Washing machine

After days of relative calm (read: nobody at the practice) the pool was like a washing machine today! All lanes were filled. At times I felt like I was swimming in open water as I swallowed half of the pool. But it's okay, many of my peeps were back so I was happy. BB had mega tan lines and KBB claimed that his were from before his West coast trip. Anyway, as much as I enjoyed the social aspect of today, I felt like I was put through the ringer (pardon the bad pun.) Here is our workout:

200 on own
4 x 75 drill on :15
4 x 75 stroke drill on :15
4 x 75 IM no free on :15
4 x 74 choice (we pulled) on :15
15 x 150 going:
150 (first 50 hard)on 2:15
150 (middle 50 hard)on 2:15
150 (last 50 hard)on 2:15
2 x 25 easy on :40
150 (first 50 hard)on 2:10
150 (middle 50 hard)on 2:10
150 (last 50 hard)on 2:10
2 x 25 easy on :40
150 (first 50 hard)on 2:05
150 (middle 50 hard)on 2:05
150 (last 50 hard)on 2:05
2 x 25 easy on :40
150 (first 50 hard)on 2:10
150 (middle 50 hard)on 2:10
150 (last 50 hard)on 2:10
2 x 25 easy on :40
150 (first 50 hard)on 2:15
150 (middle 50 hard)on 2:15
150 (last 50 hard)on 2:15
2 x 25 easy on :40

I didn't stay for the last set - I was exhausted today. Nice job by all with some aggressive intervals. We pulled the middle set which broke things up a little.

A view from the left coast

Our travelling field reporter, KBB, is on the West coast this week. Unfortunately, I inadvertently offended him by lumping him in the same category as all my lane friends who are on "vacation" (see yesterday's post.) Kim is not on "vacation", he is working. Of course he is an amazing multi-tasker - finding time to socialize with old friends, ride through scenic mountains, run in the foothills, sip on lattes, and go to a masters workout to watch the sun rise while balancing a very busy meeting schedule. It sounds really stressful, but if anyone can handle it, he can. Here is the workout he did at Stanford Masters this morning.

(Disclaimer: I am sure Stanford masters copyrights/trademarks/licenses their workouts, so posting it here in no way implies an endorsement of Stanford Masters or is meant to encourage people to swim this workout as opposed to the MIT Masters workout. Bottom line: those doing this workout do so at their own risk and parental supervision is recommended.)

400 swim
2 x (4 x 50, 2 x 100)
1 x (4 x 50, 1 x 100)
200 easy
2 x 50 sprint on 1 min
100 easy
100 sprint
2 x 100 easy
There were more sprints, but he had to leave (another "meeting", I am sure.)

Of course this was outdoors, 50 meters. KBB made sure I knew that. He made a couple of observations, too. No lifeguards, pool is reserved for masters only, few people wear flip flops, no lockers on the deck level and everyone leaves their bags out in the open on the benches. He may not come home!

Firsts and lasts

There were a few of both today. For one, it was the first time all summer that the sun was not up for my drive in to practice and the first time the thermometer in my car read in the 50s. It was the first time I clearly understood the writing on the glass wall separating the hallway and the pool (see pic and ask me later what it means.) It was the first time Paris came to practice without Ann, and the biggest first of all was that Bill Geary was the first person on the pool deck and in the water. That may also be a last, folks, so it must be chronicled. And of course today is my last day of vacation for the summer. Great swim today with Bill G, who is getting ready for the Maui Channel Swim next week.

Warmup 200 on own
3 x 100 swim, stroke, drill, no breath by :25
4 x 50 on :60
2 x 150 kick
6 x 75 on 1:20
15 x 100 going:
1-5 descend on 1:30
6-10 steady on 1:25
11 easy on 2:00
12-15 fast on 1:40

I truly miss my lanemates who have all been on some kind of vacation for the last 2 weeks. How do people at the pool know that I miss them? Maybe it's the fact that I mope around, or whine (not flattering), or delay getting into the pool, hoping that one will magically appear from the locker room. Eventually, like today, I resign myself that nobody will make it and convince others, like Bill, to swim with me. It's really pathetic, come back.

