The beavers are watching you, Dr. Bob

During the warmup today Dr. Bob mentioned that he felt paranoid that all these "teddy bears" were watching him. I was confused, but quickly put on my best counselor hat and began to assess if he was alright. He then pointed up to the wall where dozens of cute little cut-outs of animals were pasted up. But they weren't teddy bears, they were beavers, "nature's engineers", also konwn as the MIT mascot. That didn't really make Dr. Bob feel any less paranoid because they had sharp teeth and menacing looks on their faces. I am sure the swim team did it to psyche out the competition during swim meets. If so, it works because Bob had the shakes all morning long. We did a positive mental imagery exercise at the end of practice where he was alongside the beavers building a dam to save a small town. Nice job, Dr. Bob.

200 on own
100 swim
2 x 25 drill
100 swim
2 x 25 drill
100 swim
2 x 25 drill
100 swim
2 x 25 drill
4 x (3x50)
1-3 kick on 1:10
4-6 descend stroke on :55
7-9 kick on 1:10
10-12 free on :45
2 x 100 working turns
50 stroke on :60
2 x 100 on 1:20
150 stroke on :20r
2 x 200 fast on 2:45
2 x 200 IM on 3:30
2 x 200 fast on 2:45
150 stroke
2 x 100 on 1:20
50 stroke

Great group today, and we swam a lot of yards! BB, IW, KBB, SB, Dr. B, and me. KBB gets prize for most yards and in earliest.

The sun will come out...

tomorrow? Maybe Friday? It was such a harsh change this morning from our beautiful Monday, where we could practically feel spring coming as we saw the sun rise at 6am. Not today. Not only did the sun not make an appearance, it was so dark after practice that I wanted to climb back into bed. But just stare at the photo to the left for 30 seconds and you'll get all the vitamin D you need today. That's a bright pic. We had a hearty group today - IW and KBB in their suits and me and E just trying to keep it together.

200-250 on own
2 x 150 #1 free, #2 stroke
8 x 25 Odds drill, evens build
1 x 300 75 stroke 75 free
8 x 25 all kick
2 x 50 on :55
4 x 50 on :50
6 x 50 on :45
6 x 50 middle of the pool fast into turns and off wall
Twice thru:
3 x 225 descend going 200 swim, get time, 25 easy on 3:30
1 x 25 on :30

We pulled the second set. First set descended by 3-4 seconds per 200, second set by 7 and 8 seconds. Well done, everyone! Stay dry today.

Where everybody knows your name

Masters practice is a little like the sitcom Cheers. For those of you under 30, you might want to look it up so you can follow me here. We meet up to swim, chat, drink gatorade, and have fun. We've got our regulars (us), our Sam (Bill, who "serves" us workouts) and are comfortable enough with each other that we no longer bother with common pleasantries before launching into the workout. And, just like on Cheers, there is always an issue/drama of the day, enought to build an episode around. Sometimes it is between two people (usually me and Carmen), sometimes we all make fun of Steve and his pull bouy, or we razz Bill, or we collectively get perplexed when a new person shows up. It was the latter today, and it made me wonder: are we a friendly bunch that welcomes newbies or are we a hard group to break into? The truth is I'm not sure, really. Sometimes I think we are friendly, other times I know we just get lazy and would rather deal with the devil we know (ourselves) than one we don't (newcomers.) There is definitely a mojo to each lane, a sense of just "getting" each other like an old married couple. I guess it all comes down to how the newcomer swims, understands our etiquette, is aware of their own actions, and fits in. You swim well, you pace yourself, you meet the interval, you avoid E's feet? You're good.

200 going 100 free/100 stroke
150 drill/swim
100 stroke
50 fast
200 kick
6 x 25 free
6 x 25 breast
6 x 25 back
6 x 25 fly
6 x 150 free going:
1 on 2:25
2-3 on 2:15
4-6 on 2:05
6 x 200 going
1 on 3:00
2-3 on 2:55
4-6 on 2:50

Good day, everyone!

Ally ally in come free

If you are a lane 3-er and have been avoiding practice this week because of the threat of an imposed penalty (you know who you are), worry not. C has offered to contribute up to $100 for any late/early leaving peeps in our lane. Thanks C! But may I please remind everyone that this is for the Dana Farber Cancer Center? Ian, to his credit, was intentionally 15 minutes late today because he was spending time "thinking and praying for the children." Now that's what I am talking about, IW. E, BB, M, and I were all in wicked early along with Bill and Ali.

