There is the sun!

I mostly had the entire pool to myself.  The water was about
84° F and the water was clean, blue and clear!  Loved it!

This morning I woke up to an alarm that was set for 6:30am.  It felt so good to sleep in.  Last night we pulled  in to Cathi's parents winter home in St. George.  This morning I got up and grabbed a Chobani and drove to Summit Athletic Club in St. George.  I swam there once a couple years ago and it was worth it!  I swam the following as the sun shone down on my back and the water felt so good!

50 anti paddles
100 finger paddles no strap
200 - 2 x weighted free 25, 75 free
400 kick with fins
600 paddles only (1st set - agility paddles, 2nd set - star trek paddles)
800 - 4 x 200 IM :10 ri
1000 pull (second set, no equipment)

Total distance: 6,300 yards in 2:00

Then swam the same thing backwards.   The price to get in is a little pricey for a non-member ($10), but I did my weight training there too which was awesome.  They have a super sweet gym.  The place is clean and classy.  I totally would have that be my home gym if I lived in St. George.

As I was slowly getting dried off by the poolside (hard to say goodbye to all this sunshine), I saw a guy walk into the pool area in street clothes and sit down on a deck chair and start to read.  He looked just like my old quorum adviser when I was 16, Rick Harrison.  I walked over and asked if his last name was Harrison and he said "Yes".  It was a pleasure to talk to him for a minute and find out that his family is all doing well and living in Davis county.  He looked almost the same as he did 20 years ago when I last saw him.

Making music in the water

On odd days, the Masters workouts happen in the evening and not the morning at Northwest, so I'm on my own on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  I used to thrive on this opportunity, but to be honest I'm getting a little burned out with the pool and it takes some real effort to coming up with something creative so I don't get bored.  So today I decided to convert a song into a workout.

Each note represents which finger (1 = Thumb, 5 = pinky) should play the note if using the piano.  This is important for proper hand placement over the keys.  E should be played with the third finger, thus a 300 yard distance, and C should be played with the thumb which is a 100 yard distance and so on:

G = 500 pull
E = 300 free strong
D = 200 IM
C = 100 kick (fins optional)

Then I played this song:  E - D - C - D - E - E - E- D - D - D - E - G - G- E- D - C - D - E - E - E - E - D - D - E - D - C

@:30 ri between each note

Can you guess the song?

I was lacking in energy today and couldn't wait to finish the song!  But I got through it.  Total Distance = 6,600 yards total

If you can't figure out the song, here it is.

2013 USMS rule change

Kathy Casey, USMS Rules Chair sent out a list of new rule changes for USMS competitions for 2013.  The one that stood out for me was rule change #5:

5. Water temperature in the competition pool shall be 77 to 82 degrees (107.6).

Right on!  Competition pools should always be kept below 82.  The old farts who complain about the pool being too cold, should go to other community pools that are kept warm and murky with little kids peeing and splashing.  

Competition pools that are serious about their pools being held to a higher standard, really should keep a close eye on their water temp.

One of the BIG reasons I swim at NWRC is the quality of the pool.  It's is always below 83 degrees whereas other pools in the valley are lucky to be below 83 at any given time.  When I was lifeguarding at Deseret Gym, we took them temp every three hours and maintained it at 78 degrees.  That's what I call a competition pool!

New pulling drill discovered

200 free
400 - 8 x 50's odd stroke, even kick
1600 - 4 x 400's pull get < 5:00 :30 ri (Discovered after the entire workout, that I ended up doubling up on these.  Was only supposed to do 2)
400 - 4 x 100's pull fast get < 1:10 on 1:30
900 - 6 x (25 stroke, 25 free, 50 kick, 25 stroke, 25 free)
450 - 6 x 75's stroke, free stroke

Do the above workout all over again.

7,900 yards total in 2:15

During the second round of 400 pulls, I did finger paddles, and took off the straps all together.  This forces me to keep my hand in a pulling position facing backwards in order to keep the pressure of the water right on my hand in the right position.  Then when my hand exits the water I just grab it with my thumb, then release it just before my hand enters the water and rely on perfect hand position in order to not lose the paddle.  