Pet Peeves

We all have little pet peeves, like people who chew with their mouth open or emails with no subject line. One of my pet peeves presented itself to me on my drive in to swimming today. I saw a guy who looked like a banker-type heading downtown in a late model Camry with the words NH or BUST 09' written in huge yellow paint on his back window. You might wonder just what part of this scenario is annoying to me? Well, all of it is a bit strange, but the part that bugs me is the inappropriate use of the apostrophe. I see this all the time. It is supposed to mark an ommision (in this case, it should be '09 replacing the "20") or mark possessives of nouns. It's like people know there is supposed to be an apostrophe somewhere there so they just put one in without thinking. I can't tell you why it bugs me, but it does. It's kind of like when someone leaves the apostrophe out of my name and spells it Odair. Upon further reflection maybe I have had issues with this my whole life and it came to bear this morning on Storrow Drive. I feel better already, just sharing it.

The water was still warm and it made Ian a little "peeved" at the workout today!

12 x 50 going swim, drill, stroke, choice
4 x 75 kick
4 x 600 all on 1:15 rest
600 pull
600 broken at each 200 for :15
600 swim (we broke at 300 and negative split)
600 broken at each 100 for :10
4 x 50 kick

Even though the water was warm, we kept a good pace on all and made it through. I never thought I would ever complain about anything being too warm but even I thought we could lose a few degrees.

iReport: Hurricane Bill

If you look closely you can see the eye of the hurricane right over my left ear. I look as frightened as I was.

So there I was, doing my best impression of Jim Cantore from the Weather Channel. Braving the elements of hurricane Bill, I stood there overlooking the beach in Wellfleet, wind and rain pelting me as lifeguards casually lounged while small children played at the water's edge and crazy surfers took on the fifteen foot waves. You can imagine the terror and the excitement, being right in all the action! Thank goodness I had my trusty iPhone to capture it all.

Anyway, just as I am about to break a story about some guy's cooler full of beer that was taken by the rip tide, our waiter from the Beachcomber comes out and says "do you want your margarita inside or outside?" How about an extra shot of tequila with that buzz kill, buddy? So in I went, my hopes of fame and fortune crushed like the ice in the drink I was about to consume.

Heavy sigh. Back to reality. Fun times today with Ian and Steve, the water was a bit warm (all the MIT kids are doing their swim tests so they didn't want them to get cold.) Today's workout:

200 warmup
12 x 50 (1-4 kick, 5-8 back, 9-12 drill/swim)
2 x 200 on 3:10
4 x 200 on 2:45
2 x 200 on 2:55
2 x 150 on 2:30
4 x 150 on 2:10
2 x 150 on 2:20

Woods had his own theory about Hurricane Bill. He thought it was mighty suspicious that coach Bill "missed" practice on Friday and then just showed up in the middle of the Atlantic to ruin our weekend. He might be on to something. You know what they say about those mild mannered types!

Today's workout

For those who missed practice (including me!) here is the workout today. Thanks KBB!

4 x 50 Count Strokes
4 x 100 Drill/Swim
4 x 50 Build

4 x 200 free @3:00
4 x 50 fly @ 60
50 ez @ 1:15
4 x 150 free @ 2:15
4 x 50 back @ 60
50 ez @ 1:15
4 x 100 free @ 2:15
4 x 50 breast @ 60
50 ez @ 1:15

GB Liz O: Everybody wins?

Sister Liz may be the final guest blogger of the month. As of this writing I am packing up the Hamptons house, loading up the Range Rover, and heading back to Boston after a quick stop on the cape this weekend. It's been a great break, but time to get back to work!

Recently, I took on the task of cleaning out my attic. I happened upon a box containing, to my delighted surprise, old swimming trophies. If you were an age group swimmer, you know exactly what I’m talking about. I own about 10 of them. My most prized one mildly states, “Most Improved Swimmer 1976,” which I achieved when I made the tremendous leap from Novice to Intermediate in a single summer.

