Seis de Mayo

The day after Cinco de Mayo is always a bit tough if you've had one of the items pictured to the right the night before. And it was only fitting that Bill gave us five 400s to remind us of the venerable holiday, which contrary to popular belief is NOT to celebrate Mexico's Independence Day. It's to celebrate Mexico's victory over French forces at the Battle of Puebla in 1862. There you go.

Good to swim with E, C, and Dr. Bob today.

400 swim (only E did this)
5 x 100 IM odds break at 50 for 10 sec on :20r
5 x 100 free, odds break at 50 for 5 sec on :15r
5 x 400*
400 swim steady pace on 6:20
4 x 100 descend on 1:40
400 faster than the first on 6:00
6 x 75 odds on :60, evens on 1:15 (*450)
400 fastest of the day
100 cool down

Happy Friday and weekend, everyone! Nice job today by all.

Splitsville

It was my first distance day in over 7 months today, and it was so painful that I had to go to my happy place. This particular happy place is where I get a good night's sleep, I don't ever get parking tickets, and I can eat banana splits anytime I want. Banana splits are a perfect food, in my opinion, and I don't eat them nearly enough. Anyway, splits describes the workout today. I saw my splits increase as the workout went on, I saw everyone elses splits decrease, as they should. And SB split before the end of the set, just when I needed him most.

200 on own
8 x 75 on :15r
1-2 25 drill, 25 swim, 25 stroke
3-4 25 drill stroke, stroke, drill stroke
5-6 I forget but it's drill/stroke something
7-8 Free, descend by 25 within the 75
6 x 50 middle of the pool working on flip turns (E!!)
4 x 500 (here is where the pain starts)
Odds swim on 7:40
Evens pull on 7:30
10 x 25 sprint odds, swim even on :25, :35
10 x 25 swim cool down

A harsh welcome back, plus I got a parking ticket! The nerve of me parking where I shouldn't!

Snap? More like crackle and pop

Today we were supposed to "snap our hips" during one of the sets. I had a lot less snap and a whole lot more crackle and pop. The reality of returning to the pool hit today, even though I remain delighted that I am there. And I got to swim with my favorite peeps too! I hope I remember the set:

200 on own
2 x 75 first 50 fly, 25 free on 1:30
4 x 50 on :55
2 x 75 50 breast/25 free on 1:35
4 x 50 on :55
2 x 75 50 back/25 free on 1:35
3 x 200 hypoxic going 3, 7, 3, 5 on 3:20
3 x 100 counting strokes on :30r
100 fast on 1:15 (this is where it starts to hurt)
50 stroke on 1;05
2 x 25 easy on :35
100 fast on 1:20
50 stroke on 1:05
2 x 25 easy on :35
100 fast on 1:15
50 stroke on 1:05
2 x 25 easy on :35
100 fast on 1:20
50 stroke on 1:05
2 x 25 easy on :35
Then I think they did 4 x 50 underwater swim?

Happy Monday. Great job making the intervals Joel, E, and KBB.

Dr. Bob and His Little Gray Paddles

That is a nice title for a children's book, and given that Dr. Bob works with kids, I began to think about how fun it would be to write a kids book series. Dr. Bob could read the books to the kids at the hospital and they could learn about swimming, and the gray paddles could have lots of adventures and do open water swims, surf in Hawaii, or save someone from drowning. But right when I was scripting out the plot, Dr. Bob said "yeah, I found these in the bottom of my locker. Who KNOWS what else is in there". I then realized that the follow up book "Dr. Bob cleans out his locker" isn't nearly as compelling as the tale of the paddles, so I went on to focus on the workout.

6 x 50 count strokes free :60
4 x 50 count strokes stroke :60
8 x 75 on 1:30
0dds 50 free build, 25 stroke
Evens 50 stroke, 25 free
6 x 200 on 3:15
6 x 150 broken going:
100 free on :05r
50 stroke on :60

3200 total. I couldn't have done this without Dr. Bob and his little gray paddles.