If you start the catch too soon, the paddle will fall off, and if you don't reach far enough, it'll also fall off.   I did lose it about 3 times during the set, which isn't bad considering its a new drill for me and I really liked it.  I think I'm gonna leave the straps off them from now on and use those finger paddles as a drill like that it.  It was alot of fun and made me really focus on my hand position.

Felt very good about the quality of those pulling sets.  Got 1:01-1:02 on a couple of them.

Ode to Goody

Yesterday during my swim I thought of Goody and how it must feel to have it be his last day of Chemo treatments.  I had an idea to write a poem for him, so after my workout, when I got to work yesterday I made up this poem:

Its your last day of chemo

Throw a party, party hardy!

Did you know you're my hero?

Oh Goody, Dear Goody.

Spring brings you new life

With comfort, and less strife.

You've taken this blow like a real pro,

So carry on my brother, and tell that cancer mo fo - "Hell NO!"

This morning's workout was from Pat at SDRC.  I swam with Kris and Matt Chamberlain.  Matt is probably the fastest guy I have EVER swam with.  Unbelievable.

Warmup:
100 swim
100 kick
100 IM drill
100 Pull
50 easy let Kris catch up
400 - 8 x 50's odd free drill, even one arm fly on :50

Main Set:
1200 - 3 x 100 free, 3 x 100 -25 fly, 75 free, 3 x 100 - 25 fly, 25 back, 50 free, 3 x 100 IM

first 5 on 1:20, remaining 100s on 1:25

900 - 3 x 75's free, 3 x 75's 25 fly, 50 free, 3 x 75's fly/back/free, 3 x 75's fly/back/breast

first 3 on 1:00, remaining 75's on 1:05

600 - 3 x 50's free, 3 x 50's fly/free, 3 x 50's fly/back, 3 x 50's back/breast

first 3 on :35, remaining 50s on :50

300 - 3 x 25's free, 3 x 25 fly, 3 x 25 back, 3 x 25 breast

first 3 on :20, remaining 25's on :30

100 easy
500 - 10 x 50's kick with fins alternate dolphin and flutter by 50
250 - 5 x 50's - 25 off block, get out on bulkhead and do 10 quality pushups and 25 easy.  Repeat
100 easy

4,800 yards total in 1:30

New item to try for feeds

This summer when I get in some training swims in open water, I'm going to try a new item for feed breaks.  Lately this is my favorite food in the world:  Fat Free Blueberry Chobani Greek Yogurt.  It tastes better than ice cream and is healthy for you!  During this morning's workout about 4500 yards into it, I was dreaming of this stuff.  Couldn't wait to finish up and get some!

Today I woke up to very snowy and slushy conditions, so I was a little later than normal to the pool.

500 - 300 swim, 4 x 50's kick
400 - 16 x 25's fast on :30 odd back, even free
1200 - 4 x (200 free pull strong on 2:45, 100 fast on 1:30)
600 - 8 x 75's work on turns in and out of them on 1:15
300 IM

Did the workout all over again except on the 75's I did them Texas style which added the yardage a little, but I'll only take credit for 600 again.

6,000 yards total in 1:45

I was really low on energy near the end and decided to do an evening swim before checking in with my trainer.  So I'll plan to get another 3,000 in this evening making the daily total 9,000.  Will update later this evening.

Got off work at a decent time and did:
500 easy
1000 pull
1200 - 4 x (200 pull strong on 3:00, 100 sprint on 2:00)
300 IM

3,000 total with daily total being 9,000

Then went to Cameron's and got my measurements.  Check this out.  I went from 26% body fat, to 5% in 12 week!  That's 60 pounds of pure fat, down to 10.  Now that I'm lean and mean, he's got me focused on less reps (I was at 4 sets of 23 reps of 6-8 different exercises per day), Now I'm doing 4 sets of 10 reps of 6 different exercises.  More weight.  So I should really be putting on some muscle.  Can't wait!

