A little more, but still crappy

Still getting cramps. Today I didn't even use any accessories, and still cramped up. Then I realized I ran out of potassium pills and haven't taken any the past few weeks. Maybe those supplements do make a difference.

1000 - 1000 Warmup (14:30)
100 EZ
1000 - 1000 Free
100 Breast
1000 - 10 x 100's on 2:00 (1&2 fast, 3 & 4 slow, 5 touch and pull, repeat)
100 EZ

3300 Yards total

Almost starting over

Having only swam once in the past two weeks makes me really out of shape. I've also gained alot of weight cause of the poor snacking decisions. So I'm back at it with a new resolve. I noticed the warm up was particularly difficult and the kicking with fins I had major cramps in the arch of my foot after only 200 yards. This was definitely not a good workout:

1000 - Free Warmup (14:45)
1000 - 100 fly kick, 100 free kick, 100 fly on back, 100 back, 100 Free with fins - Do again but this time with no fins.
1000 - 10 x 100's free pull on 1:30 (Got progressively slower on these)
200 - 200 IM

3200 Yards total

Another great swim

Got up a little early and went in to SDRC on the way to work. Didn't get there early enough to swim with Masters, but got there at 6:45. I knew getting into that pool was gonna be cold so I went in to the hot tub first. If I baked in the hot tub for a good 5 mintues then the cold water would be refreshing rather than shocking. I was right, it felt great and the hot tub didn't tire me down and I still had a great workout:

1000 - 1000 Free in 13:49
1000 - 2 x (400 Kick, 100 Free) with fins
2000 - 100,200,300,400 Free and down. Focus on 2-3 dolphin kicks per push off the wall, and then swim strong getting stroke count between 8 - 9.
100 - 100 Grandpa swimming

Great workout.

New Haircut

This morning I gave myself a new haircut. I shaved off the sides (cause that's where I'm going gray) and left the top alone. Thing is, now I look like a cross between Bert and Wayne Static. Feels good in the water though.

1000 - 1000 Free in 13:29
1000 - 2 x (400 Kick, 100 Free) with fins
1000 - 5 x 200's Pull on 3:00 (got 2:23 on all of them)
1000 - 10 x 100's odd slow, even fast on 1:45
50 Grandpa swimming

4050 Yards total

Good workout. I just realized that I haven't swam with Cathi in probably a month. She's gotten out of it. I can't cause there is a meet on January 31st in Heber.

Pretty good yardage

Good old standby routine:

1000 - Free Warmup
1000 - 2 x (400 Kick, 100 Free) with fins
1000 - 10 x 100's Free Pull on 1:30 (1:10 - 1:15)
1000 - Free Warmdown

4000 Yards

Got cut off

Was planning on swimming at SDRC on the way in to work, but some guy wouldn't let me in to the turn lane for getting off on 500 W in Bountiful so I ended up just going straight in to work. Figured I'd just get off earlier and swim on the way home which is what I did. Pretty good swim:

1000 - 1000 Yards Free
1000 - 2 x (400 Kick with Fins, 100 Free with Fins)
1000 - 10 x 100's Pull on 1:30 (Get all on 1:10 or less)
900 - 3 x (200 Free on 3:00, 100 Breast on 2:30)
100 - 50 Fast, 50 Breast

4000 Yards total

Michael Phelps - fast in water, not so fast in the head

I had to comment on Michael Phelps. The guy can swim fast, but he's no hero. He's had trouble in the past with driving while drunk, and now he's heading into real trouble gambling and getting serious with a cocktail waitress/stripper. He's lightning fast in the water, but he's a pretty slow upstairs.

Ditto

Seems like this workout goes well. I like the variety as well as how fast it goes by.

1000 - 1000 Free (13:26)
100 Breast
1000 - 2 x (100 Fly Kick, 100 Flutter Kick, 100 Dolphin kick on back, 100 back kick, 100 Free) with fins
1000 - 10 x 100's Free Pull on 1:30 (All under 1:11)
600 - 2 x 200's free, 100 Breast, 100 Fast (1:01 - Not bad considering a push off the side)

3700 Yards Total

Feeling good

Last night I had a pretty bad migrain so I decided to put off the swim until this morning. I'll swim again this evening. Because I had to swim in the morning (and I didn't want to get up at the crack of dawn) I swam at the SDRC:

1000 - 1000 Free in 14:45
1000 - 2 x (400 Kick with fins + 100 Free)
100 EZ
1000 - 10 x 100's Pull on 1:30 (All under 1:12)
100 Breast
400 - 400 Free strong strokes (9 1/2 first three lengths, 9 on the rest)
100 Breast

3700 Yards Total

Using the Force

This morning I slept in and went to Layton at 9:30. Cathi got up early to do a long run so I left the kids in Austin and Jacob's charge.

1000 - 1000 free
100 - 100 Breast Easy
1000 - 10 x 100's free pull on 1:30 (1:15 or less)
1000 - 10 x 100's IM Kick on 2:00
50 EZ

I was going to continue on, but kept thinking I should call home to get Cathi to bring the kids so I could give Jonas and Lucy a swim lesson. Then I would finish my workout while she was on her way.

When I called home Jacob called and said mom was kind of stranded and wanted a ride. I packed up my things and went home. Cathi called again and said she was on 2000 W in Clinton. I went to pick her up. Poor thing had run 21 miles and got really cold and tired and needed to get home. She was hypothermic. Her hands had no feeling and she was a complete icicle.

The situation kind of reminded me of when Luke was hanging upside down on the dingleberry at cloud city and needed help and used the force to call out for Leia. Maybe I have the force! After Cathi took a long warm bath, we took the kids back to Layton and I gave Lucy and Jonas a lesson. Which they really did well. Only thing is I'm gonna have to bring them back on a regular basis or it won't do much good. I really see both of those kids being young enough and skilled enough to be great swimmers.

Too much pie

Yesterday I did great for dinner. My portions were reasonable and I loaded up on Veggies and fruit, and laid off the mashed potatoes and dark meat. But after an hour of visiting they broke out the pie and man did I blow it! I pigged out. I bet I was over 200 when I was done.

Today Layton's pool was closed for laps so I went to SDRC and did the following:

1000 - 1000 free
1000 - 2 x 400 kick IM order, 200 IM kick
2000 - 20 x 100's pull on 1:30 (all under 1:15)
1000 - 2 x 400 kick IM order, 200 IM kick
1000 - 1000 free

6000 Yards total

Craig Barnes was swimming for the first hour I was there. He is pretty quick.

Tonight is a pie bash for my family so I hope to not do as bad as yesterday. Either way I'll be swimming tomorrow morning at Layton

Thanksgiving Eve

Figured I wouldn't be swimming on Thanksgiving so I better at least get in on Thanksgiving Eve! Watched "Hancock" just before I left and thought it was a pretty good show. One of the best movies of this year anyhow, except for the record breaking number of "A-hole" words. Here's what I swam:

1000 - 1000 Free
1000 - 10 x 100's kicking with fins
100 - 100 EZ
1000 - 10 x 100's pull fast on 1:30 (get all under 1:15)
100 Breast
100 Fast (1:04)
50 EZ

3350 yards total - The lifeguards were looking antsy to go home so I got out 50 yards sooner. I know what it's like to be dying to go home from working late at night.

A little crowded

When I got to the pool this evening every lane had two or more people. One kid was in a lane just floating and he moved over with his dad in another lane so I asked the only lady left in that lane if we could circle swim.

1000 - 1000 free warmup
800 - 2 x (50 OAF (one arm fly)/50 free, 50 OAF/50 back, 50 OAF/50 breast, 100 OAF)
200 - 200 free strong pace
400 - 4 x 100 IM's EZ
1000 - 1000 free (odd 100's 10 strokes per 25, even - 9 strokes)

3400 Yards total

My neighbor across the street, Brady Allred, did the Arizona Ironman this last Sunday. What a stud!

Almost missed it

This morning I slept through the alarm for about 10 minutes but was able to rush out the door in time to make it just in time. Swam the following:

400 - Swim, kick, IM, swim
400 - 400 Free
400 - 400 Kick
400 - 400 pull
400 - 8 x 50's Stroke on 1:00
400 - 400 descending
400 - 4 x 100's Free on 1:30
200 EZ

3000 total - Swam with Brad, John, Kevin. Craig Barnes, Kris Edwards and my old Bountiful sharks coach (I forgot his name) was in the fast lane.

In the evening I swam at Layton:

1000 - 1000 Free Straight
1000 - 20 x 50's kick w/fins Free/Fly on 1:00
1000 - 10 x 100's pull on 1:30 (Hold 1:10)
400 - 2 x 2 x 100's Breast EZ/ Free fast (1:08)

3400 Yards total

6400 Yards for the day - Not bad

Oops I slept in

Went to bed late last night. The TV in our bedroom is really old and it finally died. So on the way to last night's swim I got a replacement at Walmart - it's only a 20" TV, no plasma, nothing fancy. But I had to set it up and everything and then watch the Biggest Loser show that Cathi recorded.

So this morning when I heard the alarm, I hit snooze a few too many times. I finally got up at 6 am which is when I was supposed to actually be in the water in Bountiful. So I got up and still went, I just didn't swim with the Masters team. I did see Kristen on her way out and she gave me the rest of the ribbons from last Saturday's meet.

1000 - 1000 Free
400 - 4 x 100's Kick IM Order
900 - 3 x 300's on 4:00
200 - 100 one Arm fly EZ, 100 Free EZ
450 - Ladder starting at 200 and going down by 50's (on :45/50 yd)
50 Grandpa swimming

3000 Yards total

The heel on my right foot is all bruised up and I'm limping around, but able to swim just fine with it. Just a little paranoid of the walls.