The other 9, however, are a bit suspect. They are the evil spawn of the “B” meet. The “A” meets included swimmers of all ability levels, including the top competitors. The “B” meets, on the other hand, were sort of like the Junior Varsity of age group swimming. If you were a mediocre swimmer, competing in a “B” meet made you feel a little like Mark Spitz cleaning up at the 1972 Olympics. I recall strutting around with medals around my neck and a trophy in each hand, feeling like hot poop. I’m still embarrassed about that, 30 years later. At the time, however, the adrenaline coursed through me and I felt drunk on power. I’m sure that the very next swim meet gave me a good dose of reality and my top dog status quickly evaporated.

I debate whether to keep the trophies. In the end, I simply leave the box in the attic. It’s too much of a bother to carry them down the stairs and out to the trash.

Today's workout:
150-400 swim on own
3 x (4x50) going free, breast, back, fly
3 x 100 kick
6 x 500 going:
500 swim pace on 7:30
2 x 250 pull on :30r
500 swim on 7:05
4 x 125 going 75 stroke, 50 free on 2:10
500 fastest swim of the day (beat 6:31, which we all did thanks to Joe)
6 x 75 going 2 on 1:10, 2 on 1:05, 2 on :60
50 easy

Guest Blogger Sweet Caroline: A fleeting crush

The sibling peer pressure was too much for my baby sis Carrie (twin of Danny), so she is making her debut here today. She's always been a hot ticket, whether or not 8 years old or 41. And no worries, there are no more O'Dair brothers and sisters, but I will say they have come in quite handy during my little break!

When I was little, I had a huge crush on one particular lifeguard at our pool.I can't remember his name, but he looked exactly like Bobby Ewing from Dallas, only with red lifeguard shorts on and a whistle swinging around his hand as he walked the deck. He was hot, at least as far as my 8 year old tastes were concerned. My friends and I would loiter around his lifeguard chair, talk to him, and try and act cool. I was pretty sure he was into me, he just couldn¹t let on in front of everyone else. One day as we hung around his chair, laughing at everything he said, a friend of mine started to threaten that she was going to give a way my BIG secret (like he had absolutely no idea). Just the thought of it made me go pale. I tried to play off the threat, thinking she wouldn't dare, until I heard it starting to come out of her mouth in slow motion- "Caaaarrie liiiiikes youuuuuu!!!!" I was so mortified, I had to escape. I dove into the water, swam all the way to the opposite end of the pool, and never spoke to him again.

Oh well. Probably all for the best. I would have been too much for him to
handle anyway.

Today's workout:

6 x 75 drill/swim/drill on 1:20
8 x 25 Kick odds on 35 evens on 30
4 x 50 GOLF (time + count strokes) on 60
300 rev IM
6 x 50
50 cruise
25 stroke on 25
50 fast on 40
9 x 150
3 descend on 2:25
3 cruise on 2:15
3 descend @ 2:30
3 x 100 warm down on 2:00

Guest Blogger Bob O'Dair: Don't drown daddy...

Our guest blogger today is my other baby brother, Bob! He is a swimmer, a triathlete, an amazing musician, and of course great dad, husband, and brother. He also never fails to make me laugh.

This summer I’ve been training my daughter to drown people. It wasn’t really something I had planned. In fact, I had fully intended to send her to swimming classes, hopefully get her to blow bubbles in the water, then go under completely, then swim 4 x 50 butterfly on 1:10. She’s only 3, but as a former child swimmer who quit when he was 11, I have some expectations. We’ve barely been swimming this year, at least in a real pool. The closest thing to swimming I've done so far is in the small pool we bought for our back yard. We got the pool because a) we all love the water, b) we have a concrete patio on which to place said pool, and c) it's been hotter than Hades (Katie asked me not to swear) here in Austin. Indeed, I can remember about 2 brief rainfalls since March, and the other day my car's thermometer read 109 degrees during evening rush hour. As of this writing, we’re at 54 consecutive days of triple-digit high temperatures. It’s hot. We got the pool.

