Wha happen?

There are some things in life that are to be expected. For instance, when you go to the tropics, you expect sun and surf, when you eat ice cream every day, you expect to gain weight, and when you go to Whole Foods, you expect fresh vegetables and impatient people. Most importantly, when you swim at MIT masters on Wednesdays, you expect distance. So you can only imagine our surprise when we got to the pool and the workout was short/sprint/stroke. Due to the swim meet (is anyone actually swimming in the meet besides E?) coach Bill mixed it up for us this week. Surprise! I usually love surprises, but in this case it was just tolerable. But sprints are good for us, so is stroke, so here we go:
400 warmup
twice thru:
4 x 25 drill :30
2 x 50 sroke :60
2 x 50 free :60
100 on 1:35
4 x 75 on 1:20
12 x 100 going:
1-3 and 7-9 fly/back, back/breast, breast free on 1:55
4-6 and 10-12 free on 1:35
2 x 25 sprint fly on :25
1 easy on :40
2 x 25 sprint back on :25
1 easy on :40
2 x 25 sprint breast on :25
1 easy on :40
2 x 25 sprint free on :25
1 easy on :40
3 x 25 sprint fly on :30
1 easy on :40
3 x 25 sprint back on :30
1 easy on :40
3 x 25 sprint breast on :30
1 easy on :40
3 x 25 sprint free on :30
1 easy on :40

Colder than Walden in May

The pool has been pretty cold lately, but today it seemed a bit colder than normal. Sure, there were the usual screams of "zoinks!" and "wowza!" coming from the swimmers as they jumped in, but there was a bit more of an edge today. But how, you ask, did I know it was colder than Walden in May? Because R, after finishing one 50, came to the wall and (reflecting the general sentiment of all swimmers) said "holy (bleep)(bleep)! This (bleep) is so (bleep)(bleep)!" Now I have swam with R at Walden in May, but I have never heard any of that come out of her mouth so I know it's cold. Henry David Thoreau might have awakened from his resting spot if so. But it's funny, once you warm up, the sentiment for all swimmers changes to "what a delightful workout in this refreshing pool!"

350 warmup
12 x 50 odds free :50, evens stroke :50
5 x 200 going:
odd free hypoxic 5,7,3,5 on 3:00
events stroke/stroke on 3:40
50 easy
Four times thru:
50 fast on :40
75 cruise on 1:2
50 stroke fast on :45
75 cruise on 1:35
2 x 100 on 1:20
2 x 100 on 1:30
2 x 100 on 1:40

Great bleeping job, everyone!

A Day Without Precious?

This is a story about addiction, and I warn you it isn't pretty. This morning, somewhere near Harvard Square on my way into swimming, I realized that I forgot my phone. This is the same phone that someone who will remain nameless nicknamed "precious". Upon first hearing this nickname I was offended, especially after this unnamed person said I "got the shakes" and "freaked out" when I couldn't find my phone. But maybe he is right, because upon realizing I was without precious, I began to think "what if my car breaks down? Where is my first meeting of the day? What if my sister wants to play Words? What if BB texts me after practice?" Clearly not trivial matters. Then I met for coffee with two colleagues from MIT who, upon learning of my phone fate, said they could not IMAGINE going through their day without their phone. So what did I do? I went home before going to work to retrieve precious, and sure enough, there was a message on my phone that it was my move in Words. Phew. I'd hate to make her wait.

300 warmup
12 x 50 IM order on :60
6 x 75 on 1:15 descend 1-3, 4-6
2 x 50 elbow pop on 1:05
6 x 75 on 1:10 descend 1-3, 4-6
2 x 50 extend on 1:05
6 x 100 on 1:40 going odds 50 cruise/50 fast; event 50 fast/50 cruise
6 x 100 IM on 1:55 going odds 50 cruise/50 fast; event 50 fast/50 cruise
50 easy

Small but hearty group there today. Oh, feel free to text or call me if you'd like, little P is right here with me. Sorry BLGIK!