Stayed late in SLC. Went to Family History Library downtown till 8:00pm then drove to Layton Surf N' Swim. Did the following:

1000 - 1000 Free
1000 - 10 x 100's (odds easy, even fast)
200 - 200 IM Kick
500 - 10 x 50's descending breathing (10 - 1) on 1:00
100 Breast
200 - 100 Touch and Pull, 100 Fast

3000 Yards total

6000 for the day. Not bad.

Ouch!

Tonight I did the following:

200 - Helped pull lane lines over to the other side.
1800 - 1800 Free in 25:28
200 - 200 Long strokes
1000 - 1000 Pull
200 - 8 x 25's kick - odd Fly kick, even free
600 - 6 x 100's free descending on 1:30

4000 Yards total

During the first 100 of the last set I did a flip turn and hit my right heel right on the edge of the gutter. Oh man did that hurt. My heel went purple and its all bruised up, but I don't think I broke a bone in my foot like the last time I did that. Good workout though.

Swimming with SDRC again

This morning I swam in the third to fastest lane to start, then moved over to swim with Brad Butters and John.

300 - 300 EZ
400 - 6 x 75's Drill, Swim, Drill on 1:30
1000 - 5 x 200's free on 3:00
400 - 4 x 100's kick IM order
500 - 500 Pull descending every 100 (1:15, 1:14, 1:14, 1:13, 1:11)
400 - 16 x 25's IM - First half (odd fast, even slow) Second half (odd slow, even fast)
200 - 200 EZ

3200 Yards total

This wasn't as tough as last time. Wasn't pushed as hard. I should probably go to the fast lane next time. I went first after the 1000. Maybe am feeling the effects of having shaved for last week's meet. Will probably come on Wednesday this week.

Results of the 2nd Annual South Davis Recreation Center Masters Swim Meet

Early this morning Cathi, Jonas and I went to the SDRC for the 2nd annual South Davis Masters Meet. There were over 100 swimmers in this meet so it was very well attended and Kris Edwards and crew did a fantastic job organizing and executing the flow of the meet.

Here is what we swam -

Gords:
50 yd Freestyle: 25.51 - 1.85 seconds from PR
100 yd Freestyle: 55.84 (4th place overall) - 4.94 sec from PR - This time sure beats what I did exactly one year ago: (1:02)
200 yd Freestyle: 2:02.36 (2nd place overall) - 6.76 sec from PR
500 yd Freestyle: 5:51.13 - 26 sec from PR
1650 yd Freestyle: 21:16.48 New PR!

Cathi:
50 yd Backstroke: 42.55
100 yd Backstroke: 1:33.20
200 yd Backstroke: 3:26.67
1650 yd Freestyle: 30:19.76

I went faster than all of my seed times and goals for this meet. My goals were:

50 Free: Under 27.86
100 Free: Under 1:00
200 Free: Under 2:10
500 Free: Under 6:00
1650 Free: Under 22:00

Cathi recorded my 100 splits on the 500:

100 - 1:03
200 - 2:15 (1:12)
300 - 3:27 (1:12)
400 - 4:40 (1:13)
500 - 5:51.13 (1:11)
Average 100 (1:10.23)

I was very pleased with all of my events. It was an answer to all my prayers to get those times. Now next meet I'll have a high standard to beat. The only event I did that is a personal best is the 1650 (Only because I didn't do that event in High school or college).

Click the picture below for a video highlight.

From Swimming

Here are the official results.

Swimming Strong

Last night I swam at Layton the following:

1500 - 1500 Free (21:38)
1000 - 1000 Free Pull set
1500 - 1500 Free again

4000 Yards total. I made an effort to count the number of strokes per 25 yards and my typical stride was 10 full strokes, sometimes if I made an effort to kick harder and pull all the way through I would do 9.5 and in a couple cases 9 strokes, but 9 - 10 was the range. Counting my strokes keeps my mind focused on each stroke and making them as efficient as possible.

This morning I swam at SDRC on the way to work. Cut the yardage down so I can get a tapering effect. Tomorrow I'll just swim 1000 or so and then take Friday off. Meet on Saturday. Here's what I did this morning:

500 - 500 Free (6:00 even) That's awesome. I would love to get under 6:00 at the meet.
400 - 400 Free Count the strokes and keep them under 10 per 25.
300 - 300 Free Count strokes and get time (3:05) That's really unbelievable. I must have miscounted cause I didn't go that fast. So I did an extra 50 breast to make up for the miscount.
200 - 200 Free fast (2:22) I want less than 2:20 at the meet
100 - 100 Sprint (1:04) I want 1:00 or less at the meet.
200 kick
100 Touch and Pull
100 Kick on Side for 50 and one arm for 50
100 Breast

2000 Yards total

Swimming with SDRC Masters

This morning I got up early (4:50 am) to get out to the SDRC to swim with the masters. It rained all night and was wet and cold this morning. I got there early enough to sit in the hot tub for a few minutes. I saw Coach Andrew setting up the lanes and started swimming the workout which he posted in the lane I was in:

300 Free, Drill, Kick
250 - Started the main set, but then had to start over, since other people in the lane were caught up.
500 - 500 Free Long strokes @ 80%
500 - 5 x 100's free on 1:45
500 - 5 x 100's free Pull on 1:30 (Had to use the crappy paddles and buoy that SDRC had)
250 - 5 x 50's free sprint on 1:00 (:35)
500 - 5 x 100's free descending (:10 rest between each one) (1:10, 1:10, 1;12, 1:15, 1:20) I went out too fast! I had Kris pass me at the third one. I wasn't getting faster but slower and more tired.
200 - 200 Cool down

3000 Yards

Steve, Kris and Steve were all in my lane. About the same as far as speed goes. Not a bad workout, but much more broken up and faster than I've been doing. That's good. I think I'll start doing this on Monday mornings. Will swim tonight and then Tuesday and then taper on Wed and Thur. Meet on Saturday.

Talk with Kris

Yesterday evening Cathi and I attended World Joy dinner with Bill. Didn't make it back in time to swim, so I went this morning instead at SDRC.

1000 - 1000 yards free
1000 - 100 Fly kick, 200 Free, 100 Free kick, 200 Free, 100 Br kick, 200 Free, 100 back kick
1000 - 5 x 100's on 1:30 (1:15 - 1:18 on all), 10 x 50's on :45 (:35 - :40 on all)

3000 Yards total

Met with Kris Edwards and talked about tris. She said Jordanelle isn't good, but St. George is awesome. Will keep that in mind when I do next summer's tris. She encouraged me to come to Masters at Bountiful, and that Monday's are their distance day. That is tempting. I would like some distance training.

CIrcle swimming

I like circle swimming. There's something about it that brings back memories of swim team life. Swimming solo isn't very fun or motivating, but when you have a group to swim with it sure makes time go by faster. Today there were a couple of other people who joined my lane, when I was in the middle of my first 1000. But then they moved over to join a couple of other people the next lane over. I was alone again. Whatever.

2000 - 2 x 1000's free on 15:00
1000 - 100 Fly kick, 200 Free, 100 Free kick, 200 Free, 100 Breast Kick, 200 Free, 100 Back Kick
600 - 6 x 100's free descending on 2:00 (1:25, 1:20, 1:17, 1:12, 1:10, 1:05)

3200 Yards total

Bloated

I've been eating like a total pig the last few days. Candy, junk, cake, greasy pizza, you name it. Today I felt my stomach poking out - feeling bloated. I suck.

1000 - 1000 free
1000 - 5 x (100 Breast, 100 Free fast (1:10) on 2:00)
1000 - 100 Free on 14:23
400 - 4 x 100's drill (touch and pull, fingers out ladder, Breast)
200 - 200 Free Strong

3600 Yards total

Trying to burn off all that candy

Yesterday I ate a bunch of candy so I got up early to swim. When I got to Layton Surf N' Swim it was all black. The hours said that it opened for laps at 8 am. It was 6am. So I booked it over to SDRC and swam the following:

6000 - 6 x 1000's free on 15:00

I did all of these 14:00 - 14:30 so I didn't get a whole lot of rest, but enough. Plus I wasn't really going all out on any of these. On the last two I needed something different cause I was getting bored, so I did 50 yds long pull and deliberate strokes, then 50 fast arms focusing on a strong and fast pull as soon as my hand entered the water.

6000 yards total. Now for biking this afternoon

Drills

Today I wasn't feeling like swimming distance. My legs are really fatigued and sore because of the past few days riding in to work, so I still made it to the pool, but with much less intensity:

200 IM Warmup
800 - 8 x 100's free EZ
1000 - 4 x 250's free Pull(alt between touch and pull and regular pull)
500 - 100 Kick, 4 x 100's Drill (fist, touch and pull, slap, fingertip drag)
500 - 100 kick, 2 x 100's IM, 100 Sprint (1:04), 100 Grandpa swimming

3000 Yards total

Time trial for 1650 yard freestyle - 22:09

In the November SDRC meet, I'll be swimming the 1650 Free. So today I wanted to just see how I would do if it were today:

1650 Free - 22:09. When I did it last summer (but as 1500 Meters (long course)), I did it in 23:29, so this is a much better time. I'm hoping to do this better than 21:45 next month at the meet.

150 Breast EZ
400 - 400 Free on 6:06(long strokes)
600 - 6 x 100's alt Free/Breast on 2:00 (free fast - 1:10)
200 - 100 Breast, 100 Free slow
200 - 2 x 100 IM's

3200 Yards total

Cathi stayed home today to watch Biggest Loser again.

