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Friday, January 10, 2025

The 80's Pop Culture Aggression Scale

 Today while swimming I was pondering last night's meet.  To be honest it was slightly disappointing with the number of PRs that were made.  I still have to process all the videos and go through them, but my initial impression was that many swims were simply not aggressive enough.  I always like to do similarities in concepts.  So the concept I came up with is common 80's characters that relate to an "Aggressive, Competitive, and Toughness" scale (ACT).  The scale goes from 1 to 10.

Here is what I came up with:

1 - Mr Rogers.  He doesn't have an aggressive bone in his body.  Don't get me wrong, he's a nice guy and teaches kids about love, acceptance and being happy with yourself.  But not in how to be aggressive, or
desirous of greater physical strength or domination.  Bluntly, he's a total weakling and the kind of person who would easily be bullied in school, and would just sing a song about it when he got home. 



3 - Ferris Bueller.  Someone who is "chill", and is laid back, but also shows a little more interest in just going with the flow. He sluffs school and tries to hide it, as his ultimate goal is to just have fun with as little energy spent as possible. Not really a go-getter and is somewhat lazy.  He definitely isn't a physical threat in any way.

Daniel nervously biting his nails
5 - Daniel Larusso, "The Karate Kid" - kind of a wimp, but has enough
drive to do something about it.  But still, gets his butt kicked in the tournament and cries about it in the locker room.  Luckily he had a coach perform a miraculous clap massage to get him off the padded table. He didn't give up, and still won with a fancy unconventional crane kick. Earning his "5" on the scale.

8 - Rocky Balboa - Rocky is determined, works hard, and doesn't give up.  He isn't the brightest guy in the world, but this scale isn't about smarts. He gets an 8 because he still has some work to do in being more consistently aggressive. In Rocky III, he starts out at a 7, and when he comes back to beat Clubber Lane, he is more of a 9.  But overall, he averages out at an 8.

10 - I can't think of anyone more chaotically aggressive than the Ultimate Warrior from WWE.  He was so wild and ferocious, that he came across as frankly psycho.  Everything about his personality and the way he conducted himself came across as over-the-top energized.  Almost as if he were crazy.  To the point of making him entertaining to watch.

What number on the ACT scale above, should you be in a swim meet at an event?  Well, a lot of it is determined by what event you are swimming.  In my opinion, a 50 should be a 10.  A 100 should be a 9 or 10.  A 200 should be an 8. 500 should be a 6 or 7 for the first 300 and then after that progressively kicking it up to 10 on the last 50 yards.  It's about pacing yourself.  For most people, If you do a 10 in the 1650, you won't last.  

While swimming in practice, you need to often be able to demonstrate you can "flip the switch" to a 10.  That you are physically used to exerting yourself to that level and maintaining it.   If you express a 10 on aggression at the start of a race, but physically aren't able to maintain that level, that too is a problem.  It isn't all about how psyched up you can get.  

But in terms of pure mental aggression which can reveal itself in physical ways, you need to be able to demonstrate you can perform at a 10 on the ACT scale.

Anyway, this morning's workout consisted of:

Warmup: 
  • 300 Warmup - Bilateral Breathing
  • 400 Kick with fins
Main Set:
  • 6 x 100's 
    • Odd Free Build
    • Even Stroke Build (Back, Breast Free)
  • 800 - 4 x 200's pull on 2:30
  • 1000 Snorkel Free
  • 600 - 12 x 50's IM order on 1:00
  • 400 Kick with fins
Cooldown:
  • 200 IM easy
  • 100 Free 
4,400 yards total





Wednesday, January 8, 2025

What a difference 3 degrees makes!

 This morning I got in the water at 8:15 and noticed the water was much cooler.  It was 82 degrees. Three degrees cooler than yesterday.  It was perfect.

Warmup:

  • 200 IM
  • 400 kick
Main Set:
  • 8 x 100's free with tempo belt on 1:45
  • 8 x 75's Rolling IM w: 10 rest
  • 18 x 50's pull strong w: 10 rest
  • 1400 Snorkel free
Total: 4,300 yards 

The lifeguard as I was getting out and was on her way back to the front mentioned that the 82 report up front was correct this time.  I laughed and said "Awesome". It really did feel good compared to yesterday.  No issues at all. 

Tuesday, January 7, 2025

Swimming in a hot tub


When I jumped into the pool this morning @ 6:15am, I was shocked with how warm it was.  After starting my warm up, I realized today was gonna be a struggle.  The water felt like it was 85 degrees.  Here's what I swam:

Warmup:

  • 400 IM
  • 6 x 50's Kick with fins
Main Set:
  • 8 x 50's back/free
  • 10 x 50's Pull on :50
  • 16 x 50's Snorkel on :50
  • 10 x 100's
    • 1 - 4 IM
    • 5 - 8 Desc
    • 9-10 Kick with fins
  • 6 x 100's desc with finger paddles
2 x 200's IM Cooldown

4,400 yards total

On the way out I read the thermometer, and sure enough, it was 85 degrees.  When I made it out the locker room I looked at the whiteboard which claimed it was 82 degrees.  I laughed and said shaking my head, "Ha, no way is it 82". Apparently the water was cold on Saturday and some folks must have complained, cause they have over corrected.  Today I missed my endless pool.  

Monday, January 6, 2025

Early morning swim

 I flaked out last Saturday on my swim, so when the alarm went off this morning at 5:30am I was so sleepy, but got my big butt out of bed.  Swam the following:


Warmup:

  • 200 Free
  • 400 kick with fins
Main:
  • 600 - 3 x 200 IMs
  • 800 Snorkel Free
  • 300 - 3 x 100's freestyle strong
  • 500 - 5 x 100's Freestyle desc 1-5
  • 700 - 700 Pull
  • 900 - 450 Kick with fins, 450 - 2 x 200 IMs with extra 50 free
4,400 Yards total

6:15 - 8:15am

Friday, January 3, 2025

Feeling good

 Yesterday I took the day off swimming and rowed for an hour instead. And lifted weights.

Today I did the following:

Warmup:

  • 200 easy
Main:
  • 400 kick
  • 800 pull
  • 1600 snorkel free
  • 4 x 200 aims
  • 400 kick with fins 
Cooldown:
  • 200 strong

4,400 yards total 

Felt good. No issues. Wonderful! Coaching HS right after and then going to pick up Cathi from the airport. She spent the week down in Arizona with Debby doing a week of marathons. She ran 2 as she was struggling with her own physical issues (her left knee)

The total mileage of swimming for 2024 was pretty weak. But better than the years before.

97.18 miles in the pool 
2 miles open water

Just under 100 miles total for the year. I remember swimming over 100 miles in one month back in the day. Man I must have been majorly motivated.