Too Hot in the Hot Tub

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: HAPPY BIRTHDAY SB!

The water temperature in our beloved pool has been pretty darn high over the past 2 weeks, and today was no exception. On Wednesday, SB and I swam a 50 and looked at each other and both thought: we should be drinking a margarita and leisurely looking out into the ocean with the water this warm. But what doesn't kill us makes us stronger, so we persist. The heat does a number on my memory, though, so I will rely on KBB to correct the workout.

300 on own
3 x (4 x 50)on :15
50 side kick
50 front quad
50 drill/drill
50 build
400 kick
400 descend by 100
6 x 50 going 25 sprint/25 easy
1-2 on :60
3-4 on 1:10
5-6 on 1:20
8 x 100 descend by pairs going:
1-2 50 stroke/50 free on 2:05
3-4 free on 1:40
5-6 50 stroke/50 free on 2:00
7-8 free on 1:30
6 x 50 sprint going:
1-2 on 1:20
3-4 on 1:30
5-6 on 1:40

Our friend from Stanford masters said there was "attitude" in our lane, or strong personalities, or something of the like. We keep it real here at MIT, keeps us coming back.

Rules of the Road

I imagine coming to Massachusetts can make people crazy, especially if you are an international visitor. Like figuring out how to navigate a rotary here (yes, it's different), or that a yellow light means floor it, or that a left turn on green in front of oncoming traffic just means you are a more astute driver than the guy going straight. But I have a hard time imagining that the rules of the pool are SO different around the world. But apparently, they are. Today we had a guest from Brazil who was very nice, but then did things that we consider exceptionally rude, like push off in front of us as we are trying to make an interval, leaving 1 second behind on the sendoff, or not doing the workout. And after all of that, we were still very nice. Just trying to do our part for international relations. Just make sure he's in another lane tomorrow, coach Bill.

400 on own
6 x 50 count strokes :15 r (1-3 free, 4-6 stroke)
4 x 100 drill/swim by 24 on :20r
200 front quad
50 easy on 1:20
50 fly on 1:15
3 x 100 on 1:30
50 easy on 1:20
50 fly on 1:15
4 x 100 on 1:40
50 easy on 1:20
50 fly on 1:15
5 x 100 on 1:45
50 easy on 1:20
50 fly on 1:15
6 x 100 on 1:30

To make the last interval we pulled and it was essentially a straight swim.

Check that off the bucket list

Rarely do you get a chance to go back in time for a do-over. But recently, I've had this feeling that I am experiencing something that I wanted to do but never did. What is that? Swimming in college. Yep, I did not have the chance to swim in college because I was far too studious and spent nearly all my time in the library, except for that time I flew to the moon on the space shuttle. Anyway, when you swim with college swimmers, as we are doing now, you have a choice: feel old compared to them or feel really awesome that you can actually swim with them. Some days it's the former, today was the latter. And I think they are often surprised that we are still hanging in at the end of the workout.

200 on own
4 x 150 pull hypoxic 7,3,5 on :20r
12 x 50 on :20r going:
2 x 50 drill/swim
4 x 50 7 breaths max
4 x 50 reverse IM order
2 x 50 drill/swim
10 x 100 fast going:
2 on 1:45
3 on 1:40
3 on 1:35
2 on 1:50 FAST
4 x 50 sprint on 1:30
4 x 50 on :45

The Beauty of the Warmup

Back when I was young, warming up seemed silly. I used to think it was a waste of time and just stood in the way of my workout. Now, I can't even think of starting the workout without a solid warmup. The recent age gap in our lane (we are talking a 20-plus year difference) has exposed the stark differences between the young and the not-young (that sounds better than old) with regard to the pace of our warmup. Think: speed racer versus Sunday stroll. I think it is a bad sign when I am gasping for air during the warmup set, which happened today. Thankfully we settled into a decent distance set afterwards.

