Just tell me what to do...

I swim with some pretty accomplished people at MIT Masters whose out-of-the pool lives are quite impressive - they are leaders in science, law, engineering, business, and healthcare to name a few. Yet there is one thing that we all have in common, particularly those who awaken at 5am to swim: we all want someone to just tell us what to do. Yep, it is true. I don't know one single person that enjoys swimming alone or who is excited about coming up with their own workout. I have witnessed some master's swimmers attempt to swim on their own and the results are not pretty. If they get in at all (50/50 chance) then they splash around looking up every so often to see if miraculously another swimmer has arrived with a workout. It is kind of sad. Eventually, they bail after adjusting their expectations for the day from swimming 4000 to being really happy to complete a solid 1500. Even if you feel like crap there is something comforting about getting that little slip of paper from your coach (or looking at the white board) and doing what you are told to do. Of course, we all know that this has its limits and some of us utilize the "masters option" when, for example, a kick set is given to us.

Today's workout is now one of my favorites - great job John for keeping it strong the whole workout!

200 warmup
3 x 25 drill :30
75 breast :20r
3 x 25 drill :30
75 back:20r
2 x 25 drill :30
75 fly :20r
4 x 100 kick :25r
400 swim 6:00
400 pull hypoxic 3,5,7,3 on 6:00
400 fast swim
8 x 50 fast on :45
300 swim 4:15
300 pull hypoxic by 75 7,3,5 on 4:15
300 fast