Friday, May 31, 2013

Splash and dash day

Today I did the basic masters workout and got out.  The GSLOW race is coming up and there is so much to do and follow up on.  Plus I have to compile a newsletter before the end of the day.  Busy! Busy!

200 free warmup
4 x 50's rev IM Order
1800 - 6 x (200 pull on 2:30, 4 x 25's fast on :30)
450 - 6 x 75's fins
750 - 6 x 125's odd free fast on 1:45, even IM on 2:00

3,400 yards total in 1:00

Trying to put together a clinic for tomorrow.

Thursday, May 30, 2013

Swimming to the core - 4000 miles

A big part of my existence and definition of self surrounds swimming.  I feel most at peace and at home when I'm in the water.  It's part of my core.  Not only is swimming part one of the core elements of my life, but today in my swimming career, I literally swam the same distance of the surface of the earth to the very core.  The average distance being just under 4,000 miles.  Which is the total that I completed today.

Yes there are many people who have accrued a lifetime distance greater than that, but each and every mile of that 4,000 miles is logged here and within
 this blog including details.  Detailing my journey has been fulfilling and given my training more purpose rather than just putting in the miles.  Setting clear goals along the way, noticing unique differences day by day and making various improvements has made all this work worth it and motivates me to keep going.  Getting up many times between 3 and 4am in order to get in my "workout" -  My stroke by stroke voyage in swimming to the core!

This afternoon I met Josh, Goody, Chad, Sue, Stacey and met Tammy for the first time at the marina.  We also met up with Howard Berkes, a correspondent for NPR.  He conducted a group interview with us about the GSL and swimming there.  I made a statement that part of the joy of swimming out there is the sense that it makes me feel hardcore.  I didn't say this next bit, but wanted to:  Swimming out in the Great Salt Lake makes me feel like a badass.  Most people think because I swim in the Great Salt Lake rather makes me a dumbass.  Either way, I'm an ass.

Total: 2.25 Gridley Straight in 1:02 including drink break in the shallows at black rock with Sue.

Daily total: 5.98 miles

Six Dollars

I've been keeping a closer eye on what I spend lately, and even though I already have a membership at Northwest, the extra cost to attend Steiner on Thursdays to get one of Wes Johnson's workouts is worth it.  It costs me $6.00 and it's worth every penny.  The $6 amount however always makes me think of one of my favorite sound clips from Napolean Dynamite:  

This morning I got there early and did 3,000 warmup and then Wes' workout:

5 x (4 x 150's) -
first round all base pace.
second round 3 at base, last one fast
third round - 2 at base (on 2:15), last two fast (on 2:00)
fourth round - 1 at base (on 2:15), last three fast (on 2:00)
fifth round - all on 2:05 (first two pull, last two no equipment)
200 easy

6,000 meters total in 1:45

I didn't get the yardage I was hoping for but I'm not done for the day!  I need to get off work a little early for a decent swim in the GSL this evening.  Then I'll have a pretty cool milestone to announce.

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Andy gets wet

2 x (
200 swim
200 kick IM Order
200 - 4 x 50's free on 1:00
5 x (100 free, 100 buoy only, 100 pull, 100 fly/back drill)  on 1:20/1:20/1:20/1:30
800 - 8 x 100's in pairs of kick with fins/pull on 1:50/1:15
100 easy
)
50 breast

7,050 yards total in 2:01  

Andy got in for his own swim after the workout.  First time I've seen him do that.  Good for him.  Tomorrow is a major milestone in my swimming career.  

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

SLOW Suits

Yesterday I found a package in the garage that had come while we were gone.  The SLOW suits are here!  They turned out really good.  I wore mine today for my workout:

10,000 - 4 x (2000 free, 500 IM/Kick/Drill) odd no equipment, even pull/kick with fins.

Completed the 10,000 yards in 2:30

Monday, May 27, 2013

Memorial Day Swim at Logan Sports Academy



Whenever I've been visiting Logan and have the chance I've been swimming up at Utah State's HPER pool, which has terrible hours and is closed on holidays.  But I found this place: the Logan Sports Academy.  Not only was it open, but it is a much better option for lap swimming.  It opens at 5 am, has a indoor and outdoor pool.  The facility is ultra clean and upscale.  The pool area is missing a big lap clock and selection of lap swim equipment (for travelers like me who are at the mercy of the facility).  The daily fee for non members is pricey: $10.  But worth it if you are doing a long swim or want to be pampered with a really nice experience.
The facility has a basketball court, racquetball, lots of cardio equipment and I especially enjoyed the weightroom after my swim.  Lots of free weights and machines to choose from.  

