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.

Add to favorites

I mark the dates of my favorite workouts in the off chance that I'll need a workout to swim alone. With one or two exceptions, none of those workouts are stroke workouts. It's not that I hate stroke, it's just not usually my thing. But today was an exception, and I now have a fun stroke workout to add to my fave's repetoire. Coach Mariah was on deck so we knew it would be a tough day.

250 on own
200 swim on :15r
4 x 100 drill/swim by 50 :15r
300 pull
16 x 100 going:
100 free
75 free, 25 fly
50 free, 25 fly, 25 back
25 free, 25 fly, 25 back, 25 breast
100 back
75 back, 25 fly
50 back, 25 fly, 25 breast
25 back, 25 fly, 25 breast, 25 free
100 breast
75 breast, 25 fly
50 breast, 25 fly, 25 back, 25 free
25 breast, 25 fly, 25 back, 25 free
100 fly
75 fly, 25 back
50 fly, 25 back, 25 breast
25 fly, 25 back, 25 breast, 25 free
2 x 100 on 1:30
2 x 100 on 1:25
2 x 100 on 1:20
20 seconds rest
100 all out!
50 easy

Good job today, and we had nearly all original members of L3! BB, KBB, E, R, C, IW. K was in other lane. Missing were SB and Dr. Bob

Note to self: when the contact lens solution container says "do not put solution directly into eye" don't put it directly into your eye. Your eye will burn as if you threw acid into it and will be red and puffy all day. Next time, read the label and get the right stuff idiot.

Babies? What babies?

Our friend Rachel returned to swimming today, fresh off of having TWINS! If you didn't know any better, you would have a hard time believing that she did this just a few months ago as she looks great. It was so good to see you, Rach, and hope you can come to swim more regularly! Here is our workout - great job all, especially BB who cut his travel time to the airport to finish the 500s strong.

200 on own
4 x 100 work on various aspects on :20r
2 x 50 fly on :55
2 x 50 back on :60
2 x 50 breast on 1:05
2 x 50 free on 1:00
8 x 25 kick (it was 12, but we saw Rachel so stopped to talk!)
3 x 500 on 7:30 going:
1st one pace
2nd one pull
3rd one fast get time
Two times thru:
75 (50 fly, 25 back)
75 (50 back, 25 breast)
75 (50 breast, 25 free)
5 x 100 on 1:40 BUT total time of all has to be faster than your fastest 500!

I need a vacation

It's true. The first official day back to work and school and I officially need a vacation. I am not the only one. BB apparently also needs one; E too. You see, we just happened to have the best summer weather in recent memory here in Boston, and today is another gorgeous day and we are all locked in our offices. It isn't fair, coming back to work for four days straight (and it is only day 1). So, I propose to the president and congress that we have a phase-in of fall. I mean really, they voted to change daylight savings time, so why not this? Week 1 should be a two day workweek, week 2 a three day workweek, etc. so that we gradually build up to five days. I think this idea is a good one. I've just convinced myself.

400 warmup
6x50 count strokes on 1:00
4x50 stroke on 1:00
4x75 going underwater, easy, free on 1:20
5x250 on 4:00 keep pace
2x50 easy on 1:00
4x200 keep pace on 2:55
2x50 easy

So this is going in my file of favorite workouts. I love 200s, and 250s are pretty darn cool too.

Dropping like flies

As the intervals dropped during our main set today, so too did most of the swimmers of lane 3. We started out six strong, and ended up with just 2. And it would have been one as E nearly bailed when she saw the main set. Short post today, students and parents have descended on campus!



400 warmup
4 x 50 free on :55
4 x 50 stroke on :60
4 x 50 free on 1:05
6 x 150 hold pace on 2:20
15 x 125 going:
1-3 descend on 2:00
4-6 hold steady at 1:55
7-9 descend at 1:50
10-12 hold steady at 1:45
(13-15 descend on 1:40)
we did 300 pull hold 1:20s instead

Zen workout

Apparently nobody from Lane 3 showed up today. And apparently, according to the coach and a swimmer who will remain nameless who swam in Lane 3, the practice was "zen", "surreal", and "balanced". Really? Come on, folks. If you want surreal and balanced, go to a yoga class. That just doesn't sound like fun to me. Coach Bill might like serene, quiet, obedient swimmers now and then but truthfully, he would get bored without the electricity of L3 swimmers. But to show that we are truly team players, I think we all should try our best to be quiet, docile people for awhile. And by awhile I mean at least through the warmup, SB. :) Here is what they did today, looks like fun!

400 warmup
6x75 dr/sw/dr 20R;
6x50 IM order no free 15R
600 think technique
2x300 pull breathe 3/7/5 @4:45, 2nd faster;
600 fast
4x150 as 75 cruise 10R + 75 @1:10
300 fast
150 cooldown
4000 yds total

Back to everything

This week marks the beginning of the return to work, school, routine. The pool will start to be more crowded and traffic will again be ridiculous. Just a word of warning: today and tomorrow will be the worst possible time for you to drive in Boston. Like the swallows of Capistrano, students will return in the tens of thousands to the Boston area, clogging roads, hitting parked cars in their rented U-Hauls, and taking their MIT swim test. For those of you who don't know, to graduate MIT you must pass a swim test, which frankly I think is an awesome requirement. I noticed the other day that the students who take the test early in their first year are the confident ones - they zip back and forth and get the thing over with. It's the seniors who have delayed it four years who make it interesting. Come to the pool in late May to witness what some MIT students say is their hardest exam. Go figure!

Another doozey to remember today. Here we go:

200 on own
4 x 100 drill/stroke odds, drill/free evens on :20r
2 times thru:
50 free
50 back
50 breast
50 fly
2 x 50 on :45
50 easy on 1:05
4 x 50 on :40
50 easy on 1:05
6 x 50 on :45
50 easy on 1:05
400 IM on :30r
3 x 200 on 3:15
50 stroke fast on :50
50 easy on 1:05
2 x 50 stroke on :55 (first one fast)
50 easy on 1:05
3 x 50 stroke on :60 (first one fast)
50 easy on 1:05

Welcome back, BB and SB (even though SB returned 10 days ago).

Brain game

I am beginning to think that coach Bill has been reading up on books that help people keep their brains stimulated such as "brain teasers for the 40+ crowd" or the like, because the workouts over the last week or so make my head hurt from thinking too much. It's the combination of many different sets, various intervals within said sets, and sets that end in a 25. Not sure about the rest of you, but I realize lately how much that little sheet of paper with the workout and itervals on it is a crutch, and when it's not there it's kind of stressful. While I am somewhat used to forgetting the whole workout after I get out of the water, it's quite another thing to do so while you are still swimming. Ginko biloba in our water bottles might help.

