Hot Blooded

Date: Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Time: 5:45 a.m.
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Long Course Meters
125 days to Olympic Trials

200 warmup

6x100 on 2:00
25 kick/25 drill no free

7x (3x50) on :55
1. fly/back
2. back/breast
3. breast/free

5x200 on 3:30
odd: 100 back/100 free
even: 200 back

Total: 2,850 meters (60 minutes)

The water was 83 degrees, the warmest it's been in many weeks. I couldn't take it. I got out halfway through the final set, which was supposed to be 10x200. After five, my mind was feeling like mush and my muscles were like taffy. I couldn't go any faster than 1:25 per 100, and when I tried, I felt dizzy.

I've been getting a lot of flak in the past few weeks for my comments about swimming in warm water. I know there are people out there who have no choice but to swim in these types of conditions, and you have my sympathy. I trained in a pool that was, on average, 84 degrees when I was in high school, so I know how horrible it is to swim in water that feels just a step below boiling.

I am not holding out hope that the water will be cooler tomorrow, despite the fact that it is pushing 75 degrees during the day here in Phoenix.

When I got back from Virginia on Sunday morning, I went to the gym for a workout. Since I did not post the workout, I am putting it here:

Five minutes shoulder warmup

Sitting bench press (12 @ 150, 8 @ 180, 6 @ 190)

Sitting lat pull (12 @ 140, 8 @ 180, 6 @ 190)

Sitting leg press (12 @ 180, 10 @ 230, 8 @ 250)

Leg adductors (12 @ 170, 10 @ 190, 8 @ 205)

3x20 box jumps

10 minutes abdominals and stretching

I am going to do two weeks of strength-building exercises in the gym, coupled with my once-weekly sessions with JR Rosania that will be working on muscle endurance. I want to get my muscles primed for racing at sectionals, and a two-week cycle of heavy lifting will get me there. I hope to hit the gym again on Friday and concentrate more on upper body than I did on Sunday.