Wait for it....

Went to SDRC on the way home and the lap pool was fully taken with swim team. So I ended up swimming in the warm pool (still 25 yards), but had to swim around stupid people playing around. No lane lines, lots of waves.

2000 - 2000 yards free slow and easy
Then got out cause it was just to crowded and was fighting too much to get around people. Waited for a 45 minutes for the lap pool to clear out.

500 - 500 free
1000 - 2 x 500's kick
1000 - 10 x 100's pull on 1:30

4500 yards total

One week out of the water

Last week I didn't get in the pool once, which was very depressing. This week, I'm aiming for three times. The Layton pool is closed since they're taking down the bubble so I'm going to have to go to SDRC on the way to/back from work if I'm going to swim. Here's what I did today:

1000 - 1000 yards free (14:15)
1000 - 2 x 500's kick with fins
1000 - 10 x 100's pull on 1:30
900 - 3 x (100 free breath every 5 strokes, 200 IM)
100 - 100 Free sprint (1:05)

4000 yards total

Felt great today.

Last swim this week

Layton Surf N Swim will be closed the rest of this week starting tomorrow, so I had to get in one last workout this week:

2000 - 2000 Free straight
1000 - 1000 Free Straight
400 - 400 IM
200 - 200 IM

3600 Yards total

The guy who comes in the evenings that is real friendly and who I saw last year in the Echo triathlon is named Curtis.

Good timing

I was hoping that tonight's scout patrol meeting would go quickly so I could make it home in time to go swim. It did just that, it went quickly and I was able to come home, get my stuff and go. Sweet!

1000 - 1000 Free bilateral buildup speed
1000 - 1000 kick with fins
1000 - 10 x 100's pull on 1:30
300 - 300 Free cool down

3300 Yards total in 1 hr

I need to do a little less kicking and more free I think. I should easily get over 3600 yards in an hour. The kicking set really takes up too much time.

Long Ladder Swim

Got this workout from Marcia Cleveland's doversolo.com site:

Ladder:

100 - 100 Free (EZ going up, fast going down)
200 - 200 Free stretch
300 - 300 Free EZ
400 - 400 Kick with fins
500 - 1 x 400 IM with 100 extra free
600 - 6 x 100's free on 1:30
700 - 3 x (50 Breast, 150 Free build up), 100 Free
800 - 8 x 100's Pull on 1:30
900 - 6 x (50 EZ, 50 Strong, 50 Sprint) on 2:15
1000 - 1000 Free keep a 72 stroke cadence and bilateral of course!

Then go back down

Total Yards: 11,0000 Yards (a little over 6 miles) in 3:10

Felt good even though I got there a little later than I wanted and ended up being late for work, but I really wanted to finish this and my work is laid back about occasional tardies.

Review of Marcia Cleveland's "Dover Solo" book

Yesterday when I got home from the WFTTC with Austin (11:00 pm) I noticed the book that I ordered last month had arrived - Dover Solo, Swimming the English Channel by Marcia Cleveland. I only discovered the site after googling "english channel swim". She swam the channel back on July 29, 1994. (Only a couple weeks before Cathi and I were married)

It was a reasonable size book and started reading a few pages thinking I just let the first few pages whet my appetite, then put it down, go take a shower after a great night of playing table tennis, and then get to bed soon so I wasn't totally groggy at my Triathlon Clinic the next day. Problem was I was "hooked" from the beginning. I got a pen and started underlining phrases that shot out like a warning:

• "the odds of success [at swimming the English Channel] are now about 1 in 6"


• The average time for crossing is slightly less than 13 hours


• The most important component was acclimating to cold water. [I] can not emphasize this enough and it is one of the main keys to any successful swim.


• In retrospect, I think I could have swum the Channel as well or better if I had gained only five to eight pounds... I did not realize my acclimation would be such a major contributing factor.


• The intense training I did from September 1993 to July 1994 is what got me across the English Channel. (See Chapter 5 for what that training involved)


• It amazed me to see how my body adapted to this intense cold water training (referring to an intense three week pre-channel training near Brunswick, Maine)

I could go on and on about this book. I ended up reading the entire thing from cover to cover (just over 200 pages) in about 5 hours. Needless to say I didn't get much sleep at all. I was impressed with how well written the book was. It included feelings she had involving relationships that grew during her journey as well as critical tips and lessons she learned. Because of this approach it made the book read more like a novel. I'm not a big reader, but this is the first book I've read in less than one day. I would highly recommend it for anyone who is considering starting to train for the fantastic achievement of swimming the English Channel. Definitely a must read! I'm sure I'll be re-reading and referencing this book several times over the next few years.

Stwimming Straight

Almost bagged today's workout to stay home and do the new stair machine. But ended up sticking to the plan and got there just before 7 am. Did 4200 yards free straight without stopping. Bilateral breathing the whole time.

4200 Yards total in 1:01:48

That's more like it

1000 - 1000 Warmup bilateral free
1000 - 2 x 500's kick with fins
1000 - 5 x 200's pull with ankle band on 3:00
500 - 5 x 100's free on 1:30
200 - 200 IM
150 - Drill
100 free sprint (1:04)
50 Breast

4000 yards total

Back in the water again

Last week I didn't get to swim even once! It was painful. But I did a fair bit of running so that should make up for it aerobically. I was short on time this morning so I didn't get more than 4000 like I wanted, but I did get the 3600 yard minimum:

1000 - 1000 Warmup bilateral free
1000 - 5 x 200's pull with ankle band on 3:00
1000 - 10 x 100's pull with ankle band on 1:30, odd bilateral, even left
600 - 2 x 200 IM's, 200 Free

3600 Yards total

Last swim before Boston

Well Cathi and I leave for Boston tomorrow morning and I wanted to get in one more swim so I could get at least 5 workouts in this week.

1000 - 1000 Free bilateral
1000 - 5 x 200's pull with ankle band on 3:00
1000 - 10 x 100's free bilateral on 1:30
600 - 2 x 200 IM's, 200 kick

3600 yards total