Here's the stats:

Wishing I could shake myself dry like a dog

Had a good lift this morning with Cathi, then went to the pool and came up with this workout on the whiteboard:

500 warmup
5000 - 10 x 500's

1st - kick	6th - finger paddles
2nd - no equipment	7th - star trek paddles
3rd - large paddles	8th - large paddles
4th - star trek paddles	9th - no equipment
5th - no strap paddles	10th - kick with fins

650 - 150 strong, 100 drill, 50 sprint, 25 no breath, 25 underwater, 50 easy, 100 sprint (1:09), 150 IM
800 - 4 x 200's free desc 1-4 on 3:00 (2:48, 2:42, 2:35, 2:30)
600 - 8 x 75's 25 weighted, 50 sprint on 1:30
50 easy

7,600 yards total in 2:20

Shoulder feeling much better since Tuesday, and felt strong today.  Very good workout.
Forgot my towel, so I had to get dressed without getting dried off.  Wished I could shake side to side like a dog.  I tried it.  But I was still very wet.  Next time, don't forget a towel! 

Experimenting with stroke rate

This morning I met James, Barry and Kim at the pool and did:

400 - 300 swim, 4 x 25's fast
200 - 4 x 50's kick
1000 - 8 x 125's odd pull, even swim
800 - 8 x 100's odd free strong, even stroke/free by 25.  Less than :15 ri
600 - 4 x 75's IM drill, 4 x 75's fins
100 easy
1500 - 3 x 500's pull with TT desc 1-3 on tempo
1600 - 8 x 200's no equipment with TT desc on tempo

Experimented with different tempos.  Found that a slower tempo felt unnatural, and even took more energy to slow down.  My 'forever stroke' that also was faster than the slower tempo I was able to nail down at around :97-:98 which according to this chart is 61-62 strokes per minute.

What is your ideal tempo?  Not necessarily for a race, but the most comfortable pace that you would consider your sweet spot for a marathon swim? 

Finished up with 100 kick easy

6,300 yards total in 2:00

Missed the alarm

Revised post for today:


When I woke up this, my shoulder was really quite sore.  I fell asleep so quickly last night that I remember waking up slightly in the middle of the night to remove my glasses from my face.  I also forgot to set my alarm, so when Cathi's alarm went off at 4:30 to run I realized my oversight and jumped out of bed.  Too late to hit the gym before the swim, so I went straight to the pool, and I'll plan to stop at the gym on the way home from work this evening.

I got to the pool and came up with this workout (which I was hoping that James would join me on, but it was just me solo this morning):

1000 - 2 x (300 warmup, 200 drill)
1600 - 2 x (8 x 100's free descending 1 - 4 on 1:30 (1:18, 1:16, 1:14, 1:10) extra minute rest between sets of 4)
400 - 2 x (2 x 100's kick with fins on 1:50)
1200 - 2 x (3 x 200 IM) on 3:30
1600 - 2 x (2 x 400 free pull odd agility paddles, even star trek paddles or finger paddles) on 6:00
200 free easy

6,000 yards total in 1:50

Went straight up to Huntsman to see Goody.  Met his Mother, and also had a good chat with Goody about a number of things.  He is the life blood of SLOW.  I was watching him in action at the meet last Saturday and that guy has some real talent making people feel welcome and included.  He genuinely had a great time at the meet not only swimming, but just shaping a real family out of friends and colleagues.  Made me wish I could be more like that. 

First 10 mile swim of 2013

Met James and Stacey at Northwest at 6am and did this workout that Andy provided:

600 - 400 Swim, 4 x 50's kick
600 - 8 x 75's drill, swim, drill on 1:15
1200 - 6 x 200's free pull odd, build by 50 on evens on 3:00
600 - 6 x 100's kick with fins on :50

Do the above all over again:  6,000 so far

Then did the following (which I printed out and brought with me).  It's a copy of an online workout I saw earlier this week, and copied, but failed to print out where I got it.  Apparently it's from Sylvian Estadieu, from here.  (Thanks to Evan for helping me locate it)

One session that I did after Beijing 2008: The full Olympic program including heats, semi-finals, finals, individuals events, relays and medal ceremonies 

It's basically ALL the men events, in the order of the official schedule:
900 - 400 IM, 400 freestyle, 100 breaststroke 

900 - 400 IM, 400 freestyle, 100 breaststroke

700 - 200 freestyle, 100 backstroke, 4x100 freestyle

800 - 200 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, 100 backstroke, 4x100 freestyle

700 - 200 fly, 200 freestyle, 100 backstroke, 200 fly

1100 - 100 free, 200 breaststroke, 4x200 free

1300 - 100 free, 200 fly, 200 breaststroke, 4x200 free

600 - 200 backstroke, 200 IM, 200 breaststroke

500 - 200 backstroke, 100 free, 200 IM

600 - 50 free, 100 fly, 50 free, 200 backstroke, 200 IM

2000 - 100 fly, 1500 free, 4x100 medley

2050 - 100 fly, 50 free, 1500 free, 4x100 medley

12,150 (yards) + 6000 = 18,150 yards total = 10.3 miles in 5:35

I would have been DQd on all the fly sets as I did them one arm.  I also used paddles on the 1500, and kicked the 4 x 100 medley.  But it was still fun nevertheless.

