Lay Your Hands on Me

Date: Thursday, May 3, 2012
Time: 5:50 a.m.
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Short Course Meters
53 days to Olympic Trials

6x(4x25 on :30)
1-4 free with 3 breaths
5-8 stroke
9-12 free at 90 percent
REPEAT

8x200 on 3:30
50 swim/50 kick/50 drill/50 pull
Rotate back. breast, free

16x25 fly on :30

8x100 on 1:30
1-4 back aerobic (avg. 1:20)
5-8 free aerobic (avg. 1:15)

4x25 on :45 no breath

100 easy

Total: 3,600 meters (75 minutes)

This morning, I forgot my water bottle at home, and I learned the hard way what it's like when you don't stay hydrated during workout. During the final set of 100s, my calves started to cramp after the second 100 back. On each push-off, I felt the tightness and it affected how I swam the repeats. I tried to stretch my calves between repeats, but I felt it would have been better to switch to freestyle. That helped, but I still felt the tightness in my calves. I never feel this problem when I'm drinking water during workout. Let that be a lesson to all of you: drink water during workout!

Mark gave me the option of not doing butterfly on that set of 25s when he said "If butterfly is not your thing, you can do another stroke."

"Hey, Mark," I said, "since butterfly is not my thing, can I do something else?"

Mark said I could do another stroke, but I stopped him and told him I was joking. When I pushed off for the first 25, I instantly wished I had taken Mark on the suggestion to do backstroke -- or even breaststroke! I was happy I was able to do all 16, and the key is to not think about how many you have left. It's important to count, but don't think "That's 4. Oh my gosh...12 to go!"

I went to Tod Miller for my monthly bodyworking session. My hamstrings and calves were quite tight today, and I think Tod was able to get my muscles back to their normal lengths. My rhomboids weren't as bad as they usually are, but my teres minor muscles were quite tense. It took a lot of work to get them back to "normal" working order. I have to say the time it took to get there was very enjoyable. With each pass over the muscles, my body let go of a high dose of endorphins, probably to shield from the pain of releasing the tightness. I got lots of tingles, and that was my sign that the scar tissue was disappearing. But, as much good as the massage did, Tod's bodywalking was extraordinary. By putting his body weight on my muscles (while I'm lying on the floor), I felt a lot of my muscles reconnecting with my neuromuscular system, which is the most vital connection for muscles to have, especially in racing conditions. This is what makes fast-twitch muscles twitch!