It's been a good year

In 2009 I logged a total of 319 miles swimming.
In 2010 I logged a total of 758 miles swimming.

That's an increase of 237%.  I may not be 237% faster, but I believe my stroke has improved and my swimming endurance. This morning's swim I really focused on a long stretch out front (without overextending my hand towards the midline), and pulling straight back with no S curve.  My stroke has gotten better.

My goal for 2011 is 1000 miles total (pool + OW).  That is definitely achievable.  That's only and increase of 25% over 2010.  Considering the drastic increase in 2009 I hope 1000 miles isn't undershooting.  But I also don't want to get burned out.  I have a big swim in August 2012!

Today's swim was:

13 x 1000 yards free on 15:00


13,000 yards total

I had extra rest between a couple of sets for a quick bathroom break, but I did get the whole thing done in 3.5 hours.  I was aiming for 23,000 and that would have given me 150 miles for the month of December, but I hit a major wall at 12,000 and my stroke technique was starting to suffer so I called it good at the end of the 13th set and decided against continuing.  I already had a monthly PR at that point anyway.  For December I have logged 145 miles.  That kills November's 100 mile total which was my PR before this month.  Awesome.

I got the ball rolling a little on the GSL swim.  I contacted a friend about the possibility of making a documentary of the swim.  We'll see.

Happy New Years!

1000s

Got up this morning at 3:45 in order to get to work on time.  There was a pretty decent storm last night and the roads were all icy.  After I guarded from 5-7am I hurried in and did 8 sets of 1000 on 15 minutes:

8000 yards total in 2 hours exactly

Felt great!

400s

Got in the pool at 5:17am:

2000 yards free long strokes

200 easy

Masters workout:

400 easy

800 - 2 x 400's free descending (5:00) on 5:45

150 - 3 x 50's kick recovery

600 - 2 x 300's free descending (4:00) on 4:30

150 - 3 x 50's kick recovery

400 - 2 x 200's free descending (2:23) on 3:00

150 - 3 x 50's kick recovery

200 - 2 x 100 free fast on 1:30 (1:08)

150 - 3 x 50's easy

Then I got out and was going to do alot more yards, but it was difficult getting back into it and ended up only doing:

200 free

100 free

100 easy

5600 yards total

No Equipment

I had to lifeguard this morning from 5-7.  So today's swim was a little lighter compared to normal.

I read this blog entry yesterday and realized that I probably do spend way too much time swimming with equipment.  Now I always take Terry's blogs with a grain of salt.  I mean I NEVER use a pool buoy unless I'm also using my supersized hand paddles, so I believe that by eliminating the kick and putting more emphasis on the pull with the paddles in combination with the buoys that it gives me more upper body work.  However, there could be some truth to Terry's though process, so today, I thought I would just swim with just a pair of goggles (and my Rob's Aquatic speedo of course!)

2600 yards free no rest, go right into...
400 IM easy no rest...
1000 free free go right into
400 IM easy then into
3600 yards free


8000 yards total

1000 yards into my swim BJ Christensen jumped in and did a fast 100 yards.  Then he got into his normal pace. I was trying to keep up and picked up my pace just a bit.  It was nice having someone right next to me who would do more than just sets of 100 and would do a nice long pull on their stroke and go long.  I was able to hang with him which was nice.

I'm hoping to do 20 more miles for the rest of this week totaling 150 miles for the month of December.  That would be sweet!

10 mile Swim on Christmas Eve

This morning I lifeguarded at SDRC from 5-7am and then hurried into the pool and started my swim around 7:10am.  Swam in sets of 2000:

2000 free
2000 pull

2000 free

2000 pull

2000 free

2000 pull

2000 free

200 yards fulcrum paddles (which I don't like at all by the way), 

200 big paddles only, 

100 easy, 

500 kick, 

1000 pull

1600 free

17,600 yards total in 4.5 hours

Sprinted the last 200 yards.  Felt great!  Now for some serious carbs!