My only rule is that youngsters wear a flotation of some kind – tube, water wings, or other – since the pool can be up to 3 feet deep. This allows Ruby to swim by herself. Of course that rarely happens, since I’m averse to melting, so I get in and we splash and jump and all, and eventually she just wants to drown me. This is her favorite game - push me underwater and make sure I stay there. "Daddy, I wanna push you underwater." I hesitate at the idea, but honestly it's kind of relaxing, just floating face down in the water and being pushed down until I float back up. I can stay that way for a while, and in toddler time it's an eternity. I realize this might be considered teaching and reinforcing bad habits, but I think our conversations really add clarity:

Me: "You know you can only play that game with daddy, right Ruby?"

Ruby: "Um, Yeah. Daddy, go underwater."

See? She understands. We’re cool.

Today's workout:

4 x 200 (stroke/swim, swim, drill/swim, swim) on :25 r
1 x 100 kick on 2:15
50 kick fast on 1:00
50 kick faster on :50
200 on 3:00
2 x 100 on 1:35
100 fly on 2:00
200 on 2:55
2 x 100 on 1:35
100 back on 2:00
repeat kick set
200 on 2:50
2 x 100 on 1:35
100 breast on 2:05
200 on 2:40
2 x 100 on 1:35
100 choice
2 times thru
50 fast on :50
50 easy

GB Danny O: That ain't cold water

In case you don't remember, Dan is my brother. He is also a swimmer. But he is still scared to race me in a 50 yard free.


We’ve all had it, that moment perched at the edge of the pool before the first plunge, filled with the dread of the cold below. Even the warmest of indoor pools can give us pause at the anticipation of the shock of the water as we summon up the courage to go for it. Every time I find myself in this moment, I steel myself with the memory of the coldest I’ve ever been. It was high school, and I’d taken a trip with my friend Doug for a little parent-free partying at his dad’s cabin on Indian Lake. The temperature hovered in the low 30s. Being the hardy types we were, we decided to spend most of the night at the edge of the lake hovered around a barrel fire while we knocked back can after can of Old Milwaukee telling stories about our miraculous 17 year-old exploits and making big promises about our the rest of our lives. Of course Doug’s dad didn’t know we were there, nor were we allowed to have a fire, which made it all the more exciting.

As we were about to pile in the car the next morning to head home, Doug remembered the forbidden barrel. His solution? Wrangle the barrel with its still-smoldering embers into the metal rowboat, row it out into the lake, and dump it. My instincts were that this was not a good idea, but it was Doug’s place and Doug’s boat and Doug’s barrel, so out into the slate grey water we went, breaking the thin skin of ice that clung to the shore as we pushed off. Somehow we managed not to capsize our little craft, and as the barrel hit the water I remember the hiss and the rising steam before it sank into the silence below.

The next day I got a call from Doug. “A neighbor saw us. We’ve got to go back up there and get the barrel out.” Doug’s dad drove us up and stood there glowering as we tried to muster up the courage to execute our mission. Never before and never since have I dreaded the first plunge as much as I did that day. Jumping into 35 degree water is, to say the least, clarifying. First there’s the shortness of breath, then there’s the sensation of every inch of your skin being pricked by blue-fire needles. To stave off hypothermia, we took shifts hunting for the barrel, one of us clambering for shore as the numbness set in while the other searched madly 20 yards from shore. We found it, eventually, and it took both of us to haul it back and heave it up onto dry land. I remember Doug’s dad smiling as we huddled around the kerosene heaters inside the cabin waiting for the sensation to return to our limbs, and despite all the stupidity and irresponsibility involved, I think we both felt like we’d just done something brave.

So that’s what I remember, and even if the pool is a bit on the chilly side, I know it won’t be as cold as Indian Lake in November. So in I go.

Today's workout:
200 WU
4 x (4x25) going odds free, evens stroke various
8 x 50 middle of the pool working on turns (E and her deep sea diving)
12 x 25 3 fly 1 free on :30, :35, :40
9 x 225 going:
1-3 descend on 3:20
4-6 steady on 3:30
7-9 descend on 3:10
KBB did I forget something?

editor's note: if anyone was up at 6am and saw the sunrise over Boston today, it was absolutely amazing.

