Carmen, Dr. Bob, Matt) and said "they need to pay for all the fun they had this weekend - no silly IM set for them." So I was going to entitle the blog "Just do it" but I worried that Nike would come after me for all the advertising revenue I get for the site. Anyway, here is what we did:

(Reminder for those of you at home: times and distances are long course)

WU
4 x 50 count strokes
3 x 100 gallop/choice
200 pull
Main
400 free on 6:40
2 x 50 free on 1:10
2 x 300 on 5:00
2 x 50 free
200 on 3:30
200 on 3:20
200 on 3:10
8 x 100
1-4 on 1:40
5-8 on 1:30

Good distance day. The 100s at the end of the workout were a little agressive - I only made 2 of them and just hung on for the remainder. And now that we are almost 2 weeks into long course, it's time for a nice reminder about some lane etiquette:

1.Send Intervals. When swimming long course, leave 10 seconds between yourself and the swimmer in front of you.

2.Keep your pace and pace yourself. Do not blow out the first part of the set and die on the last part. It is your responsibility to follow the coach’s instructions and set a reasonable pace for the lane.

3.The Role of the "Passer". If you have left an appropriate interval between you and the swimmer in front of you and have caught up, gently tap his toes to signal that you would like to pass at the wall. This is common practice, though some find it annoying. Too bad.

4.If you DO pass someone, you had better keep the pace! Remember on long sets the person ahead of you may be pacing herself (and the lane) to have enough energy to finish the set.(Remember: "descending" means you start out moderate and increase your speed!)

5.The Role of the "Passee".Don't be annoyed when someone wants to pass you. I know,I know - it's an ego thing, but in the grand scheme of things, it is better to let him pass and hope he holds the pace. Allow the swimmer to pass at the wall.Give the person a few seconds before shoving off of the wall in hot pursuit. It's not pretty when someone is 'swimming mad.’ Been there, done that. Not good.

A world with no lanes - Walden 2009

Good day! Today was my maiden swim of the year at Walden, and it was everything I hoped it would be: good company, cold water, sunshine, and of course a good workout followed by breakfast at Helen's. Huge crowd today, from MIT we had me, Ali, Rachel, BB, Joe and Jeff (see photo at right minus BB), but there were many others. I swam with BB squared - that is BB and his brother, BB (no kidding). It made me wonder if their parents also have the initials BB - a whole family of BBs. Anyway, the workout is a little harder to capture in open water, but here is what we did:

Ali, Al, and their group started out about 5 minutes ahead, so the BBs and I spent nearly the entire first lap trying to catch up. One thing I noticed about this first group was that there was no "let's stop at the first tree and chat a little." There was no leisurly stopping to smell the roses on this swim! BB1 and I got across the pond, looked at each other and said "no chatting?" Once we figured this out, we set about with BB2 to find the As and did so as we came back to the boathouse. We then swam a second lap with them, and our total swim time was somewhere around 55 minutes. A highlight for me was Joe in his banana yellow speedo, which was more like a European speedo if you know what I mean. I took a photo, but as this is a family-friendly blog I did not want to scare the children (or, frankly, all of our friends.)But I have this feeling that Joe will want to keep himself on my good side for awhile.

Water temp is cold, but nice. No need for a full suit - sleeveless will do and in fact I will just wear sleeveless from now on as the full does not feel great in the shoulder area. I would say the temperature is in the low 60s.

Happy Memorial Day, everyone.

Surprise!

Some surprises are fun, like finding a $20 bill in an old jacket, or getting the magic decoder ring as your prize in Cracker Jack. Others are not so fun, like getting a flat tire or having your credit card stolen and used to purchase groceries in Las Vegas. Then there are others that appear to be mixed, like going to the dessert buffet at a wedding and finding fresh fruit instead of chocolate cake: you know it is good for you, but you are nonetheless disappointed. That was kind of like the surprise at today's workout!

Here we go:

200WU on own
10 x 50 (3 on 1:05, 3 on :55, 3 on 1:05, 1 easy)
500 free pull on 8:20
500 free fast on 7:50 (remember your time)
400 free pace on 7:20
400 fast on 7:00
300 pace on 5:00
300 fast on 4:40
50 easy
then...surprise!
500 faster than your first fast 500

Well, well, well. Isn't that a novel idea, coach Bill! It was me, BB, R, and Dr. Bob and we did have a little discussion about this - starting to negotiate within our own ranks as to how we might do this. Unfortunately Bill overheard us and said "there is no negotiation. You will swim another 500 and swim it fast." So we did just what our coach told us to do, as always. :) Our pace on the first 500 was a 7:30 and our pace on the second was around a 7:32, so we did not go faster but all things considered we were quite happy.