Ate some energy bars every 30-40 minutes and those were awesome.  Those Clif Bars are so good. They're like a cookie!  Felt energized the whole time and swam strong.  Very pleased with the workout.  I'm sure tired now, but felt fine in the water.

I rewarded myself by going to Pool N' Patio and got myself a replacement for the no strap paddle that was lost.  Can't swim with just one paddle.  Then I got a Finis Tempo Trainer and Karina said that any Finis electronics that you buy at their store, if it goes bad to just bring it back for a replacement.  No need to deal with the crappy Finis support people.  Just take it back and let Pool N' Patio deal with them.  Sweet!  So I bought one of those too.  I used to love my TT last summer when I was using it.

Results of QUAC Ski N' Swim 2013

This morning I was very excited to finally be swimming my first swim meet in quite a while.

L - R: Stacey, Gords, Goody, Josh, Sue,
James, Rachel, Annie
Photo courtesy of Todd Frehse

Stopped by at Walmart on the way there and picked up some materials for making a couple posters.  When I got there I made the posters and talked with friends and got warmed up.

Started out doing a couple of relays with Annie Stanish, Sue Frehse, and James Rogers. In the 200 Medley we got 2:13. In the 200 free relay we got 1:55. I was pretty happy with that. I was hoping for under 2:00 and we got it!

Then I started prepping for the 500 free. I visualized this race and tapered well for it. I wanted 5:45 badly. I asked Todd to take my splits and to give me a thumbs up if I was going slower than the following:

100 free - 1:04 (1:04 split) actual time = 1:04 (1:04 split)
200 free - 2:10 (1:06 split) actual time = 2:15 (1:09 split)
300 free - 3:18 (1:08 split) actual time = 3:26 (1:11 split)
400 free - 4:26 (1:08 split) actual time = 4:36 (1:10 split)
500 free - 5:30 (1:04 split) actual time = 5:44 (1:08 split) 

Here are the official splits. These were all aggressive numbers I was giving him. Cause he only gave me one thumbs up on the first 100. Anyway, I kept my stroke long and pulled hard and kicked hard. I was very pleasantly surprised that I wasn't getting so winded that I had to back down.

It can be pretty intimidating swimming
next to a guy that looks like a tiger.
- Photo courtesy of Mr Wiley's FB page

The guy in lane 4 next to me was from Utah State: DJ Wiley, he's got some awesome tats along his arm and shoulder and he looks like a total bad dude. Not an ounce of fat on him.

I was thinking I'm gonna get killed by this guy. At the 100 I was steady with him, and each hundred yards I was getting another few feet. At the finish I was about 15 feet ahead of him. I was shocked. He must have been really tired from previous events he did.

I looked up at the finish and landed 5:44.75! Woah, I don't think I could have gotten any closer to my goal had I been looking at the clock right there at the touch pads and tried to land right on 5:45. I was pleased, but at the same time, a little disappointed that I didn't completely shatter my goal. I caught myself right there and said to myself, "Don't be greedy Mr G!" and decided to be thrilled and feel blessed to actually get under my goal.  I took third place overall.  I'll definitely take it. Here is the results for the 500.

My WFPBC cap ripped putting it on, so I look like a doofus.
Oh well.  Went with the Napolean look for warmups.
Love the SLOW group we have!
Photo by Todd Frehse

After that I stuck around cheering for Goody, Josh, Sue, Annie, Rachel, and Stacey in their events.  After talking with Stacey, I think she may be joining James and I at Northwest every once in a while.  It's nice to swim in a group, and where there's a coach to give you prescribed workouts.  Plus it's nice at Northwest versus South Davis to get that TLC from the coach that you just don't get at South Davis with how many people swim there.

