Date: January 26, 2012
Time: 4:30 p.m.
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Short Course Yards
151 days to Olympic Trials
The hardest part of swimming with the top age-group swimmers at Phoenix Swim Club is not the intervals or the amount of yards swum. It's all the breath-holding 25s we do! Every Thursday, I would estimate about 40 percent of the breaststroke workout deals with swimming or kicking underwater for 12-1/2 yards, or the entire 25.
We don't do that kind of stuff regularly in the Masters group, though I suppose it would be a good way to keep our old lungs strong. Even though we are not swimming extremely fast, the breath holding makes the sets more difficult, and I find myself gasping for air much more than everyone else. Of course, they do this on a regular basis, which makes it easier for them.
The focus of the 4,200-yard workout was the arm recovery on breaststroke. Coley kept encouraging me to be faster on the recovery, and while I know it is an area of great potential, it is not easy to do. It's all about muscle memory, and I figure it will take about a month for my body to fully be comfortable with it. We did lots of head-up breaststroke today, and that is a great drill for arm recovery. If you are recovering your arms quickly, it's easier to keep your head above water.
After the workout, I asked Coley to look at my start to get his thoughts on the things I've been working on. Before I even did the dive, he made a suggestion my back position. Instead of having a rounded back, it's best to have a straight back when you're in the set position. This was not easy to do and feel comfortable on the block. But on the bright side, once I got the position correct, I felt like I got a better push off the blocks. I went too deep on the entry, but I did feel like I had more speed in the water. This is something that will take some work, but I'm anxious to see where it will go.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
She Works Hard for the Money
Date: Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Time: 5:45 a.m.
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Long Course Meters
152 days to Olympic Trials
1200 warmup
Three rounds:
15 meters fast from push/35 meters easy x3 on 3:00
25 fast from push/50 easy x2 on 3:00
50 fast/100 easy on 3:00
Round 1 50 back (30.3)
Round 2 50 breast (34.2)
Round 3 50 free (27.6)
150 easy
6x50 on 1:20
25 breast from dive/25 easy
(average 13.8)
200 easy
Total: 3,200 meters (75 minutes)
I'm glad the pool was long course. It enabled me to work on things like stroke rate and consistency on my fast 50s without thinking about turns. I was also glad to work on starts, because I need to be more powerful and explosive on my start, and continue to focus on the changes I need to make to it. That includes gliding longer after the entry, having a stronger snap on the pulldown and starting the first stroke sooner. I feel like I'm getting the hang of it. I didn't ask Mark to time me to 15 meters, but it is something I need to do before the sectional meet in March.
All in all, a good day at the pool. I was happy with my backstroke and freestyle times on the fast 50s, but know I needed to be faster on the breaststroke. My stroke rate didn't feel fast, but I didn't want to force it and feel like I'm going faster, only to be going slower because I am not taking advantage of each part of the stroke. I think by mid-February, I will feel more like a sprinter, at least in terms of putting some snap into my stroke.
I suppose I should clarify that last sentence. I always feel like a sprinter, but only mentally. In the middle of training (and especially at 6 a.m.) it's difficult to get your body to accept the fact that you want to swim fast. But if you can do it before sunrise, you can do it anytime!
Time: 5:45 a.m.
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Long Course Meters
152 days to Olympic Trials
1200 warmup
Three rounds:
15 meters fast from push/35 meters easy x3 on 3:00
25 fast from push/50 easy x2 on 3:00
50 fast/100 easy on 3:00
Round 1 50 back (30.3)
Round 2 50 breast (34.2)
Round 3 50 free (27.6)
150 easy
6x50 on 1:20
25 breast from dive/25 easy
(average 13.8)
200 easy
Total: 3,200 meters (75 minutes)
I'm glad the pool was long course. It enabled me to work on things like stroke rate and consistency on my fast 50s without thinking about turns. I was also glad to work on starts, because I need to be more powerful and explosive on my start, and continue to focus on the changes I need to make to it. That includes gliding longer after the entry, having a stronger snap on the pulldown and starting the first stroke sooner. I feel like I'm getting the hang of it. I didn't ask Mark to time me to 15 meters, but it is something I need to do before the sectional meet in March.
All in all, a good day at the pool. I was happy with my backstroke and freestyle times on the fast 50s, but know I needed to be faster on the breaststroke. My stroke rate didn't feel fast, but I didn't want to force it and feel like I'm going faster, only to be going slower because I am not taking advantage of each part of the stroke. I think by mid-February, I will feel more like a sprinter, at least in terms of putting some snap into my stroke.
I suppose I should clarify that last sentence. I always feel like a sprinter, but only mentally. In the middle of training (and especially at 6 a.m.) it's difficult to get your body to accept the fact that you want to swim fast. But if you can do it before sunrise, you can do it anytime!