Good long swim

4000 - 4 x 1000's on 15:00
100 EZ

4100 Yards total

Not bad. Cathi swam 3100 yards too. Her backstroke is fast!

Goofing off

If it weren't for Cathi I wouldn't have gone swimming. After my warmup I starting doing some Grandpa swimming with Cathi and then the workout turned into a "flirt with Cathi" day.

1000 - 1000 free warmup (14:25)
200 - 200 Grandpa breaststroke
400 - 400 Tandem swimming with Cathi (she holds my ankles and kicks while I swim upper)
250 - 250 Kicking
200 - 4 x 50's sprint on 1:00
200 - Grandpa swimming
100 - 100 IM

2350 Yards total

Not much of a workout, but fun to mix things up.

Early swim

Last night Austin, Jacob and I went to the club and got home late. We stopped at Walmart in Layton to get a redbox (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix which sucked by the way). So we didn't get to bed till like 2am. I woke up at 6:30 and went swimming. I was amazed I wasn't tired.

1800 - 1800 free (24:34)
200 - EZ
1000 - 2 x (5 x 100's free descending) on 2:00 (1:30, 1:20, 1:15, 1:08, 1:04)
200 - 100 Breast, 100 Free

3200 Yards total

Starting to look like I did when I was 15

I remember noticing the veins in my arms when I was 15 during my first year on the swim team. Well the lean look has reappeared. Just a side affect of losing excess body fat. Still looking for about 12 more pounds to come off which is happening extremely slow.

Here is this morning's workout:

1000 - 1000 fast (13:20 - Held 1:20 on 100 splits every 100)
1000 - 400 IM Kick, 200 Free EZ, 400 IM Kick
1000 - 1000 free (14:00 - Not as good as the first set, tuckered out at 400 and went from 1:20 splits down to 1:27)
500 - 5 x 100's free fast on 2:00 (1:12, 1:12, 1:13, 1:11:, 1:08)
100 Grandpa swimming

3600 Yards total

Help Austin with his Swimming MB day

Today I started doing my warm up when I saw Austin attempt to do some sidestroke which I couldn't bear watching. I stopped and helped him with his technique for a bit, but he wasn't getting it. So I ended up helping him for a half hour with it as well as the other strokes. All of his strokes are definitely passable except for sidestroke. That one will need some practice.

At 9:30 I told him to keep practicing and then I finished my workout:

500 - 500 Warmup
2000 - 2 x 1000's free fast

2500 Yards total

Laughing Underwater

Today I convinced Cathi to swim with me. I'm starting to feel a little burned out. Today when I started my warmup I noticed a guy who was swimming a couple lanes over who had a lower back tattoo. I didn't get a good look at it, but it was swirly like this and was just above his bum, like what Steve would call a "tramp stamp".

I couldn't help laughing underwater. I've never seen a guy with a tattoo like this. It was just so gay. Tattooing your body is dumb enough, but to do a girly one?

Here's the content of my workout:

2000 - 2 x 1000's free
1000 - 10 x 100's free on 2:00 (0et all under 1:15. Last one was 1:06)
500 - 500 Free EZ
100 - 100 Breast

3600 Yards total

Meeting Jim and getting new mile PR (22:33)

Today's workout was pretty routine:

2000 - 2000 Yards free. Time the first 1800 (22:33). I'm sure I had the yardage right. I was just going strong the whole time. There was a guy next to me who was doing breaststroke and it seemed to be a little faster than 1/2 my base speed. So my goal was to match his 50's with 100 of my own. Did that for a long time which brought up my speed. It also made counting the laps much easier focusing on getting my 100's on his 50.

2000 - 4 x 500's (alternate between 500 pull and 500 EZ)

4000 yards total

The big guy who has been here several times the past few weeks was there again. After the pool closed I talked to him for a while. His name is Jim. He swam for a military academy in New York. He swam 1500 M in college. No wonder he's fast. His technique is good. He damaged his shoulders so he said he's now in it for fitness rather than competition. Would be nice to get some technique critiques from him and learn a few things to improve my speed. My endurance seems fine. I just need to pick it up and push it more so my swimming is more aerobic. And I'm sure there are some bad habits I've picked up that I should kick too.

Speed work

500 Free EZ
500 - 5 x 100's fast on 1:45. Get all < 1:16
500 Free EZ
1000 - 5 x 200's fast on 3:00. Get all under 2:40
500 - 5 x 50's Fly/Free, 5 x 50's Breast/Back on 1:00
100 Grandpa swimming
100 Free Sprint (1:03)

3200 Yards total

Nice

What's wrong with me?

Today I swam 55 minutes straight. I got in 5 minutes late. I got in and just swam the whole time. No stopping. I felt like I was swimming strong, no loafing. I checked my watch at 1800 yards and it was 9:29 so I did that first mile under 25 minutes which is what I wanted. At 3600 yards it was 9:53 so I just did 400 yards more.

The thing that troubles me is that I am not getting winded at all! I need to step it up a level as far as speed goes cause aerobically it doesn't feel like I'm getting a workout. I feel like I'm walking. I could go for miles, I'm not breathing heavy or sweating. I still want to do long sets, but I want to do them at a pace that gets me winded. So I think I need to start timing them and taking split times so I can make sure I'm keeping a pace that gets me really working.

4000 Yards total

Strong Swim today

3000 - 3 x 1000's free on 15:30 (14:30)
500 - 5 x 100's free descending on 2:30 (1:30,`:15, :10, :08, :10) Cramped up last 25
100 EZ

3600 Yards total

Crashing head first again!

Today I took Austin with me to the pool. I got in a couple minutes before he did and when he joined me in the lane I assumed he would see me swimming "halfsies". But he wasn't paying much attention and bam! We collided headfirst in the middle of the lane. Wasn't as bad as a couple days ago with the grown man who made the same mistake, but it scared me a little.

I helped Austin with his technique a little. His main thing is getting his head a little deeper in the water so his legs come up more. I guess that's the main thing I take for granted. Being comfortable with my head underwater so that when I breathe my mouth barely comes out and I don't bring my head out at all.

Here's what I did:

1000 - Free (15:38) Including the time to collide and explain to Austin the swimming pattern.
1000 - 5 x 200's Pull on 3:00 (Did these on around 2:30-2:40)
1000 - Free fast (14:25)
200 - 2 x 100's IM

3200 Yards total

Coach Gridley

Today Cathi called me at work and told me that Darin Izatt and his son Michael wanted to join me at the pool this evening. Michael is trying out for the Clearfield swim team and wanted some last minute tips which might help him "make the team". I told him that he would for sure make the team. No swim coach is gonna cut somebody. Its usually the person trying out who "cut themselves".

His stroke looked pretty good, just a couple minor things to work on, but it looked fine. Some tips I gave which applies to any young man trying out for a swim team:

• Get a tight fitting swim suit, either a speedo or a jammer. I usually get mine from Penelope on ebay.


• Get the foam rimmed goggles. The plastic lipped goggles suck! They don't seal good at all.


• Get a short haircut or get used to a swim cap. I thought this topic would probably upset him so I didn't bring it up, but he'll figure this one out.


• Keep a swim log! You can't really notice your improvement if you don't record your workouts (distance and reps), or your times.


• Swimming is both an individual and a team sport - you informally compete against your teammates which helps you all get faster and motivates you.


• Learn to love flipturns. The coach will get upset if you avoid flipturns. You will swim hundreds of miles throughout your high school career. Don't procrastinate learning how to do flipturns and do them, even if they aren't perfect for the first few weeks.

Michael and Darin both swam around 500 yards. My swimming was cut short cause I felt guilty just swimming laps while they were working on technique. I felt a little obligated to stop and give feedback or answer questions. I didn't mind though. But I only did about 1200 yards total.

It felt good to be able to be of assistance today. Will have a normal distance workout tomorrow.

1200 yards

Bowel issues

Today I didn't eat lunch. I worked all through the day and then when I got home did a ton of yard work. At 8:00 I finally ate a great chicken salad that Cathi made. I was energized and ready to swim so we both went with Jacob.

I got in and swam the following:

2000 - 2 x 1000 Free - 13:58, 15:25

Some guy got in my lane when I was on the other end and he assumed I was circle swimming when in fact I was just swimming on the south side of the lane. Well halfway down I really nailed him with my left hand. We both apologized and I said that I would stay on the left side and we continued. My dark goggles are so scratched, plus with the low lighting there is no way I could see him in time. I was going to do two more 1000's, but just before starting my third set I felt like someone was stabbing me in the gut on the right side. I went into the John and I'll suffice with "wow!" I was still really crampy on the right side afterwards so I just hobbled to the steamroom and laid down till Cathi was done. No more going without lunch anymore! My stomach was retaliating and boy was it painful.

Struggling

Today I just didn't have the motivation or high level of energy to go out strong today. I worked from 8:30 am to almost 8 pm. Tough day but at least I got in the pool.

1000 - 1000 Free warmup in 14:28
500 - 20 x 25's on 1:00 (4 fly, 4 free, 6 fly, 6 free all sprints with lots of rest)
1000 - 1000 Free
100 Kick

2600 Yards total

Speedy big guy

Today Cathi and the boys stayed home to watch biggest loser. I went to swim:

3600 - 2 x 1800's free (25:38, 26:25)
100 - 50 Breast EZ, 50 Back EZ

3700 yards total

There was a guy in the next lane who was probably 260. Had a humongous belly, but man was he fast! Every third 50 I did he would swim right next to me and I had to make a concentrated effort to make full long strokes to pass him. He'd do 50 fast and then rest while I did another 25 and then he'd do 50 EZ, and then by the time I was on my third 50, he'd go fast again. It was good cause it made me focus on speed and then give me a little time to recover. I was impressed with how fast such a big guy could go. Imagine how fast he'd be if he dropped 80 pounds or so.

