Giving You the Best That I Got

Date: Saturday, March 24, 2012
Time: 1 p.m.
Location: Orlando, FL
Short Course Meters
93 days to Olympic Trials

300 warmup

3x(4x100 on 1:45)
Round 1: free breathing every 3 (avg. 1:15)
Round 2: 50 back/50 free aerobic (avg. 1:17)
Round 3: 50 breast/50 free aerobic (avg. 1:22)

12x25 on :35
1-4: free with 1 breath
5-8: breast double pullouts
9-12: fly with 1 breath

100 easy

Vertical kicking:
3x (one minute breast kick/:30 rest)
1 minute break
3x (:30 breast kick/:30 rest)

4x50 free easy on 1:00

4x100 free on 1:40, descend 1-4
(1:15, 1:11, 1:06, 1:03)

300 easy -- 25 scull/25 swim

50 breast fast from push (about 32-mid)

150 easy

Total: 3,000 plus vertical kicking

That vertical kicking set did not seem difficult, but I really felt it on the set of 100s freestyle after it. On the fourth one, I was barely able to get past the flags on the last two pushoffs, reflecting the poor time. I had originally planned to do two rounds of that set, but I gave everything I had on that 100 free, and didn't want to do another one. That's the only positive spin I can put on swimming alone. If you really don't want to do something, you can choose to not do it.

I was thinking that it would be fine to do a 300 easy, but I thought I should make up somehow for not doing that second round of 100s, and decided on a fast 50 breast, just to see how it felt. My legs weren't very powerful, so I relied on my arms to keep me moving forward. On the final three strokes, my body line wasn't very good. That means I wasn't fully horizontal on the glide. It felt like my torso wasn't extending forward, which negates all the work your glide can do for you. so, a 32-mid for a fast 50 today was pretty good!

I was surprised I was able to get in a good workout fairly uninterrupted this afternoon. I swam at the same time that the early heats of the distance events were going on here at the NCSA junior nationals, and only a few kids got into my lane. I think I was keeping them away by swimming in the middle of the lane, but I wasn't overtly trying to keep them out.

During my vertical kicking set, a few coaches walked by and shared some funny comments. Pete Morgan, one of the head coaches at Curl-Burke Swim Club, yelled out to me, "Is that all you got!" (Today, it was.)

Near the end of the set, Brian Pajer, head coach of the Aquazots, praised me for not lifting my knees while kicking. If I hadn't been out of breath, I would have told him this is a great set for working on keeping the knees in line during the kick. If you bring the knees up, you go down in the water.

About a half hour after workout, Mark Schubert, who really needs no introduction to those in the swimming community,  said he considered throwing me some 10-pound weights during the vertical kicking. I didn't tell him that I usually do my vertical kicking with 10-pound weights, but couldn't immediately find any. I suppose I could have borrowed such a weight from the nearby weight room today. I'm glad I didn't, though. My legs were very tired long before the vertical kicking today. Every morning, I walked 15 minutes to the pool, carrying a computer briefcase, a camera bag and my backpack, about 20 pounds total. That was some good exercise.

Tomorrow I head back to Phoenix. I'm only home for three days before heading to the Bay Area for the Far Western championships, where we will be streaming the meet live. It's similar to what we did this week for the junior nationals, though the swimmers are a little younger, and it's outdoors. Weather looks like it could be chilly and rainy. Oh, boy.