Cathi and I have long dreamed of retiring in Logan, and this place if it's still around will definitely be my home  base.  This morning I swam outside in the outdoor pool.  Although it was a little warm for my liking, it wasn't terrible.  Ended up swimming:

10,500 - 3 x (2000 free, 1000 pool buoy, 500 IM/kick drill)
150 easy

10,650 yards total in 2:55

Friday, May 24, 2013

Swimming at Bozeman Swim Center

This morning we arrived in Bozeman, MT and immediately noticed driving into town the Swim Center.  After lunch we drove over to check out the hours and found that it was lap swim time from noon until 4.  It was 12:30 so Cathi left me there while she took the kids and went to check in to our hotel room.  It was a 100 M indoor pool.  I did the following:

We celebrated Oliver's birthday at the pool.  He had so much fun!
7,000 - 2 x (2000 free, 1000 pull, 500 drill/IM/Kick)
2000 free, 1000 pull

200 easy
10,200 Meters total in 3:00

I got out at 3:45 and got something to eat and soon the family showed up and we all played and had a ball.  I was impressed with this pool.  Nice place.

Tomorrow morning Cathi runs her marathon and we all cheer for her.

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Plan B

Went out to the marina this morning but there were @ 15 mph winds and it just was a bit much.  So I drove back into SLC and swam at NWRC and did my own thing:

1000 free strong
1000 pull large paddles
1000 free
1000 pull agility paddles
1000 various drills
100 free for time (1:00)
200 easy

5,300 yards total in 1:15

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda

This morning I was torn between a morning open water swim in the GSL or a pool swim.  I went with a pool swim. Had a good workout, but I should of gone with the GSL swim cause it was very clear sky this morning and looked beautiful out there.

I got to the pool a little later than normal and James and Paul were already in and doing their workout.  I went over and put this up on the board for my own workout:

500 swim
250 kick
600 - 3 x 200 IM :15ri
900 - 6 x 150's pull on 2:00
1200 - 12 x 100's free desc 1-4 on 1:30 (1:20, 1:16, 1:13, 1:08)
800 - 4 x 200's kick with fins
2500 - 5 x 500's pull desc paddles on 7:00
1500 - 4 x (125 drill/swim/sprint/swim/drill :15 ri, 100 IM, 75 build, 50 sprint, 25 easy)
250 warm down

8,500 yards total in 2:20

Monday, May 20, 2013

The ethics of bootlegging a race

I was surprised that there really isn't that much information out there in regards to bootlegging a race.  This isn't unique to swimming.  It happens in a 5K, and other non swimming events.  People are cheap, and often can't afford to pay for registration, and may or may not realize the ethics of not paying.

I created the term "Bootlegging" in openwaterpedia, as well as posted a question in the marathonswimmers.org forum to bounce this topic off the open water community.

But I'll give my own two cents here.

A couple years back a swimmer showed up at the starting line of the GSL 1 mile event without a cap and swam the event alongside all the other swimmers through to the finish.  He didn't get a shirt, medal, cap, but he did get the benefit of safety kayakers, the excitement of swimming with, and competing against other swimmers, and I'm not sure, but he most likely took the shuttle back to the start of this point to point race.

Not sure if there was anything we could have done (except deny shuttle service) to this guy.  We had to pay the Utah State parks for a permit to use the land at the finish line, and at the marina.  Our expenses were split among those who paid their registration fees, so in a sense this guy was stealing from us and making the race directors lose money in their costs/revenue balances.

It came across as really cheap and made me mad.

On the other hand, is it bootlegging if a family member or friend is running a marathon and you run along side them for a portion of it as encouragement?  Some marathons explicitly mention this practice and that those who are registered that run alongside someone not registered during the course will be disqualified.  However I see many parents cross the finish line holding hands with their little kids.  If one runs the entire course then that may be more blatant, than say a few hundred yards or even several miles.  This can be a gray area.  But to run/swim an entire course for the purpose of participating for their own individual benefit without paying registration fees seems pretty black and white.  That's bootlegging.

And anyone who does it should be ashamed.  It's cheap and in a sense it's stealing.  What are your thoughts?

