Guest Blogger BB: The word of the day

To improve my vocabulary I subscribe to A.W.A.D. It is an online service that sends a new vocabulary word every day. It provides the pronunciation, the meaning, etymology and usage of the word. I try to use the word in some way shape or form at least once during the day. Fug is a word from Tuesday that seemed particulary apt today especially when one reads the "usage" of the word. Here you go:

MEANING: noun: Stale, humid, and stuffy atmosphere, as in a crowded, poorly ventilated room.
ETYMOLOGY: Of uncertain origin, perhaps from fogo (stench).
USAGE: "[The butterfly stroke] may have a fug of raw, sweating masculinity about it, but it's also the most irritating of all strokes." Barney Ronay; Vladimir Putin's Tough-guy Swimming Technique; The Guardian London, UK); Aug 6, 2009.

I love it--the fug of raw, sweating masculinity from a guy wearing a flowered speedo (me). Here is the workout. Lanemates present today were KT and R2.

No warm up we weren't IBB
2x50 drill/free 60sec
4x25 breast 35sec
2x50 drill/free
4x25 back
2x50 drill/free
4x25 fly -Oh fug!
5x75 fr 60 sec
3x25 ez 35sec
4x75 fr 1:05
2x25 ez
3x75 60 sec
1x25 ez 35sec
2x75 1:05
2x25 ez
4x200 (2:45,2:40,2:35,2:30-oh fug)
6x25 warm down

Fug is also an expression (oh fug) that can be used when one hasn't been
in the pool for 13 days!!! It was good to be back.

PS-If anyone wants to improve their vocab let me know an I can hook you up with A.W.A.D. I get concerned about saying words like paaark, yaaard, wicked good pissah.

Guest Blogger: Dan O'Dair

Danny is my baby brother, and also my muse. He is a real writer, as in he has degrees to show for it and pays the rent by writing. So I hesitated to put this in as it's a little much, but I don't want to offend him as at least he submitted an entry (Bobby, Carrie, hello?) What I really want to read about is Danny's swimming experience as a kid. He still refuses to race me in the 50 yard crawl, btw. Love you, Dan!

As most of you know, my sister Katie is a strong swimmer. That wasn’t always the case, though. As a child she was a so-so aquatician, content merely to achieve her “A” times in AAU, never really taking to heart Coach Skip Runkle’s motto that “Practice Makes Perfect, But Perfect Practice Makes Even More Perfect.” Ultimately Katie abandoned competitive swimming prior to the high school level to pursue driving around in our dad’s 1976 Jaguar while to listening to Styx and Billy Squier on the 8-track and looking for a carryout to sell her and her friends a six-pack of Michelob Light. And they were usually successful. Anyway, it wasn’t until she started Masters Swimming as an adult that she rose from the so-so to the bad-ass level, from the merely content to the merely going to kick some ass. What proof do you have, you may ask, that your sister Katie is a bad-ass swimmer? Allow me to present an anecdote to illustrate my point.

Katie was visiting dad and mom during our dad's last year of life - March 1999. She went to the beach with dad and decided to take a walk to the end of the beach where there was an inlet between two sections of land, and the water flowed into a place under a bridge where boats came in and out. The current was strong. She was walking along the beach when she heard a man start yelling "help!" and then a whole bunch of people start gathering to watch this man who was being swept into the inlet stream. He had waded into the water on the other side of the inlet and got swept into the stream. A boat was coming and threw a life preserver but missed horribly and its momentum kept going. She looked around, everyone is screaming, so she threw off her glasses and hat and ran (ala Baywatch!) into the rushing stream to save this guy. She brought him to shore, he was exhausted and all these old ladies were surrounding Katie saying "oh honey, you are a hero!" and wanting her name, etc. Unfortunately, all the guy's family was on the other side of the inlet so we have no idea how he got back because it started to become a scene. It was a little embarrassing for Katie so she took off. She went back to dad and told him the story and we remember him saying how proud he was of her. I’m proud of her too, not just for swimming, but for many other things.