Warmup
6 x 50 various work on stroke on :60
3 (4x25) on :35
1-4 breast, 5-8 back, 9-12 fly
300 going 100 extension, 100 drill, 100 power
6 x 75 going:
1-2 on 1:15
3-4 on 1:10
5-6 on 1:05
3 (3 x 225s): These are 200 work, 25 easy
1-3 descend on 3:30
4-6 descend on 3:25
7-9 descend on 3:20

First of all, 200s are my fave so this was my cup of tea. The key is to really go nice an easy on the first of each set, swim pace the second, and go hard the last one. It was harder to go real easy on the final set if you wanted some decent rest, but a great set overall. Thanks for the company KBB.

Buckle up

Today was one of those workouts where you really never knew where the road was leading you. Usually halfway through you get a sense of what you are up to for the day. It's like driving to get on the highway - lots of short roads with turns and stoplights (the warmup), then you get on the highway and you know your destination (main set). Yet by 7am, we weren't sure if we were still approaching the onramp or taking a secondary road not usually on googlemaps. Then it became clear, and we did what any self-respecting masters swimmers would do: we changed the workout. Now, now, before you get all uppity about us defying authority, we did so with the coach's blessing. Here is what we did. What we were supposed to do is in parenthesis. The late adjustments were for time; the earlier adjustments were because we could not bring ourselves to swim 6 more 100s.

200 on own
200 free on 3:20
8 x 50 various drills/stroke work on:60
3 x 100 drill/swim on :20r
3 x 100 kick on 2:20
4 x 25 free, fly back, fly
8 x 100 on 1:30
4 x 25 on :35
3 x 200 pull on 3:00 (6 x 100 0n 1:40)
4 x 25 on :35
2 x 100 on 1:20 (4 x 100 on 1:35)
2 x 25 on :40
2 x 100 stroke/swim by 25 on 1:45 (2 x 100 on 1:20)

Guest Blogger KBB: All he wants to do is have some fun...

Our guest blogger is lane 3 superstar KBB, who is out in Santa Monica. Note the beautiful, long course, outdoor pool. Sigh.

Can't get that Sheryl Crow song out of my head. Today's workout was 50 meter long course with the Southern California Aquatics Club (SCAC) at the Santa Monica College outdoor pool. Plenty of company, must have been 12 people in my lane. Yes, swimming outdoors as the sun comes up. Barely up. It gets light much later out here, and practice was from 5:30 to 6:30. Which wouldn't be bad as my body is still on East Coast time. Unfortunately, my flight into LAX was late, so bedtime was not until 11 PM. Ouch!!

Today's set (long course meters)
300 on your own
4 x (2 x 50 kick, 100 swim)
3 x 100 @ 1:40
1 x 50 fast
1 x 150
3 x 100 @ 1:40
1 x 100 fast
1 x 150
3 x 100 @ 1:40
1 x 150 fast
1 x 50
3 x 100 @ 1:40
1 x 200 fast

Sorry, I can't recall the times on the entire set, be there was never more than 5 sec rest. At least not for me.

The grass will be greener...

on the other side of this rain! I'm going to try not to complain about the last 3 days of rain, mostly because I can't remember the last time it rained here. We have been so lucky! Or unlucky, if you are not a fan of droughts. But I did notice that the grass seemed a lot less brown this morning. And how pretty is that picture? Must admit, though, that it is harder to get out of bed when the rain is pounding on the roof and it never seems to get light. Ok, enough. We did swim today, and here is our workout:

200 on own
3 x (4 x 50) on :20r going:
50 stroke drill
50 free fast
50 stroke fast
50 free dill
6 x 50 middle of the pool, work on turns on :60
2 x 25 fly on :30
2 x 25 fly on :35
2 x 25 fly on :40
200 IM on 3:15 (ouch)
500 free pace on 8:05
100 easy on 2:00
500 free faster on 7:30
200 IM, break at 100, last 100 2:15
500 free on 7:05

Congrats to all finishers. I finished by swimming to the car mechanic.

Summah is ovah

Not literally, we know that officially happens in mid-September, or for many after Labor Day. But for all intents and purposes, for us distance swimmers, it is over. The pool changed to short course yards from long course meters. While there was glee in the locker room for most, it was a sense of gloom and doom for some of us who love the smooth, not-interrupted-by-walls water. But it's interesting that all of a sudden I realized how dark it was this morning, or how much colder the pool felt, or how much I stink at flip turns. But Bill snapped some of us out of our short course funk by this workout. KBB, I missed the last set so please fill us in.

5 x 100 on :20r going
swim
drill/swim
stroke/swim
kick/swim
swim
6 x 25 back on :30
50 easy on 1:10
6 x 25 breast on :35
50 easy on 1:10
6 x 25 fly on :30
50 easy on 1:10
6 x 75 on :60
100 easy on 2:30
6 x 75 on 1:05
100 easy on 2:30
6 x 75 on 1:10
100 easy
one more set I didn't catch

Good luck to all racers this weekend - big triathlon in NH and open water swims in Gloucester and Salem!

How many degrees does it take...

I added up how many college and graduate degrees were swimming in lane 3 today. No, the degrees themselves were not wrapped in a ziploc and floating on a kickboard board or splashing and playing around on the blocks. It was the people swimming - 5 that I know of - who have 11.5 undergraduate, graduate, and terminal degrees combined. The half is because one is still in progress. In any case, it's a crazy group of smarty pants. So when we finished the set today, it was comical that none of us could add up how much we did. I don't even know what new math is, but we could have used some old math at that point. After a grueling 5 minutes of back and forth we figured it out. Phew. Now people can go back to saving lives and changing the world.

6 x 50 alternate drill/swim on :15r
200 free stretch out
6 x 50 going breast drill, breast, back drill, fly drill, back, fly
5 x 100 count strokes/free descend on 1:55
400 going breath weak side, bilateral, strong side, every 9 by 50 and repeat
1000 for time
100 easy

That is 2700 for the record. Good job BB leading the 1000. All that pizza, bratwurst, and beer from last night fueled you well.

Sprint day

We didn't do very many meters today, but it felt like we did. Today was sprint day, and unlike distance day one never knows what day of the week sprint day will be. Sometimes we don't have sprint day at all for weeks, then BAM! there it is. The comedy of today was watching Bill (see image above) trying to send 4-5 heats off on one end, then sprint himself on the deck down to try and send off the first group on the other end at :45. After about two he gave up, likely realizing that this workout scheme where he blows the the whistle and gets our time on his stopwatch only works in yards. Here it is:

12 x 50 going twice thru:
1-2 free
3 drill
4-5 stroke
6 drill
4 x 100 free/back on 2:00
Main set 4 times thru:
50 sprint off blocks on :45
50 pace on :55
50 easy on 1:10
50 sprint stroke on :50
50 pace stroke on :60
50 easy stroke on 1:20
5 x 100 pull hypoxic:
100 breathe every 9 on 1:50
100 breathe every 5 on 1:45
100 breathe every 7 on 1:50
100 breathe every 5 on 1:45
100 breathe every 7 on 1:50

2700 meters total, but quality. Nice job all.