Back to late evening swims - Yeah!

Today was the first day this fall season with the Bubble up at Layton Surf N' Swim. Cathi reminded me that they may have late evening lap swim time again. I forgot about that! I called and confirmed. Right on! Now I can swim at night. I prefer that so much more. Cathi already exercised today and she didn't want two workouts in one day since she's tapering for this weekend's Top of Utah Marathon so I took Austin and Jacob. Austin needs to earn his swimming merit badge and needs to put some serious time in the pool. Here's what I did:

3000 - 3 x 1000's free on 16:00
400 - 4 x 100's kick IM order
100 - 100 free fast (cramping in right calf)
100 - 100 IM

3600 Yards total

Not bad for exactly one hour in the pool.

Timing concern at Ogden Valley Triathlon

When I saw the results posted after the event I thought there were some problems. Several girls swam the 1000 Meters under 12:00. What? That's dang fast. When I got home I looked it up online and sure enough, there were alot of ladies who swam fast.

I wrote a couple of responses to Milliseconds.com:

I was looking at my time on the swim and don't question the accuracy on my swim. I timed it manually with my watch and my swim time is correct. I am questioning the women's time though. There were several women who did it in 11 minutes? I highly doubt it.

But what really makes me question the accuracy is that my wife Cathi Gridley (Bib 1004) got a time 32 seconds faster than I did? Not in a million years. She told me she did backstroke the whole time. I was doing freestyle the whole time. There's no way she did it under 16:00 even. I was the first guy in my heat out of the water and passed my wife up the ramp out of the water. I just don't get it. Maybe the heat start time for the women's swim wasn't setup right.

I couldn't just let it rest there. I had to do more research. Which I sent to Milliseconds.com in another response:

I already sent in a note earlier, but in case you're thinking I'm full of hot air. I just looked up the results of the Elite category. And it shows that the Elite woman who came out of the water did it in 8:12. That's 49.3 seconds per 100 yards. That's a faster split time than the women's 100 M Free world record! (http://www.hickoksports.com/history/wswimrec.shtml#lwomen)

If 1000 M were an official timed event Jamie Lambert would have clearly broken the WORLD RECORD! The split times of the fastest women swimmers in the world don't even come under 1:00 per 100. So either Jamie Lambert is the fastest 1000 M swimmer in the world and should get credit for world record, or something is wrong with the the start time for the women. I hope this shows there might be human error on the women's swimming heat start.

Then I noticed that in the reporting of the swim times, they show the time for the average 100 yards. But that value is incorrect as well. I sent another response:

Sorry to knit pick - but I noticed that the results time shows the average 100 yard time for the swim. It showed that I did 1000 Meter swim in 15:39 with the average 100 yard time being 1:33.9

That would be correct if it were a 1000 yard swim, but this is meters. 1000 Meters = 1094 yards (http://benefitslink.com/cgi/fiberlinkmanager/measurement_converter.cgi) So the value displayed is wrong. My average 100 yard would have been 1:25.8 not 1:33.9. You either need to show that it is average per 100 Meter with the value that is currently showing, or have a converted 100 yard value.

Pretty close, but not exactly right. Sorry to be so fanatical.

Am I a nerd, or what? I'll post any responses I get back from them. But I don't really have a very good first impression.

Ogden Valley Triathlon Results

Well - the long awaited day has come. Eric came over to our house with Stacey and tried putting his bike on my bike rack, but it wouldn't fit with the other bike's handlebars taking up so much room so we drove up separate. He went up Ogden Canyon and I went up through Mountain Green. He beat us up there by probably 10 minutes. Oh well, nice experiment.

When we got there they had the buoys setup and I was like "There is no way that is 1000 M." Eric was like "It is, it just looks close together cause we're so far back." I was still doubtful. When it was about 45 minutes to start time, a boat went around and moved each of the three to probably double the distance apart. Eric was gone to the bathroom and when he came back, he said "Holy Crap!" I laughed. 1000 M is a long way.

This race was setup with alot of heats. It was supposed to be timed out so that the age group male and females compete against each other with the difference in heat start times. Sounds like a good idea. When my heat started I was on the front line and timed with my watch just as the gun went off for my heat. I was dealing with alot of splashing but quickly took the lead for my heat. By the time I broke away I was running into white capped ladies from the heat ahead of me. I came upon a woman who must have been treading water as I clothes lined her with my left arm. I stopped to look to make sure she was OK and say sorry. But then I went back on. I was passing people from the previous heat and coming into people from two heads ahead. I definitely was the first one out of the water in my heat. They had all the heats separated by cap color and I was the first red cap out of the water.

I didn't have any cramping issues with all the potassium pills I've been taking, the banana's and the salt pretzel's I've been loading up on! When I got out of the water I saw Cathi struggling to get off her wetsuit. I tapped her on the head and said, "Good job Cathi!" and ran to the transition area to take my wetsuit off.

When I got there the suit came off fast and I was able to start my bike part pretty quickly. I wasn't very fast getting my shoes on. I probably was about 15 seconds slower than I could have been had I been smarter.

Now the biking portion is where I'm just a little better than average, but that's it. When I got the point where I could mount my bike I stopped and a lady next to me tried mounting on her bike, but she went too fast and slipped and fell. She was OK, but made me glad I wasn't going too fast. During the ride I had gatorade splashing out of my aerodrink bottle all over me and my bike. Duane Ralphs told me about that mistake, but I guess I didn't listen well enough cause man that was a bad move! I passed probably 25 women on the bike portion, but I got passed by probably 15 guys so there was no way I was gonna place in my division. My average speed according to my GPS was about 21 miles per hour. I didn't have it on when I started so I didn't get an accurate start reading, but got the gyst. I'll have to rely on milliseconds to report my times.

When I started the run I popped a Buzz bite in my mouth. I already took one about 15 minutes before the swim and thought a second one would be good since I already spent alot of energy. But after 10 minutes I couldn't take the flavor anymore. Don't get me wrong, they're yummy, but when running and you're thirsty, they're just too rich. I spit the rest of it out. They had water stations every mile. When I got to mile 1 I took water and ran and drank at the same time. When I got mile two, I wanted two drinks so I walked so I could down the first cup, get another and then move on. But at mile two we started our way back and it was on a hiking trail that was only about 24 inches wide in some areas, which winded around and up and down hills. It was a nightmare. I was passed by around 30 people on the run, but I passed 3 unfortunate souls. I got killed on the run! But I ran the whole time except for the half way point where I walked for about 15 seconds.

I was very happy with my performance. My times aren't anywhere near where I wanted, but this is my first Sprint(PLUS) tri. The distance on this tri was:

Swim - 1000 Meters (1094 yards)
Bike - 15.3431 Miles
Run - 4 Miles (Which I think is low. If you look at the map, it doesn't follow the trail exactly. But its pretty close) They should have had someone run it with a GPS to make sure.

My goals/actual were:
Swim - Goal = 14:00. Actual = 15:39.08 (1:26/100 yard average)
Bike - Goal = 47:00. Actual = 43:38 (21.09 mph average!)
Run - Goal = 33:00. Actual = 37:41 Boo! Hiss!
Transition 1 - Goal = < 3:00. Actual = 2:30.5 Yes!
Transition 2 - Goal = < 1:45. Actual = 1:45.5 Whoah close!
Overall - Goal = 1:38:45. Actual = 1:41:14.49

I did the best I could given the route that I faced. The run was way hillier than I thought and the bike wasn't exactly flat. My goal on the swim with 14:00 obviously not very realistic for me. That would have been 1:19/100 yards average and that is booking for open water.

I'll have Cathi report her results separately. Overall the event was very well organized, the booths were awesome, the shirt was average and the watering stations were the perfect distance apart and well staffed. Excellent job overall, except for a couple things on the timing which was done by milliseconds.com, but that's another post.

Here are my official results. But I'm not sure how accurate it is due to the timing problems I noted.

Eric has improved!

Met Eric at SDRC at 6:15 this morning so he could try my wetsuit. Man he is faster and stronger. Last time I swam with him he only did 400 yards in 25 yard increments and he was breathing after each 25 like he just ran a mile. Now he's doing 1000 straight, and he's doing it rather fast considering he's only been doing laps for a few months. I'm amazed actually at how far he's come so fast. I bet he'll be surprised at how well he does at the triathlon. His worries about the swim are justified, but unwarranted given what I saw in the pool today.

I did the same things as yesterday except I did a 100 IM at the end instead of 100 free sprint:

4400 - 4 x (1000 free, 100 breast)
100 IM

4500 Yards total

Tired today. Definitely need to taper now for Saturday. No more biking or swimming the rest of this week (which is a real drag). But after this Saturday, my yardage is going to go sky high cause of the October 4th Pocatello ride.

Swimming at SDRC

Biked in early to SDRC for this morning's swim. This will probably be the only swim I get in this week except for the Ogden Valley Tri. Layton is putting the bubble on the pool and the pool is closed all week. Convenient since I'm tapering anyway.