300 on own
14 x 50 going:
1-2 swim on :60
3 faster on :55
4-5 stroke on 1:05
6-7 faster on :50
8-9 stroke on 1:05
10-12 faster on :45
13-14 stroke
800 going:
400 pace
200 pick it up
200 faster
4 x 100
50 fly/50 back on 2:00
50 back/50 br on 2:10
50 br/50 free on 2:00
50 fly/50 choice
800 free going:
200 swim descend each 50 :20r
200 pull :20r
200 even pace swim :20r
200 pull hypoxic (11,3,9,5):20r
400 negative split

Memory

The challenge today, my friends, is to see how good my memory is. As I write this it's 4:30 and I have not had a free moment to post the workout from today. But I have a temporary lull and will try it now. I trust my lanemates will correct me if I get this wrong.

500 on own (that is what getting in at 6:18 can do for you!)
200 pull :20r
2 x 100 swim :20r
2 x 50 br on :20r
2 x 50 brick on :20r
5 x 100 drill/swim by 50 on :20r
Three times thru:
200 on 3:30
50 on :50
50 stroke on :60
2 x 100 free on 1:35
50 free on :55
50 stroke on 1:05

Looks easy, doesn't it? Well it wasn't! The only time we had decent rest in the entire set was the 200 free. So you got to rest 20 seconds each of the set. We were originally supposed to do this four times but ran out of time, thankfully.

Distance and Speed Don't Mix

Some things don't go together, like oil and water, pancakes and ketchup, or a polar bear on a hot beach. And on distance day, things that don't go together are the words "speed" and "distance". There is a mindset on distance day, one that says "I am here to swim long, and I intend on going hard but not that hard." Bill had other things in mind.

200 on own
4 x 50 descend 1-4 on :60
4 x 100 kick 50, drill 50 on :30r
4 x 50 descend 1-4 on :50
800 free pace, get time. Then:
400 free faster than your 800 time halved. Then:
200 free even faster than your 400 time halved. Then:
100 free even faster than your 200 time.
4 x 100 IM on :20r

I didn't stay for the IM's - too much speed on distance day!

Magic Number

We usually spend a few minutes after each set adding up the workout. Not only does it give us a little brain activity early in the morning it gives us an extra minute of rest. Yet the suspense at the end of the workout is the most fun. How many meters? 3500? More? Well today, we hit the biggie - 4000. Some went over that, but there is something about 4000 that just feels good. Not good as in how you feel swimming, but in an accomplishment. Well done E, G, and T. Special shout out to G who keeps reminding us that we are more than twice T's age and can still make it happen.

300 on own
2 x 50 5 breaths max on :20
200 drill/swim by 25 on :30r
2 x 50 stroke on :20r
200 pace
3 x 50 on :45
50 on 1:10
4 x 50 on :45
50 on 1:10
5 x 50 on :50
50 on 1:10
6 x 50 on :50
50 easy
5 x 400 going:
Odds broken:
200 fast on 3:20
100 technique on 2:10
100 fast on 1:30
Evens: Pull

4000!

Baby You're a Firework!

Happy 4th of July everyone! Fireworks were going off in the lanes today, per BB's request of coach Bill to give us a celebratory and patriotic workout. You the reader can figure out which is which. All I know is that our lane was not the only one surprised at the last set.


200 on own
Twice thru:
50 6 breaths max :15r
50 drill/swim :15r
2 x 100 stroke/free on :25r
Next set theme: Red, White, and Blue
Red: 400 free pull hypoxic 9,3,7,3 :40r
White: 2 x 200 IM :30r
Blue: 400 free each 100 fastah
4 x 150 on
2:30
2:25
2:15
2:15
100 easy
Surprise! Nobody noticed that we were doing this TWICE THRU. We changed the interval slightly:
4 x 150 on
2:40
2:35
2:25
2:25

When I say nobody noticed, I mean lanes 2, 3, and 4 all worked the first set and were leisurely hanging out at the wall chatting and laughing when someone noticed those two words "twice thru". Not sure what is better - to know or not to know. I'm glad I didn't know.