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)