Sunday, April 15, 2012

Easy as Life

Date: Sunday, April 15, 2012
Time: 11:15 a.m.
Location: Tucson, AZ
Short Course Yards
71 days to Olympic Trials

300 warmup

Two rounds:
2x150 on 2:30 with snorkel (50 free/50 breast pull/50 free)
2x100 IM on 1:40 (round 1 drill, round 2 swim)
2x50 on 1:00 (4 breast kicks, 1 pull)

6x50 on 1:20
15 fast/20 easy/15 fast

3x100 free with snorkel on 1:40 (25 left arm/25 right arm/50 swim)

Four rounds:
Out and back with Power Tower, right into 25 fast from dive on :45
25 fast swim from push
4x50 on :50 make interval
Three to four minutes rest
(rounds 1, 3 and 4 breast; round 2 free)

4x50 free with snorkel on 1:00 - six strokes per 25

Total: 3,500 yards (90 minutes)
 
Today was one of the hardest workouts I've done, at least from a mental standpoint. It took every ounce of brain power to will myself into doing four rounds of the main lactate set , because the water was too warm and I was feeling my usual negative thoughts, as I was swimming alone.

These Sunday workouts often are designed to be mentally and physically engaging. If they were "garbage yardage," I would be done after the first 1,500. But, I design main sets that seem like fun, at least if all conditions are close to optimal. I think the water will start to get cooler in Phoenix and Tucson in the next 10 days. The mercury will reach above 90, which means the nights will be a little warmer and the heaters will not need to be on at all.

I suppose I should stop being a diva and just do my workouts without complaining. There are many people around the world who swim in less than favorable conditions, and do quite well. I was once one of those people. I swam in a pool that was no cooler than 85 degrees when I was in high school, and I managed to be fairly successful nationally ... though I did more than my share of complaining.

OK, back to the workout. I based my workout on the lactate set I did with the Phoenix Swim Club on Wednesday. I figured that hopping up onto the blocks immediately after doing the Power Tower was a good way to work on swimming tough from the blocks. You are supposed to be fresh diving off the blocks, but this was to help my body react to my legs not feeling their best. I don't know what my times were, but I would imagine they weren't anything to shout about to anyone. I did the best I could. (Again, if the water was cooler, I could have kept my core temperature down better, which would have kept my heart rate down and allowed me to catch my breath better. But I digress.)

I did a lot of snorkel work with freestyle today because I wanted to work on the catch and the pull. Sometimes, my left arm pulls under my body, and it's an effect of my weakness in my shoulder muscles. Pulling correctly will help strengthen those muscles and train my body to swim correctly at all times. I need to swim with a snorkel more often.

No swimming tomorrow. I am looking forward to another week of training, both in and out of the pool. Last week was my first full week of "normal" training, and it showed. I should be able to handle whatever is thrown at me this week!

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