I'm eager to get back into distance training a little and this tapering work always makes me feel a little guilty, like I'm a slacker.  Dennis is trying to put together a masters meet in March. I'd love to shave even a little more off that 5:44.75.

Last day of tapering

Tomorrow's the meet and I'm only swimming the 500 free and relays.  But I'm more psyched about this meet than I have been since college.  I am mentally visualizing a 500 free that is less than 5:45.  Last time I swam this event, I got 5:51.  My PR for this I haven't beaten since High School.  I got a 5:25 back then.

This morning I slept in and it felt great!  Got to the pool at 7am and planned only 1000 yards.  Did:

500 free warmup
3 x 100's fast w/lots of rest (1:08, 1:04, 1:00)
50 easy
4 x 50's sprint w/lots of rest (:32, :31, :30, :29)
50 easy

1, 100 yards total

Jaimal Yogis was on Coast to Coast this week and here is the radio program.

Tapering

This evening I stopped at the pool for a quick taper swim on the way home.  I did:

500 free easy
6 x 100's free on 1:30 (1:21, 1:18, 1:15, 1:08, 1:06, 1:05)
3 x 200's free on 3:30 (2:25, 2:21, 2:15)
500 easy

2,200 yards total

I've been reading this book by Jaimal Yogis called "The Fear Project".  I'm almost done reading the whole thing.  It's a pretty good read.  It has a little too much about surfing which I have no interest in whatsoever, but the parts about swimming, and about the parts of the brain that induce fear, and about his personal life, are all very fascinating.

I just found out that the author is on my favorite radio talk show, which I will link to tomorrow's post.

Major flashback

This morning after my very tough cross training with Cathi I made it to the pool in time, but I took my sweet time in the shower.  It was so warm, and felt so good, it was hard bringing myself to turn it off and get in the pool, but I made it.  Only got 5 something hours of sleep last night and I had a few illusions this morning.  I think I need to sacrifice my lift tomorrow and come in to swim much later.

Today's workout was:

200 free, 100 kick
200 - 4 x 50's free/stroke
1000 - 2 x (25, 50, 75, 100, 100, 75, 50, 25)
800 - 4 x 200's pull, 150 free, 50 stroke on 3:00
800 - 4 x 200's 1,3 negative split, 2 & 4: build by 50
Then attempted to do the whole thing again, but ended up only doing a portion of it and ended up with

4,000 yards total in 1:25  TOTALLY DRAINED!

I was talking with James and I think I talked him into joining SLOW.  I meant to ask him his last name but forgot.  After doing a couple laps, I decided to get out and catch him in the locker room before he left.  I asked him his last name,  "Rogers" he said.  Just yesterday I tried finding Lizz Rogers on facebook.  I knew she had a different last name, but didn't have a clue what it was.  I asked him if his sister was Lizz and he said yes.  I also remembered Rich and Jon from DG days.

Lizz Rogers is on the far left.  It was very kind of her to come to the airport
to say good bye with my other DG lifeguard friends.
Also pictured is Lyn Gibson, Sherri (Clark) Trost, my family,
and Harrison kids in the front.

In fact, I have such fond memories of Jon.  He was one of the funniest guys I knew and was always a total pleasure to take a lifeguarding shift with.  When I worked my last day at DG before my mission he said something profound to me which I'll never forget:  "Where e're though art.  Do well thy part."  I've tried to live by that standard since then.

In fact, I remember Lizz bringing her "cute little brother" to DG when I was there.  James was such a little kid back then, it's no wonder I didn't recognize him as an adult.  But now that I know it's him, I totally see in my memory the resemblance.  Lizz, Rich and Jon were all dear friends when I was at DG and I remember being amazed at what an awesome family they were.  It made me wish I knew them much better.   

I go SLOW and Hard

Josh made up this shirt on the fly for
this Saturday's meet.  

I was thinking of more T-shirt sayings that I could put together for the QUAC meet.  Josh already made his own shirt for the meet.  I came up with one during my workout this morning and it made me laugh underwater:  "I go SLOW and Hard."  Except it might be taken out of context and decided it probably wouldn't be a good one to put on the shirt.

I have a bunch of other ideas that are pretty cool.  Today's workout at SDRC was a nice one.  Felt good the whole time and full of energy.