12th Day of Christmas swim

On the 12th day of Christmas my true love gave to me....
12 x 150s Tempo Trainer (:57) on 2:15
11 x 100's IM order

1000 pulling

9 x 100 IM/Free on 1:45

8 texas 50's on 1:00

7 x 50's drilling no stopping

6 x 50's pulling no stopping

500 free

4 x 100's kick no stopping

3 x 50's back

2 x one arm Fly drills and

50 Easy

(7000)

Plus a little extra:

2000 pull

2000 free

11,000 yards total in 3:00 even

11th Day of Christmas

On the 11th day of Christmas my true love gave to me:

11 x 100's IM order

1000 pulling

9 x 100 IM/Free on 2:00

8 texas 50's

7 x 50's drilling

6 x 50's pulling

500 free

4 x 100's kick

3 x 50's back

2 x one arm Fly drills and

50 Easy

(5000)

Here's the Masters workout I did as well:

500 Warmup

200 - 8 x 25's 2 swim, kick drill swim

800 - 2 x 400's 1st pull, 2nd IM

1200 - 2 x 600's - 1st 12 x 50's free fast on 1:00, 2nd - 300 pull, 200 back, 100 free

400 IM kick with fins

400 - 4 x 100's fast (1:04, 1:08, 1:10, 1:12)

100 easy

8600 yards total

Got out a little earlier than planned.  I wasn't in the mood to start the 12th day of Christmas only to have to get out halfway through so I went to work a little earlier.  I'll do the 12th day tomorrow.  I got my January lifeguard schedule and am very pleased.  I'll be working T/Th 5-7am and Sat 6-9am  This will allow me to get my swims in with Masters during the week, but miss Saturday, but I'll steal the workout from them on Saturday and swim it after I get off at 9 and double it.  

10 days of Christmas

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me....

50 Easy

On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me....
 2 x 25 one arm Fly drills and
50 Easy
(150)

On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me...
3 x 50's back

2 x 25 one arm Fly drills and

50 Easy

(400)

On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me...

4 x 50's kick

3 x 50's back

2 x 25 one arm Fly drills and

50 Easy

(850)

On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me...

500 free

4 x 50's kick

3 x 50's back

2 x 25 one arm Fly drills and

50 Easy

(1800)

On the sixth day of Christmas my true love gave to me...

6 x 50's pulling

500 free

4 x 50's kick

3 x 50's back

2 x one arm Fly drills and

50 Easy

(3050)

On the seventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me...

7 x 50's drilling

6 x 50's pulling

500 free

4 x 50's kick

3 x 50's back

2 x one arm Fly drills and

50 Easy

(4650)

On the eighth day of Christmas my true love gave to me...

8 texas 50's

7 x 50's drilling

6 x 50's pulling

500 free

4 x 50's kick

3 x 50's back

2 x one arm Fly drills and

50 Easy

(6650)

On the ninth day of Christmas my true love gave to me...

9 x 100 IM/Free on 2:00

8 texas 50's

7 x 50's drilling

6 x 50's pulling

500 free

4 x 50's kick

3 x 50's back

2 x one arm Fly drills and

50 Easy

(9550)

On the tenth day of Christmas my true love gave to me...

1000 pulling

9 x 100 IM/Free on 2:00

8 texas 50's

7 x 50's drilling

6 x 50's pulling

500 free

4 x 50's kick

3 x 50's back

2 x one arm Fly drills and

50 Easy

13450 yards total

500s

After Lifeguarding this morning from 6-9am I got in and did the following:

1000 free strong
500 - 10 x 50's alternate drill/swim on :45
500 Pull free
500 pull no ankle strap
500 paddles only
500 swim
500 kick with fins
500 kick no fins
1000 - 5 x 200 IMs :20 ri
2000 pull
2000 free strong
600 - 6 x 100's (25 fly, get out and do 10 pushups, then 75 free easy)

On the last set I did 25 PU instead of 10.  Felt good.

