Faraway (So Close)

Date: Friday, November 11, 2011
Time: 5:50 a.m.
Location: Phoenix, AZ
227 days to Olympic Trials

4x(4x50 on 1:00)
1: 3 strokes/10 kicks
2: 25 head up/25 swim
3: 25 free underwater recovery/25 normal
4: breathe every 5

6x100 breast kick with board on 2:00, descend 1-6
(1:40, 1:38, 1:34, 1:32, 1:32, 1:30)

Four rounds:
Three minutes kick (did about 175 yards each round)
40 seconds breast vertical kick

3x(4x50 on 1:15)
1: underwater no breath
2: fast kick
3: underwater no breath
4: fast swim
(Fast swims -- back: 26.5, breast: 29.9, free: 25.5)

Easy 100

50 breast from dive (27.0)

200 warm down (with stretching)

Total: 3,050 yards, not including vertical kicking (75 minutes)

Aaarrrrrgh! I almost broke 27 seconds on my dive 50! I was upset by that for a few minutes, but happy that I got so close. I'm usually a few tenths slower, and in a 50, just a few tenths mean a lot. I'm not sure how I was able to go that fast, since my legs were quite tired by the end of workout. But this harkens back to the kind of things we used to do when I was in high school. My coach used to regularly do a fast swim off the blocks after a tough workout, and though we rarely did anything noteworthy, it always set us up for race readiness when it mattered. I do wish we had non-slip walls, so I could practice my backstroke starts. It's a big hassle to get a touchpad from the storeroom and put it in the lane, especially since we only get about two minutes' notice. I will do some work on my backstroke start on Sunday.

This morning we were visited by two members of the Phoenix Swim Club senior group, Michael Nelson and Walter Ross. Michael had just won the state title in the 100 breast with a 57.1 (56.7 in prelims) and Walter almost got a second swim in the 100 free. Both of these guys kicked our butts this morning, and they were even more awesome when they put the fins on, but then again, who isn't awesome with fins? (Me.)

I did feel good about beating Michael on the 50 at the end. He "only" went a 28.0. Still pretty good a week after his taper meet.