Knowing when it's time to retire

I had to retire my favorite swimsuit this morning, the one from the 2012 Olympics which had a fun pattern made up of all things London (see photo from catalog).  E2 was there to bear witness to the parting as we thanked the suit for its service and sent it to its final resting place (which is probably and somewhat ironically a barge in the middle of the ocean somewhere). It's good to know when the time is right to say goodbye to a suit and to make the choice on your own rather than to have an unfortunate incident force you to retire it. Put bluntly, when people on deck either point and laugh or shield their children from you as you walk by, it is time to retire the suit. And while you are a good friend when you can gently tell your lanemate that a new suit is necessary, another approach is to send a note to your whole lane and say "hey - I am putting in a suit order - who is game"? My day got started a wee bit late today, but I climbed in a rec lane and swam most of the workout (what I did is below - I missed about 800 yards). It's amazing how many meters you can fit in when you don't chat at the wall.

500 swim
Twice thru:
1 x 100 Going:  25 drill – 25 free
1 x 100 Going:  25 drill – 25 stroke
1 x 200 Going:  1st 100:  Think technique
              2nd 100:  Free build
Once thru:
4  x 200 descend on 3:15
6  x 50 going 25 free sprint – 25 ez on :60
4  x 100 descend on 1:40
4  x 150 pull hypoxic on 2:30                             
2  x 100  ascend on 1:40

Vitamin i

I keep thinking that we miss a great sponsorship opportunity when the pool changes from short course to long course. Everyone complains of muscle soreness, shoulder stress, or general emotional anxiety from the switch from 25 yards to 50 meters. Even those of us who love long course are not immune to the negative effects of the changeover, particularly when it seems our intervals are essentially the same (ahem!). I can envision some pharmaceutical rep with his/her big suitcase full of legal, over-the-counter anti-inflammatory drugs chatting up coach Bill during the workout and keeping a keen eye on those swimmers who appear to be wincing as the meters add up. I really can't think of a more receptive audience. Case in point, it was a 600mg day for me today.

200 swim
6 x 50 count strokes :15r
4 x 100 odds IM/evens free :25r
9 x 100 going
1-3 descend on 1:25 (more like survive)
4-6 descend on 1:30 (more like make interval)
7-9 descend on 1:35 (descend)
10 x 50 kick on 1:15-1:20 (really?)
2 x 150 pull hypoxic on 2:20
3 x 50 free on :45
3 x 50 stroke on :55
100 free on 1:45
100 IM on 1:50
200 pull
100 swim

The Thrill of the Chase?

There is nothing quite like going for something and achieving it - be it in a race, finding a new job, or reaching an important milestone in life. As is often said, much of the excitement is in the journey itself, especially if you have momentum and keep building on that momentum. The same cannot always be said if you are the one being chased, although there are times when it's fun to be chased. In general, though, being chased often causes anxiety, worry, heart palpitations, and a flight mentality. Typically on distance day I embrace the former, enjoying the journey, trying to keep strong and finish strong, happy to make it to the end. But when you happen to swim with someone out of your league then you are relegated to the latter, as was the case today. I quickly realized that my whole goal during the workout was not to get caught, and this brought with it a sense of mild panic that I now know I really don't like. To be honest I'm mostly worried that Phil will show up in my nightmares and will not only catch me, but will touch my toes. The horror.

6 x 25 :15r
Underwater swim
Build up the lane (slow to fast)
Build down the lane (fast to slow)
Cruise
Fast free
Fast stroke

5 x 100 :20r
1. 25 fly/75 free
2. 50 fly/50 free
3. 75 fly/25 free
4. 100 all free
5. 100 all fly

6 x 400
1.Long swim on 5:20
2.Negative split on 5:30
3.Make 3rd 100 fast on 5:40
4. Pull: Hypoxic: 5, 7, 5, 3 on 5:50
5. Descend by 100s on 5:20
50 easy on 1:30
6. Fast on 5:00