Nobody wants to be Jan

Six people in the lane today, a bit of a brady bunch split with three boys and three gals. Not sure about what role each of the ladies fulfills, but I am going to go out on a limb and say Dr. Bob is Greg, Joel is Peter, and Joe is Bobby. None of the gals want to be Jan, so for today we're all Marcia or Mrs. Brady. Props go out to Bill for some excellent workouts lately, today was a great example:

200 on own
Four times thru:
7 drill/swim/drill on :20r
50 fly (then IM order) on :15r
25 free build :10r
6 x 50 from middle pool working turns on :60
400 swim on 6:00 third 100 fast
2 x 200 on 3:05, third 50 fast
400 IM
4 x 100 on 1:35 set goal pace and keep it
8 x 50 IM order on :60

And there is another E in town - what to do? There will always be only one E, so new Elaine will be E2 henceforth and forevermore. Welcome E2.

Back in Operation

After three weeks of being defunct, the suit spinner in the ladies locker room is working again! You don't really appreciate the suit spinner until it breaks, but boy do you miss it. I've had to go old school, wringing out my suit and hanging it from my locker like in high school. Others who aren't as fortunate have dealt with putting on damp suits and pools of water in their bags. Ok, so I admit this is a first world problem, and in the grand scheme of things it feels kind of silly to even express happiness that the spinner is back. But I am happy about it, and am not afraid to admit it.

250 on own
3 x(3 x75) on :20r
2 drill, 25 swim, 25 drill
50 stroke, 25 free
50 free, 25 stroke
4 x 250 on 3:45 - sprint the third 50 of each
Three times thru:
100 free (75% effort) on 1:30
75 free (85%) on 1:10
50 free (90%) on :50
25 free (100%) on :40
100 going 50 stroke/50 free (75%) on 1:40
75 going 25 stroke, 25 free, 2 stroke (85%) on 1:20
50 going 2 stroke, 25 free (90%) on :60
25 stroke (100%) on :45
50 easy

3600

A Swim Buffet

I used to love buffets. So much variety! Eggs, fruit, bacon, pancakes AND french toast! It's too good to be true! As I got older I realized it was too good to be true, that these places were making a ton of money off of me because I just can't down that much food anymore and you fill up too quickly. Today's workout was like a buffet. If you started off going too hard on the first set, then your eyes were bigger than your stomach, so to speak, and you wouldn't have enough in the tank (or room in the tummy) for the last set. Paced correctly, it was fun. And it has something for everyone - sprint, stroke, mid-distance.

300 swim (75 stroke, 75 swim, repeat)
200 drill/swim by 50
100 drill/swim by 25
6 x 50 count strokes :50
4 x 50 stroke :60
100 fly
4 x 75 on 1:05
4 x 75 going 1:20, 1:15, 1:10, 1:05
4 x 75 on :60
2 x 75 on 1:25
2 x 75 on :55 (ouch)
50 easy
100 fly
5 x 200 on 3:00
100 fly

I picked the wrong day to stop drinking coffee

As I was leaving the pool today Joel asked "did you feel spunky today Katie?" and I really didn't have a good answer. I was more worried about what would happen when I got a half-caff coffee instead of my full strength caffeine fix after swimming. You see, I am trying to give up caffeine, just for awhile, and it all started by me NOT having coffee before I swam, leading me to feel out-of-sorts and sluggish during the warmup and first set. Then I got to work and found out that my hard drive crashed. Cause and effect? I think so, but I am not one to give up easily. Except for that time when I crashed on my mountain bike and sold it the next day, or wiped out on my rollerblades and immediately gave them to a friend, or took off my skis and walked down the mountain rather than do moguls my first time out. But caffeine, I can do. Really.

600 warm up
4 x 75 50 free, 25 drill choice
4 x 75 50 stroke, 25 drill choice
50 fly on :60
50 free on :50
4 x 50 stroke on :60
6 x 50 free on :45
4 x 50 stroke on :60
50 free on :50
50 fly on :60
200 on 2:45, 25 easy on :40
200 on 2:45, 25 easy on :40
200 on 2:45, 25 easy on :40
30 seconds rest between sets then:
200 on 2:40, 25 easy on :40
200 on 2:40, 25 easy on :40
200 on 2:40, 25 easy on :40
9 x 50 going:
1-3 on :50
4-6 on :60
7-9 on 1:05