The "L" word

You all know what I am talking about. That elusive thing that we all seek in life. When it happens, it's newness surprises you. It is both fascinating and frightening at the same time. You're hesistant, thinking "can I do this?" Your world has changed. Your reality of yesterday is replaced by the exhilaration of today, yet you dive right in. This crazy little thing we call L, it takes some time to get used to. Yes, it's long course, and it is finally here! Day 1 for most of us, and it really does take time to re-adjust to both the intervals and distance. Bill gave us a nice workout to ease into:

2 x thru
100 drill/stroke on :25r
100 drill/free on :25r
200 kick
5 x 100 on :20r thinking about your stroke
200 kick
400 free on 6:30
2 x 200 IM on :30r
2 x 200 on 3:10
2 x 150 IM
3 x 100 on 1:40
2 x 50 stroke

Even as a huge fan of long course, this was a challenge for me mentally. I forget how much those walls help me to rest on flip turns (maybe I take it too easy on my turns!) But a fine job by all today.

Local swimmers get butts kicked

Cambridge, MA. Early reports from the pool deck this morning at MIT Masters confirm that swimmers got their fannies spanked by the workout. One swimmer, who wished to remain anonymous, said that "we knew things would be different when we saw Mariah on deck before any of the swimmers." That, apparently, is a change from the usual routine where many of those same swimmers drink coffee, chat, and take time to stretch until 6:23am. But not this morning. According to our I-reporters, here is what the swimmers did:

4 x 50 count strokes
4 x 100 drill/swim odds free, events back
4 x 50 backstroke
Main set:
10 x 25 on :20
100 backstroke on 1:50
8 x 50 on :40
200 pull
6 x 75 on 1:00
200 backstroke
4 x 100 on 1:15
400 pull on 5:50
4 x 50 kick

While the workout did not leave much time for idle chatter, words like "ouch!", "wowza!" and "zoinks!" were overheard in the seconds before each sendoff. One swimmer was conspicuously silent. Bill G., fresh off of his PR in the 1000 at Nationals last weekend, seemed to effortlessly make the intervals with no sign of distress. Reports that he had his new BlueSeventy suit on are apparently false - he swam this workout old school, just his speedo, googles, and mojo accompanied him.

Rumors are that both coach Bill and coach Mariah conspired this week to try to get swimmers ready for long course, which happens tomorrow. From the carnage left on the pool deck today, one might wonder if the swimmers can muster enough strength to pull it together. Stay tuned for part 2 of this unfolding investigative series.

Two days and counting...

to long course! No, we are not excited or anything! Today was D-day, as in distance day. And we did a ton of distance. Here is the workout:

4 x 100 drill/free, kick/free
4 x 50 count strokes
200IM
So let's get right to it!
300 descend by 100 on 4:15
300 fastest of the day on 4:00
400 first 200 pace, 200 fast on 5:40
400 fast on 5:20
500 alternate 100 pace, 100 fast... on 7:20
500 fast on 6:50
600 stretch it out on 8:20
600 fast on whatever you want

Great job BB leading the first part of the set, I enjoyed the draft. :) IW gets the gold star for proving the old adage "it's not how you start, it's how you finish." He was working those 600s and he probably would have kept going if we didn't get kicked out of the pool. It was a little awkward when he started trying to swim an 800 fast and the lifeguards had to use their safety poles, whistles, and finally the red tube to stop him because they wanted to vaccuum the pool.

What a gorgeous day - it started out cold and now is warm and gorgeous. Spring in Boston!

Manic Monday

If I were ever to be a singer/songwriter, I would make sure that I wrote a popular song with a day of the week in the title. Do you ever notice that they play those songs ad nauseum on those days? Case in point, I heard that awful Bangles song twice today, once on my way to swim, once on my way to work. Thank goodness the epic song "Eye of the Tiger" was the last song playing before I got to the pool. Anyway, it was a manic Monday. Nearly everyone at MIT Masters showed up for practice today, and at one point Lane 3 had 7 people in it. Yet just 20 minutes into practice, we were down to just four - we had one lane defection, one "I want to run" and one total disappearance. Bill was ready to go today! Here we go:

150 WU
6 x 50 stroke/free alternate
4 x 75 kick
Three times thru:
100 on 1:15
200 on 3:10
6 x 25
4 x 75 kick
Four times thru:
100 on 2:10
200 on 2:35

At first glance you might say "yikes!" but it's really just a mid-distance sprint set with lots of rest in between. So think of it as 4 x 200 fast. We kept consistent pace, though BB crushed #3 coming in on 2:22 (but then he left too!). I held :30, :27, :29, :29, but really felt it today. Nice job by Dr. Bob and Ian swimming fast. I am not sure how many of the 2:35s I could hold consecutively, so the rest was welcome.