10,100 yards total

Realized during my swim that I didn't get proper dismissal from the head guard when I left.  I need to make sure that I am dismissed from duty properly and get a first aid question instead of just say hi to the Head Guard (Stephy) and just go start swimming.  Oops.  Gotta get these procedures down!

Rush it

Got to the pool a little late so I felt a little rushed.  I had a shift to start at 7 so I had to hurry to get in a decent workout:

600 yards free
600 - 6 x 100's kick with fins
600 - 6 x 100's free on 1:30
200 pull

Started Masters workout:

400 free easy
600 - 12 x 50's kick
600 - 12 x 50's free, first 4 on :60, second 4 on :50, last 4 on :40.
200 - 50 fly, 150 back
200 - 50 fly, 150 breast

4000 yards total

Craig Barnes was in the next lane over and man that guy has a serious underwater streamline/kick.  He goes about 5 feet further than I do underwater.  Love it when I get pushed.

Then while I was lifeguarding there was a young guy who was doing fly 50s on :40 over and over, then 50 backs on :40 over and over.  I was dumbfounded.  Looking forward to a 4 hour swim tomorrow.

First swim after taking an early shift at SDRC

This morning's lifeguarding went fast!  It didn't seem like two hours, but man was it boring.  It was quiet.  Except for the swim team.  They were swimming with fins and were doing sub two minute 200's with fins on.  I was impressed.

After my shift I got in and just swam 5300 yards straight.  Did it in 1:20.


5300 yards total

First day as official staff of SDRC

Got to the pool this morning at 5am:

600 - 400 IM, 200 choice
400 - 4 x 100's kick IM order on 2:15
800 - 8 x 100's pull 2 fly, 2 back, 2 breast, 2 free
400 - 2 x 200's 100 rt/left arm, 100 fingertip drag drill
500 - 1 x 500 build by 100's

Then started the Masters workout at 6am:
300 - 100 free, kick, pull
600 - 12 x 50's choice
900 - 3 x 300's free 1st on 3:50, 2nd on 3:45 (pull), 3rd on 3:35 (pull)
100 all out!  (1:04)
600 - 4 x 150's free on 2:00
100 all out (1:05)
400 - 4 x 100's on 1:15 (I've never done 100's at this interval since probably high school).  I was doing 1:10 or better on all of them so I felt great about this set!!!!

It was 7 and the High School swimmers were waiting patiently so I skipped the cool down since I was just going to finish the rest of my own workout that I began before Masters Started.  So I moved over to the north side of the pool and resumed with the following:

800 - 2 x 400's free build 1:00ri
900 - 3 x 300's free build 1:00 ri
800 - 4 x 200's free fast 1:00 ri (hold 2:30) on 3:30
500 - 5 x 100's free sprint hold 1:10 on 2:30
300 - 6 x 50's free sprint hold :30 on 1:30
400 - 4 x 100's choice
300 easy

9700 yards total

I filled up my lifeguard locker with stuff so I don't have to pack as much.  I start work tonight at 6pm for a couple hours.

Timed minute swims

This morning I got up early and did a pre-masters swim at 5:00 am:

1000 free easy
1000 free pull
1000 free strong
500 kick with fins

Masters started.  Kris Edwards prescribed this workout:

600 - 100 Swim, kick, IM drill, swim, 200 IM
300 - 6 x 50's - 1&2 drill free, 3&4 kick, 5&6 drill swim free
300 - 4 minutes timed swim (285, + 15 recovery) 1:00 ri
460 - 2 x 3 minute timed swims (215 + 15 recovery) 1:00 ri every 4th 25 do backstroke
480 - 3 x 2 minute timed swims (155 + 5 recovery) 1:00 ri every 4th 25 do backstroke
400 - 4 x 1 minute timed swims (85 + 15 recover) 1:00 ri  every 4th 25 do backstroke
250 - 5 x :30 sec timed swims (got 50 yards exactly) 1:00 ri
100 Easy

Masters was over at 7am sharp, so then moved over to the North end of the pool and swam this:

200 easy
1000 pull

7,590 yards total


I was planning on going clear until 9:00 or so, but those sprints at the last part of the workout Kris had us do really took the strength right out of me, so I stopped at 7:20 and hit the hot tub/steam room.  Will get to work at a decent time this morning.  Yay!