Today's workout:
300 WU on own
3 x (4x50) going build up, build down, easy, fast (middle four stroke)
3 x 200 hypoxic going 5, 3, 7, 11
500 on 7:30 going 200 hard, 100 easy, 100 build, 100 fast
400 on 6:00 negative split
300 FAST
4 x 25 easy
500 on 7:15
400 (we pulled) on 5:45
300 FAST

Guest Blogger Dan S: Parachute Pants and Phelps

Dan is a FOK (friend of Katie), a middle-aged guy who can be seen swimming at Walden Pond. He is known locally as "The mystery man of Diaper Beach"

I think I have the answer to the concern faced by Michael Phelps in his new-found competition, the the polyurethane 'lZR racer' suit. The answer is: cargo pants. Yes, those baggy shots worn by the hip skateboarders scaring the support hose off of old ladies in Harvard Square.

Now you must be wondering - what the hey?? Has this mystery man been gulping too much of Thoreau's polluted water?? NO, but I have been soaking in it. I got down to the pond today, wandered past the screaming offspring, the scattered piles of clothes, and the oversexed crowd lifeguards ignoring the swimmers and mentally groping each other. DAMN! I thought, realizing that I forgot my swimsuit. Not to be stopped, I jumped right in wearing my cargo pants.

As I waded in and the water soaked into my pants, I swear I saw the water level go down in the pond, so many gallons soaked up by my apparel. I dove in, only to be rapidly slowed by the parachute effect of the pants, the huge pockets billowing open like the baleen of a right whale, sucking up unaware small children playing on the beach. I swam hard; I kicked and stroked. After about 5 minutes of this I found I had gotten past the buoys marking off the kiddie swim area. I was back out of the water by sundown. I think this swim should be satisfactory training to join the navy seals.

So How would these pants help Michael Phelps? Secretly trade the competing swimmers' suits with cargo pants made from sponges. Make his own out of LZR - but leave off a few pockets. It'll slow everyone down, making Cricket matches look like 40 yard dashes, but in the end he'll still win.

Guest blogger BB: Water temperature and turnover

This week BB is reporting from Great Bay, St. Thomas, U.S.V.I.

Is there a corallary between water temperature and arm turnover? I never really thought there was, however I am having second thoughts. As L3's roving island reporter this month, I can personally attest that the 86 degree Carribean waters slows a swimmers arm turnover. I've made several attempts to get several open water workouts in to no avail. I can't "git er done". I simply end up floating on my back.

Today's workout back at the 'tute:

200 on own
12 x 50 reverse IM order on :50
2 x (4 x 150) on 2:25 going:
1st 50 fast
2nd 50 fast
3rd 50 fast
all fast
4 x 25 on :40
rinse and repeat
then:
4 x 100 free, 1:30, 1:20, 1:25, 1:15
4 x 25 on :40
4 x 150 going:
1st 50 ez
2nd 50 ez
3rd 50 ez
all fast
4 x 25 on :40

There is a possiblity that board shorts (no speedos in front of clients) and a rum drink(s) could be impeding my efforts. Looking forward to seeing everyone in the cooler waters of the Z center on Wednesday.

Guest Blogger KBB: A Summer of T Issues

Last week it was swimsuit Technology making the headlines. This week it is Trademarks making the headlines. In case you haven’t followed the news, it seems that “Ibswbse” (see Note 1 below) has trademarked their name, the letter “I” as well as most common inspirational phrases in the English Language. What does this have to do with swimming you ask?

Well, Thursday morning was my last long course swim. How depressing! Yet I was even more depressed when I arrived, at my usual 6:26 AM, to find none of the usual lane 3 suspects. So I did some looking around the pool. A lot of new faces, many wearing CMS swim caps. Suddenly, a cold chill ran up my spine. “Of course,” I thought. "Ibswbse” has planted spies at our workout to make sure that no one is infringing on any of their trademarks!!” Coach Bill was even suspiciously quiet, not daring to mutter his normal inspirational phrases for fear of retribution.