What if someone came to you before the race and said they couldn't afford to pay the registration?  Would you consider comping all, or a portion of the registration to accommodate them?  If so, would you still consider giving them a shirt/medal/listing in the results?

Rain check

I was planning to swim GSL this morning, but noticed that it was still rainy and cloudy this morning so I went to the NWRC like I normally do.  It was just me this morning and Andy.  This is the workout he had me do, which went great.  My shoulders were recovered and I had full energy of Sunday rest and relaxation.

400 free warmup
200 - 4 x 50's kick alternate flutter/dolphin
2000 - 4 x (300 pull, 4 x 50's odd sprint, even hypoxic drill) on 1:00
400 - 4 x 100's kick with fins on :50
600 - 8 x 75's odd strong, easy, sprint by 25, even fly, 6 beat kick, sprint by 25  all :15 ri
200 - 4 x 50's sprint/drill
100 easy

Did the above workout all over again, and put a 200 IM on the end.

Total: 8000 yards in 2:15

Saturday, May 18, 2013

Never let off the gas

Last night I didn't sleep much.   Not cause I was nervous, but cause Cathi called me yesterday afternoon and said Max is probably not going to make it past the weekend.  He's been in the Doggie Hospital for 5 nights and his white blood cell count was 65,000 cells per microliter.  Normal for his size is around 17,000.  They were going to continue to monitor him and give him a super high nutritious fluid to increase his weight as well as some antibiotics.  Anyway I would wake up in the tent with Jonas, and cry to myself a little, and then fall
Josh, Wes, Brandon, Kelsey and Me at Claim Jumper
back asleep and a few hours later wake up and cry again.  I've never been so attached to an animal like this.

When the sun came up I got our suntent setup and took a water temp: 64°F?  The thermometer I bought was a cheap one from Smiths.  Piece of crap.  It definitely didn't feel like 64.  Met up with Josh, Kelsey, Wes, Brandon and myself with Jonas at Claim Jumper for dinner last night and it was fun visiting with everyone.

The water this morning was flat and clear.  I wanted to get around 40 minutes on each lap of 2,500 M.  With a total time around 2:45.  I found myself drafting off some fast people about 80% of the time.  Funny that one of them was Steve Pickard who I swim with at Steiner.  He's typically WAY faster than me and goes first in the lane, so I kept my pace count high and stayed on the feet of the faster
swimmers.  Bubbles were all I saw.  When I noticed the bubbles dwindle I'd look forward and see that they were pulling away and I'd sprint back up until I was right on their feet.  It was that strategy that made me do as well as I did.  I never once felt like I let off the gas.  Felt like a sprint the whole time.  I skipped taking a feed on the first lap.  I wanted a little bit of an edge on the leaders of the pack I was in. But by the time I was half a mile into the next lap, they were already passing me.  I started to cramp up pretty bad on that second lap, but I just kicked gently through it and it never returned completely.

On the second lap I took the gatorade and drank it while jogging around the turn around point, then placed it back on the table.  Taking advantage of the movement while taking a drink.  On the final lap I kept dreaming of the massage I was going to get after the race.  I knew it would be good.  My shoulders were feeling it, but not so much that I slowed down or were in pain, but I knew that I was ripping them up real good.  One the last lap the field had spread out so much that I didn't have anyone to draft off.  I kept the strokes long with a good emphasis on a good catch and pull all they way through.

I kept my line straight to the turn buoys which gave me an advantage over some of the faster swimmers who were faster, but were all over the place and I was able to catch them at the last buoy turn, but after that they took off and I tried to draft, but was just a little too slow.  When I crossed the finish line, my watch read 2:36:46.  Nearly 10 minutes faster than my goal time.  They posted the results every 15 minutes, and it showed that I was in first place for my age group.  I went back about 10 minutes later and they had scribbled all over that page and put a new page up.  Ended up taking second behind Kevin Scott.  I mentioned to Josh that I was watching him on GTD cause he's up there on distance.  Then a lady who was right next to me said, "Hey! That's my husband."  I had her point him out to me and I went over to shake his hand and congratulate him.  He swam a 2:24.  Dang that's fast.  He's a tall guy which always helps in events like this.