I also just registered for Slam The Dam race in 2011 (October 1st, the same day as the St. George Marathon, so that should workout since Cathi is doing the Utah Grand Slam for Utah again next year).

Swimming with SDRC Masters

Now that I'm done with the Lake Huron race, I can start to focus on speed and technique rather than plain distance.  Here's the workout that Tim came up with.  It was awesome:

400 - 200 free, 100 back, 100 kick
300 - 6 x 50's fly drill/kick
500 - 3 x 25's fly, 2 x 50's fly, 1 x 75 fly, 1 x 75 fly, 2 x 50's fly, 3 x 25's fly :15 ri per 25
300 - 6 x 50's back kick with fins
1000 - 3 x 50's back, 2 x 100's back, 1 x 150 back, 1 x 150 back, 2 x 100's back, 3 x 50's back, :15 ri per 50
300 - 6 x 50's flutter kick with fins
1000 - 3 x 100's free on 1:30, 2 x 200's free on 3:00, 1 x 300 free on 4:30
1000 - 1 x 300's free pull on 4:30,  2 x 200's free pull on 3:00, 3 x 100's free pull on 1:30
200 cooldown

5000 yards total

Then Tim video taped my stroke.  Looks like I still have an issue with my hand coming in and drifting too close to my center line.  This is something I have honestly been focusing on lately, but apparently it's still an issue.  I'll have to focus on it even more!

My Rob Aquatics suit came yesterday so today I wore it for the first time in today's workout.  It definitely is an eye-catcher.

Completed the Lake Huron Swim - 250 miles in 70 days

Tonight I went to SDRC to swim the last 6000 yards of the 250 mile swim I've been tracking since October 1st when I started.  Here is a copy of the spreadsheet that has all the daily totals and stats.

Sorry about the crappy quality, I only had my cell and not a real camera.

Tonight I did:

2000 yards free
2000 yards pull
1000 yards free
1000 - 10 x 100's odd IM, even free on 1:45

6000 yards total
19,400 yards total including this morning's swim.

Cathi and some of the kids showed up at the pool about 1000 yards into the swim so they stayed for over an hour watching me finish.  They brought a huge poster and cheered from the stands.  I'm sure everyone was wondering what they were cheering for.  I sure appreciated that Cathi came out to cheer me at the "virtual shore" on the south end of Lake Huron!  It would have been very anti-climactic to finish and get out without any kind of acknowledgement so it made me feel appreciated when she came out to do that!  Thank you Cathi!  What an awesome wife huh?

Now I can taper my workouts down a little.  I'd like to keep going and see if I can do a 2-way before the race cutoff of March 31st.  But I won't need to rush it as much.

Almost there.....

Got this workout from here.


1500 - 1500 yards warm up
1000 - 10 x 100 @ 5 seconds rest

1000 - 10 x 100 Drill / Free @ 1:40

1000 - 10 x 100 Kick (with fins)@ 2:00

1000 - 10 x 100 Pull @ 1:40

1000 - 10 x 100 Pyramid of Back @ 1:45 

100 Free  

75 Free / 25 Back  

50 Free / 50 Back  

25 Free / 75 Back  

100 Back  

100 Back  

75 Back / 25 Free  

50 Back / 50 Free  

25 Back / 75 Free  

100 Free 

500 - 5 x 100 IM with fins @ 1:45

500 - 5 x 100 Back @ 1:45

500 - 5 x 100 Free @ 1:30

1000 -10 x 100 Kick (with fins)@ 2:00

500 - 5 x 100 Drill @ 1:40

500 - 5 x 100 IM no equip @ 1:45

500 - 5 x 100 Back @ 1:45

600 - 6 x 100 Free Descend @ 1:40, 1:35, 1:30, 1:25, 1:20

1500 - 1000 pull, 500 free no equip

800 - 200 each stroke warm down

13,4000 yards total - Only 5550 yards left to go.  Will finish it up tonight.  I can see the south shore!!!!