400 swim
200 swim on :25r
2 x 100 drill/swim by 25 on :25r
200 stroke on :25r
2 x 100 breast/free on :15
4 x 50 breast on :60
4 x 50 count strokes on :55
4 x 50 build on :50
4 x 150 on 2:10 going
1=1st 50 fast
2=2nd 50 fast
3=3rd 50 fast
4=all fast
4 x 150 all same stroke on 2:30
4 x 150 pull hypoxic 5,3,7 on 2:20
2 x 150 stroke on 2:30
2 x 150 fast on 2:15
100 easy

4300 yards! Good luck today with the impending storm. Keep an eye out for possible pool closures on the Z Center website.

The early bird gets...

lots of yards in, as it turns out. It was day one of Bill's "tough love" penalty-for-charity program and by accident (really) I was on deck by 6:12:40. That gave me my 3-4 minutes of social time but the only people to socialize with were E, Bill, Ali, coach Bill (who was there at 6:14!) and me. So we hopped in by 6:17 and by the time we got through 1000 yards, it was still only 6:40am. I am not sure if people were absent from practice today because they were up too late watching the Saints win (a good thing) or because they don't want to give money to support a worthy cause (a not so good thing.) I am sure it is the former. Here is what we did:

200 on own
4 x 125 on :25r going
75 free, 50 fly
75 free, 50 back
75 free, 50 breast
75 free, 50 choice
2 times thru:
3 x 25 fly on :35
1 x 25 easy on :40
2 x 25 fly on :35
2 x 25 easy on :40
500 going: 2 x 250 descend, :20r in between each
500 pull hypopxic 3,5,7,3 on 8:00
500 negative split on 7:45
400 going 100 free, 200 stroke, 100 free on 6:30
400 going 200 free, 200IM
400 negative split
400 fast

Lots of yardage - if you did the whole thing, it was 4200. I had an early meeting (cost me $5 but it's for a good cause, people!) so I didn't do the last 400. Good job E, Marla, and Ian.

The rules

Bill is all excited about next week because he gets to behave like our old age group swim coaches and punish us when we digress from his plan. I just hope that he doesn't get the hose out because that is not a fond memory of mine. The plan next week is to raise money for Swim Across America/Dana Farber Cancer Center. Here are the rules: From Monday through Friday, if you come late to practice, it will cost you $5. Leave early, $5. And on Friday, each lane gets to buy themselves out of any set they don't like. The biggest question is what exactly constitutes being late? If we are on deck before Bill, are we on time? Or do we have to get there at 6:15? My take is that being there before Bill is on time. That makes it pretty easy. Here is what we did today.

200 warmup
2 x 50 drill/swim
3 x 50 fly, back, breast
2 x 50 one arm/build
4 x 50 work on stroke
more 50s - I could not follow this
2 x 25 kick with fins
50 kick easy
4 x 25 kick with fins
50 kick easy
6 x 25 kick with fins
50 kick easy
400 pull hypoxic 3,5,7,3 by 50
Twice thru:
200 fast on 2:45
100 easy
150 fast on 2:00
50 easy
150 stroke fast
50 easy
100 stroke fast
2 x 25 easy

I didn't remember the stroke sendoff, but we got about 10-15 seconds rest if I recall. I bailed before the last stroke set. Have a good weekend everyone!

Finding motivation

Winter is by far the toughest time of the year to get to the pool. And even when you get to the pool, it's not a given that you actually get in. Case in point, Monday I show up on deck, suit and googles at the ready, and proceed to turn around and walk out. Now I know that is an extreme case, but it got me to thinking on my drive in this morning: why exactly do we do this? I asked my teammates this, and got a variety of answers. The lane 2-ers cited missing rush hour traffic as a motivator, along with prepping for competition and general fitness. For me, the social aspect is important, though guilt and a sense of obligation are a close second. If I didn't show up to swim, it is likely that BB would still be sleeping in his car long after practice is over. Others said that if they don't swim in the morning they won't swim at all, or that swimming let's them have a big breakfast. The thing is, even on the days that I don't want to jump in I always feel better when I do. That is really the best motivator of all. Just me and E today. I told her I would swim and I did!

200 free
2 x 50 drill
100 free
2 x 50 drill
100 breast
2 x 50 drill
100 back
6 x 50 breast drill
300 pull
6 x 125
1-3 descend on 2:00
4-6 descend on 1:50
2 x 50 dr/swim
4 x 100 fast on 1:25
2 x 50 dr/swim
6 x 125
1-3 descend on 2:05
4-6 descend on 1:55

One thing that we are not motivated by is fear, thankfully. But that all may change next week because Bill is going to use fear as a motivator for a fundraiser for Swim Across America. Stay tuned for details. Hint: Don't be late to practice!