Clearly, this trademark issue can change the face of Master’s Swimming across the world. How can we improve without our coaches using “Ibswbse” trademarked inspirational phrases? Fear not, I have a solution that will work quite well for MIT Masters, as we are a smart and educated bunch. We will get Coach Bill a set of flags and he can provide encouragement using Semaphore code! For those of you who may have forgotten the Semaphore code you learned in your boy/girl scout days, you can brush up at http://inter.scoutnet.org/semaphore/semaphore.html.

Thursday’s workout… Well, to be honest after all the research I needed to complete to be sure I didn’t get KT sued for using trademarked words and phrases in her blog, I forgot most of the workout details. (And the blog is a day late!) I do recall a set of 10 x 150’s in there somewhere.

See you all next week in flip-turn hell (short course).

kbb TM

Note 1: The code for deciphering the words and letters in quotes above is to substitute each letter with the letter to the right in the alphabet. (See Note 2).
Note 2: You need to move one letter to the right, as I suspect that “Ibswbse” has already trademarked moving to the left.

Guest Blogger Coach Bill: Where there's smoke, there's fire!

Our guest blogger today is our coach, Bill!
This morning was a tough one. I woke up and all I could think of was how dangerous things could have been. Last night, I smelled smoke, and looked out my window, and there was nothing in my housemate's fire pit.. so I guessed that another neighbor must have gotten a new fire pit, and hence the smell of smoke.

After watching TV for about a half hour, and after turning the fan on, I was
starting to get a headache, so I got up to go to bed. Then, all of a sudden
was a pounding on my door. I yelled ok, I am coming, and I heard one of my housemates yell, get out, the porch is on fire! I tossed on some shorts,
and made a run for it. At the second floor landing, I heard voices, and went inside. The fire was on the porch, and the smell of smoke was strong. I filled up a pot from the sink and tossed it on it, but it wasn't enough to get all of it. I ran back upstairs to the roofdeck where I always keep a full bucket of water (used to water the plants or should I say forest). I tossed this on the fire and a neighbor from down the street showed up with his fire extinguisher, and put it out. The fire department showed up and checked things out. We are all still unsure as to how it started although it could have been with a cigarette. (more on this later). Anyway, I hit the sack late, and woke up thinking I need to buy a doorbell that is batter operated because there have been a few times when I have not heard anyone knocking on my door. And I need to buy a fire extinguisher. My apartment is in an old house.... and I am on the top floor.

So, despite all of this, I managed to get myself "Fired up", and I did my best this morning.... distance free set and the last one at 50 meters for awhile.... My task was to light a fire under all of our masters swimmers, and with that in mind we did:

(all on 20 rest)
1 x 100 [50: front quad, 1 arm drill]
1 x 100 [50 fingertip drag dr, 50 choice dr]
1 x 100 [50 choice dr ? 50 count strokes fr]
1 x 100 [50 fly, 50 back]
1 x 100 [50 breast, 50 free]
1 x 100 [build speed... slow to fast]
then 2 x 1000
1000: think of it as 5 x 200's holding steady pace on 2:00 rest
1000: think of it as 5 x 200's with the last 50 going stroke
3 x 50 free (counting strokes) on :60
4 x 50 free :50
3 x 50 choice :60

Then at 7:50 the phone rings: It appeared that Ms. Katie's hair dryer caught fire in the ladies lockeroom. Some folks will do anything to become a dean at MIT! Last thought: Kennedy Compound wanted to send some love to Ms. Katie O and all of the lanethree swimmers with:

Chaka Khan:
Through the fire...

Through the fire
To the limit, to the wall
For a chance to be with you
I'd gladly risk it all
Through the fire
Through whatever, come what may
For a chance at loving you
I'd take it all the way
Right down to the wire
Even through the fire

Safety tip of the day: Get a freaking fire extinguisher!

Guest Blogger: Nobody

Our guest blogger today is nobody, so unless somebody wants to write, nobody will be appearing regularly. The pipe cleaner guy is Bill, btw.

300 WU
12 x 50 free on :20
variety swim, drill, stroke, etc.
2 x 100 count strokes
8 x 100 on 1:45
2 x 50 easy
7 x 100 on 1:40
2 x 50 easy
2 x 200 pull hypoxic 9, 3, 7, 3 (or 11, 3, 9, 3)