4400 - 4 x (1000 free, 100 Breast)
100 - 100 free sprint (1:05)

4500 Yards total

Long swim thanks to Meg and Steve

Today is a day off from work cause Meg and Steve get married today and I get to attend their marriage, luncheon and Reception. But it isn't until later today so I got up early this morning and went over to Surf N' Swim and put in a long workout:

7700 - 7 x (1000 Free, 100 Breast)
100 IM

7800 Yards

Did this much because I wanted to lose two pounds. I weighed 191 when I woke up and wanted to be under 190 to meet my goal before 9/4/08 at the wedding. When I got home afterwards, I weighed in at 189.4 Right on!

Michael Phelps was a champion from the beginning

Brrr.....

Cathi suggested that we wear our wetsuits this morning. I agreed thinking mainly of training in them. But man was it cold this morning! The wind chill along with the low temp probably took it into the 40's. It was freezing! Makes me not look forward to the Ogden Valley with how cold it is going to be.

2000 - 2000 warmup free
400 - 4 x 100's One Arm Fly, Breast, Back, Free
100 - Grandpa swimming
1100 - 1100 Free

3600 Yards Total

Felt burned out and low on energy. Overwhelming thinking about doing the English Channel in 5 years. Biked 26 miles in to work aftewards.

Rainy Evening

Last night it rained really bad and this morning I'm sure Layton was closed so I drove to SDRC to swim:

2000 - Warm up
400 - 4 x 100's IM Kick
1000 - 10 x 100's Free Pulling on 2:00
200 - 200 EZ
1000 - 10 x 100's Alternate between IM and free, First 3 on 2:00, 3 on 1:45, 4 on 1:30
200 - 200 kick
200 - Grandpa swimming

5000 Yards

Birthday Swim

Today is Cathi's Birthday. I was able to get up to the alarm this morning which was surprising cause I got to bed pretty late. Our neighbors got a rooster about 3 weeks ago and it sure is loud at 6:00 am. With the kids starting school, and me trying to get off early on Friday we needed to get out of the pool at 7:00 so today's swim was a short one:

1500 - 1500 yards free straight. I saw Kyle Kofoed in the locker rooms as well as the fast old guy from a couple weeks ago. There was still one other guy in the pool was pretty fast. I was only able to lap him every 300 yards or so.

1500 Yards total.

Tired

This weekend has been weird for me. I haven't been really starving myself, just watching it. But whenever I stand up from sitting down, I have been getting really light headed and dizzy for about 20 seconds. I haven't passed out, but if this continues, I wouldn't be surprised if I did.

This morning I was lazy and slow getting out the door and my attitude wasn't very energetic. My workout reflected this:

1000 - 1000 Warmup (825 yard split = 11:27, 1000 done at 13:50) Not very fast.
1000 - 10 x 100's (alternate between 100 IM and 100 Free) on 2:00

2000 yards total

Friday morning swim

This morning when I got in the water was warmer than the air outside so that was nice. I was about to start my warmup when one of the ladies who was "Grandma swimming" a couple lanes over said "Hi Gordon". I recognized it as Carly Felter's voice. I couldn't see very well with my fogged up dark goggles. First time seeing her at the pool. I said "Hello" and started my warmup:

2000 - 2000 straight Free
400 - 200 Flutter Kick, 100 Breaststroke kick, 50 Butterfly kick, 25 back kick, 25 Grandpa swimming
1000 - 2 x 500's Free (no rest between sets) 6:48 first set, 6:59 second set
100 - Grandpa swimming
100 - 2 x 50's fast (Fly/Free) on 1:15 (< :35 on both)

3600 Yards total

Happy Anniversary swim

Today is my anniversary. Cathi was so tired this morning, I asked her if she wanted to swim, but she didn't budge. She was so tired. She has a big job watching after the kids, and she also runs alot so she is tired. Last Saturday she ran over four hours. So I didn't get on her case. I let her sleep while I went to swim:

1000 - Warmup
800 - 2 x 400 IM's First 400 kick IM, second normal
200 - 200 Free Drill (100 fingertip drag, 100 touch and pull)
1000 - Free (500 split = 6:47, 825 split = 11:17, 1000 = 13:38)
600 - 6 x 100's free descending on 2:00 (1:30, 1:20, 1:17, 1:12, 1:07, 1:10)

3600 Yards Total

Putting more time in the pool

Swimming 2-3 times a week is weak. So I'm gonna try and hit 4-5 times a week, starting today:

1000 - Free Warmup - I should have timed this cause I went fast and felt strong.
1000 - 5 x 100 IM's on 2:30, 5 x 100's free descending on 2:00 (1:20, 1:17, 1:15, 1:12, 1:05)
200 Breast
1000 - 5 x 200's free pulling on 3:00 (all 2:20 - 2:30)
200 - 2 x 50's fly/free, 2 x 50's back/breast
200 Free fast

3600 Yards total - :55

I have a theory. I didn't cramp up at all today. My theory is that in a pool when you push off the wall it uses the muscles on the arch of your foot, as well as your calves. So that stretch/push helps to keep those muscles warm. When you're open water swimming you aren't pushing off any walls and those muscles go mainly unused and it puts a strain on them to be stretched out so long. Just an idea. So I think I need to do more open water swimming practice, not just pool swimming. Mainly for practice letting my calves and arches of my feet get used to swimming without getting that good power push every 25 yards.

Deer Creek Open Water Marathon 2008 Results

It was very windy going up Emigration Canyon to Park City at 6:00 am. I picked up Russell at his house since I needed him to be my kayaker. When we arrived it was 7:00 am and it was freezing outside! I was afraid that it would be very cold in the water. I stretch my legs out especially my calves. Usually I start cramping in the arches of my feet and then in my calves.

We filled out the waiver and met for the safety meeting. I took a Buzz Bite knowing that I needed something to power me through this 5K race. The race started at 8:10 or so. When they started the race I started my stopwatch. It was all bunched together and I couldn't see Russ for quite a while. I knew he was behind me somewhere, so I just followed the others that I could see on my right side.

When I hit the 1 mile mark it seemed to be longer than that. I wasn't tired, but it seemed to take longer than 24 minutes. About 30 minutes into the race I started getting some serious cramping going in both of my calf muscles. I would kick with my feet flexed, and then when it got bad would do about 10 seconds of breast stroke. Then when they cramped fast like lightening I would stop and go underwater, then grab my toes and stretch out the calf muscle. A couple times I got cramps in my quads and then I'd do breaststroke for about 10 seconds.

I was swimming hard. Good long strokes, my breathing was good, the water wasn't cold, dirty or funny tasting. It was the perfect swim except for that damn calf cramping! I wasn't tired, or winded. If I could have gone cramp free I would have cut probably 2 minutes off my time. When I neared the finish buoy, I sprinted for about 100 yards. I went so fast into the buoy that I jammed my thumb. I stopped my watch: 1:23:16


Dang! I was going for under 1:20. I was disappointed. I was about 2 minutes behind Brad from the Bountiful Masters, who also beat me in the 1500 M at the Summer Games. I was hoping for 1:17 or so. Not even close. I took 4th overall in the 5K (out of probably 12 or so), and the 2nd and 3rd place guys didn't even get under 1:20 so I wasn't feeling too bad. The official results will probably be posted in a couple weeks. I had a great time and am looking forward to breaking the first official time of 1:23:16! Here's a link to the final results for all the events.

My last tapering day before the Deer Creek Open Water 5K

Yesterday evening while watching the Olympics they showed Michael Phelps daily schedule, which included 8300 M of swimming. That's his tapering?

My gosh that's over 5 miles! That's more yardage than my all time daily high of 8200 yards! Man he's a machine!

Here's what I did today:

250 - 5 x 50's fast on 1:30 (all under 30 seconds)
250 - 5 x (25 fly fast, 25 free easy) on 1:30

500 yards total

Tapering...

Found this cool video about this Saturday's swim online:



This morning I planned on only swimming 1000 yards or so. It was tough to hold back:

200 Free warmup
800 - 2 x (4 x 100's descending (1:20, 1:15, 1:10, 1:07) on 2:00
100 breast

1100 Yards total

Getting really excited for this Saturday's swim!

The Greatest Relay Ever Swam

"Napolean, like anyone can even know that."

Last night I saw the greatest relay swim ever! I kept hearing the doubt and negativity of the commentator saying that no matter how he put the numbers together before the race, the French would win. And then he said he didn't think Jason Lezak could catch up. I hope he gave him an apology. I get goosebumps every time I watch this video.

That shows that you really can overcome huge odds and come back from behind so quickly! I'm very inspired by these guys, their talent, but especially their heart!

Setting new records again!

Got back from the Father's and Son's Outing this morning and thought that instead of biking out to SDRC and swimming, I would swim this morning at Layton instead. So I got there one hour before they close lap swim time. So the pressure was on to get in 3600 yards (2 miles) under that time. Here are the split times I took:

825 Yards (750 M) - 10:52 (New Personal Record)
1650 Yards (1500 M) - 21:32 (New Personal Record)
1800 Yards (1 Mile) - 23:40 (New Personal Record, but only for the next 23 minutes cause the second mile was even faster!)
3600 Yards (2 Miles) - 47:08 (New Personal Record) The last mile split was even better! 23:27!

Kicked some major butt today! At this rate, if I train hard and work, I will be able to break 20:00 in the 1500 M next year at the summer games. That would be a total dream.

2 Miles - fast!

Today I just swam 3600 yards straight. Here are the split times I took:

500 yards - 6:49
900 yards (1/2 mile) - 12:25
1650 yards (1500 M) - 23:00
1800 yards - 25:07.60
3600 yards - 49:42.33 (24:34.73 on the 2nd mile!)