Today's workout was a little tougher.  I didn't really like it.  The sets were too short and there was too much rest.  I like longer sets.  Plus this workout had way too much kicking in it.  I only like to do about 10% kicking or less and today's was much higher than that.

Trying not to covet being 6' 6" tall

This morning when I got to the pool at 4:50 every lane was taken with some old guy sitting on the deck.  I went with the nice guy who wears fins.  Next to me was David Balling.  He's a local masters swimmer who has age group records.  He's fast.

I got in and started the swim promptly at 5:01:

800 free warmup
5500 - 100, 200, 300, 400...1000 free :05 ri

These were good cause David was doing a ton of 100's on I think 1:30.  He was doing like 1:10-1:15 on them so he was passing me up, but because of his rest interval I was slowly lapping him.  When I finished this set he told me to come over and take his place since every lane had two people in it and his partner was leaving too.  

 3000 - 4 x 50's breast, 2 x 100's free, 4 x 50's back, 2 x 150's free, 4 x 50's one arm fly, 2 x 200's free, 4 x 50's breast, 2 x 250's free, 4 x 50's back, 2 x 300's free, 4 x 50's one arm fly
500 free pull w/ ankle strap

3000 - 6 x 500's (pull (no strap), kick, swim, kick, swim, pull (no strap))
I really sprinted the last 150 of the last 500 pull.  I think I was doing sub 1:00 100 it was really fast.  I felt so great!
400 IM cooldown

13,400 yards total - I actually got out of the pool thinking to myself "If I could make a living out of swimming all day long, I would change careers".  Don't get me wrong, I love my job.   But I definitely love swimming even more!

Had a talk with BJ Christensen about his plans for next year.  What a lucky guy to not just be so dang tall, but so athletic and have such great success with his events.  Its a shame, but I covet tall people.  I'd would love to be like 6'6".  That would naturally mean I'd have an additional 6" on my arms and my swimming would greatly benefit!  But no, I'm a stalky 5'11" doofus who I'm sure is an object of scorn among those who think old fat dudes in speedos are funny.  So I'm learning to just be thankful for what I have.  I could be like 5'6 or something.  That would suck.

Thank you Dark Chocolate M&Ms!

Last night Cathi and I went to see the Jazz play the Grizzlies.  She brought a treat: Dark Chocolate Peanut M&M's.  She ate a couple handfuls and said,  "these taste funny".  I said, "Oh I like 'em.  I love dark chocolate. She almost spat out the one she had in her mouth and said, 'Is that what it is?".  Haha.  She hates dark chocolate.  So I got to have the rest to myself.

If I weren't swimming so much I would feel guilty for eating junk like that.  But I see it as sugar that is a fuel for the next morning's swim.  Which it definitely was.  This morning's swim was without strain or need for energy.  I was fully energized and swam strong:

2000 free
3000 - 10 x (225 free, 50 back, 25 breast)

At this point the pool got really crowded and there were several people waiting at the wall watching everyone swim.  It really is silly that every lane only holds two people.  So I told a couple guys.  You wanna circle?  They joined in.  But the lady I shared the lane with originally said "NO".  I can't do flip turns cause I had surgery on my shoulder and I can't turn at the wall very well.  So I told one of the guys to take my place while I butt my way into another lane.  I moved over a couple lanes and sure enough.  There was Sarah Bowman Hansen.  I said Hello, and she asked "What's your name?".  I'm pretty sure she was pretending to not know who I was.  I mean, I was a VERY CHEESY friend who wanted to be more than a friend at one point.  I know that she didn't want the relationship to advance at the time, so who can forget a nerd like that?  If some girl was chasing me and I was trying to avoid her advances, I'd probably remember her the rest of my life, and not in a good way! Anyhow.... I continued on with my workout.....