Guest Blogger BB: The word of the day

To improve my vocabulary I subscribe to A.W.A.D. It is an online service that sends a new vocabulary word every day. It provides the pronunciation, the meaning, etymology and usage of the word. I try to use the word in some way shape or form at least once during the day. Fug is a word from Tuesday that seemed particulary apt today especially when one reads the "usage" of the word. Here you go:

MEANING: noun: Stale, humid, and stuffy atmosphere, as in a crowded, poorly ventilated room.
ETYMOLOGY: Of uncertain origin, perhaps from fogo (stench).
USAGE: "[The butterfly stroke] may have a fug of raw, sweating masculinity about it, but it's also the most irritating of all strokes." Barney Ronay; Vladimir Putin's Tough-guy Swimming Technique; The Guardian London, UK); Aug 6, 2009.

I love it--the fug of raw, sweating masculinity from a guy wearing a flowered speedo (me). Here is the workout. Lanemates present today were KT and R2.

No warm up we weren't IBB
2x50 drill/free 60sec
4x25 breast 35sec
2x50 drill/free
4x25 back
2x50 drill/free
4x25 fly -Oh fug!
5x75 fr 60 sec
3x25 ez 35sec
4x75 fr 1:05
2x25 ez
3x75 60 sec
1x25 ez 35sec
2x75 1:05
2x25 ez
4x200 (2:45,2:40,2:35,2:30-oh fug)
6x25 warm down

Fug is also an expression (oh fug) that can be used when one hasn't been
in the pool for 13 days!!! It was good to be back.

PS-If anyone wants to improve their vocab let me know an I can hook you up with A.W.A.D. I get concerned about saying words like paaark, yaaard, wicked good pissah.

Guest Blogger: Dan O'Dair

Danny is my baby brother, and also my muse. He is a real writer, as in he has degrees to show for it and pays the rent by writing. So I hesitated to put this in as it's a little much, but I don't want to offend him as at least he submitted an entry (Bobby, Carrie, hello?) What I really want to read about is Danny's swimming experience as a kid. He still refuses to race me in the 50 yard crawl, btw. Love you, Dan!

As most of you know, my sister Katie is a strong swimmer. That wasn’t always the case, though. As a child she was a so-so aquatician, content merely to achieve her “A” times in AAU, never really taking to heart Coach Skip Runkle’s motto that “Practice Makes Perfect, But Perfect Practice Makes Even More Perfect.” Ultimately Katie abandoned competitive swimming prior to the high school level to pursue driving around in our dad’s 1976 Jaguar while to listening to Styx and Billy Squier on the 8-track and looking for a carryout to sell her and her friends a six-pack of Michelob Light. And they were usually successful. Anyway, it wasn’t until she started Masters Swimming as an adult that she rose from the so-so to the bad-ass level, from the merely content to the merely going to kick some ass. What proof do you have, you may ask, that your sister Katie is a bad-ass swimmer? Allow me to present an anecdote to illustrate my point.

Katie was visiting dad and mom during our dad's last year of life - March 1999. She went to the beach with dad and decided to take a walk to the end of the beach where there was an inlet between two sections of land, and the water flowed into a place under a bridge where boats came in and out. The current was strong. She was walking along the beach when she heard a man start yelling "help!" and then a whole bunch of people start gathering to watch this man who was being swept into the inlet stream. He had waded into the water on the other side of the inlet and got swept into the stream. A boat was coming and threw a life preserver but missed horribly and its momentum kept going. She looked around, everyone is screaming, so she threw off her glasses and hat and ran (ala Baywatch!) into the rushing stream to save this guy. She brought him to shore, he was exhausted and all these old ladies were surrounding Katie saying "oh honey, you are a hero!" and wanting her name, etc. Unfortunately, all the guy's family was on the other side of the inlet so we have no idea how he got back because it started to become a scene. It was a little embarrassing for Katie so she took off. She went back to dad and told him the story and we remember him saying how proud he was of her. I’m proud of her too, not just for swimming, but for many other things.