That's a new PR for the 2 mile - 49:42

Did 100 warm down with Cathi

3700 Yards total - Great workout

New Fastest Mile Record

This morning I wanted to try beating my best 1 mile swim so I pushed it:

1800 - 900 split (12:12), 1650 split (which equals 1500 Meters - 22:44 New Record!), 1800 yards total time = 24:05

1 Mile in 24:05. That beat my best time ever by one minute. I was totally pushing it the whole time. My mouth was so dry my throat hurt. I wanted a drink so bad that when I accidentally got water in my mouth, I swallowed. Felt great about that time.

1200 - 6 x 200's alternating between 200 IM and 200 Free
400 - 4 x 100's free descending (1:25, 1:21, 1:16, 1:11) on 2:00
Rest 1 minute
100 Free Sprint (1:06)
100 Breast EZ

3600 Yards total

Long morning swim (New PRs)

Todd Frehse this week asked me what I'm doing specifically to train for the Deercreek Open Water Swim. It made me realize that I'm not really doing anything specific for that event, so I decided this week to swim 3 miles straight with no stopping. Just flip turn after flip turn, counting 50's up to 5300 yards. So that's what I did.

There was an older guy there who I asked to share a lane with. He didn't look like he was going fast, but apparently he was. Every 500 yards he lapped me. He had a very strong and long stroke, with little to no kick. I was very impressed. He looked like he was in his late 40's/early 50's, but he was fast! I think it was the same guy who was there several months back on a Saturday morning. Here's my post on that day.

Here's what I timed:

1800 Yards - 25:10
3600 Yards - 53:20
5300 Yards - 1:17:53
5600 Yards total - 1:23:13

So at that pace I should be able to do the 5K (5470 yards) in 1:20. That's my goal to beat. So today I made two new records.

1. Fastest 3 Mile swim (1:17:53)


2. Longest swim without stopping (in pool): 5600 Yards

I could have gone much longer, but I promised Cathi I'd be back by 9:00 and I was already late. I wish I could have stayed longer and broken my longest swim in one day record.

I was very mindful of keeping track of my yards. There were only a couple of parts where I wasn't totally sure and in that case I would be conservative and went low with where I was sure I was and if I was mistaken would end up setting my yardage too low. So I'm confident I actually swam 5600 yards, and if not maybe a 100 more. I was happy with that time because its a pace that puts me at my best!

Good day!

Lazy workout

This morning I couldn't quite get into the groove of things, but I stuck with it and did a fairly good workout:

1000 - 1000 Warmup
1000 - 5 x 200's free on 4:00 (Get all under 3:00)
500 - 5 x 100's drill (fingertip drag and touch and pulls) on 2:00
400 - 4 x 100's kick IM
100 EZ
400 - 8 x 50's free on 1:00
200 - 200 IM
100 Fly - Worked on butterfly with Cathi. She doesn't move her arms fast enough. With me, I'm probably moving my arms too fast. I need to have a fast momentum in order to get my arms out of the water. I don't rely much on my kick, just a fast upper with a slight dolphin kick. Not sure how the Layton coach would critique me on it, but honestly I don't care all that much as I don't do much fly anymore. But I would like to practice it more. I might want to try a 50 or 100 fly next year at the Utah Summer Games

3700 Yards total - 1:30 time spent so not too fast. Steve Roberts showed up again.

Late morning

Slept in a bit. Very very tired getting out of bed. Took a Buzz Bite since I was exhausted from yesterday's ride, plus sleepy still. By the time I got to the pool I was completely ready for a good swim:

1000 - 1000 Warm up
850 - Timed 825 (750 M - 10:57 NEW PERSONAL RECORD) + 25 ez
800 - 2 x 400's EZ
600 - 3 x 200's Free fast (2:25 - 2:27)
400 - 4 x 100's fast (1:14, 1:14, 1:12, 1:10)
250 - 5 x 50's free fast (35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
150 - 6 x 25's fly/free, fly/breast, fly/free

4050 yards total

Swimming with Steve Roberts

This morning we had a hard time getting out the door in time. We were 15 minutes later than planned, but at least we got out.

1000 - 1000 Warmup
1500 - 5 x (100 Touch and Pull Drill,
100 CrossOvers
100 Two-fingered free)
500 - 5 x 100's free descending on 2:00 (1:22, 1:22, 1:14, 1:06, 1:08)
200 - 200 IM EZ

3200 Yards total

When I got out I dried off and then went to get Cathi's water bottle and she was talking to some guy in the lane next to us. She said, "Look who's here!". It was Steve Roberts from our old Fruit Heights neighborhood. I didn't know he swam. Apparently he is a triathloner as well and big into biking. He rides with a bunch of his neighbors and is doing Lotoja this year. He offered to let Cathi use his road bike at the Ogden Valley which was really nice.

I also told him about the Deer Creek Open Water race and that we were going to be having Cathi practice the canoe this weekend and he offered a kayak which should be a ton easier for her to control. It isn't one of the narrow spin over type kayaks, its the short and wide one. I think we'll take him up on that. It was good to see him and makes me glad to have good friends (which we should be better at keeping in touch with).

Then I biked to work from Layton Surf N' Swim.

Swimming in Bear Lake

Today we went to Bear Lake on "Rendezvous Beach". I rented a canoe and got Brad and Jacob to paddle out 1.5 miles (using GPS) from the beach. There were a ton of boaters and jetskiers so I'm glad we used the canoe. I wouldn't have felt good about swimming out there without a boat next to me.

I jumped out and eyed the beach and started swimming. I had to deal with very choppy water. I swallowed alot of water as I got pounded by the choppy water. Brad and Jacob were zigzagging to shore and I'm thinking I swam 2 miles rather than 1.5 miles. We were 1.5 miles from the beach from a straight line. The water was very clear and didn't have a bad taste. It took us 30 minutes to get out there by boat and an hour to get back on the swim. The water wasn't terribly cold and the wetsuit didn't make me too hot. It was perfect. Except for the choppiness I would have said it was a perfect swim.

3600 Yards total

Big Ladder

Today I was off work because we're going to the Low Family reunion latter this afternoon so I decided to do a big long workout today and break my PR on distance:

1000 - 1 x 1000 warmup
1600 - 2 x 800's free under 11:00 (10:58, 10:50)
50 - EZ
1800 - 3 x 600's, 2nd one kicking
1600 - 4 x 400's pulling
1000 - 5 x 200's free on 3:30
600 - 6 x 100's free fast on 1:45 (Got under 1:20 on all of them)
350 - 7 x 50's free on 1:00 (one 36, rest under :35)
200 - 8 x 25's IM order

8200 Yards total in 2:30

Felt some slight lower back tightness near the end. Nothing major, just annoying.

Buzz Bites

In the past when I have an event that requires some quick energy that enhances my performance in a swim or long distance bike ride I took a 200 mg tablet of caffeine. The problem with that was that it would sometimes lift me up too much.

I found a better solution. Buzz Bites is a chocolate energy chew that contains only half of a caffeine pill. It contains 100 mg of caffeine. It tastes like a dark chocolate tootsie roll. It was delicious and gave me the proper amount of lift I needed. The caffeine pill is too expensive and doesn't contain any vitamins which Buzz Bites offers. Buzz Bites is now on my inventory checklist for important races, or long distance rides.

Just don't think of them as candy as I think they could become addictive, just like any caffeinated product. It's definitely for special performance enhancement scenarios. Check out their website for more information and for ordering!

Xango Echo Triathlon

Distance/Times: Swim 750 M, Bike 20K (12.4 miles), Run 5K (3.1 miles)
Cathi - Total: 1:42:10.95, Swim: 15:41, Bike: 54:26, Run: 26:09
Gords - Just the swim (Relay): 11:28

Details:
Roceil watched the kids for us so Cathi and I could check in the Best Western in Coalville, UT. We went over and got Cathi's packet and did the triathlon walk through. The guide told us of the transition and paths to take which made our experience more comfortable. It was very well organized and laid out. There were lots of signs to make the participants morons if they messed up. And if they still couldn't see the big signs there were lots of volunteers to point the proper direction.

In the morning we got up at 4:45 am and got ready to ride over. We biked over from the hotel which was probably only 2 miles. It was very cold and when we got there the rest of Team Tomax arrived within 30 minutes and we got our packet, timing chip and visited until our start time at 7:50 (for Cathi) and 8:00 (for me).

When I got in the water I noticed that it was hardly muddy and that the water wasn't that cold. They started us and I swam quite easily to the first marker which was easy to see. I rotated my head out of the water every 6 strokes or so and I was usually right on course, so no major lopsidedness going on. When I rounded the first corner I was what I felt like first place for my wave. I was now hitting women who were from the wave before mine. I even ran right into a very slow moving woman and instead of climbing over here, I stopped cold and went around her. I said "Sorry" and started my forward movement back up.

When I rounded the second marker I headed for the get out point. It was right in line with the sun so I couldn't see the marker or the beach at all, just a huge sun. I was noticing the direction of the other swimmers when breathing to the side and saw that they were going parallel to me so I just went with that hoping that it was the right way and that the whole other group was going the right way. That was a good strategy even though I was paranoid that everyone else was doing the same thing and going the wrong way.

But not before long I could see the shadow of trees which meant I was nearing the finish. I was too far to the right as I started running into reeds so I veered left and swam another 25 yards or so before hitting the bottom and running out. I heard the beep as I crossed the sensor pad with my left ankle's timing chip. As I ran up the slope on the green turf I saw Cathi and said "Good Job Cathi!" I found my shoes and hurried to slip them on and run to the transition area which was about 200 yards. I think I was the first team relay swimmer out of the water. Jason was pleased and hurried to get the timing chip on and took off. My time in the swim was 11:28. I was aiming for 11:30 so I met my goal. I was disappointed that I did the relay. I had plenty of energy left and wished I could have done the bike and run.