Wednesday is always distance day

Wednesday is distance day at MIT Masters, so it should be no surprise that we did distance. We always do distance on Wednesdays, even our resident stroke person S diligently does distance without complaining. But apparently it was a surprise to one person who swims infrequently in lane 3, who said "are you doing a separate lane for IM?" Coach Bill seemed taken aback by the request because, after all, Wednesday is distance day. But being the accommodating coach that he is, he moved her to lane 1 while the rest of us did distance. Because it's Wednesday. That is why we did distance.

300 on own
4 x 50 free build down, build up, easy, fast
4 x 50 stroke build down, build up, easy, fast
8 x 50 kick odds on :60, evens on :55 (right!)

1000 going:
400 pace (get time)
200 IM
400 pace

800 going:
300 pace
200 stroke
300 pace

400 going: faster than the first 400

Great job everyone. You get a gold "D". :)

Going bananas

So I am on Storrow Drive this morning and the woman driving the fancy German SUV in front of me rolls down the window and throws a banana peel out onto the road. Now if you know me, you already know that littering in general riles me up. But what really gets me is when people think that throwing things like banana peels, apple cores, etc. is not littering. "It's organic", they say. Okay, so imagine if everyone just decided to throw their biodegradable food waste on the road, in your front lawn, or while strolling down the street. It would be a dump, wouldn't it? So please don't do it, in this state it is considered littering and there is a fine. It take a banana peel 3-4 weeks to decompose. And you wouldn't want to be swimming through that at Walden either (see, I tied this into my swim blog somehow!). And, E was going bananas at the workout this morning. :)

300 on own
9 x 50 going 50 drill, stroke, backstroke, repeat
200 kick
300 swim hard on 5:15
6 x 50 IM order on 1:10
300 pull on 5:00
3 x 100 back/free on 2:10
300 swim hard on 5:15
3 x 50 backstroke descend on 1:05
3 x 50 free descend on :60
300 pull hypoxic 7,3,5 by 100

Happy Monday, everyone!

Happy Birthday, SB! (and we did it!!)

A hearty group of MIT Masters swimmers showed up to help SB celebrate his 50th birthday (that's him on the right). What is so crazy about this is that if you ever saw SB, you might think he is 40, but even that would be a stretch. One of our lanemates who will remain nameless was shocked, shocked! to find out he was 50. In any case, we did our 50 x 100 (actually 51 for good luck) and dare say, we had fun doing it. Even Ian "the hammer" and BB "I'm next" finished with a 50 fly. The anticipation of it was worse than the actual set, which given the intervals was very manageable. Here it is:

10 x 100
drill/swim on 2:00
10 x 100
descend 1-3,4-6,7-9 easy 10 on 1:50
10 x 100
1-2 pull, 3-4 swim on 1:45
5-6 pull, 7-8 swim on 1:50
9-10 pull on 1:45
10 x 100
odds IM, evens free
10 x 100
ascend 1-5, 6-10

AND

And a final 100 for good luck in the next year! 5100 total, awesome.

Great job all finishers: SB, BB, E, KBB, IW, BG, JK, KY, S, M,and moi. :) And a special thanks to coach Bill for coordinating it and getting us the extra time in the pool.

Variety pack

When I was a kid I used to love the variety pack of little cereals like cracker jack and lucky charms, all full of sugar and goodness. We were never allowed to get them, but the lure of the multiple flavors/types in one purchase is something I'll never forget. That's why today, when given a choice, I often go with the "sampler" of teas, variety pack of instant oatmeal, or even neapolitan ice cream which has variety built right in. There is something very appealing about variety, and that is why I liked today's workout. There was something for everyone!

300 on own
200 swim pace on :25r
150 going kick/choice/kick on :25
100 going drill/swim
100 stroke
50 easy
5 x 200 going:
odds free on 3:20
evens IM or pull on 3:40
3 x 50 free descend on :50
3 x 50 stroke descend on 1:10
3 x 50 free descend on :55
3 x 50 stroke descend on 1:05
2 x 50 free descend on :50
2 x 50 breast on 1:05
2 x 50 back on 1:05
2 x 50 fly on 1:05
50 free on :45
50 breast on :60
50 back on :60
50 fly on :60

My arms hurt today. Kevin and I were wondering aloud how we are going to do 50 x 100 on Thursday. Yes we can!

Premonition

As we all know, a premonition is a situation where future events are forecast. Like our friend Nostradamus who predicted everything from fires to famines to pasteurized milk. I am sure somewhere in one of his quatrains he predicted that we have a BIG DAY on Thursday as SB turns 50. We are doing 50 x 100 as a workout, but I can't say that I was thrilled to see 21 100s on the sheet today. At least we know that we won't repeat today's workout as it was all I could do to stay in the pool. I kept saying to myself "self, it will be different on Thursday because it's SB's birthday and we'll all be together, and 100s aren't that bad, and when we finish we'll be happy, and don't be so mad Bill gave us this workout today." So I thought this the whole time, which oddly prevented me from going into a negativity spiral. Here it is:

200 on own
5 x (2x50)
1-2 work on extension
3-4 work on catch
5-6 work on pull
7-8 work on finish
9-10 I forget but I worked on kicking
250 IM first and last 50 fly
4 x 100 on 2:00
6 x 100 on 1:50
8 x 100 on 1:40 going 1-4 first 50 fast, 5-8 second 50 fast
4 x 100 on 1:55
300 hypoxic

Trying to figure out my swim schedule this week to build up to Thursday. Maybe I'll just taper until then. :)

Disgruntled

I challenge anyone to come up with a "dis" word that is positive. I'm not sure you can, because as a prefix it means "lack of" or "not". I could only come up with "dis" words for the swim today. First, there was discomfort in getting out of bed, as I was deep in sleep. Then I displaced my keys, which woke me up running around my house at 5:40am. Then of course the workout was (in my opinion) discouraging and dissapointing. In other words, it was hard and I disliked it. I discarded the sheets, so this is all memory:

300 on own (or for Elaine, 700!)
200 swim on :20r
4 x 50 count strokes on :15r
200 drill/stroke on :20r
4 x 50 choice
50 free on :55
50 fly on :60
2 x 50 back on 1:05
50 free
2x 50 breast on 1:10
50 free
Main set is four times thru:
200 fast-ish on 3:05
50 easy on 1:20
50 sprint off blocks on :60
50 easy on 1:10
6 x 50 on 1:10

While I was typing this I came up with two words that were somewhat positive - discreet and Disney. The second might not count.