Owning our Weirdness

Master's swimmers can be a little quirky. Given that many are organized and driven during their day jobs, it is not beyond the realm of possibility that many swimmers want some structure during workouts. Case in point, there is a general rule that you don't finish a set or a workout on a 50, like 3250 or 4650. You will always swim that extra 50. Similarly, while it is okay to finish on an odd number for a hundred, you never finish on an odd number if you are close to a big-time even number. For example, 3700 is fine, but 3900 is not fine. You are too close to 4000 so you pretty much have to swim the extra 100. This sounds crazy, but most swimmers are reading this and saying "yup". Today was a little tough for any swimmers with mild to moderate compulsive tendencies. The paper was up on the board, but we realized quickly that we would not be able to finish the workout in the allotted time. This caused a great deal of consternation amongst a majority of swimmers. So we got through 3/4 of the workout and the time expired, leaving many people wonderful "what if..."

400 warmup
2 x 100 going: 25 drill - 25 swim :20r
3 (4 x 25) IM order :30
200 free :15r
8 x 50 IM order :55
Main set:
100 on 1:40
200 on 3:00
300 on 4:15
400 on 6:00

500  on 7:05

600 on 8:30
500 on 7:05
What we did not do:
400
300
200
100

Nicely Done, Joe

Our friend and MIT Masters teammate Joe Kurtz returned to the pool today, just three days after running in the Boston Marathon. Joe had an amazing race, and those of us who saw how hard he was training knew that this day was important to him. As we saw him run by us at mile 18, he had the biggest smile on his face. But many, like Joe, most likely will never celebrate their races because of what happened. Joe penned his thoughts after the event, and I wanted to highlight them again because they capture what many of us are thinking and feeling. Well done, Joe, all around.

Read Joe's comments

Thank you to Charlie Abrahams for posting this.

The workout today:

200 swim
200 free (25 drill - 25 swim)
2 x 100 (reverse IM)
200 free (make each 50 faster)
5 x 100's  free focus on extension, catch, power, finish, recovery
Three times thru:
200 free  3:00
100 free  1:15
50 stroke  :50
100 free  1:20
50 stroke  :55
150 free   2:00
100 free   1:45
150 free   2:00
100 free   1:40
6 x 75
1-2: :60
3-4: 1:05
5-6: 1:10

Unthinkable

Today is another beautiful spring weather day in Boston, much like the beautiful day we had yesterday before the unthinkable happened. It's hard for many of us to put into words how horrible the events of yesterday were. On Patriot's Day, the best day of the year in the best city in the country, families took their kids to watch the marathon and someone decided that their lives would end or be changed forever. Honestly, it really never crossed my mind that this would happen. Today all of my energy and prayers are with the families who lost loved ones, or who are clinging to life, or who lost their hearing, or who are still in shock over what they experienced or saw firsthand. In days to come we learn more about why this happened, hear of people we know who are impacted, and we will put our energy into helping the people and their families who bore the brunt of this evilness. We will be reminded of the psyche of this great city, which is filled with strong-willed and resilient people.

Close to Me

I absolutely love my new Keurig coffeemaker, because in addition to making a delicious cup of coffee, it makes it so fast that I can sleep in an extra 10 minutes in the morning before going to swim practice (yes, I am open to selling advertising space here  - call me!). The only problem I have found is that when I turn it on and the water starts to heat up, the noise sounds EXACTLY like the first few bars of The Cure's song "close to me", a cult favorite from the 80's. To those of you with those machines I apologize in advance, because what will happen is that you also will hear what I am talking about, and you will have that song in your head for the rest of the day. I now have to play other songs in my car on the way in to to swim to get it out of my head. I love The Cure, but not in my wildest dreams did I think that my new coffeemaker would bring me back to my college days. I got my butt kicked today, which is a good thing. I need to get back into a routine.

200 warmup
three times thru:
25 underwater swim
50 all drill
75 free: build by 25
75 IM no free
4 x 50 count strokes free on :45
4 x 50 count strokes stroke on :55
100 on 1:20
200 on 2:40
300 on 4:05
400 on 5:30
500 on 6:40
4 x 200 stroke or IM on :40r
200 pull