I saw Cathi start her bike portion and waited for Jason to arrive so Heather could go. I didn't use my stop watch at all so I didn't know how we were doing during the race.

I saw Heather start off and then as she finished. I then saw Cathi finish.
Team Tomax came in first place in the coed sprint relay division. We did it. Great job team. And great job Cathi!


Here are the results of the Coed Division:

Swimming at Camp Bartlett

At 3:00 pm Austin finished his Leatherwork class and we had two hours to kill before dinner so we went swimming with Jeffrey Davis and Hayden Buchi. Since I hadn't been passed off at camp, I had to do a swim check (75 Free, 25 Back and then backfloat) I jumped in and started swimming hard. There wasn't any moss to deal with like the last open swim I did last week. The water was surprisingly warm.

Did several laps. Then I had Jeffrey Davis time a couple of 50's. I did 36 and 37 second 50's. I then took the wetsuit off as I was getting to hot with it on. Hayden was goofing around and wanted me to bet him he could beat me in a race if he got a head start. I said, "How about you just swim to the other end and I have to swim down and back. Instead of betting money, the loser has to do 50 pushups before the day is over." He agreed.

So we had Jeffrey and Austin start us. Go! I swam hard and was kicking well, keeping my head in and did a flip turn down at the end. When I got back to where I started I looked back and there was Hayden resting at the other end smiling at me. I knew it would be close, but not where he would beat me. There were lots of other scout and leader spectators so I said, "Good Job Hayden! I knew it would be tough." Then Jeffrey and Austin both gave me evil smiles like I was just duped. I said "What?" They said he swam over to the dock about 5 feet away, jumped out and ran to the end and jumped back in.

Dang! So I made him do 50 pushups which he did in sets of 10s and 20s before going to bed that night. Felt plenty worked out for this Saturday's race at Echo.

800 yards total

Swimming at Pocatello Community Center

Tonight I went over and swam the following at the Community Center:

1000 Warm up - Time the first 825 yards (750 M) at 11:06 and 175 EZ
1000 - 5 x (100 Sprint (All under 1:10), 50 Breast, 50 One Arm Fly)
200 - 2 x (25 no breath free, 25 breast EZ, 25 free EZ, 25 underwater no breath)

2200 Total

It was tough only swimming this amount, but need to start tapering. Felt great on the 750 M time and on the 100 sprints.

Swimming in Logan Pond

Today after meeting Bill and Roceil at the Golden Corral in Logan, Cathi and I went to the Logan Pond and tried on our wetsuits and went swimming. We swam for about 25 minutes and probably 800 yards. It was very cold and gross with the moss to deal with when we were swimming.

Cathi screamed when she felt how cold the water was. It was probably in the high 50's. I was grossed out with the pond bottom. Lots of moss and sticks in the water. A little freaky. But mostly very cold. My arms and face were numb.

Around 900 yards total

Swimming with swim team

After Racquetball this morning I went swimming down where there were probably nearly 70 swimmers. There was a lane left open for non swim-team people and there were already 4 people in it. 2 Kids and 2 women. So I circled with them:

3000 - 3 x 1000's (Time the first 825 and then do 175 ez)

3000 Total. All of the timed 825's were between 11:45 - 12:30.

Make-up workout

This morning I was feeling lazy. I went with Cathi to the pool, but wasn't feeling well. Sam threw up last night while in our bed and I suspected that I got the bug. I went straight to work today and worked 12 hours straight. On the way home I realized I had my swim suits still so I stopped at the SDRC and swam the following:

6000 - 6 x 1000's (Time first 825 and then do 175 EZ)

6000 total

Met Kevin at the start of my 6000 and also saw Craig Barnes from Tomax (who left several years ago). Had to deal with stupid kids getting in my lane. I would just swim normal and I think they got sick of getting splashed or kicked when I did my flip turns.

Tomorrow we are going to the cabin. Cathi and I are taking our wetsuits aznd plan to swim in the pond down at the base of Logan Canyon.

Pick it up - one week left

Only one more week left before the swim leg for team Tomax. Today I decided to step up the yards a bit:

4000 - 4 x 1000's (Timed 825 yd (12:20, 12:02, 11:46, 11:38), then 175 EZ)

4000 yards total in 1:20

Wetsuit swimming

Wasn't cold this morning, but wanted to swim with the wetsuit to get used to it more:

1000 - 1000 Warm up (Time the first 825 yards (750 M): 11:03)
1000 - 5 x 200's (100 One-arm fly, 100 Free/ 100 Back, 100 Breast) on 4:00
1000 - 1000 Free with looking forward outside the water every 3-4th stroke(Time the first 825 yards again (12:15)
500 - 5 x 100's free fast (1:10 - 1:15) on 2:00
100 - Grandpa swimming

3600 Yards total

Timed 750s

Slept in 30 minutes past the alarm. Cathi and I made our way to the pool though and didn't go as far as I wanted, but did some timed 750 M's:

2000 - 2 x 1000's freestyle (Time the first 825 yards of each 1000: 12:14, 11:32)
400 - 400 IM
100 - 50 Breast EZ, 50 Free Fast

2500 yards total

Then rode to work.

Utah Summer Games Results

Cathi swam the following:

200 Meter Backstroke: 3:47 (2nd place in her division (Female 30-34)
1500 Meter Freestyle: 29:48 (2nd place in her Female 30-34 division)


Here's what I did:

200 Meter Freestyle: 2:32 (1st place in my Male 35-39 Division)
1500 Meter Freestyle: 23:29 (1st place in my Male 35-39 Division) This 1500 time is the new USG record for the 35-39 division. Nobody had attempted this event in my age group in the past 4 years of the USG doing 50 M Long course records.

I was disappointed with the 200 Free, but very happy with the 1500. I was hoping for 2:15 in the 200, and 24:00 in the 1500. I took first in both events for my category. In the 1500 I took first in my heat. The second place finisher came in over 3 minutes after I did. I was in lane 1 right next to the big timing display and could see each of my 100 split times. I tried to keep them at 1:35/100 M There were a couple at 1:37, and a couple well under 1:35 so my average was just under 1:34/100 meters.

So I'm already coming home with two gold medals. Hoping to come home with at least one more medal after table tennis....

Baseline test for tomorrow's Race

Tomorrow is the Utah Summer Games Swimming Events. I'm doing the 1500 M freestyle and the 200 M freestyle. I wanted to do it today at Layton to set a baseline goal to beat. Since Layton isn't in Meters, but yards, I did the equivalent:

1650 yards (1500 M): 24:13 My goal for tomorrow is under 24 minutes.
200 yards: 2:20 My goal for tomorrow is 2:15

1800 yards total

Decided against doing any more laps since I need to conserve some energy. Although I hoped on the bike and went 25 miles.

First time swimming at Surf n' Swim with bubble off w/o wetsuit

Yesterday was HOT in the afternoon, so Cathi and I decided to not be wimps and try swimming without wetsuits this morning. Good call. It was just a little cold getting in, but I've been colder when the bubble was up, so it was good.

Here's what I did:

1000 - 1000 warm up. The first 150 was tough. I could tell that the wetsuit sure makes swimming easier. But by the time I got to 200 I was in the grove.
100 - 100 Breast EZ
1200 - 3 x 4 x100's free ladder (75 slow, 25 fast, 50 sl/50 fast, 25s/75f, 100 f, 75f/25s...) These I borrowed from Rachel's workout yesterday.
200 - 100 Breast, 100 Free recovery
1000 - 5 x 200 IM's on 3:30
100 fast (1:09)

3600 yards total

Slept in a little today. Got there at 6:25 and swam 1:10. Crowded today. Every lane had 2-3 people in it. When the swim team starts at 7 am it really crowds things up.

Slept in

Slept in an hour extra so we got to the pool late. Good thing is that lap swim goes till noon, plus we were able to get in when the first round of 5:30 early birds started getting out. Swam the following:

1000 - 1000 warm up
1800 - 6 x (200 IM on 4:30, 100 Free on 1:30)
200 - 2 x 100's on 1:30 (got 1:15 on both)

3000 yards total

Early 2 mile swim

1800 - Timed Mile (24:38) At 1300 I think I forward counted once so I might have been off by 50 yards, but even if you tack on 40 seconds, that's a good time! I won't count this as a new record cause I was wearing the wetsuit and that seems to make you faster.

200 - 100 Breast, 100 Free EZ
1000 - 5 X (100 Free fast @ 1:12, 100 One Arm Fly/Breast/Back/Free Recovery) on 2:00
600 - 100 Breast, 100 one arm fly, 300 Free, 100 Grandpa swimming with Cathi

3600 Yards total

Those wetsuits really rock. They seem to make you faster and protect from the shock of getting in the cold water at 5:30am. Then I got on the bike and rode 25 miles to work.

First time swimming with Wetsuit

Well both Cathi's and my wetsuit came yesterday. We tried them out this morning to see how they feel. Which is a good thing cause it was cold! It was cloudy all night and looked like it was going to rain.