Distance with a twist

As someone who likes distance, I might have slept in if I knew that the main set was 2 x 1000. Mostly because that just sounds so boring! But it wasn't really boring at all the way we did it. Here's today's workout:

300 on own
4 x 50
25 free/25 free
25 breast/25 free
25 back/25 free
25 fly/25 free
3 x 100 kick
1000 going:
200 fast
200 hypoxic (7,3,5,3)
200 fast
200 hypoxic
200 fast
2 x 50 on 1:15
1000 going:
build within each 300
then don't forget the final 100
2 x 50 easy

What this did, especially on the third one, was break it up into 3 small sets of 100s. If you think about it that way, going easy, medium, fast then it is much more manageable. Great job all.

Open Water

There are some big open water races this weekend, most notably the Nubble Light swim in York, Maine. E and Bill G. are doing this, which is a 2.4 mile swim around Nubble light. There is some debate as to the water temperature, with Bill claiming it is 59 degrees and E saying 68. Let's hope they meet in the middle for a pleasant 64 degree swim. On the other end is the Charles River Swim, which is a one-mile swim in 80 plus degree water right downtown off of the Esplanade. BB and I are signed up, though high bacteria count may cancel it. Here's hoping it goes off - I have done this before and it really is incredible to see both Cambridge and Boston during a swim! No need to worry about the green fungus which gets in our suits - I believe it's all natural. :) Kudos to those who have worked so hard to clean up our river so it is swimmable.

Distance (kind-of) day. Conspicuously missing was Ian, who has been hammering, hammering, hammering in the pool every day.

6 x 50 swim on 1:05
2 x 100 kick
3 x 100 stroke/drill/fast :20r
2 x 100 kick
500 on 8:30 going:
200 fast
100 pace
100 build
100 fast
500 on 8:20 going:
100 fast
100 pace
300 fast, descending each 100
500 steady pace

Good job all. To the person who requested kicking: phooey on you.

Not gonna lie

Today we have a heat advisory - 100 degrees and humid. While everyone is all atwitter about the triple-H conditions, I am secretly delighted. You see, I love this weather because I don't get cold in this weather. Or at least I thought so until I got to my office to find the Snow Miser setting up shop RIGHT IN MY OFFICE. The nerve. I called dining services and let them know they could store meat in here today or at the least just pick the little guy up so my office warms up. So while all of you are sweaty and uncomfortable, think of me here (you may want to call me to see if I have hypothermia) in my summer dress with my space heater on, fighting with the Snow Miser. But the water was truly refreshing today, but again, not gonna lie and say the workout was refreshing, because it was hard.

Two times thru:
3 x 50 breast
1 x 50 free
100 choice
8 x 100 on 1:40
2 x 50 easy on 1;15
400 50 stroke/50 free
6 x 100 on 1:35
2 x 50 easy
4 x 100 on 1:35
2 x 50 easy

The last set of 4 was supposed to be on 1:30 but we changed the interval - while we may have made one or two of them, the rest would have been junk. Good job, all.

Misery loves company

Nobody likes being miserable. But let's face it, when you are miserable, there is something very comforting about sharing the experience. Like when you are stuck in traffic, or the after affects of eating the macaroni salad that was left out all afternoon in 90 degrees, or when your neighbor's daughter is belting out Lady Gaga songs at midnight in preparation for her failed attempt at American Idol (all hypothetical, of course). So today when Bill slapped up the first sheet and said this workout was a request from an anonymous swimmer, nearly all of us groaned. Suspiciously, E was not groaning. Being the super-smarties that we are, we put two and two together and realized it was she who did this to us. So I guess that misery didn't have all the company today.

3 x 50 free
100 IM
3 x 50 count strokes
100 back
800 swim on 1:30 rest
4 x 50 back on 1;10
2 x 400 descend on 7:30 (we pulled #2)
4 x 50 back
800 swim AGAIN (we pulled 400, then did a 50 fast/50 easy for the last 400)

Wasn't pretty, but we did it. Good job BB, E, SB, S, and L.

Climb every mountain

Our lanemate KBB is off to Austria tomorrow, where I imagine he will frolick merrily through the hills and perhaps stop by the Abbey to see frauline Maria. And don't think we didn't hear you belting out "the hills are alive" in the men's locker room lately, KBB. Other than that, he'll probably do a little Ironman race. I know all of his hard work will pay off! First on deck, first in the pool, last out - you are ready Kim!!! He tapered today; smart, too, as this was a dreadful workout.

200 warmup
150 drill/stroke
2 x 50 count strokes
50 stroke
2 x 50 on :60
4 x 50 on :55
6 x 50 on :50
21 x 100 on 1:50

Ugh. We broke it up by going 5 x 100 swim, 5 x 100 pull, repeat. Not fun, but we did it. Good job all!

No inspiration

Kevin asked me last week how I come up with my blog ideas. As I have mentioned before, I count on being inspired between the time when I leave my house and when I arrive at work, at which point I take 5 minutes - no longer - to post the blog. I've got nothing today - nothing. The workout was fine, the drive in was fine, my coffee is fine - all fine, but nothing too exciting. So I can report that BB had an awesome swim at Chesapeake Bay - 2:02:20 - fantastic BB! And I can offer one more friendly masters tip to our new lanemate: Negative split means that you take the distance (let's say 300 for fun) and go faster on the last 150 than the first one. Doing the opposite is called ascending. Don't worry, we have patience and will get you up (or down) to speed. Either that, or one of our more mild mannered lanemates think (KBB or IW)may lose it and who knows what will happen.

2 x 100 drill/swim :20r
2 x 100 stroke/swim :20r
200 50 stroke/50 swim on 5:25 (ha!)
200 pace on 3:15 (ha!)
200 negative split
3 x 100 kick
300 50 stroke, 50 free on 5:30
300 pace on 5:15
300 negative split on 5:00
6 x 50 on :60
400 pull on 6:40
400 negative split

Nice job everyone.

Good luck, BB!