1000 kick with fins
2600 yards free
2000 - 10 x 200's free pull on 2:50
750 - 15 x 50's sprint on :45

These were fun!  I first was holding :40, but then I was able to really push it and hold :30 and sub:30 50's.  

2000 free strong
400 IM warmdown

13,750 yards total

Having a cold sucks, but the swimming must go on!

I'm in the middle of a pretty bad chest cold.  I'm coughing up all sorts of crud.  Last night I went to bed early cause I'm pretty sure it's the cold that's making me feel like crap and NOT the excess swimming I'm doing.  I actually feel great when I'm in the water.  Here's the workout I wrote down last night just before going to bed:

1500 free warmup
5000 - 10 x (200 free, 150 back, 100 breast, 50 one arm fly) no rest, just keep it going strong.
2500 - 5 x 500's free odds pull :15 ri
1000  kick with fins
1600 - 16 x 100's odd IM, even free on 1:45
1250 - 10 x 125's - 100 free really focus on pull technique, 25 kick
500 - 10 x 50's (kick, swim, drill, over/under, breast)


13,350 yards total


Felt great!  Just wish I had more time so I can put in some extras.

Chlorine Burn

2000 - 2 x 4-4-4 (400, 4x100(on 1:30), 4x50(on :45))
3000 - 3 x 1000 :30 rest. hold channel pace, and aim to go the exact same times for all 3 

Eat a cereal bar, and drink some water

100 - 100 recovery, do some backstroke/double arms to loosen shoulders
900 - 18 x 50 free odds push-off 20yds fast no breath, rest easy; evens no push-start, 15 yards fast no breath, rest easy. 1:00
500 - 5 x 100 kick freestyle, go 50 regular kick w/ a board, 50 kick on back no board          

water and another cereal bar

3000 - 2 x 1500 free.  Get a drink and hurry into next set. Get the 3000 under 45 minutes

100 - 100 easy 
400 - 8x50 backstroke on :55 nice and easy
300 kick no fins

12,300 yards total


My face is on fire!  It is red and painful.  I think the chlorine is strong or something.  I also ran out of energy and was running out of time.  Nothing's worse than spending a Saturday in the pool, when the kids are at home driving Mom crazy and I should be there to help do the jobs and then HAVE FUN!  The kids need a Dad so I "sacrificed" my last 7700 yards for the fam. :)


Need to do 12000 yards M-F next week and I'll be done!

Insane yardage - 40,000 yards

Last night I decided to take Friday off work so that I can put in 40,000 SCY.  I normally would do that on Saturday,  but I need Saturday as well to do a long workout.  So I took the opportunity to take two LONG days this week.  Here's what I did in the morning from 5am - 1:45pm:

10000 - 20 x (200 free, 150 pull, 100 back, 50 breast)
1800 - 2 x 900s free
2400 - 3 x 800's IM/drill/free :15 ri
2800 - 4 x 700's (250 free on 3:40, 200 pull on 3:00, 150 - 25 x fly/back/breast, 100 free easy)
3000 - 5 x 600's TT start on 1:00 and go down by :01 each set.
3000 - 6 x 500's odd pull, even no equip
2800 - 7 x 400's IM no rest - :15 only
2400 - 8 x 300's free on 4:30 (1-2 kick w/fins, 3-4 free, 5-6 pull, 7-8 swim)
1800 - 9 x 200's free on 3:00 :20 ri

At the 125 yard mark get out and do 15 pushups.  Total pushups equals 135

30,000 yards

I could feel my body on the last two sets crying out for carbs.  I was low on energy, but I was still able to focus and push through strong.  I felt good.  I stopped at Little Ceasars on the way to my Mom's house and picked up a pizza.  I devoured the whole thing. 