Monday, January 23, 2012
Manic Monday
Date: January 23, 2012
Time: 5:50 a.m.
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Short Course Meters
154 days to Olympic Trials
300 warmup
6x50 breast pull on 1:00 with pull buoy
Four rounds:
200 IM drill on 4:00
8x25 on :30 (:35 for breaststroke)*
*On 25s:
Round 1 free with one breath per 25
Round 2 breast double pullouts
Round 3 back swim
Round 4 fly with one breath
8x25 on :35
Odd: free
Even: back
6x50 breast pull on 1:00 with pull buoy
100 easy
Total: 2,800 meters (70 minutes)
Yes, it is unusual that I am swimming on Monday. I had to take my partner, Geoff Glaser, to the airport very early this morning, and figured that I would switch my days off and swim today instead of tomorrow. I knew whatever the main set would be today would be too much of a distance set for me, so I decided to swim in the short course meters part of the pool instead of the yards side.
The main set was a 250 on 4:00, followed by 6x50s on :40. Not really my cup of tea, especially since I am now officially focusing on sprinting.
The water was too warm to do any major anaerobic work, as I had planned. I estimate the water was 82 degrees, so I kept everything aerobic. I'll do anaerobic sprint work on Wednesday and Friday. I plan on swimming with the age group team at Phoenix Swim Club Thursday, and their workout is not anaerobic on that day.
This evening, I worked out with JR Rosania, and we found a great exercise for breaststrokers. I found out that the teres minor muscle is largely responsible for the outsweep on the breaststroke pull, and we rigged two pieces of tubing and simulated the outsweep of the pull. It definitely worked the teres minor muscles, and a few others in the shoulder area. By the end of March, we hope to work up to doing 50 repetitions of that exercise, a little more than the number of strokes I will take in a 100-meter breast race. Today, I did two sets of 15, and I felt the exercise do its thing.
Time: 5:50 a.m.
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Short Course Meters
154 days to Olympic Trials
300 warmup
6x50 breast pull on 1:00 with pull buoy
Four rounds:
200 IM drill on 4:00
8x25 on :30 (:35 for breaststroke)*
*On 25s:
Round 1 free with one breath per 25
Round 2 breast double pullouts
Round 3 back swim
Round 4 fly with one breath
8x25 on :35
Odd: free
Even: back
6x50 breast pull on 1:00 with pull buoy
100 easy
Total: 2,800 meters (70 minutes)
Yes, it is unusual that I am swimming on Monday. I had to take my partner, Geoff Glaser, to the airport very early this morning, and figured that I would switch my days off and swim today instead of tomorrow. I knew whatever the main set would be today would be too much of a distance set for me, so I decided to swim in the short course meters part of the pool instead of the yards side.
The main set was a 250 on 4:00, followed by 6x50s on :40. Not really my cup of tea, especially since I am now officially focusing on sprinting.
The water was too warm to do any major anaerobic work, as I had planned. I estimate the water was 82 degrees, so I kept everything aerobic. I'll do anaerobic sprint work on Wednesday and Friday. I plan on swimming with the age group team at Phoenix Swim Club Thursday, and their workout is not anaerobic on that day.
This evening, I worked out with JR Rosania, and we found a great exercise for breaststrokers. I found out that the teres minor muscle is largely responsible for the outsweep on the breaststroke pull, and we rigged two pieces of tubing and simulated the outsweep of the pull. It definitely worked the teres minor muscles, and a few others in the shoulder area. By the end of March, we hope to work up to doing 50 repetitions of that exercise, a little more than the number of strokes I will take in a 100-meter breast race. Today, I did two sets of 15, and I felt the exercise do its thing.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Lazy Sunday
Date: Sunday, January 22, 2012
Time: 11:25 a.m.
Location: Tucson, AZ
Short Course Yards
155 days to Olympic Trials
400 choice
300 reverse IM: 25 kick/50 swim
200 breast kick no board
100 free breathe every 5
4x100 free on 1:30, descend 1-4
(Descended to 1:03)
4x75 on 1:30
25 breast double pullouts/50 back
8x15 breakouts on :45
100 easy: 25 scull/25 swim
Three rounds:
Power Tower (filled to 3/4 full) -- 25 fast/25 easy on 1:00
Remove belt, then 50 fast from push
100 easy on 3:00
Round 1: backstroke
Round 2: breaststroke
Round 3: freestyle
4x50 easy on :55
Three starts
50 easy
Total: 3,000 yards (75 minutes)
I planned this workout last Wednesday, which made it easier to get through, but my body wasn't too excited about sprinting. The idea of lying on the couch watching movies almost won out.