Today's workout:
300 WU on own
3 x (4x50) going build up, build down, easy, fast (middle four stroke)
3 x 200 hypoxic going 5, 3, 7, 11
500 on 7:30 going 200 hard, 100 easy, 100 build, 100 fast
400 on 6:00 negative split
300 FAST
4 x 25 easy
500 on 7:15
400 (we pulled) on 5:45
300 FAST

Guest Blogger Dan S: Parachute Pants and Phelps

Dan is a FOK (friend of Katie), a middle-aged guy who can be seen swimming at Walden Pond. He is known locally as "The mystery man of Diaper Beach"

I think I have the answer to the concern faced by Michael Phelps in his new-found competition, the the polyurethane 'lZR racer' suit. The answer is: cargo pants. Yes, those baggy shots worn by the hip skateboarders scaring the support hose off of old ladies in Harvard Square.

Now you must be wondering - what the hey?? Has this mystery man been gulping too much of Thoreau's polluted water?? NO, but I have been soaking in it. I got down to the pond today, wandered past the screaming offspring, the scattered piles of clothes, and the oversexed crowd lifeguards ignoring the swimmers and mentally groping each other. DAMN! I thought, realizing that I forgot my swimsuit. Not to be stopped, I jumped right in wearing my cargo pants.

As I waded in and the water soaked into my pants, I swear I saw the water level go down in the pond, so many gallons soaked up by my apparel. I dove in, only to be rapidly slowed by the parachute effect of the pants, the huge pockets billowing open like the baleen of a right whale, sucking up unaware small children playing on the beach. I swam hard; I kicked and stroked. After about 5 minutes of this I found I had gotten past the buoys marking off the kiddie swim area. I was back out of the water by sundown. I think this swim should be satisfactory training to join the navy seals.

So How would these pants help Michael Phelps? Secretly trade the competing swimmers' suits with cargo pants made from sponges. Make his own out of LZR - but leave off a few pockets. It'll slow everyone down, making Cricket matches look like 40 yard dashes, but in the end he'll still win.

Guest blogger BB: Water temperature and turnover

This week BB is reporting from Great Bay, St. Thomas, U.S.V.I.

Is there a corallary between water temperature and arm turnover? I never really thought there was, however I am having second thoughts. As L3's roving island reporter this month, I can personally attest that the 86 degree Carribean waters slows a swimmers arm turnover. I've made several attempts to get several open water workouts in to no avail. I can't "git er done". I simply end up floating on my back.

Today's workout back at the 'tute:

200 on own
12 x 50 reverse IM order on :50
2 x (4 x 150) on 2:25 going:
1st 50 fast
2nd 50 fast
3rd 50 fast
all fast
4 x 25 on :40
rinse and repeat
then:
4 x 100 free, 1:30, 1:20, 1:25, 1:15
4 x 25 on :40
4 x 150 going:
1st 50 ez
2nd 50 ez
3rd 50 ez
all fast
4 x 25 on :40

There is a possiblity that board shorts (no speedos in front of clients) and a rum drink(s) could be impeding my efforts. Looking forward to seeing everyone in the cooler waters of the Z center on Wednesday.

Guest Blogger KBB: A Summer of T Issues

Last week it was swimsuit Technology making the headlines. This week it is Trademarks making the headlines. In case you haven’t followed the news, it seems that “Ibswbse” (see Note 1 below) has trademarked their name, the letter “I” as well as most common inspirational phrases in the English Language. What does this have to do with swimming you ask?

Well, Thursday morning was my last long course swim. How depressing! Yet I was even more depressed when I arrived, at my usual 6:26 AM, to find none of the usual lane 3 suspects. So I did some looking around the pool. A lot of new faces, many wearing CMS swim caps. Suddenly, a cold chill ran up my spine. “Of course,” I thought. "Ibswbse” has planted spies at our workout to make sure that no one is infringing on any of their trademarks!!” Coach Bill was even suspiciously quiet, not daring to mutter his normal inspirational phrases for fear of retribution.