On Sunday, BB is going to swim 4.4 miles across the Chesapeake Bay under the Chesapeake Bay bridge. Coach Bill has done this before and today gave BB some well-needed advice, like don't run into the bridge, watch out for crabs (the kind that inhabit those waters, of course), and don't let the big boats hit you. Sound advice, I'd say. BB is definitely ready to go, as evidenced by his ability to do multiple 50s on 45 seconds today. Good workout by all:

warmup on own
50 drill
50 breast
100 IM
50 drill
50 back
100 IM
50 drill
50 fly
100 IM
8 x 100 on 1:55
2 x 250 pull hypoxic 9,3,7,3,5
2 x 50 stroke on 1:05
8 x 50 free on :50
2 x 50 stroke on 1:05
6 x 50 freee on :50
2 x 50 stroke on 1:05
4 x 50 free on :50 (:45 for BB and Sarah)

Friendly masters tip of the day: if you plan on leaving in the middle of a set, go to the back of the line so you don't mess up your lanemates' intervals.

The porpoise and the hare

With apologies to Aesop, I have slightly altered the title of this famous fable because this is, of course, a swim blog. But the story of the tortoise and the hare has meaning even today, and by today I really mean today at swimming. In summary, the fable is about a young, speedy hare who mocks the older, slower tortoise, who challenges the hare to the race. I saw this play out right in our own lane today! Let's just pretend that SB was the papa tortoise and our young water polo friend was the hare. Here's how it goes: the hare jumps out and races the warmup and beginning set. The tortoise sits back and slowly picks his way through the lane to take the lead. Mama tortoise (me) finally has a word with the hare and reminds him that he needs to leave 10 seconds, not 3 seconds, behind the tortoise (I mean it's only fair, right? Tortoises are supposedly slow). The end of this story is much like the end of the fable: the tortoise reigned supreme and then got out to go to the gym.

400 warmup on own
8 x 100 free working on catch, pull, finish, streamline on :20r
200 kick
8 x 150 going:
1-3 pace on 2:55
4-6 descend on 2:50
7 easy on 3:30
8 fastest of the day!
4 X 100 free on 1:50
6 x 50 stroke on 1:05

Well done, everyone.

Now I know

I'll admit it. I used to laugh when a distance set was posted and my sprinter-type lanemates would groan. I'd happily lope along with not a care in the world, not too slow, not too fast, with nary a kick to my name. Today, I was not so glib. When Bill posted the workout I groaned too, along with the small but hearty group who showed up today. The photo says it all: 800s. Here we go:

2 x 50 breast on :20
100 drill/swim on :20
2 x 50 back
100 drill/stroke
2 x 50 fly
100 drill/choice
800 swim steady pace
800 pull 400, :20r, negative split 400 swim
800 holding each 200 same pace
a bunch of kicking

Great job S and IW! I have no update today on the lane shenanigans, stay tuned until tomorrow.

Back to reality

I would much rather be where I was in the photo to the right than at the pool today - just being honest here. I awakened (at 4am, mind you, when the birds started to sing) to rain and thunder, which was rather harsh compared to 85 and sunny. But I am glad I got up because there were tons of poeple in L3 today, and we had a great workout!

200 on own (or whatever)
100 drill variety - (all on :20r)
50 stroke choice
50 fly
100 free
100 side kick/drill/choice
6 x 50 kick
4 x (4x100)
1-4 on 1:45 even pace
5-8 on 1:40 descend
9-12 on 1:50 hold pace
13-16 on 1:45 descend
400 pull going:
50 breath weak side
50 bilateral
50 strong side
50 every 5 strokes, repeat
9 x 50 swim

Quick "talking to" update from last week: Bill tried to restore order in the lane but this little project may take awhile. When SB gets riled up during the warmup ("are we doing a WARMUP set right now?" said at top of lungs) you know we are all in trouble. No worries, everyone. I will only let this go on so long before it gets out of control. :)

Pooped

I have a favorite iPhone icon that I used when I describe how tired I am. BB uses it too, but I can't find it so I will use a substitute. But that is how I felt today during my first full practice back. And it was kind of an interesting one. It's amazing how much you take in from the back of the train. We had a random visitor leading the warmup set, but he bailed for faster waters quickly. Then young water polo guy (who annoyed SB during the warmup, uh-oh) blasts out only to completely die in the middle of the last set. Someone mentioned that he "needed a talking to" (the assumption was from me, of course) but I need to get my swim legs back before lecturing the young lad. In any case, everyone is swimming strong, well done.

4 x 100 odds drill/stroke, evens drill/free :25r
2 x (4x50)on :20r
free
back
breast
fly
2 x 50 on :55
50 on 1:10
4 x 50 on :50
50 on 1:10
2 x 50 on :55
50 on 1;10
6 x 50 on :50
50 on 1:10
4 x 150 on 2:35 (head up middle 50 2x sighting)
2 x 50 easy
3 x 200 on 3:35 cruise/fast by 100
2 x 50

Off to Key West tomorrow!! I'll try to post something from the beach if I can muster enough energy to get out of the beach chair.

MENSA membership required

I swim with a lot of smart people. A LOT. Doctors, lawyers, aviation experts, finance peeps, nuclear scientists. But smarts really go out the window when a complicated set appears, like it did this morning. Because we are in long course, 150s and 50s throw us for a loop, so trying to remember distance and interval can be a challenge. But the smartest one in the lane today was Kevin, who simply asked Bill to put the workout at both ends. Brilliant! It's kind of like asking directions when you are lost: nobody wants to do it, but when someone does, we are all relieved.

Here is the workout:

200-400 on own
Twice thru:
2 x 50 free front quad on :15r
100 free focus on extension on :20r
100 going 25 drill/25 free on :25r
6 x 50 backstroke on :15r
100 on 1:45
150 fast on 2:25
200 on 3:35
50 cruise on :55
100 cruise on 1:45
150 cruise on 2:30
200 cruise on 3:35
50 on :55
100 fast on 1:35
150 on 2:45
200 fast on 3:00
50 cruise on :55
100 cruise on 1:45
150 cruise on 2:30
200 cruise on 3:35
A kick set followed - maybe 6 x 50?

Nice job today everyone. Small blip when BB was daydreaming of swimming around Alcatraz, but he recovered nicely!

Happy Birthday, Coach Bill!

Today is a big day in MIT Masters history. It's a BIG BIRTHDAY for our beloved coach Bill. So happy birthday, Bill. We love you!

Ahhh, normalcy

When the alarm went off this morning there was not the usual sense of dread. Rather, I bounded out of bed and practically skipped to my car, delighted that I was heading to the pool. After nearly a month out of the pool, it felt great to feel somewhat normal. I use the term somewhat because my lanemates would never use the word "normal" and "me" in the same sentence. But anyway, I chatted on deck with the lifeguards, caught up with coach Bill, and then dove in. It was at about 75 yards that I realized that this pathway to normal was going to be paved with weeks of hard work and some pain. But that is okay! Carpe Diem! Just a small crowd today, and I will post the whole workout though I didn't stay for the entire set.