Overall I'm thrilled with my performance.  I made a deal with God, I said, "I'm not going to ask for help with my swim, but I am going to ask for help with Max.  I'll make a deal, if I can swim under 2:40 would you please provide a small doggie miracle and save his life?"  I know that's kinda dumb.  Cathi said I should have said, If I quit cussing, that would have been more appropriate.
But I knew that if I kept my effort at 100% I could do it, and I did.  When I got home Cathi had Max out of the hospital and had a full roast in the oven for him.  I enjoyed carving that entire thing into small bite sizes for him and enjoyed hand feeding him the entire thing.  He's doing very well, and isn't limping around anymore and he's gonna make it!  What a blessing.

Total: 10,000 M in 2:36:46  Here are the full results.

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Pre10K swim

This morning I joined Wes' masters session at SLC Sports Complex.  Did 2000 M before the workout started and then did:

400 strong for time
400 - 2 x 200's base - 5
400 - 4 x 100's base - 10 (on 1:20)
100 easy
400 pull easy
300 - 3 x 100s fast no equipment on 1:25
200 pull strong
100 fast (1:15)

200 warmdown

4,500 Meters total in 1:30

Leave for Lake Mead this afternoon.  Taking Jonas with me.  I'll be setting up a SLOW booth at the packet pickup for the 10K Nationals in Henderson.  Hoping that we can promote the GSL race coming up enough to pick up a few more registrations.  

Last night, Max, my Saint Bernard was whimpering in pain.  He's been such a great dog.  I'm really worried about him.  Cathi took him to the vet this morning and they're giving him antibiotics to fight an infection he has.  Now that he is getting the care he needs he has a decent chance to make it, but it sure makes you realize how much love an animal can give to a family.  


Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Needle in a haystack

So Dave Shearer emailed me back after describing to him the two columns of bubbles coming up from the bottom of the GSL.  He said they very likely were evidence of an underwater spring.  He was interested in getting the GPS coordinates.  I could kick myself because I cleared my GPS track yesterday, which I typically do when I start a swim in order to get a reset distance for the day.

So I got off work a little early this afternoon and went out there.  The sun was shining and the wind was blowing slightly just enough to give a 2-3 inch swell.  Not flat, but it was good enough to go looking.  I took the same path as last Saturday and the water was clear enough to see the bottom which was good.  But I was unable to find the spring.  I started to back track, this time doing breast stroke and looking for any bubbles at the water's surface.  Still nothing.  Spent an hour and a half out there looking, and when I got back my GPS said I covered only 1.6 miles.   It's like looking for a needle in a haystack.

From now on, I'll be swimming this route, but no longer going to do heads up breaststroke.  If its meant to be found again, I'll find it while doing a training swim.

Total: 1.6 miles in 1.5 hours

Monday, May 13, 2013

Hour of Power

This morning I joined James for Andy's "Hour of Power" workout:

400 warmup
600 - 8 x 75's odd free build, even IM on 1:15/1:20
400 pull hold <1:10 base="" p="">400 - 4 x 100's odd free, even IM on 1:20/1:40
400 - 2 x 200's pull 1:10 base on 2:30
200 - 4 x 50's fast hold :31 base on :50
400 - 8 x 50's fins (odd no board, even board)
600 - 4 x 125's odd free, even IM

Did the above workout again

Total 6,800 yards in 1:47
Today's weather is supposed to be in the 80's and sunny.  Can't pass up an opportunity for an open water swim this afternoon after work.  Hoping to get in three miles.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This afternoon I did a horned strait at the marina.  The water was flat as glass and the water was actually warm!  Not complaining though, I loved every minute!
I also found a huge truck tire in the lake at this point.  I'm going to start a page of GPS waypoints of interesting things I find underwater.

Got an email with exciting information from Dave Shearer, the harbormaster of the GSL Marina, but I can't reveal quite yet so stay tuned!  
Total swim: 3.02 miles in 1:25

Oh, and Kate Greene's article made it in a national news magazine: High Country News.  She sure is descriptive in her writing.  I love it.
View of my own person paradise!




Saturday, May 11, 2013

GSL Cleanup day

This morning I slept in till 7:30 and got up and got the kids in the van to do a service project out at the GSL Marina.  We met Jim, Stacey, Etsuko and all her kids at the marina where we spent an hour and a half picking up trash, and then another hour and a half weeding the gardens outside the the dock entrances.  Cathi showed up at 10:30 with the other kids and helped do more weeding.  It was fun talking and working together.