Clearly, this trademark issue can change the face of Master’s Swimming across the world. How can we improve without our coaches using “Ibswbse” trademarked inspirational phrases? Fear not, I have a solution that will work quite well for MIT Masters, as we are a smart and educated bunch. We will get Coach Bill a set of flags and he can provide encouragement using Semaphore code! For those of you who may have forgotten the Semaphore code you learned in your boy/girl scout days, you can brush up at http://inter.scoutnet.org/semaphore/semaphore.html.

Thursday’s workout… Well, to be honest after all the research I needed to complete to be sure I didn’t get KT sued for using trademarked words and phrases in her blog, I forgot most of the workout details. (And the blog is a day late!) I do recall a set of 10 x 150’s in there somewhere.

See you all next week in flip-turn hell (short course).

kbb TM

Note 1: The code for deciphering the words and letters in quotes above is to substitute each letter with the letter to the right in the alphabet. (See Note 2).
Note 2: You need to move one letter to the right, as I suspect that “Ibswbse” has already trademarked moving to the left.

Guest Blogger Coach Bill: Where there's smoke, there's fire!

Our guest blogger today is our coach, Bill!
This morning was a tough one. I woke up and all I could think of was how dangerous things could have been. Last night, I smelled smoke, and looked out my window, and there was nothing in my housemate's fire pit.. so I guessed that another neighbor must have gotten a new fire pit, and hence the smell of smoke.

After watching TV for about a half hour, and after turning the fan on, I was
starting to get a headache, so I got up to go to bed. Then, all of a sudden
was a pounding on my door. I yelled ok, I am coming, and I heard one of my housemates yell, get out, the porch is on fire! I tossed on some shorts,
and made a run for it. At the second floor landing, I heard voices, and went inside. The fire was on the porch, and the smell of smoke was strong. I filled up a pot from the sink and tossed it on it, but it wasn't enough to get all of it. I ran back upstairs to the roofdeck where I always keep a full bucket of water (used to water the plants or should I say forest). I tossed this on the fire and a neighbor from down the street showed up with his fire extinguisher, and put it out. The fire department showed up and checked things out. We are all still unsure as to how it started although it could have been with a cigarette. (more on this later). Anyway, I hit the sack late, and woke up thinking I need to buy a doorbell that is batter operated because there have been a few times when I have not heard anyone knocking on my door. And I need to buy a fire extinguisher. My apartment is in an old house.... and I am on the top floor.

So, despite all of this, I managed to get myself "Fired up", and I did my best this morning.... distance free set and the last one at 50 meters for awhile.... My task was to light a fire under all of our masters swimmers, and with that in mind we did:

(all on 20 rest)
1 x 100 [50: front quad, 1 arm drill]
1 x 100 [50 fingertip drag dr, 50 choice dr]
1 x 100 [50 choice dr ? 50 count strokes fr]
1 x 100 [50 fly, 50 back]
1 x 100 [50 breast, 50 free]
1 x 100 [build speed... slow to fast]
then 2 x 1000
1000: think of it as 5 x 200's holding steady pace on 2:00 rest
1000: think of it as 5 x 200's with the last 50 going stroke
3 x 50 free (counting strokes) on :60
4 x 50 free :50
3 x 50 choice :60

Then at 7:50 the phone rings: It appeared that Ms. Katie's hair dryer caught fire in the ladies lockeroom. Some folks will do anything to become a dean at MIT! Last thought: Kennedy Compound wanted to send some love to Ms. Katie O and all of the lanethree swimmers with:

Chaka Khan:
Through the fire...

Through the fire
To the limit, to the wall
For a chance to be with you
I'd gladly risk it all
Through the fire
Through whatever, come what may
For a chance at loving you
I'd take it all the way
Right down to the wire
Even through the fire

Safety tip of the day: Get a freaking fire extinguisher!

Guest Blogger: Nobody

Our guest blogger today is nobody, so unless somebody wants to write, nobody will be appearing regularly. The pipe cleaner guy is Bill, btw.

300 WU
12 x 50 free on :20
variety swim, drill, stroke, etc.
2 x 100 count strokes
8 x 100 on 1:45
2 x 50 easy
7 x 100 on 1:40
2 x 50 easy
2 x 200 pull hypoxic 9, 3, 7, 3 (or 11, 3, 9, 3)