'Til Tuesday (pardon the song pun)

I think I can, I think I can...

This morning started out nicely, just me and Steve keeping it real in Lane 3. But harsh reality set in when Steve left right after the first part of the main set to go to a meeting, leaving me swimming solo. Yuck! Why even swim with masters if you have to swim alone? Where was everyone? So I had to keep telling myself I could do this, just like the little engine that could. So here is what we (I) did:

300 wu
6 x 50 drill on :60
8 x 50 swim alternate breast and free
400 pull hypoxic 5, 3, 9, 5 or whatever you want
300 pull hypoxic
MAIN
3 times thru
125 on 2:05
125 on 1:55
125 on 1:50
125 on 1:45
125 on 1:50
3 x 25 on :40

My suggestion is to go really easy on the first two and work the next 3. If you don't, it makes the set harder. I adjusted this during the second and third rounds and it made it more interesting. I also had to talk myself out of getting out - it was all I could do to finish this set alone but I did it. "I know I can!"

No swim for me tomorrow, so have a great weekend everyone!

Oyez, Oyez, Oyez!

We need the town crier today because we have much to celebrate. First, Joe and his wife Krystal had a baby son, Colin. Congrats, Joe! We'll give Colin a little time before he gets in the water with dad. Second, our beloved lifeguard Kenny was honored last night with the MIT Murphy Award, one of the highest honors given to a member of the MIT community. Kenny has served over 30 years as a lifeguard and those of us who know him are delighted that his hard work and caring has been recognized. Thank you, Ken. And a shout out to Bill for giving us the set today to prepare us for long course! Finally, props to the sun, which came out for a brief moment after I got my coffee. I think it was the sun, or it might have been the effect of the caffeine, who knows.

6 x 75 odds swim, drill, swim; evens drill, swim, drill
3 x (4x50)on :60
50 build up
50 build down
50 easy
50 fast
4 x 150 pull hypoxic 5, 3, 7 (we were supposed to do 9) on 2:25
1500 going:
500 work it
500 stretch out
500 faster
2 x 75
2 x 50
2 x 25
Total today: 3450

I admit that I did some daydreaming during this set, looking forward to next Friday, May 15 when the pool goes long course. This set will be much more fun and it will be easier to count in long course. This time I counted by the clock, which helped. We started out by working it, held a steady pace, and descended the last 500. I think we came in on 19:34 (6:30, 6:35, 6:29). Great job by all today!

Doing our part

Lane 3 cares about what is going on in the world. Case in point, we are doing our best to stop the spread of the the H1N1 virus, formerlly known as the swine flu. Today we had a vat of hand sanitizer deckside, at the ready, for germ removal. Tomorrow E will bring in surgical masks, and of course we all had a small tutorial on sneezing into the gutter instead of the pool. We want Lane 3 to be in the news for all of the good things we do, not for a new cluster of this virus. We also came up with other ideas, like a sanitizer holster to put on your belt for easy access and perhaps a car-wash like spray that gets us all as we leave the locker room. Of course, this will help us avoid many things, including our loved ones who will think we are total freak shows, so keep that in mind as you implement these ideas.

On to the workout! A good one! BB, E, CM, IW and me present and accounted for.

200 WU on own
3 x thru:
50 kick, 50 drill, 50 swim, 50 choice, 4 x 25 (fly, back, breast)
2 x 50 on :60
3 x 50 fly on 1:05
4 x 50 on :45
5 x 50 on :40
3 x 200 on 3:05 working 2nd 50
3 x 200 on 3:00 working 3rd 50
3 x 200 on 2:55 working last 50

Great set - good amount of rest so you can really try to work the 50 in each set. We held a good pace for each, trying to descend by sets of 3. BB and I traded the lead on the first and second set, and I accidentally went on the wrong interval. So, I humbly apologize to C who pointed this out. In the image of Scarlett O'Hara, as she clutches the dry earth of her beloved Tara and lifts it to the sky, I say "As God is my witness, I will never miss an interval again!". Oh, and we even had a lane song this morning - "Last night, I didn't get to sleep at all..". I think there were varying reasons for this, and I will leave it at that to protect the innocent.
Hand sanitizer courtesy of BB's desk. The bottle went from poolside to hanging out with hula girls.