Master's Choice

There are certain benefits that come with master's swimming, among them comaraderie with fellow swimmers, good health, and a sense of accomplishment by 7:30am. Another benefit is one that is not often talked about but equally as important: the "master's option". The master's option is a little thing that master's swimmers utilize, albeit infrequently, to alter the workout to suit their particular needs. Take this morning, when we looked at the first set and together decided that we would pull a master's option and do whatever it was we wanted rather than what was on the paper. We were happy, and the coach didn't know any different. Of course posting this now outs us, but this should not be a surprise to Coach Bill. Master's option usually makes a workout easier, not harder, but Joe again pulled a master's option and substituted fly for other strokes when he was not required to do so. In doing so, he negated the previous master's option and therefore we are in the clear with coach.

8 x 50 swim on :55
6 x 75 stroke going twice thru:
25 fly, 50 back
50 back, 25 breast
50 breast, 25 free
6 x 400 going:
200 hard/200 easy on 6:00
400 hypoxic pull 7,3,5,3 on 6:20
400 swim steady on 6:10
400 descend by 100 on 6:00
200 easy/200 hard on 6:00
400 fast
75 on :60
25 on :40
2 x 75 on 1:05
25 on :40
3 x 75 on 1:10

Congrats and Good Luck, Fritzi!

If you are a morning swimmer, and if you regularly use the South entrance to the Z Center, there is big news to report.  Our friend Fritzi, who greets us every day with a smile, a hug (I get a hug!), and a surprisingly positive vibe for 6am is leaving us because he got PROMOTED! He is going to be the new equipment manager for a number of the MIT varsity sports. This is excellent news, and well deserved for someone who works hard at his job and who makes our lives a bit sunnier in the early morning hours. BB, I am so sorry that you are not here during his last week.  He wanted to tell us together. That's Fritz with coach Bill this morning.  For you noontime and evening swimmers, you'll still see Fritzi between 11am-7pm.  Best of luck friend!

Big crowd at today's workout:

200 free 3:10
6 x 25 breast 1-3 on:35, 4-6 on :30
150 free on 2:25
6 x 25 back 1-3 on :30, 4-6 on :25
100 free on 1:45
6 x 25 fly 1-3 on :35, 4-6 on :40
8 x 100 descend in pairs:
1-2 on 1:35
3-4 on 1:30
5-6 on 1:25
7-8 on 1:20
6 x 125 broken stroke going:
50 cruise on :60
75 build on 1:25
Three times thru:
75 free on 1:15
75 free on 1:10
3 x 25 sprint on :25
2 x 25 stroke fast on :30
25 easy

Crickets in the Locker Room

No, not real crickets (as if the Z Center staff needed another locker room crisis!). I mean the crickets that you can hear when there is nobody around, because that is what the locker room was like this morning. Zero ladies. I thoroughly enjoyed my swim with the boys, but seriously missed my post-workout social time with the gals. My usually busy row? Empty. No Nancy, Linda, or Grace. The next row? Same. No Rachel, Maggie, Sarah, Mo, Dawn. Further down the row? No E or E2. Even Callie, our MIT swimmer was absent. Of course the upside to all of this is that there was no line for the shower and that the rest of the people in the locker room didn't have to hear us yelling or laughing over the shower stalls or lockers to each other. But I didn't like it one bit, especially because the benefit of my locker location at Grand Central Station (i.e. row one) is that I get to see my friends.

Great workout today, a bit complicated but fun. Nice to see Steve U. and friends join us from Cambridge Masters.

200 warmup
50 stroke :15r
30 drill/scull
50 free
50 one-arm
50 breast drill/swim
50 back drill/swim
100 free
4 x 100 count strokes odds free, evens stroke :25r
100 going 50 free/50stroke on 1:50
3 x 50 descend on :55
50 fly
3 x 100 free on 1;40
100 choice
2 x 300 IM on 3:40
6 x 150 free going:
1-3 middle 50 fast on 2:40
4-6 descend on 1:35
2 x 50 warm down

What Not to do at the Olympics

The Olympic spirit has taken hold at MIT Masters, as evidenced by the packed pool this morning and chatter on the pool deck about the past weekend's events. Some of us were so inspired by the swimmers that we actually tried to change our stroke or turns. We also got to talking about a few gaffes that happened, which leads me to today's post. Without further ado, here are five things you should not do at (or during) the Olympics. #5. Do not glance back at the Peloton when you are 100 yards from the finish line. Doh! That was hard to watch. #4. Don't play the South Korean anthem before the North Korean soccer match. I mean, if it was another dictatorship like Cuba it would have been amusing, but really, South Korea? Oops. #3. Do not wear a tiger-print t-shirt to watch your daughter in gymnastics. Or, if you are going to wear a tiger-print t-shirt, at least have it say "USA" on it. #2. If you get a silver medal in a relay, act like you got a silver medal, not like your dog just died. It's pretty darn awesome to get a silver medal. And, the #1 thing not to do during the Olympics: Do not send an email to a listserv with the results of a big race in the subject line. Perhaps next time you could say "spoiler alert!" so we don't open it. And now, for today's workout:

8 x 50 reverse IM order
3 x 100 drill/swim choice by 25
5 x 200 on 3:20
3 x 200 IM on 3:30
2 x 200 IM on 3:20
1 x 200 IM on 3;10
100 easy

Our Own Olympian

We are pretty darn excited that the Olympics is here! The swimming starts tomorrow, and most of us will be dialed in to see some fantastic events. What many MIT Master's swimmers (who don't swim in the morning) may not know is that we have an Olympic gold medalist among us! Yes, Mike Austin won a gold medal in the 1964 Olympics for the 4 x 100 men's relay. Oh, and they set a world record too. Mike is a pretty impressive guy, and even this morning the workout was a bit of an homage to him, as we counted our strokes and did a little breath control. As we all agree, Mike has the most efficient stroke at the pool. My guess is that he could cover 50 meters in 10 strokes, max. Compare that to my 42 strokes, and I look like a hand mixer. He also gave us the tip that you should exhale at the last minute to increase your bouyancy. I forgot that he also has a wicked turn and resurfaces about 20 yards after his turn. So as we prepare for a fun two weeks of competition, a shout out to our own Olympian, Mike Austin!

Today's workout

200 warmup
3 x (4 x 50) going:
50 side kick
50 free count strokes
50 choice drill
50 free
4 x 100 going 50 stroke/50 free
15 100's going:
1-5 on 1:40
6-7 on 1:30
8-9 on 1:25
9-11 on  1:45
12-15 on 1:30
4 x 50 going:
9 breaths
7 breaths
5 breaths
3 breaths
2 x 50 easy

Congrats to Callie for doing NO breaths!

Back to my Happy Place

I want to close the loop on the traumatic locker situation from last week. To recap: I was booted from my locker accidentally (oops! sorry!), but thankfully it all worked out and I (and my suits) are back in business. As evidence of this, please see the photo on the right. A special thanks to Grace and Maggie for their help in staging my locker for the photo shoot. In all honesty, if a stranger had walked in on us they might have thought that we were doing a photo shoot for Swim Lockers Monthly, because it took a few times to get the money shot. Of particular note is the placement of the new Aveda products, new shelf from the Container Store, and of course my suits from swimoutlet.com. The little stickers are courtesy of E. And in case you are wondering why the product placement is so important, I am seeking sponsors for my new memoir entitled Lane 3: The Real Story. Today's practice gave me a lot of material (yes, Don Johnson made an appearance). Here is the workout:

200 swim
100 stroke
150 drill/swim
50 back
100 swim
2 x 250 on :40r going:
100 free
50 stroke
100 free
1500 swim (we did a pattern: 200 easy, 100 fast, 100 easy, 100 fast x 3)
500 going odds stroke, evens free

Bill suggested that we watch this 1500 race. Well worth it!

Good Luck SB!!!

Our friend and lane mate SB is in Lake Placid this weekend doing a little race called an Ironman. We are all very excited for him and expect great things, especially with his swim. Several of us did the over/under this morning and while it would be great to see SB break an hour, with one massive swim wave and a very narrow course (read: it's a line at the bottom of the lake) we settled on 1:05. We also should factor in that he does not have his wubbie with him. His little blue friend has seen Steve through a lot of good times and bad, through 50 x 100 on his 50th, and through a number of IM sets where he had no business using a bouy. Nonetheless, We created an honorary wubbie for him with lots of positive energy and good thoughts for a great race!

300 swim
200 drill/swim by 50
2 x 50 stroke
100 free
2 x 50 free
100 drill/swim
12 x 50 going:
1-3 free on :60, :55, 50
4-6 stroke on 1:05, :60, :55
7-9 free on :50, :45, :40
10-12 stroke on :60, :55, :50
4 x 100 descend on 1:35
4 x 100 hold pace on 1:30
4 x 50 stroke/free on :60
3 x 100 on 1:30
3 x 100 on 1:25
2 x 50 easy
3 x 100 cool down

I want to make a special shout-out to Mrs. Edwina O'Toole, a follower from the great state of Virginia. I am happy to report that her daughter attended swim practice today.