Piece of Cake

How many 45-year olds celebrate their birthday by getting up at the crack of dawn and swimming 4500 yards? This one did, with the help of her loyal friends E and BB. This has become a bit of a tradition in the lane, last year we celebrated SB's 50th by doing 50 x 100 meters. The best birthday present of all was having BB and E come early to do a long warmup, then stay until we all did the distance. And the icing on the cake was BB, with his broken toe, finishing it off with a 50 fly. For the record, even in my advanced age I still bring the average age of the lane down. :) Missed all the other regulars, though. Where is everyone?

WORKOUT:

1200 warmup on own
All on :15r:
25 fingertip drag
50 8 kick gallop
75 count strokes
100 IM or stroke
25 8 kick gallop
50 count strokes
75 1 arm/1arm, front quad
2 x 100 IM or stroke
25 fingertip drag
50 8 kick gallop
75 count strokes
100 IM or stroke
Fins on:
3 x 50 fly kick :60
3 x 50 back kick :60
3 x 50 free kick :60
3 x 50 fly swim :60
Twice thru:
150 fast on 2:00
2 x 50 choice on 1:05
100 fast on 1:20
50 choice on 1:05
100 fast stroke on 1:35
50 choice on 1:05
50 fast free on :45
50 choice 1:05
50 fast stroke :50
50 choice on 1:05
4 x 25 fast on :25
50 easy
100 cool down

Au Revoir, long course

It was a great final day for long course this summer, but it's hard to see it go. No more 10 second intervals (those went out the window today anyway!), no more uncrowded lanes, no more feeling like open water. It's back to flip turns (ugh) and shorter distances. Long course, we hardly knew ye. Great workout, coach Bill. I'll add to my favorites

Three times thru:
100 swim 25 drill/25 swim on :20r
100 stroke 25 drill/25 swim on :20r
18 x 50 going:
6 count strokes on :60
6 IM no free on 1:10
6 kick on 1:20
Three times thru:
300 fast on 4:40
300 pace on 5:20

3300 total

Really fun workout. Thanks to Bill G for the draft today for the first two fast 300s.

Thanks for the Draught

Today was extra sparse in lane 3, so thankfully Hubbard and Joel came over to swim with me and Dr. Bob. And after today, I now truly appreciate drafting, and want to get me some more of that! Hubbard led the 10 x 200 set and held a nice pace the whole time. It was really fun.

50 back on :15r
50 free on :15r
50 back on :15r
50 free on :15r
200 front quad on :20r
100 think entry :20r
100 think catch :20r
100 think pull :20r
100 think power :20r
10 x 200 going:
1-4 on 3:10
5-8 on 3:20
9-10 on 3:30
6 x 50 sprint on 1:20

We Love You, Pete

I write this entry with a heavy heart, because Peter Cadwell, a dear friend to many of us, died suddenly and unexpectedly last week. He was 40 years old. Those who knew Pete would describe a man with a heart of gold, a sense of humor who could make the most stoic person smile, and a person who loved life and his family beyond words. He leaves his amazing wife MB and his two twin 3 year-old boys, Hayden and Ethan. We had lots of nicknames for Pete but one was Fast Pete - he was FAST. He was a true sprinter, and swam age group and high school in Nashua, NH before swimming NCAA at the University of South Carolina. We had a lot of fun watching Pete in a 200 (he thought that was distance)- he would blow out the competition in the first 100 and then cling to victory during the last 100.

Our friend is gone and we are all very sad. Pete did a lot of living in his short life, and we are thankful to have been a part of it.

You Cannot Be Serious

I'm going to start a new occasional series on the blog which highlights things that really annoy me. Today's topic involves a running shower. Yes, for the last two weeks I have arrived at the locker room to find one of the showers running. Not dripping like what annoyed Bert and Ernie in Sesame Street, but running hot water. You cannot be serious! Would you do this at home? I doubt it. I know it's a 6am rec swimmer, because none of the master's swimmers take the required State of Massachusetts Health Department shower before jumping in the pool (sorry!). It's irked me so much that I may actually arrive early and stalk the person who is doing this, make them explain to the people of Texas who have no water why she is leaving the shower running. The next topic in this series: running the suit spinner until the motor nearly burns out.