Here is what I swam:

1000 Free
300 - 3 x 100's breast, one arm fly, free
700 - 7 x 100's free fast on 2:00 (1:13, 1:14 on all of them)
1000 - 5 x 200's free strong on 3:30
100 EZ
100 Grandpa swimming with Cathi

3200 Total

Here is a picture of the wetsuit with my head very obviously transposed on the body. I almost look this good. I just forgot to take a picture this morning and wanted to post the wetsuit on this blog. In fact this morning I hit an all time low on my weight - 198.6. I was 207 on Sunday. I've really kick started my new diet:

Breakfast and brunch snack:

• 1 lb strawberries


• 2 oranges


• 2-3 bananas

Lunch and after lunch snack:

• Green salad and 2 tbsp light ranch


• 1 string cheese cut up over the salad


• 1 small low cal polish sausage (210 calories)


• 1 slice of bread with 2 tbsp honey on it


• 1 can of fresca

Dinner and late evening snack:

• Whatever delicious healthy thing Cathi cooks up! But not a ton, just one plate. No desert obviously!


• 2-3 servings of fruit

I also bike/play racquetball/Elliptical/lift weights or swim for at least 2 hours a day combined. So all that exercise and fruit should get me down to my goal of 190 very soon! Only 8 more pounds to go. Cathi started a weight loss group just for the month of June so hopefully that will motivate me to finish this thing!

Early morning swim for stretching

Played racquetball this morning. Should was giving me trouble, and my entire body is sore, although from what I'm not sure. So I swam today for the purpose of loosening up.

1000 - 1000 Free
100 kick
100 Free
100 kick
100 Free fast (1:13)
100 Back/one arm fly

1500 yards total

Swimming in guilt

Tonight was my Birthday dinner at the Mandarin with Cathi's family. I ate so much! I even had cake and ice cream. I was so stuffed. I must have eaten 4000 calories in that meal alone. I thought I should swim since the Layton pool is closed all this week and I haven't swam at all.

1800 - Timed at 25:49 which is only :48 from my all time PR and much better than my most recent PR set in March
200 - 100 Breast, 100 Free
3300 - 11 x (200 Pull, 100 Breast/One arm Fly alternating) on 6:00

5300 Yards total - 3 miles

That should have burned probably close to 1/2 that meal anyhow. I bought a new triathlon wetsuit on Ebay this last week for me and one for Cathi.

Short swim after racquetball

I planned on swimming 1800 straight and time it, but when I hit 200 yards the muscles in the middle of my back near the top where I usually get the knots in my back started to cause me trouble. Even stroke I could feel the muscles pulling. I decided to just do an easy 500 instead:

200 free
100 breast
100 back
100 one arm fly

500 total

I went to the hot tub in the other pool. I noticed the lifeguard was really paying attention. He was positioned on top of the bridge so he could overlook both pools. Then he moved over to his lifeguard stand. I remember the days when I was a lifeguard. Nobody ever complimented me on my job. I never really felt appreciated by those I was overlooking unless I saved their drowning child when nobody was looking.

I thought to myself. Nice things that are unexpected often mean more than they really are. So I decided I was going to tip the lifeguard. I never got a tip when I was a lifeguard. Not even a thank you, or a compliment and I was gonna make this guys day. After getting out of the hot tub I got in my wallet and pulled out a $10 bill and walked over to him and said, "I noticed you're really attentive. I used to be a guard and it was tough to stay alert all the time. You're doing a great job." and gave him the money. He put out his hand not realizing what I was giving him. He looked at it and said "Thanks!"

He probably won't ever get a tip again (as a lifeguard) and thought this might be something he might appreciate. I don't share this to say I'm a good guy. But to encourage "random acts of kindness" that aren't necessarily expected. They can fuel people.

2nd day

1000 Warmup
200 Breast
1600 - 8 x 200's (Alternate between 200 Free and 200 IM)
200 - 2 x 100's (25 Fly, 25 Free fast, 50 Breast recover)
100 Free
50 Grandpa swimming with Cathi

3150 Total

First real swim in almost a month!

This is the first real workout since before our trip.

1000 Free Warmup
1000 - 2 x ( 5 x 100's Free Descending on 2:00)
1000 - 4 x (50 Breast, 200 Free)
50 Grandpa swimming

3050 Total

Need to come every day now, cause Cathi and I are swimming in a couple of events in the Utah Summer Games.

Getting slack

OK - so the last two days I planned on swimming and didn't. On Tuesday I actually went to the pool, but Cathi forgot to bring my suit. I went straight there from work. So I went to Walmart and got a backup set of trunks for emergency use only. Good for doing drag training. I'll keep those in the back of my car at all times so I'll have a good backup. Then yesterday we ran out of time and would've gotten there late, so I went to bed early since I had Racquetball this morning.

After racquetball I did:

1000 Warmup
100 Breast
800 - 8 x 100's free on 2:00 fast (Under 1:15 on all of them)
100 EZ

2000 Total

I really need to get back in the water more often!

First time back

I swam twice while on vacation. I stayed at the Marriott in Vienna and the pool there is only about 12 yards long so I did a bunch of laps and did 4 sets of 8 minute swims. I'm hoping that the 8 minutes represents about 500 yards. So that means I did a mile on each workout, although I only did about 4 strokes before doing a flip turn.

Today was my first day in a real pool and because I stayed later playing Racquetball with Shawn so I didn't get to swim as long as I wanted, but here is what I did:

1000 Warmup up swim (Felt strong)
500 - 5 x 100's free descending on 2:00 (1:27, 1:22, 1:17, 1:12, 1:10)
100 EZ
100 Breast
100 EZ

1800 Yards Total

Double up swim day

In the morning after racquetball. I went down and swam:

100 Breast
1000 - 2 x 500's free
100 Strong

1200 Yards

I think I'm gonna be in trouble if I pass gas in a triathlon. It totally annoys me when the bubble moves back and forth in the back of my suit from one cheek to the other. I have to stop to let the bubble free. That would be even worse in a triathlon wetsuit. Sorry to gross you out, but it was the most eventful thing to happen during my swim.

Speed work

1000 - 1000 warm up
1000 - 10 x 100's on 2:00 (Got all under 1:12)
250 - 10 x 25's fly on 1:00 (Got all under :17)
250 - 10 x 25's free on 1:00 (Got all under :17)

2500 Yards total

Been a long time since I've done speed work like this.

Last chance swim

Tomorrow morning I'm weighing in and hoping I can break that 200 mark. Swam hard tonight:

3000 - 3 x 1000's on 15:00
600 - 400 IM, 200 IM Kick

3600 Total

My 2nd and 3rd 1000 were over 15:00 so I was disappointed with that. Can't get too hard on myself when I don't eat hardly a thing past 1:00. Need to get energy in order to spend it. Can run off of bodyfat forever.

Late start

Today Cathi rode her bike since the Van's battery was dead. We had some major miscommunication which resulted in me getting in the pool 10 minutes late. I was frustrated and angry, but was able to let it go by the time I got out. So I didn't get the distance or speed I wanted today:

1000 - 1000 warm up
1000 - 2 x (500 - 100 kick each stroke, 100 one arm fly)

2000 total

First in the Balanced man triathlon swim

I was in the first heat of the triathlon which included the fastest swimmers. There were two or three other guys right with me or ahead of me at the first 25, but by the time I got to 150 yards I was in first. It was 400 yards total. My goal was 5:15 or so with under 5:00 being a total dream. Well I killed my goal and got 4:48. You can read the full details in my other fitness blog here. I was very happy with the swim. Need to work on the biking alot more. I've been putting it off with the weather just barely getting bearable, plus getting a new bike in a few weeks.

New Personal Record

Tomorrow is a big weigh in day and I need to really crunch that number down so I pushed it today for distance within one hour:

4000 - 4 x 1000 free on 15:00 (Did @ 13 something on each one)

4000 Total

Good workout. I don't think I've ever done 4000 in one hour before.

Timed 400

400 free fast - Did this in 5:19. I want to get this at 5:00 or less, but that may be a bit too much at this point.
600 Free ez
1000 - 5 x 200's free on 3:15
10 x 100's - 4 x 100's kick, 4 x 100's IM, 200 free
200 Cooldown

3200 Total

Cathi ran to the pool and I couldn't find her suit. I was hoping she was wearing it, but not so. She ended up swimming in my Jammer while I swam in a speedo which I normally wear under my Jammer. She swam in her sportsbra with a shirt on. She swam quite a while considering she had so much drag going on. Got there at 8:45 so we could get a lane without having to beg for it.

Morning Swim and Evening too

This morning after racquetball I did:

1000 - Nice and easy
400 - 4 x 100's IM Kick

For the sake of time left to go to work. Already behind two hours this week. Stopped at Smiths to get some pretzels, but I locked my keys in the car and Cathi had to come rescue me. By the time she got there it was 10:15 and she was on the way down to Orem. I told her to take the car and I took the two youngest kids back home with me. I only spent about an hour on work stuff and the rest will have to be PTO.

Swam in the evening:

1000 Warmup
400 - 400 IM
200 - 4 over unders
1000 - 5 x 200's pulling on 3:00 (Did in 2:30)
300 - 6 x 50's (50 sprint (:30-:32), 50 easy) on 2:00

3000 Total for the evening

4400 Total for the day

Kool

Just another day, another swim:

1000 Warm up
200 - 200 IM Kick
1000 - 10 x 100's (Odd - Free, Even IM)
1000 - 1000 Free
50 Grandpa swimming

3250 Yards total

First time back after a long break

First swim since last Thursday. Foot feeling alot better but still not 100%

1000 - 1000 Warm up
1000 - 5 x 200 free on 4:00 (2:40-2:45)
100 - 100 Breast
1000 - 50, 100, 200, 300, 200, 100, 50 rest 30-45 between each set
200 - 4 x 50's kick IM
100 EZ

3400 Yards Total

Cathi stayed home and finished laundry. She wasn't wanting to go anyway. Biggest loser was on tonight. I felt strong tonight and fast.