Today's Power Tower/sprinting set showed me I need to do a lot more lactate/anaerobic swimming. My stroke rate wasn't very high, and I didn't feel like my fast-twitch fibers were doing very well. I didn't have someone timing me on my fast 50s, but based on what I saw on the digital clock, I went 27-low on the back, 30-low on the breast and 24-high on the free. That was a very difficult set to do, especially since there was not much rest after doing the 25 fast on the Power Tower.
Working on starts today was productive. I thought about gliding longer after entering the water, which took a lot of trust on my part that I was maintaining velocity. I held the glide for about two extra seconds before starting the pullout, and I definitely got more distance on the pullout, but was it faster? I didn't have anyone at the pool to time me, but I'm getting confident on the idea of holding the glide longer.
Earlier this week, I got a drill progression on doing the dolphin kick at the beginning of the breaststroke pullout from Trip Hedrick, who was the former head coach at Iowa State. It involved evolving from three kicks at the start to one kick at the start. I did the drill progression well enough, but when I tried to do it on a push-off, my brain was still trained to kick at the end of the pullout, so I did a kick at the beginning and the end! It will take a lot of work to move that dolphin kick to the beginning.
Time: 11:25 a.m.
Location: Tucson, AZ
Short Course Yards
155 days to Olympic Trials
400 choice
300 reverse IM: 25 kick/50 swim
200 breast kick no board
100 free breathe every 5
4x100 free on 1:30, descend 1-4
(Descended to 1:03)
4x75 on 1:30
25 breast double pullouts/50 back
8x15 breakouts on :45
100 easy: 25 scull/25 swim
Three rounds:
Power Tower (filled to 3/4 full) -- 25 fast/25 easy on 1:00
Remove belt, then 50 fast from push
100 easy on 3:00
Round 1: backstroke
Round 2: breaststroke
Round 3: freestyle
4x50 easy on :55
Three starts
50 easy
Total: 3,000 yards (75 minutes)
I planned this workout last Wednesday, which made it easier to get through, but my body wasn't too excited about sprinting. The idea of lying on the couch watching movies almost won out.
Today's Power Tower/sprinting set showed me I need to do a lot more lactate/anaerobic swimming. My stroke rate wasn't very high, and I didn't feel like my fast-twitch fibers were doing very well. I didn't have someone timing me on my fast 50s, but based on what I saw on the digital clock, I went 27-low on the back, 30-low on the breast and 24-high on the free. That was a very difficult set to do, especially since there was not much rest after doing the 25 fast on the Power Tower.
Working on starts today was productive. I thought about gliding longer after entering the water, which took a lot of trust on my part that I was maintaining velocity. I held the glide for about two extra seconds before starting the pullout, and I definitely got more distance on the pullout, but was it faster? I didn't have anyone at the pool to time me, but I'm getting confident on the idea of holding the glide longer.
Earlier this week, I got a drill progression on doing the dolphin kick at the beginning of the breaststroke pullout from Trip Hedrick, who was the former head coach at Iowa State. It involved evolving from three kicks at the start to one kick at the start. I did the drill progression well enough, but when I tried to do it on a push-off, my brain was still trained to kick at the end of the pullout, so I did a kick at the beginning and the end! It will take a lot of work to move that dolphin kick to the beginning.
Friday, January 20, 2012
Working for the Weekend
Date: Friday, January 20, 2012
Time: 5:50 a.m.
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Short Course Yards
157 days to Olympic Trials
900 warmup
12x50 on :50
Odd: 25 kick/25 swim
Even: 25 drill/25 swim
12x25 on :30
Odd: half kick, half swim
Even: breast swim
Five rounds:
100 easy on 2:00
25 breast fast/30 seconds vertical kick holding 12-pound ball/25 breast fast on 2:00
(Fast part of set took about 1:45, with time used to grab med ball from deck and put back after kicking)
Five rounds:
20 seconds easy treading water/20 seconds vertical kick/four fast backstroke strokes
200 easy (with lots of stretching)
Total: 2,950 yards (not counting vertical kicking)
I am exhausted. This week was a killer, and it ended with two very difficult workouts. I had not planned on doing any breaststroke this morning after yesterday's brutal workout, but the main set (as I worked it out in my head) seemed to work fine for doing some fast breaststroke swimming, which I haven't really done since getting back from Austin. My right hamstring felt tender, and I was hesitant to do so much vertical kicking, but it never got to the point of excruciating pain. I made sure to do extensive leg stretches before and after workout, and it feels a little better, but not great.
I am proud of myself for taking the initiative to do the main set as I did it. As it was written on the board, it was basically a 100 easy kick, then a 100 fast kick. It didn't seem boring, but I felt like I needed to shake it up a little more. The vertical kicking on the main set was completely my idea, and Mark was very surprised that I chose to do it. I was surprised I made 30 seconds holding that heavy ball!
As I mentioned, I'm quite exhausted. I've chosen to not lift weights today, and I'm fine with that. I will resume my weight program next week.