1000 - 2 x 500's free easy
1000 - 2 x 500's kick with fins
2000 - 4 x 500's pull increasing paddle size
Then work backwards starting with large paddles to nothing, then kick then 100 easy

8,000 yards total in 2:35

I'd like to make a banner for this Saturday as well.  Josh already has a good cheer and I feel like I'm back in high school with all the team spirit we've got in the club.  And I'm even more psyched about the very cool suits that Dennis has really helped us get put into production.  Unfortunately they won't be available for a few weeks.  But should be here by the next swim meet.

Getting a butt kicking by Kris Edwards

This morning I had to back track a little on the way to NWRC after realizing that the pool is closed for a couple days for maintenance, so I headed over to SDRC.  Got there before masters and did:

1100 yards free stretch out
Then joined Kris in the fast lane:

300 IM Drills
1000 - 20 x 50's free 5 on :45, 5 on :40, 5 on :35, 5 on :50

Kris moved to the next lane and it was tough keeping up with her, she was pulling the middle 50's, but I stuck with no equipment and just zoned in on speed.  Ended up flip turning through all of the 3rd set of 35 second 50's but enjoyed the last 5 to catch my breath.

500 kick with fins
300 IM
300 - 3 x 100's pull fast on 1:15
300 - 12 x 25's breast on :30
200 - 4 x 25's odd off the blocks fast!  even recovery, 50 sprint off the block (:28 flat), 50 easy

Then do the above workout all over again starting at the 300 IM.

Then cooldown with another 300 IM easy.

7,100 yards total in 2:27

My count at the time had me at 8,000, but math was sorely mistaken.  Just realized it was only 7,200 yards. Very lame.   I had another 900 yards to get that.  Tomorrow, I'm going for 8000 yards to make up for it.

Falling short of the goal

This morning I got to NWRC at 7:30 and started out with Andy's workout that he posted, and then added on to his afterwards:

300 pull
400 - 16 x 25's build by 25
300 - 4 x 75's kick
300 pull
400 - 8 x 50's build by 50's @ 1:00
300 - 2 x 150's kick/pull
400 IM Order
200 Warm Down
1500 - 10 x 150's on 2:15
3200 - 2 x (400 free on 5:00, 2 x 200's free on 3:00, 4 x 100's on 1:30, 8 x 50's on 1:00)
900 - 12 x 75's drill on 1:20
1000 - 10 x 100's kick on 1:50
2000 - 20 x 100's on 1:25 pull rest extra minute every 5th 100
900 - 12 x 75's drill on 1:20
600 - 12 x 50's IM rolling on :50
300 easy

13,000 yards total in 4:00

I had planned on 18,000 yards, but I was out totally out of energy and had already eaten my two protein bars, and drank all my perpetuem drink mix.  Felt very disappointed, and figured I should make up for it a little by hitting the gym on the way home.  Did some work on chest, back and biceps.  I really need to eat a little more the night before a big swim.

Stroke work gearing up for tomorrow

This morning Andy gave us quite a bit of IM stuff to do:

400 - 200 free, 4 x 50's kick
1200 - 16 x 75's rolling IM by 25

1200 - 2 x (100 pull, 100 no paddles, 100 no equipment, 100 pull, 4 x 50's rolling IM)
100 fast! (1:05)
100 grandpa swimming

3,000 yards total

I'm feeling some fatigue and soreness in my upper lats outside my shoulder blade and I wanted to rest them a little for tomorrow's long swim.  Doing a 10 miler tomorrow morning.  My first long swim since last year.  Hoping to pass up Kevin Scott at Swim Las Vegas, for the first place position in my age group in GTD.  Depends on if he does a long swim this weekend as well.  Thank you GTD!  It keeps me motivated with my competitive nature to be right there near the top.

You know you mean business when....

When you have a workout that includes a super aggressive speed set, that you are more likely than not going to miss the target, but you REALLY want to try and go for it, what do you do?  Some of my tactics include in this order:

1. Close my eyes and visualize my stroke at the fast pace, with strong flip turns and good underwater undulation.
2. Before going, I breathe deeply for about 30 seconds and try to get as much oxygen in my blood as possible.
3. Take off my big bulky watch which probably creates negligible drag anyway, but it's something.

I very rarely get down to number 3, but today included one set for time that required me to take off my watch.  MONSTER TIME!  Let's get down to business!

