Monday, September 10, 2012

Monday IS Funday!

I don't usually embrace Mondays, but seeing all my friends at swimming this morning reminded me that Mondays are not so bad.  This was particularly true because I had been hunched over a computer all weekend writing, so every little thing (there's Maggie and Rachel walking in to the pool! There's BB all tan back from Hawaii! Did SB just wink underwater at me during that flip turn?) was magnified. And then we did my favorite workout - 200s. An extra special bonus today was learning that Coach Bill raced the Provincetown swim this weekend!  Yes, our coach did a SWIM this weekend. Fantastic! Now, according to him he suffered quite a bit, but at least he did it and we are so proud. Oh, and don't think Bill wasn't showing off the numbers on his arm, which should wash off easily but apparently not easily enough. :)

200 swim :15r
8 x 50 drill/swim on :60
4 x 75 stroke on 1:30
9 x 200 going
1-3 on 2:50
4-5 on 1:45
6 on 1:30
7-8 on 2:45
9 on 2:50 (with Joe and BB racing)
8 x 75 going:
1-2 on 1:05
3-4 on 1:10
5-6 on 1:15
7-8 on 1:20


Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Don't look at the paper!

At MIT Masters, we get our workouts on little slips of paper, which we then attach to the wall or to the little yellow standing sign that says "lane closed for masters". We look at the sheet and do the workout.  Sometimes, though, coach Bill puts the little slip of paper on top of the yellow sign before our current set is done, tempting us - daring us - to look at what is ahead.  It is a rare person (Joel?) who looks at the paper before the current set is finished. I do not understand why anyone would want to know what comes next as it would just cause anxiety. For instance, if we are doing a nice, long distance set, it would cause me great stress to know that the next set was 100s hard. Likewise, coach Bill often surprises us with a redux of a set that he gave us earlier in the workout, usually one that is pretty hard and that we did not enjoy. If we looked, half of us would get out of practice.  When you all collectively groan together upon reading the paper, there is a sense that you cannot betray your lanemates by getting out (unless you have announced said departure at the beginning of the workout). I was really hoping to see Maggie today, but she wasn't there.

200 warmup
4 x 25 IM order on :30
4 x 50 IM order on :60
4 x 75 pace on 1:20
4 x 50 free on :60
6 x 100 going:
1:35
1:30
1:30
1:25
1:25
1:15
4 x 150
odds pull hypoxic (7,3,5) on 2:20
evens pull middle 50 stroke on 2:30
6 x 100 going:
1:35
1:30
1:25
1:25
1:20
1:15
4 x 50 fast on :40
2 x 25 easy on :35
4 x 50 fast stroke on :55
2 x 25 easy on :35
4 x 50 fast free on :40
2 x 25 easy on :35
2 x 50 fast free on :40
2 x 25 easy