Saturday, January 11, 2014

Results of the Sand Hollow Aquatics Pentathlon

Today was a day made of dreams.  This morning I got up and swam with Julie, Kris and Scott for an easy warmup workout.  It was all about getting used to the pool, and focusing on that burst off the blocks, swimming into the wall and tight turns.  Swam

300 easy
100 - 1 x 100 strong
150 - 2 x 75's kick swim drill
150 - 3 x 50's fast/easy
100 - 4 x 25's focus on swim into the wall

300 - 3 x 100's on 1:40 trying to hit that 1:06 pace (including the flip at the end).

150 - 6 x 12 1/2s strong + 12 1/2 easy

1,250 yards total

Then went out to eat at the Egg and I. Kris sure knows how to livens up the mood.  She gave everyone a little "good luck pack" that included water, gatorade, a clif bar and a USMS cap.  Couldn't imagine a better coach!

The Meet

I signed up for the Freestyle Pentathlon which consists of 5 freestyle events: 1000 Free, 500 Free, 200 Free, 100 Free, and 50 Free.  A total of 2,050 yards a full nautical mile but spread throughout the 4 hour event.  There were pentathlons for IM, back, breast, and butterfly.

I did a 500 warmup 15 minutes before the expected start, however it was another 30 minutes for them to finish getting everyone entered into the system, and make final preparations.  Cathi's parents came to the meet and it was fun for the kids to be with Grandma and Grandpa on this trip.

On the 1000 I really wanted to pace myself.  For me the event that I had the most mentally and emotionally invested in was the 500.  I've never swam a 1000 Free in a meet before.   Lots of times in practice for a workout.  I intentionally calmed myself on the first 100 and did not go as strong as I would have unless I was very mindful of pacing myself.  Cathi took the splits.  I was aiming for under 12:00 and was pleased to get that time.  But I left plenty in the tank for the 500 where I wanted to "kill it".

I did a 300 easy swim after that to get my body calmed back down and stretched out.

Then waited for another 20 minutes or so for the 500 free event to come.  It reminded me of my days in High School and I really invested everything I had into that event.  Last time I swam this at the South Davis Masters meet two months ago, I got 5:35 and wanted to beat that time.  I tried to do no breathers off the wall, where you take one full strong on each arm before turning to breathe, but I could only handle that for about 150 yards and then needed to go back to my breathing out of a turn.  The oxygen deficit was just too much.  Lucy ran the counter for me and did a good job.  Ended up with 5:33.32.  Two seconds faster than my last time (For some reason in my head I had though I got a 5:40 at the SD meet, so it wasn't as big a cut in time as I thought.  But two seconds is better than nothing.)

If I continue to work on my speed work, I think I can still improve on that time at the QUAC and Olympus meets next month.

200 Free was up next and I was glad to get into some faster and shorter stuff.  Got a 2:04:09.  I was hoping for a 2:02, but the body was a little fatigued still from the 500.

100 Free - I was hoping for under 58 and got 58.03

50 Free - The timing system had some flaws and when the beep went off it was very abbreviated and they triggered the call back alarm the first time, but the second time I wasn't sure and swam a 12 1/2 before I saw from my peripheral vision that some of the field had stopped.  So I did, but then looked up and they were actually still going.   I was frustrated.  I swam back to the start and they agreed that it was a crappy start due to the starter and allowed those who wanted to do it over again a chance.  So I waited for another 10 minutes and then swam a 26.59.  Oh well.  Given that this was the last event of 5, it was a good effort.

I had a great time and enjoyed talking with everyone who came: Kris, Cody, Julie, Sarah, Scott, Chad, Lazar (sp?), Jill.

Thanks to my family for patiently hanging all day in a pool and watching this old guy swim.

EventSeed TimePersonal RecordToday's Swim Time
1000 Free12:00.00Not set11:41.26 (NEW PR!)
500 Free5:40.005:25.00 (set 11/14/1989)5:33.32
200 Free2:04.001:55.61 (set 3/10/1994)2:04.09
100 Free58.550.9 (set 3/10/1994)58.03
50 Free27.523.66 (set 3/10/1994)26.59

On the execution of the meet
The kids watching with Grandma Low
The meet started late, but was to be expected.  It's really hard to start a meet on time, when you aren't used to all the quirks that can go wrong and know how to iron them out.  Once a year meets just don't give one enough practice to fine tune the execution of everything.  I could see Lynne was overwhelmed.  While she had ton of volunteers, it didn't seem that she had a right hand man or anything to take more of a lead and decision making role.  Whenever a volunteer was asked something it was "I don't know ask Lynne".  I felt for her.

There were a few cases where the were glitches in the timing system.  The 50 free for me was quite the circus.  However, considering everything I would say it was a very successful meet and
I had a fantastic time!



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