Today's workout I stole from Paul Smith on Facebook in "Did you swim today". With some minor modifications:

1000 free warmup

3000 - 10 x 300's

1-3: 150 kick with fins/150 drill :20ri

4-6: 300 free descending on 4:30 (1:24, 1:20, 1:17)

7 -9: 300 negative split on 4:30

Take lots of rest and get psyched cause you are going to go all out!

10th one:  SPRINT for TIME.  (I aimed for 3:25 and got 3:27.  I was still very pleased with that. 

200 recovery
400 IM
400 - 8 x 50's free ascending:  1-4 on :50, 5-8 on :55

5,000 yards total in 1:34

 

 

 

Pushing through the wall

Today I hit a wall.  Got 90% through my workout really strong, but bonked big time at 9000 yards.  If I didn't have a goal, I would have got out at that point.  But I pushed through the pain.

400 - 300 free, 4 x 25's fast!
200 - 4 x 50's kick no fins
800 - 4 x 200's pull start with large paddles and go smaller each set, 4th one no paddles on 2:30-2:45
600 - 8 x 75's stroke/free/stroke (first 4), kick with fins (second four)
900 - 9 x 100's 1-3 pull no paddles on 1:30, 4-6 pull big paddles on 1:20, 7-9 IM on 2:00
100 easy

Do the above three times through = 9,000
Then did
500 - 2 x 250's (100 IM, 75 back, 50 breast, 25 free)
500 - 200 kick, 200 anti paddles, 100 grandpa

10,000 yards total in 3:05

Good health is the most valuable thing one can have

Ever since Thanksgiving last year, I've been very cautious about what I've been eating.  This week I got the results from a blood test I took last week in regards to my Cholesterol levels.

It was high many years ago, and I took medication.  Then in around 2008 I lost weight through diet and exercise.  Then in preparing for the channel (that was my excuse anyway), I let my weight jump back up and and I was eating crap again, but not quite to the extent as I was before.

But in the past few months I've been a health nazi with myself and man has it paid off!  Here is a table of the past years cholesterol lab results (in reverse chronological order)

Cholesterol Results
	Acceptable ranges	151-199	55-149	40-63 (High is good)	less than 130	11-29	less than 100
Previous physical activity	Date	Cholestrol total	Triglycerides	HDL Cholesterol	Non HDL Cholesterol	VLDL	LDL
Swimming/lifting/dieting	1/31/2013	131(L)	52(L)	56	75	10(L)	65
Swimming, but no dieting	2/9/2012	203(H)	92	58	145(H)	18	127(H)
Triathlon training, and some dieting	6/9/2009	156	88	55		18	83
Triathlon training, and decent dieting	6/8/2008	136(L)	71	52		14	79
Being a fat ass, eating crap	3/7/2007	240(H)	213(H)	43		43(H)	154(H)

Feeling great! I've decided that for the month of February, I'm going to alternate long and shorter days (10K/5K) with long Saturdays totaling around 55K yards per week (at least 30 miles per week) Today was a short one:

500 free easy
1500 pull star trek paddles and ankle strap
500 IM
500 free
1500 finger paddles, no buoy
500 IM
300 - 4 x 75's free (25 weighted on :30, 50 fast (:33) on 1:00
100 grandpa swimming

5,400 yards total in 1:33

Catalina Crew finalized

My Catalina Channel crew is finalized.  It's a full complement of good friends and fellow swimmers all  from Utah.

Cathi Gridley - Feed prep, and head cheerleader

Josh Green - Pace Swimmer, and GPS tracking coordinator.  Realtime facebook communication.

Goody Tyler IV - Head of Safety and communication with Pilot/Observers

Jim Hubbard - Head photo/video taker, safety assistant

Sue Frehse - Support Swimmer, Stroke Analysis

Chad Starks - Support Swimmer, backup kayaker for Tom.

Tom Reilly - Kayaker extraordinaire.  Beth Barnes told me to use him.  She is no longer in Cali and said he's very experienced and does a great job.  