400 warmup on own
4 x (3 x 50)
1-3 count strokes on 1:05
4-6 descend on :60
7-9 drill/swim on 1:05
10-12 descend on :60
500 pull hypoxic 9,3,7,5 on 8:00
2 x 50 on 1:15
500 fast on 7:30
2 x 50 on 1:15
5 x 100 on 1:45
2 x 50 on 1:15
500 fast on 7:15 (right!!!!)

Writer's Block

I have writer's block. Which wouldn't be so bad if my writer's block only impacted the lane three blog. But unfortunately it has affected my academic work too. My research proposal was due at the end of June, and I missed the deadline. My new deadline is the end of August, so I hope that writing it here, in public, I will hold myself accountable. I wish there was some magic shot I could take to jolt me back into writing mode. Caffeine does not do it, so maybe public shame will. The good news is that I have a lot of time to think about how much I slack off on my writing during swim practice, and today's workout gave us ample time to think.

300 on own
4 x 50 on 1:05
100 IM/Stroke on 2:00
4 x 50 drill/swim on :60
100 IM/stroke on 2:00
4 x 50 kick on 1:20
8 x 100 keep pace on 1:55
2 x 50 easy
8 x 100 on 1:50 (we pulled odds)
2 x 50 easy
8 x 100 on 1:45 going:
descend 1-4, 5-8 (I only had time for 6: descend 1-3, 4-6)

Not-so-shameless Plug

This weekend is the Pan-Mass Challenge, a 190 mile bike ride from Sturbridge, MA to Provincetown which benefits the Jimmy Fund and Dana Farber Cancer Institute. This organization is near and dear to my heart, and many MIT masters peeps are involved: I work at the Sturbridge site and have been a rider, Bill is at the Provincetown site, and Jimmy (morning lifeguard) is a rider. Many more of us have ridden in the past. This is not your usual athletic fundraising event - this is the gold standard by which other events are compared. 100% of every dollar you contribute goes directly to to Dana Farber. 100%. That is unheard of in the fundraising business. The goal this year is to raise 34 million dollars for cancer research. So if someone you know has asked you to support them in the PMC, I urge you to give what you can. WCVB (Channel 5 in Boston) will be covering the opening ceremonies live at 7pm, and this year Lance Armstrong will be riding the PMC and participating in the opening ceremony.

Just me and Sarah today - thank goodness she was there or I would NOT have finished the workout!

600 on own
200 going 75 free, 50 stroke, 75 free on :25r
150 (25 drill/25 swim) on :20r
150 (25 drill/25 stroke)
3 x 100 descend on 1:50
400 pull hypoxic 9,3,7,9
4 x 50 stroke on :60
100 free on 1:50
200 IM on 3:40
4 x 50 free on :50
100 stroke on 2:10
200 free on 3:20
2 x 50 easy
4 x 50 stroke on :60
100 free on 1:50
200 IM on 3:40

Growing old together

The kids weren't here today, so it was old school, literally, in the lane. With the exception of Sarah, all of us are in our 40s and three are in their 50s (they all have a "B" in their initials, btw). I've been swimming with some of these people for almost 15 years! It got me to thinking what we would all be like if we were all still together in a retirement community, sitting by the pool. C and I would still be arguing about that workout back in 2006 and KBB would still be shaking his head in disgust. BB would be playing scrabble and shuffleboard in a very loud speedo with an umbrella drink. E would be sunning herself with no more than 15spf while SB would be clinging to one of those swim noodles, his bouy long gone and still complaining about his injured calf. Coach Bill would stroll in 10-15 minutes late to happy hour. Dr. Bob would be the most popular guy at the pool because he still had prescription privileges. Oh, and Sarah would have to visit because she's too young to live there.

400 warmup on own
Three times thru:
2 x 50 front quad on :15r
100 drill/build by 25 on :20r
4 x 100 on 1:40
50 on 1:20
100 on 1:25
50 on 1:20
5 x 100 on 1:45
50 on 1:20
100 on 1:25
50 on 1:20
6 x 100 on 1:50
50 on 1:20
100 on 1:25
50 on 1:20

To break this up, we pulled some of the ones in the final sets. I made the first two 1:25 touch and go, and missed the last one at 1:27.