Warmup on own
5 x 100 variety of drill/swim
10 x 50 on 1:05
2 focus on arm extension
2 focus on catch
2 focus on pull
2 focus on finish
2 focus on rolling
Or, if you are me: 10 x 50 survival swim
100 fast on 1:35
100 easy on 1:50
100 fast on 1:35
100 easy on 1:50
100 fast on 1:35
200 easy on 3:45
100 fast on 1:35
200 easy on 3:45
100 easy on 1:55
100 fast on 1:35
100 easy on 1:50
100 fast on 1:35
200 easy on 3:45
100 fast on 1:35
200 easy on 3:40
100 fast on 1:35

If there was more, I missed it. See you tomorrow, I hope!

Terrible Twos

The workout wasn't terrible at all, in fact we all really liked it. But "terrific 2's" sounded too corny and the graphic for terrible was much more fun than the graphic for terrific. And let's face it, negativity sells sometimes. In a macabre way, more people will want to read that we had an awful workout than we had a great workout. Especially those who chose not to come to practice today. Well guess what? We had an awesome swim and nobody had a tantrum!

warmup on own
200 swim descend
150 drill/swim/drill
100 kick/stroke
50 fast
100 stroke
2 x 25 fly :25
2 x 25 back :30
2 x 25 breast :35
2 x 50 fly :55
2 x 50 back :60
2 x 50 breast 1:05
2 x 25 fly :25
2 x 25 back :30
2 x 25 breast :35
3 x 200 swim (second 50 fast) on 2:50
3 x 200 descend by 50, :5r at each 50; last 50 on 1:05
3 x 200 pull on 3:00
3 x 200 descend by 50, :10r at each 50 (we only did 2 of these)

I'd say that was a pretty sneaky way to get in 11 200s today, and we all really liked it. We laughed, we cried, it was better than Cats. Good job IW, E, Dr. Bob, and M.

Writer's block

I have to apologize to my lanemates and readers worldwide for slacking on the blog lately. I think I have some post-traumatic stress from all of the academic writing I have been doing and it seems too much just to post the workout. But I will be better, though I don't know if my creativity is 100% back. No matter, I will pledge to diligently post the workouts even if they don't come with some innane daily reflection on my part. Okay? Today's workout was one that I will definitely add to my "favorites" list - nice intervals and good mix of short and long. Here it is:

Warmup on own
6 x 75 odds kick/drill/swim, evens stroke, swim, drill
2 x 100 easy
10 x 25 build
3 x 100 on 1:30
2 x 300 pull on 4:45
3 x 100 on 1:25
2 x 300 on 4:30
3 x 100 on 1:40
2 x 300 on 4:15

I had to bolt before the last 300 so I am not sure what else they did. Good job pace setting by E,and well done by KBB, M, and kind of by SB would left too early. :)

Favorite workout

I have lots of favorites in my life - my favorite pair of jeans (old), my favorite food (ice cream), my favorite running trail (Lincoln Woods), and my favorite font (Calibri). I also have a small list of favorite workouts, and today was one of those. Unfortunately, I did not get to swim with all of my favorite people because the lanes were getting crowded. But my favorite pool setup (long course) is coming in one month, so all will return to normal then.

Warmup 150 on own
2 x 100 drill swim
50 underwater/swim
2 x 100 stroke/swim
50 underwater/swim
Main set: 5 x 500 going:
500 swim steady on 8:00
500 pull hypoxic by 100 3,5,7,3,choice on :60r
500 negative split on 7:45
5 x 100 IM or stroke on 2:00
500 fastest of the day

The generous rest helped a lot. Pacing was important on this set so you could really fly on the last one. Great job by all - BB did something like a 6:05 on the last one!

Carpe Diem?

We all get up very early for swimming. Some of us, like SB, around 4:30am. So when we get to the pool we're all pretty tired and logey. It is at that point that our day can take one of two paths: The good path or the bad path. The good path is when you jump in and the refreshing water wakes you up, you begin to sieze the day, looking forward to the challenges ahead. Your lanemates are funny, have good lane etiquette, and coach Bill's workout is just what you needed to get going. Then there is the bad path. That's when you jump in and realize that your body is exhausted, that the water isn't refreshing at all but feels more like swimming in oil, and the workout is a chore. Worse, you get out and are more tired/sleepy than when you got in. On the spectrum of good and bad, today was a little more on the side of bad path than good path for me. Or, to repeat a phrase I heard recently, I was more of the statue than the pigeon.

Here is our workout! I may have missed a part of the warmup.

150 swim
8 x 25 scull/swim
8 x 25 drill/stroke
6 x 50 count strokes
400 going 25 fly/75free, 25 back/75 free, etc. on :60
400 negative split pull on :60
400 going 50fly/50free, 50 back/50 free, etc. on :60
4 x 100 on 1:40 fast
4 x 100 going 25fly/25free/25fly/25free, back, breast, etc. on :60
16 x 25 fast down, easy back

Happy weekend, everyone!

Down by the river...

I recevied a sign today that I need to return to blogging. I was driving into practice and the Standells' "Love that Dirty Water" was on the radio just as the sun was coming up along the Charles. Days before, we got word that the Charles River swim is on for July. So if that weren't enough to motivate me to get to practice and post our workouts, my friends have become confused. I get emails like "how many yards did we do today?" and "what was the workout on Monday?" and "how did Sputnik motivate research and technology in American higher education?". Wait. Maybe I am the one who is confused. So to help me return to normal I am back after taking a few weeks off to focus on schoolwork. A little worse for the wear, but excited to start getting back in shape!

300 swim on own
200 drill/swim by 50
200 stroke/free by 5-
2 x 150 drill/swim
2 x 200 pull on 3:10
Main set: 22 100's!!
1-5 fast on 1:20
6-9 fly/back by 50 on 2:00
10-14 free going fast 3rd 50 on 1:25
15-18 breast/free on 2:05
19-22 hold pace on 1:30

Tiring!!! But a good job by all. Enjoy the 85 degree day ahead.

"If you fail to prepare...

...you're prepared to fail." Mark Spitz

Truer words were never spoken. Mark Spitz was the Michael Phelps of swimming even before Michael Phelps was born, and only in 2008 was his record of 7 gold medals broken. I remember being a tiny age group swimmer, maybe 8 or 10, and going to this big fancy swim meet in Indianapolis. The highlight of the meet was meeting and getting an autograph from Mark Spitz. I had a Mark Spitz poster and of course we ALL had the Mark Spitz American flag speedo. It was only after my age group coach began to look like Mark Spitz that I took everything down and lost my crush. My age group coach made me kick, so you can probably figure out where that relationship went. In our lane, KBB is taking this seriously as he is in the pool at 6:15 and swimming very strong! Ironman Germany here he comes!