New appreciation

When you are injured and can't do what you love to do, you often find yourself appreciating the little things you took for granted before. Being out of a healthy routine was the biggest, but there were a few other things that I realized during my 6-month sabbatical. First, I appreciate the elliptical machine. I used to make fun of people who used the elliptical, but truth be told, it got me through the winter when I couldn't do much else. So now I don't mock the people bouncing around reading magazines nearly as much as I used to. Second, I have a new appreciation for dry, chlorinated skin. Moisturized skin is overrated. It means you probably slept in, had a liesurely shower, and put lotion on at the perfect time for maximum benefit. Finally (for now), I appreciate accountability. When you don't show up for practice for a few days, you get ribbed by your lanemates. When you don't show up to the gym, nobody cares. In fact, they are happy because one prime location machine is open.

Today's workout:

200 on own
100 counting strokes free on 1:40
2 x 25 fly (choice)
50 drill
50 fly
100 counting strokes free on 1:40
2 x 25 back
50 drill
50 back
100 counting strokes free on 1:40
2 x 25 breast
50 drill
50 breast
2 times thru:
75 free on 1:15
75 free faster on 1:10
75 IM order no free 1:30
75 stroke on 1:30
75 stroke faster on 1;25
75 free fast pon 1:10
8 x 150 (descend in pairs of two)
1-2 on 2:25
3-4 on 2:10
5-6 on 2:20
7-8 on 2:10

Great job KBB, and great to swim with you! Of course what I really appreciate most is my MIT masters lanemates.

Back in the saddle?

The old saying "don't count your chickens before they hatch" is one that I take to heart. Particularly this week, when I began my slow return to swimming with my friends at MIT masters. And even when the chickens do hatch, as I witnessed last week when I was at the Museum of Science, the little guys stumble around and run into the walls and generally seem bewildered at what just happened. That kind of describes me at the pool today, but hey, we all have to start somewhere!

Warmup:
12 x 25 on :30
4 x 150 odds free on :20r, evens all stroke on :20r

Main set:
(Three times thru)
3 x 100 on 1:30 descend
50 easy
2 x 75 stroke on 1:25
50 easy
then...
4 x 25 fly
4 x 25 back
4 x 25 breast
4 x 25 free

It was fun to be back, to see coach Bill (and hubba, hubba, does he look great!) and all my friends. Wonderful to swim with E, and there was an extra special treat in seeing BB and his friend Pat. I am cautiously optimistic.

Coach for the day

Coach Bill is in Austin today and asked me to coach. He took full advantage of the fact that I am injured and have nothing better to do at 6:15am than sleep. The truth is, I'm pretty sure all of his reputable backups were busy, so he while he wasn't to the point of begging me to do it, I could sense his urgency. I said yes. But let me tell you, I have a newfound respect for Coach Bill and his management of the workouts. It's a lot harder than it seems! You have to create the workout, make copies, figure out times for the lanes, and then manage the workout. Not to mention the complaints. I mean, really, who in their right mind would complain to a COACH about an interval? Let's just say, I may be a reformed swimmer after this experience. But I got the chance to do one of my favorite workouts and I think people liked it. They certainly got a LOT of yards in! Here it is:

Warmup
5 x 200 (Yes, this is warmup set)
All on :30 rest
1.200 swim easy
2.200 drill/swim by 50
3.200 pull hypoxic (7,3,5,3)
4.200 IM/stroke choice
5.200 kick (tee-hee)
(1000 total)

8 x 75’s
Going:
1-4 stroke choice
5-8 free
1,2: 1:20
3,4: 1:15
5,6: :60
7,8: 1:05
(1600 total)

Main set:

2 x thru:
300 swim (or pull) on 4:30
2 x 150 IM order no free on 3:45
4 x 75 descend choice on 1:05
50 easy on :60
Rinse and repeat
(3500 total)

4(4 x 25’s)
In this order:
1st one is sprint on :35
2nd one is stroke on :45
3rd one is no breath under h20 on :45
4th one is ez on :35

(3900 total)

200 kick
(4100 total)

My intervals were a bit aggressive for all lanes, particularly with the IM and stroke, so we worked it out by the main set. Not all lanes could do the entire set, but most got through all of the main set. With regard to intervals, I guess my philosophy is to let people adjust for more time rather than give them a free pass with too much rest. I had a lot of fun, but would really prefer to be swimming rather than on deck. Maybe soon.