The porpoise and the hare

With apologies to Aesop, I have slightly altered the title of this famous fable because this is, of course, a swim blog. But the story of the tortoise and the hare has meaning even today, and by today I really mean today at swimming. In summary, the fable is about a young, speedy hare who mocks the older, slower tortoise, who challenges the hare to the race. I saw this play out right in our own lane today! Let's just pretend that SB was the papa tortoise and our young water polo friend was the hare. Here's how it goes: the hare jumps out and races the warmup and beginning set. The tortoise sits back and slowly picks his way through the lane to take the lead. Mama tortoise (me) finally has a word with the hare and reminds him that he needs to leave 10 seconds, not 3 seconds, behind the tortoise (I mean it's only fair, right? Tortoises are supposedly slow). The end of this story is much like the end of the fable: the tortoise reigned supreme and then got out to go to the gym.

400 warmup on own
8 x 100 free working on catch, pull, finish, streamline on :20r
200 kick
8 x 150 going:
1-3 pace on 2:55
4-6 descend on 2:50
7 easy on 3:30
8 fastest of the day!
4 X 100 free on 1:50
6 x 50 stroke on 1:05

Well done, everyone.

Now I know

I'll admit it. I used to laugh when a distance set was posted and my sprinter-type lanemates would groan. I'd happily lope along with not a care in the world, not too slow, not too fast, with nary a kick to my name. Today, I was not so glib. When Bill posted the workout I groaned too, along with the small but hearty group who showed up today. The photo says it all: 800s. Here we go:

2 x 50 breast on :20
100 drill/swim on :20
2 x 50 back
100 drill/stroke
2 x 50 fly
100 drill/choice
800 swim steady pace
800 pull 400, :20r, negative split 400 swim
800 holding each 200 same pace
a bunch of kicking

Great job S and IW! I have no update today on the lane shenanigans, stay tuned until tomorrow.

Back to reality

I would much rather be where I was in the photo to the right than at the pool today - just being honest here. I awakened (at 4am, mind you, when the birds started to sing) to rain and thunder, which was rather harsh compared to 85 and sunny. But I am glad I got up because there were tons of poeple in L3 today, and we had a great workout!

200 on own (or whatever)
100 drill variety - (all on :20r)
50 stroke choice
50 fly
100 free
100 side kick/drill/choice
6 x 50 kick
4 x (4x100)
1-4 on 1:45 even pace
5-8 on 1:40 descend
9-12 on 1:50 hold pace
13-16 on 1:45 descend
400 pull going:
50 breath weak side
50 bilateral
50 strong side
50 every 5 strokes, repeat
9 x 50 swim

Quick "talking to" update from last week: Bill tried to restore order in the lane but this little project may take awhile. When SB gets riled up during the warmup ("are we doing a WARMUP set right now?" said at top of lungs) you know we are all in trouble. No worries, everyone. I will only let this go on so long before it gets out of control. :)

Pooped

I have a favorite iPhone icon that I used when I describe how tired I am. BB uses it too, but I can't find it so I will use a substitute. But that is how I felt today during my first full practice back. And it was kind of an interesting one. It's amazing how much you take in from the back of the train. We had a random visitor leading the warmup set, but he bailed for faster waters quickly. Then young water polo guy (who annoyed SB during the warmup, uh-oh) blasts out only to completely die in the middle of the last set. Someone mentioned that he "needed a talking to" (the assumption was from me, of course) but I need to get my swim legs back before lecturing the young lad. In any case, everyone is swimming strong, well done.

4 x 100 odds drill/stroke, evens drill/free :25r
2 x (4x50)on :20r
free
back
breast
fly
2 x 50 on :55
50 on 1:10
4 x 50 on :50
50 on 1:10
2 x 50 on :55
50 on 1;10
6 x 50 on :50
50 on 1:10
4 x 150 on 2:35 (head up middle 50 2x sighting)
2 x 50 easy
3 x 200 on 3:35 cruise/fast by 100
2 x 50

Off to Key West tomorrow!! I'll try to post something from the beach if I can muster enough energy to get out of the beach chair.

MENSA membership required

I swim with a lot of smart people. A LOT. Doctors, lawyers, aviation experts, finance peeps, nuclear scientists. But smarts really go out the window when a complicated set appears, like it did this morning. Because we are in long course, 150s and 50s throw us for a loop, so trying to remember distance and interval can be a challenge. But the smartest one in the lane today was Kevin, who simply asked Bill to put the workout at both ends. Brilliant! It's kind of like asking directions when you are lost: nobody wants to do it, but when someone does, we are all relieved.

Here is the workout:

200-400 on own
Twice thru:
2 x 50 free front quad on :15r
100 free focus on extension on :20r
100 going 25 drill/25 free on :25r
6 x 50 backstroke on :15r
100 on 1:45
150 fast on 2:25
200 on 3:35
50 cruise on :55
100 cruise on 1:45
150 cruise on 2:30
200 cruise on 3:35
50 on :55
100 fast on 1:35
150 on 2:45
200 fast on 3:00
50 cruise on :55
100 cruise on 1:45
150 cruise on 2:30
200 cruise on 3:35
A kick set followed - maybe 6 x 50?

Nice job today everyone. Small blip when BB was daydreaming of swimming around Alcatraz, but he recovered nicely!

Happy Birthday, Coach Bill!

Today is a big day in MIT Masters history. It's a BIG BIRTHDAY for our beloved coach Bill. So happy birthday, Bill. We love you!

Ahhh, normalcy

When the alarm went off this morning there was not the usual sense of dread. Rather, I bounded out of bed and practically skipped to my car, delighted that I was heading to the pool. After nearly a month out of the pool, it felt great to feel somewhat normal. I use the term somewhat because my lanemates would never use the word "normal" and "me" in the same sentence. But anyway, I chatted on deck with the lifeguards, caught up with coach Bill, and then dove in. It was at about 75 yards that I realized that this pathway to normal was going to be paved with weeks of hard work and some pain. But that is okay! Carpe Diem! Just a small crowd today, and I will post the whole workout though I didn't stay for the entire set.

Warmup on own
5 x 100 variety of drill/swim
10 x 50 on 1:05
2 focus on arm extension
2 focus on catch
2 focus on pull
2 focus on finish
2 focus on rolling
Or, if you are me: 10 x 50 survival swim
100 fast on 1:35
100 easy on 1:50
100 fast on 1:35
100 easy on 1:50
100 fast on 1:35
200 easy on 3:45
100 fast on 1:35
200 easy on 3:45
100 easy on 1:55
100 fast on 1:35
100 easy on 1:50
100 fast on 1:35
200 easy on 3:45
100 fast on 1:35
200 easy on 3:40
100 fast on 1:35

If there was more, I missed it. See you tomorrow, I hope!