At noon we all got cleaned up, greased up and then swam.  My co-worker, Angela came to kayak.  The water was perfect.  It was a clear blue sky with no wind.  The water was calm as could be.  There was some carpet algae building up in the marina, but once I swam outside the marina it was totally clear and clean.  I could see the bottom 80% of the time.  It was cool seeing all the black coral "Tufa Rock" and then where there wasn't any of this coral, a light sandy bottom with ripples.  All that was needed were tropical fish.  Instead millions upon millions of tiny white brine shrimp swimming with me.

I swam north of the marina to the second red buoy and then noticed that the final red buoy was surrounded by multiple sailboats.  Instead of complicating the swim with navigating around boats I decided to take the course to black rock from that point.  About 10 minutes into that course, as I was swimming along and enjoying the diversity of the black tufa rock, I noticed two small holes in one part of the black rock.

These two small holes had bubbles coming out at a surprisingly fast fate.  It was a constant flow of air coming out.  The rock was about 6 feet down.  The was no discernable different in water temperature at that point, just air bubbling out of these two holes.  I stopped swimming and told Angela I was going to investigate.  I took a deep breath and then exhaled as much air as possible so that I could surface dive down that far.  I had to move my arms and legs to keep myself from being forced back up to the surface.  I took a close look at the hole.  It was white around the entrance to the hole.  I tried to look inside and the hole seemed to get narrow as it went further down into the rock.  The bubbles were constant.  I've seen this before in other lakes but they were much less dramatic and stopped after a few seconds.  I was there observing this for over a minute and there was no change.  It was very intriguing.  I was annoyed that I left my GoPro in the van.  I would have loved to have taken a picture of that.

We continued on to black rock and I swam until I could not longer keep my hands from hitting the soft sandy beach under the water which was about 100 yards from the shoreline.  Then swam back.  Total distance on the GPS registered 2.54 miles.  Time was 1:27

Got a little too much sun today.  First time I've got a little bit of a burn going.  Water temp also came up as being 69 degrees on my watch.  Didn't wear a cap today which was good cause I would have ended up with a goofy tan line right across my forehead.


Friday, May 10, 2013

Lone swim

This morning it was just me at Masters.  Andy gave me the workout and then took off.  Which I don't blame him.  I appreciate getting the prescribed workout though.

300 swim
200 - 8 x 25's stroke/free
200 - 4 x 50's kick
500 swim
300 - 6 x 50's hypoxic breathing drills on 1:00
300 swim
300 - 6 x 50's fast on 1:00
200 swim
750 - 6 x 125's kick with fins
400 - 2 x 200's IM
100 easy

Did the above set one more time through, except pulled on the swim 500/300/200 swim portion.

7,100 yards total in 2:15

Again, couldn't get this song out of my head.  Starting to get loopy

Thursday, May 9, 2013

50 Meter bliss

This morning I swam at SLCSC and the 50 M pool opened at 6:30.  Swimming in the great outdoors in a pool that has a different smell of chlorine than the inside pool.  I felt very satisfied.  I got there at 5:30 and got in a decent swim even before Wes' workout:

2800 yards inside
then at 6:30 did:

1800 M - 1000 M free, 300M kick, 500 M easy warmup with the lane mates
1200 M - 400 aerobic free, 400 fast free, 200 aerobic free, 200 fast! on 1:40 base
1200 M - 3 x 300's pull desc 1-3, 3 x 100's pull (agility paddles) desc on 1:40 base
100 M warmdown

4300 M = 4700 yards

Total: 7,500 yards total in 2:20  Swimming GSL this evening.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Met Chad, Goody, Sue, Josh and Kate at the GSL Marina this evening.  The wind was causing some pretty decent swells from the northwest.  We swam out of the marina towards the second red buoy.  When we got there.  Josh and Sue were done with the waves and went a different way together while Chad and I continued north to the next red buoy.

The water temp was fine (67°) and I enjoyed the challenge of swimming into the waves.  Coming back I felt like I was body boarding.  Round trip was 1.82 miles.

The whole time I had this song in my head, and couldn't get it out.  It's pretty rare when that happens, but this song is pretty catchy:

Total for the day:  6 miles

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Cop invasion

300 free
200 - 4 x 50's kick
400 - 4 x 100's odd free, even IM
1250 - 5 x (200 pull strong on 2:30, 50 recovery on :1:00)
600 - 8 x 75's first four kick, second 4 IM
300 build by 100
200 negative split
100 negative split
150 easy

Did the above set all over again then did one more set of 200 pull/50 recovery

7,250 yards total in 2:09

Just as I got out a rather large group of buff guys showed up all in street clothes about to jump in the pool.  They were accompanied by a uniformed police officer.  I assume they were also cops about to be tested on their swimming and fitness.  I got out before they jumped in.  It would have been entertaining to hang around and watch.