This morning's workout was a long one.  After lifting legs this morning at the gym with Cathi I finally was able to make it to the pool in time.  Did the following

500 - 300 free, 200 pool buoy
1500 - 3 x (300 pull, 200 no paddles) <:20 p="" ri="">

2nd set split 200 by 100, build.  3rd set split 200 into 50's build on 1:00

600 - 4 x 150's fly/free, back/free, breast/free < :15 ri
400 - 4 x 100's free sprint first 30yards, easy 20yards on 1:45 (1:20, 1:18, 1:15, 1:13)
3,000 total
Do the above workout 3 more times
Then do 1000 kicking
200 easy

10,200 yards total in 3:00 exactly

Reunited with Crabs, then Polar Bears

This morning I got up and went to SDRC for a workout with the masters team there.  Did the following

400 easy
600 - 12 x 50's odd scull/free, even kick
800 - 8 x 100's IM :20 ri
300 - 6 x 50's free keep consistent long stroke count
300 - 5 x 50's breathing every 5
2000 - 2 x (400 pull strong, 3 x 400's 1-3 medium, 4th fast on :50, 3 x 400's 1-3 medium, 4th fast on :45, 3 x 400's 1-3 medium, 4th fast on :40)
200 easy
4,600 so far.
Then did my own thing:
1500 free strong
600 - 8 x 75's (25 weighted, 50 fast!) on 1:30
1500 free strong

8,000 yards total

Then I drove up to Pineview for a Polar Bear dip for the Utah Special Olympics.  I only had $35 yesterday morning, and then posted one final plea on facebook for friends to help donate.  Guess what!?  I got an additional $110 from friends!  It was amazing.

I was disappointed with the number of dippers.  There were probably about 25 people total.  I loved the big blow up polar bear they had.

Contention is of the devil

This is just a little rant post:

There is quite a bit of attention on an article from Shape magazine regarding a girl who swam the English Channel.  Here's the article:  http://www.shape.com/blogs/shape-your-life/motivation-monday-meet-woman-who-swam-english-channel

I have only recently heard of her, and this swim.   And a lot of fellow REAL channel swimmers are up in arms about this.  Here are the issues that I can see:

• The press, and even the swimmers, don't present ALL the facts about a swim that didn't follow the standard rules, or were withholding certain facts that give an impression that the swim was done "naked", and unassisted.  Perhaps they even present part of the facts in small print at the end of the article, or as a later edit once someone leaks more info.




I can understand the above frustration that fellow marathon swimmers have.  But is that justification for being rude and snide?  Sure it should get called out, but in a way that isn't mean-spirited or might be taken as a personal attack.

• Whether a swimmer has the right to even swim the English Channel assisted or not.  

• I think many people would agree with me that, as long as the swim isn't misrepresented and is documented openly and truthfully with all of the aids that were used, that it should be allowed.  Due to the standards and rules that are set forth, any rule breaches, modifications should be put out in BIG AND BOLD LETTERS so that those who have done the swim and know the rules, don't freak out.  

It's kind of like the gay marriage thing.  There are some who are straight, and married that might feel like they really need to fight this gay marriage issue because it in some way diminishes the definition of marriage.  Their marriage.  Hogwash!

If people would quit worrying about what everyone else is doing and just mind their own business instead of getting all hot and bothered about all sorts of stuff, life would be less dramatic.  Perhaps more misinformed and ignorant, but less contentious.  And you know.  Contention is of the devil.

But last time I did a post like this, I was told that I was a hypocrite:  Whining about people who whine.  Whatever.

The CC swim attempt is official

List of past swims to demonstrate that I'm not some
putz who doesn't have a clue.  I know what I'm getting
into.  Heaven help me.

This morning I put all my application, medical paperwork from CCSF in the mail this morning with the $525 to swim the solo on August 14th.  I also have my crew formed and training is going well.

Went up to see Goody this morning and met his sister Jen.  When I got there at Huntsman he was in the middle of an interview with Gentry Reinhart, the reporter from the Standard-Examiner who did an article on him.  It was cool to hear some of the answers to a couple questions that he was asked related to his work and personal life that I didn't know.

Swam at NWRC this morning and did:

400 - 4 x 100's free easy on 1:30
600 - 8 x 75's stroke/free/stroke on 1:45
1200 - 3 x (300 pull, 4 x 25's free sprint on :30)
400 - 8 x 50's kick with fins
100 easy

Do the above again!

Then do an additional 200 yards easy

5600 yards total in 2:10  including a small break in the middle to get a pure protein bar.  My legs were feeling "drained" and low on energy.  Felt much better after that, and finished the workout.