I then napped for an hour, went to pick up Austin, Jacob and Jonas at the train station and took them to the club.  Then I immediately went back to SDRC and did 10,000 more yards. 

10000 - 10 x 1000's (1-2 free no equip, 3-4 pull, 5-6 free no equip, 7-8 pull, 9-10 free no equip.)

I really pushed the last 500 of the day to a sprint.  Tonight's 10K was awesome!  I felt absolutely no aches or pains whatsoever.  Whereas this morning's swim involved a couple of annoyances (left lower back, and left shoulder) but I was able to overcome those.  I find that if I focus on something else when in pain, that I don't really notice it anymore.  For instance if I really focus on my exhale, or push off the wall rotating the opposite of natural way, then I divert my attention to something other than the pain.

I felt so great today!  Looking forward to tomorrow.  After than, I'll definitely be able to finish by Thursday.

40,000 yards total  New Daily PR.

Going fanatic

I'm feeling a little fanatical about finishing this Lake Huron race in first place.  Today's swim was awesome!  I felt a little annoyance in my left shoulder, but nothing that really stopped me or slowed me down.  I got up at 4am this morning so that I could be in the water at the SDRC at 5am sharp.  By the way,  I'm now calling the SDRC my "Home pool", instead of Layton Surf N' Swim.  I have about 5 more punches left on my pass before I get hired there.

1000 - 1000 free warm up
5400 - 18 x {150 free long, strong strokes, 100 pull/kick/back on 1:30/2:15/2:00, 50 free sprint)
900 - 9 x 100's IM on 1:45 (felt great!!!!)
2500 - 5 x 500's free odd no equip, even pull w/all equip on 7:30
1000 kick with fins
1600 free with Tempo Trainer set to :57
200 grandpa swimming

12,600 yards total in 3:42


I got tomorrow off work so that I can put in a monster 30,000 yards!  I'm psyched.  That will kill my daily PR, and get me pretty close to my good friend Nicole Vanderpoel who is currently in the lead.

I'm a re-certified Red Cross Lifeguard

This last month I've been going to classes and getting re-certified as a Red Cross Lifeguard.  The Red Cross has sure simplified things.   They took out several things:

• No more removal from the water from the deep end without a backboard.
• No more timed swimming or treading with a 10 pound brick.  
• One thing that was added since my youth is AED's.  Very cool that we now have an advantage in getting victims of cardiac arrest a chance.  I remember a case where an old guy died in the hot tubs and the ambulance drove off just as I pulled into the parking lot.  My peer spent a good 15 minutes doing CPR before EMS got there and he had no signs of life at all.  Sounds like AED's when used early on, could actually result in a better chance at survival.
• No more "fighting escapes".  We used to learn how to push a victim away when they come at you.  Instead, you just learn how to STD (Suck, Tuck and Duck).  
• No more turning passive victim over using a one handed wrist turn.  
• Back in the day we used paddleboards and learning how to get victims loaded up on the boards and then swim them to safety.  Which makes me wonder why we even learned that as pool lifeguards.  So that is one skill I'm glad the Red Cross got rid of. 
• Old timers also did stuff with fins and snorkels to simulate underwater searches which was dumb for pool lifeguards.  So I'm glad they separated that out for a different type of certification. 
• We also did ALOT more with poles and ropes and reaching assists.  Today's Lifeguard just learns to toss a ring buoy and they didn't have us practice using a shepherd's crook.  
• Simpler, and less to remember.

I passed the written and practical tests pretty easily.  When I finished it was 7pm so I swam for an hour since I was there and didn't swim this morning.  I found out that I am still behind Nicole Vanderpoel by 25K.  So it is CRUNCH TIME.  I have a plan to really sprint to the finish.  So I'll putting in some major yards then next couple weeks.  I should be done by next Saturday.  Here's today's swim:

2000 yards free  (28:20)

2000 yards pull

4000 yards total