Monday, May 6, 2013

The plan for the coming months

Last night we had Cathi's parents over for dinner.  Bill asked me if I was at the peak of my training yet for Catalina.  I couldn't honestly answer yes.  I figured I need to come up with a solid plan instead of just playing it by ear day in and day out.  

So here's the plan:

  • May 15-June 15th: average 25 miles per week
  • June 15th - July 15th average 28 miles per week
  • July 15th - August 3rd average 30 miles per week
  • August 4- 12 taper.  
This morning I was severely late getting in the pool, but followed the workout that Paul and James were already well into:

300 swim
400 - 8 x 50's free on :45
300 - 6 x 50's kick/stroke 
500 pull
200 - 4 x 50's fast/easy by 25 on :45
300 pull
100 - 2 x 50's sprint on :45
200 pull
100 - 2 x 50's sprint on :45
600 - 8 x 75's 1st round - weighted 75's, stroke, 2nd round - free/drill/free, stroke on 1:20
300 - 6 x 50's kick with fins

Did the above workout twice through and then finished with:

300 kick with fins
350 - free

7,250 yards total in 2:05


Saturday, May 4, 2013

Swimming with Angela

This afternoon I met Angela at the GSL Marina for a swim.  The wind wasn't terrible, but the waves and chop were less than desirable.  Typically I kinda like it when its rough, but today it was overcast and I was a little chilled.  I was hoping to swim about 5 miles, but halfway coming back from Black Rock, I hit a cold patch that felt like it was 56 or so and I sprinted for about 2 minutes till it got back up.

I shaved a couple days ago, and hadn't shaved since then. My left shoulder even though I had layered up some vase/lanolin mix on it, was already thrashed.  My mouth was fine, but the chafing on my shoulder was bad.

Called it good at 2.07 miles in 1:03

Friday, May 3, 2013

GTD Shirt idea

This morning I was late getting in.  Coach Andy wasn't there and there was no workout on the board.  James was already in and doing a pulling set, so I decided to do my own distance workout today:

7200 - 6 x  (

  1. 1000 free no equipment, 200 back
  2. 1000 free no equipment, 200 back
  3. 1000 kick with fins, 200 breast
  4. 1000 pull large paddles, 200 breast
  5. 1000 pull agility paddles, 200 one arm fly
  6. 1000 free no equipment, 200 one arm fly )
50 easy

7,250 yards total in 2:10

During one of my long sets an old guy got in the lane next to me.  He did a 25 sprint.  I've never seen so many bubbles from a single person before in my life.  Didn't mean to be so critical, but a GTD slogan instantly came to my mind, and thought it would make a cool T-Shirt.  


Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Man I'm dumb

After cleaning out my car looking for my SLOW keychain, I realized that I most likely put it on top of my car after a GSL swim, and drove off.  I hope someone finds it and calls the number on it.  But so far no call, and my cool new club keychain only lasted a week.  Lame...

This morning I was actually in the pool promptly and was able to start the workout with James for a change:

400 swim
200 - 4 x 50's kick
200 - 4 x 50's stroke/free
1000 - 2 x (25 easy, 50 (fast/easy), 75 (fast,easy,fast) 100 (fast,easy,fast,easy) and back down)
1350 - 3 x (150 pull strong on 2:00, 150 buoy only strong on 2:00, 150 kick/free by 25)
200 - 4 x 50's fast/easy by 25

Did the above workout all over again, however about halfway through I hit a wall, the kind where I could feel the energy in my legs running completely out and was looking for muscle to eat.    I was torn between just staying in the pool and just finishing and then eating something right after the workout, or to take a quick break and get some fuel.  I figured if I stuck with it, while admirable, would result in crappy form and slow times,

So I took a quick break, ran out to my car and ate a couple Powerbar Performance Energy bars.  That was the right choice because within 5 minites I was a new man!

After completing the workout twice I did one more set of pull/buoy/weighted 25s:

1350 - 3 x (150 pull strong on 2:00, 150 buoy only strong on 2:00, 2 x (25 weighted free, 50 strong))
50 easy

8,100 yards quality swimming in 2:15