As for the quote today, it's strangely appropriate as I am going to take a couple of weeks off from the blog. My doctoral comprehensive exam is two weeks from today and I don't want to fail, so I will spend the time preparing. Thank you, Mark, for your inspiration! Guest bloggers welcome - no experience needed!

200 on own
4 x 100 drill/swim :20r
2 x 200 stroke/swim :30r
2 x 50 easy on 1:05
4 x 150 fast on 2"05
2 x 50 easy
4 x 100, rest 5 sec, easy 50 on :60
2 x 50
4 x 150 pull on 2:10
2 x 50
6 x 75 IM order perfect turns

Lane King

Today was a special day in the lane, BB (and Carmen's) birthday! Since only BB was able to make it, we crowned him Lane King for the day. This comes with extra special benefits like leading the lane, eating a lion cupcake, and getting to boss everyone around. (It was tough for me, SB, but I was happy to do it for the day) :) I don't dare say how old either one is, but with technology these days you just have to look at race results to know someone's age. And if you're perceptive, you might just wonder why we all wanted to do 4700 yards today. But I'll never tell.

Here is the regular workout:

300-500 on own
5x100 swim/drill
8x50 kick-what a waste
500 swim 60sec rest
2x50 1:00 ez
500 swim stroke/free/stroke/free/stroke
2x50 ez 1;00
500 pull
2x50 ez 1;00
300 fr/stroke/fre
2x50 1;00
500 fast
2x50 ez 1:00

That's 3900-4100 for most of us. But BB got in at 6am and so he did an additional 725, which not only achieved his goal of 4700 but exceeded it. Carmen, we missed you, but we're ready to swim your 4500 when you come back. ;)

Children of the pool

There is a big age group meet at the Z Center today, it was all roped off and officials are scurrying around with clipboards and worried looks on their faces. Even coach Bill, usually calm and mild mannered, started in on us early. "The kids are coming in at 7:30, so if you want to consolidate your bags on one bench, do it now." We looked at him, bemused, and kept swimming. He then apparently bumped up the time and told us they were coming at 7:15. After each set, he would intently remind us to move our bags, his anxiety increasing with each minute that passed. We didn't really know what he was so concerned about, so none of us moved our bags. They're just kids, we thought, what's the big deal? Then they arrived. All 1000 of them. All at 7:15, just like Bill said. All with bags. They came from Boston, they came from the North Shore, they came from Western Mass. Sure, we kept swimming, but it was a little scary. I got really worried when Bill G, in a frantic state, said to coach Bill "where's my bag??" and he wasn't joking. BB and I looked at each other and acknowledged that coach Bill was right. We should have moved our bags.

4 x 150 going:
odds 50 drill/50 swim/ 50 drill
events 50 stroke/ 50 drill/ 50 stroke
10 x 25 stroke on :30
6 x 100 on 1:25
6 x 100 stroke on 1:50
4 times thru:
50 stroke on :60
75 free on 1:05
25 easy on :30
3 times thru:
50 free on :60
75 stroke on 1:20
25 easy

Happy weekend to all!

Two spa towel day

Among the great things about swimming at the Z Center (in addition to the best pool in town) is the fact that we have a towel service. Yet it's a little like playing the lottery every time you walk up to the desk. Some days you might get a normal towel, other days you'll get the kind of towel that you would clean you car with (because it looks like it cleaned a car), but then there are days like today. Today I got not one, but two of what we like to call "spa" towels. Those are the big, fluffy, new towels that are the envy of everyone in the locker room. Sometimes I feel so guilty if I get two of these that I will give BB one and take his normal or car towel so I don't come across as too greedy. It's like winning $20 on a $1 scratch ticket. E had two car towels today but it was too late to switch. Anyway, the problem with this is that I expect the facial, manicure, and pedicure afterward but that never happens.

200 on own
4 x (4x25)
25 build up
25 build down
25 easy
25 hard
8 x 50 middle of the pool working turns
5 x 100 descend on 1:40
5 x 300 on 5:45 going:
1: 1st 100 fast
2: 2nd 100 fast
3: 3rd 100 fast
4: cruise
5: all fast
12 x 25 going easy/fast

E, SBB, M, and I swam with new guy Joe who set a good pace. Great job, everyone.

The beavers are watching you, Dr. Bob

During the warmup today Dr. Bob mentioned that he felt paranoid that all these "teddy bears" were watching him. I was confused, but quickly put on my best counselor hat and began to assess if he was alright. He then pointed up to the wall where dozens of cute little cut-outs of animals were pasted up. But they weren't teddy bears, they were beavers, "nature's engineers", also konwn as the MIT mascot. That didn't really make Dr. Bob feel any less paranoid because they had sharp teeth and menacing looks on their faces. I am sure the swim team did it to psyche out the competition during swim meets. If so, it works because Bob had the shakes all morning long. We did a positive mental imagery exercise at the end of practice where he was alongside the beavers building a dam to save a small town. Nice job, Dr. Bob.

200 on own
100 swim
2 x 25 drill
100 swim
2 x 25 drill
100 swim
2 x 25 drill
100 swim
2 x 25 drill
4 x (3x50)
1-3 kick on 1:10
4-6 descend stroke on :55
7-9 kick on 1:10
10-12 free on :45
2 x 100 working turns
50 stroke on :60
2 x 100 on 1:20
150 stroke on :20r
2 x 200 fast on 2:45
2 x 200 IM on 3:30
2 x 200 fast on 2:45
150 stroke
2 x 100 on 1:20
50 stroke

Great group today, and we swam a lot of yards! BB, IW, KBB, SB, Dr. B, and me. KBB gets prize for most yards and in earliest.

The sun will come out...

tomorrow? Maybe Friday? It was such a harsh change this morning from our beautiful Monday, where we could practically feel spring coming as we saw the sun rise at 6am. Not today. Not only did the sun not make an appearance, it was so dark after practice that I wanted to climb back into bed. But just stare at the photo to the left for 30 seconds and you'll get all the vitamin D you need today. That's a bright pic. We had a hearty group today - IW and KBB in their suits and me and E just trying to keep it together.

200-250 on own
2 x 150 #1 free, #2 stroke
8 x 25 Odds drill, evens build
1 x 300 75 stroke 75 free
8 x 25 all kick
2 x 50 on :55
4 x 50 on :50
6 x 50 on :45
6 x 50 middle of the pool fast into turns and off wall
Twice thru:
3 x 225 descend going 200 swim, get time, 25 easy on 3:30
1 x 25 on :30

We pulled the second set. First set descended by 3-4 seconds per 200, second set by 7 and 8 seconds. Well done, everyone! Stay dry today.

