Wednesday, December 28, 2011

The Morning After

Date: Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Time: 5:45 a.m.
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Long Course Meters
180 days to Olympic Trials

500 warmup

6x100 free on 1:40 descend 1-6 (1:08 on #6)

4x(4x50 on 1:00)
Round 1: descend free to 90% (:34)
Round 2: build 50
Round 3: 15m breakouts
Round 4: 25 free or breast underwater no breath/25 swim


Three rounds:
25 fast/175 easy on 4:00
50 breast fast from push/150 easy on 4:00 (34.3, 34.1, 33.5)
100 fast free from push/100 easy on 4:00 (descended effort: 1:10, 1:07, 1:02)


100 warmdown (with stretching)


Total: 3,800 meters (75 minutes)


I'm over the moon about going 33.5 on the last 50 breast! I hadn't been feeling like a sprinter as far as my breaststroke is concerned, and on the first two rounds, I felt strong, but there was no real snap to the stroke. I'm sure yesterday's 400 IM had a little bit to do with that, but the goal of each workout is to swim strong through the pain.

On the third round, I told myself to not hold back on the effort. My arm strokes felt controlled but powerful. I had a little trouble keeping my kick technically sound. A few times, I felt my knees drop too far out of the body line, and in my rush to get to the next stroke, I didn't finish the kick. That gives me a lot of optimism about my stroke, that things are turning a corner. Today was the first day of real breaststroke sprinting since the short course meters meet three weeks ago. I won't go as far to say that I'm ready for Olympic Trials, or even the Austin Grand Prix in two weeks, but I'm getting there.


Today's workout with JR Rosania was pretty tough. We did more volume than before, and my upper body could feel the additional work, as did my abs. Today, we worked on a lot of breaststroke-specific exercises, such as putting a strap around one ankle, and emulating the finish of my kick with about 60 pounds of weight. It's a very good exercise.

I didn't get much sleep last night, but physically I didn't have a lot of trouble getting through the day. One of the smoke detectors started beeping at 1:30 to let me know the battery was low. By the time I got up to replace the battery, I was wide awake, with the sound of that high-pitched beep ringing in my ears. I got up to watch TV for an hour, and finally tried to sleep again at 3:30. All told, I was asleep for less than six hours. I didn't feel it in the pool or in my dryland, but I was dragging most of the afternoon at work. Add in the drama of the heater in my house breaking on Monday, and sleep has not been easy this week. At least I don't live in a very cold environment, and I have an electric blanket to keep me warm!

No comments:

Post a Comment