Where everybody knows your name

Masters practice is a little like the sitcom Cheers. For those of you under 30, you might want to look it up so you can follow me here. We meet up to swim, chat, drink gatorade, and have fun. We've got our regulars (us), our Sam (Bill, who "serves" us workouts) and are comfortable enough with each other that we no longer bother with common pleasantries before launching into the workout. And, just like on Cheers, there is always an issue/drama of the day, enought to build an episode around. Sometimes it is between two people (usually me and Carmen), sometimes we all make fun of Steve and his pull bouy, or we razz Bill, or we collectively get perplexed when a new person shows up. It was the latter today, and it made me wonder: are we a friendly bunch that welcomes newbies or are we a hard group to break into? The truth is I'm not sure, really. Sometimes I think we are friendly, other times I know we just get lazy and would rather deal with the devil we know (ourselves) than one we don't (newcomers.) There is definitely a mojo to each lane, a sense of just "getting" each other like an old married couple. I guess it all comes down to how the newcomer swims, understands our etiquette, is aware of their own actions, and fits in. You swim well, you pace yourself, you meet the interval, you avoid E's feet? You're good.

200 going 100 free/100 stroke
150 drill/swim
100 stroke
50 fast
200 kick
6 x 25 free
6 x 25 breast
6 x 25 back
6 x 25 fly
6 x 150 free going:
1 on 2:25
2-3 on 2:15
4-6 on 2:05
6 x 200 going
1 on 3:00
2-3 on 2:55
4-6 on 2:50

Good day, everyone!

Ally ally in come free

If you are a lane 3-er and have been avoiding practice this week because of the threat of an imposed penalty (you know who you are), worry not. C has offered to contribute up to $100 for any late/early leaving peeps in our lane. Thanks C! But may I please remind everyone that this is for the Dana Farber Cancer Center? Ian, to his credit, was intentionally 15 minutes late today because he was spending time "thinking and praying for the children." Now that's what I am talking about, IW. E, BB, M, and I were all in wicked early along with Bill and Ali.

400 swim
200 swim on :25r
2 x 100 drill/swim by 25 on :25r
200 stroke on :25r
2 x 100 breast/free on :15
4 x 50 breast on :60
4 x 50 count strokes on :55
4 x 50 build on :50
4 x 150 on 2:10 going
1=1st 50 fast
2=2nd 50 fast
3=3rd 50 fast
4=all fast
4 x 150 all same stroke on 2:30
4 x 150 pull hypoxic 5,3,7 on 2:20
2 x 150 stroke on 2:30
2 x 150 fast on 2:15
100 easy

4300 yards! Good luck today with the impending storm. Keep an eye out for possible pool closures on the Z Center website.

The early bird gets...

lots of yards in, as it turns out. It was day one of Bill's "tough love" penalty-for-charity program and by accident (really) I was on deck by 6:12:40. That gave me my 3-4 minutes of social time but the only people to socialize with were E, Bill, Ali, coach Bill (who was there at 6:14!) and me. So we hopped in by 6:17 and by the time we got through 1000 yards, it was still only 6:40am. I am not sure if people were absent from practice today because they were up too late watching the Saints win (a good thing) or because they don't want to give money to support a worthy cause (a not so good thing.) I am sure it is the former. Here is what we did:

200 on own
4 x 125 on :25r going
75 free, 50 fly
75 free, 50 back
75 free, 50 breast
75 free, 50 choice
2 times thru:
3 x 25 fly on :35
1 x 25 easy on :40
2 x 25 fly on :35
2 x 25 easy on :40
500 going: 2 x 250 descend, :20r in between each
500 pull hypopxic 3,5,7,3 on 8:00
500 negative split on 7:45
400 going 100 free, 200 stroke, 100 free on 6:30
400 going 200 free, 200IM
400 negative split
400 fast

Lots of yardage - if you did the whole thing, it was 4200. I had an early meeting (cost me $5 but it's for a good cause, people!) so I didn't do the last 400. Good job E, Marla, and Ian.

The rules

Bill is all excited about next week because he gets to behave like our old age group swim coaches and punish us when we digress from his plan. I just hope that he doesn't get the hose out because that is not a fond memory of mine. The plan next week is to raise money for Swim Across America/Dana Farber Cancer Center. Here are the rules: From Monday through Friday, if you come late to practice, it will cost you $5. Leave early, $5. And on Friday, each lane gets to buy themselves out of any set they don't like. The biggest question is what exactly constitutes being late? If we are on deck before Bill, are we on time? Or do we have to get there at 6:15? My take is that being there before Bill is on time. That makes it pretty easy. Here is what we did today.

200 warmup
2 x 50 drill/swim
3 x 50 fly, back, breast
2 x 50 one arm/build
4 x 50 work on stroke
more 50s - I could not follow this
2 x 25 kick with fins
50 kick easy
4 x 25 kick with fins
50 kick easy
6 x 25 kick with fins
50 kick easy
400 pull hypoxic 3,5,7,3 by 50
Twice thru:
200 fast on 2:45
100 easy
150 fast on 2:00
50 easy
150 stroke fast
50 easy
100 stroke fast
2 x 25 easy

I didn't remember the stroke sendoff, but we got about 10-15 seconds rest if I recall. I bailed before the last stroke set. Have a good weekend everyone!

Finding motivation

Winter is by far the toughest time of the year to get to the pool. And even when you get to the pool, it's not a given that you actually get in. Case in point, Monday I show up on deck, suit and googles at the ready, and proceed to turn around and walk out. Now I know that is an extreme case, but it got me to thinking on my drive in this morning: why exactly do we do this? I asked my teammates this, and got a variety of answers. The lane 2-ers cited missing rush hour traffic as a motivator, along with prepping for competition and general fitness. For me, the social aspect is important, though guilt and a sense of obligation are a close second. If I didn't show up to swim, it is likely that BB would still be sleeping in his car long after practice is over. Others said that if they don't swim in the morning they won't swim at all, or that swimming let's them have a big breakfast. The thing is, even on the days that I don't want to jump in I always feel better when I do. That is really the best motivator of all. Just me and E today. I told her I would swim and I did!

200 free
2 x 50 drill
100 free
2 x 50 drill
100 breast
2 x 50 drill
100 back
6 x 50 breast drill
300 pull
6 x 125
1-3 descend on 2:00
4-6 descend on 1:50
2 x 50 dr/swim
4 x 100 fast on 1:25
2 x 50 dr/swim
6 x 125
1-3 descend on 2:05
4-6 descend on 1:55

One thing that we are not motivated by is fear, thankfully. But that all may change next week because Bill is going to use fear as a motivator for a fundraiser for Swim Across America. Stay tuned for details. Hint: Don't be late to practice!