Today, I officially decided to attend the senior sectional meet in Seattle the weekend of March 9. The event schedule works perfectly for me. The 100 breast (the main event!) is on Saturday. I plan to fly to Seattle Thursday night, swim a couple of relays on Saturday to get adjusted to the meet and swim the 100 back and 100 breast on Saturday, as well as the 200 IM on Sunday. I will rest for three days for the meet, but not shave. It will be my last barometer on how training is going before Trials, though not my last long course meet. I plan to swim in the Southwest Classic, as I do every year, though for the second time in six years, I won't shave. The meet is usually the second week of June, but with the timing of Olympic Trials, the Southwest Classic might be moved up much earlier, as they did in 2008.
I'm excited to swim at sectionals. I looked at last year's results, and it appears that the top finishers aren't extremely fast, which gives me optimism about placing high in the 100 breast and maybe my other two events. Coley is very set on winning the team title, and he's taking lots of the kids, including Roland Schoeman, so it could happen. I want the opportunity to do more work on racing skills, and I vow to be better prepared for racing. I won't spend the day before my race walking around a huge mall, and if I have trouble sleeping, I'll take a sleep aid. This meet will be practice for Trials ... at least in the case of race preparation. I doubt I'm getting a second swim at Trials, but you never know!
I'm so excited to have tomorrow off. No swimming, no exercise! It'll be just what my body needs. I might spend the entire afternoon at the movies. I have a lot to catch up on before the Oscar nominations are announced Tuesday morning!
Time: 5:50 a.m.
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Short Course Yards
157 days to Olympic Trials
900 warmup
12x50 on :50
Odd: 25 kick/25 swim
Even: 25 drill/25 swim
12x25 on :30
Odd: half kick, half swim
Even: breast swim
Five rounds:
100 easy on 2:00
25 breast fast/30 seconds vertical kick holding 12-pound ball/25 breast fast on 2:00
(Fast part of set took about 1:45, with time used to grab med ball from deck and put back after kicking)
Five rounds:
20 seconds easy treading water/20 seconds vertical kick/four fast backstroke strokes
200 easy (with lots of stretching)
Total: 2,950 yards (not counting vertical kicking)
I am exhausted. This week was a killer, and it ended with two very difficult workouts. I had not planned on doing any breaststroke this morning after yesterday's brutal workout, but the main set (as I worked it out in my head) seemed to work fine for doing some fast breaststroke swimming, which I haven't really done since getting back from Austin. My right hamstring felt tender, and I was hesitant to do so much vertical kicking, but it never got to the point of excruciating pain. I made sure to do extensive leg stretches before and after workout, and it feels a little better, but not great.
I am proud of myself for taking the initiative to do the main set as I did it. As it was written on the board, it was basically a 100 easy kick, then a 100 fast kick. It didn't seem boring, but I felt like I needed to shake it up a little more. The vertical kicking on the main set was completely my idea, and Mark was very surprised that I chose to do it. I was surprised I made 30 seconds holding that heavy ball!
As I mentioned, I'm quite exhausted. I've chosen to not lift weights today, and I'm fine with that. I will resume my weight program next week.
Today, I officially decided to attend the senior sectional meet in Seattle the weekend of March 9. The event schedule works perfectly for me. The 100 breast (the main event!) is on Saturday. I plan to fly to Seattle Thursday night, swim a couple of relays on Saturday to get adjusted to the meet and swim the 100 back and 100 breast on Saturday, as well as the 200 IM on Sunday. I will rest for three days for the meet, but not shave. It will be my last barometer on how training is going before Trials, though not my last long course meet. I plan to swim in the Southwest Classic, as I do every year, though for the second time in six years, I won't shave. The meet is usually the second week of June, but with the timing of Olympic Trials, the Southwest Classic might be moved up much earlier, as they did in 2008.
I'm excited to swim at sectionals. I looked at last year's results, and it appears that the top finishers aren't extremely fast, which gives me optimism about placing high in the 100 breast and maybe my other two events. Coley is very set on winning the team title, and he's taking lots of the kids, including Roland Schoeman, so it could happen. I want the opportunity to do more work on racing skills, and I vow to be better prepared for racing. I won't spend the day before my race walking around a huge mall, and if I have trouble sleeping, I'll take a sleep aid. This meet will be practice for Trials ... at least in the case of race preparation. I doubt I'm getting a second swim at Trials, but you never know!
I'm so excited to have tomorrow off. No swimming, no exercise! It'll be just what my body needs. I might spend the entire afternoon at the movies. I have a lot to catch up on before the Oscar nominations are announced Tuesday morning!
Thursday, January 19, 2012
A Change Would Do You Good
Date: Thursday, January 19, 2012
Time: 4:40 p.m.
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Short Course Yards
158 days to Olympic Trials
Today's workout with the top group at Phoenix Swim Club was tough! We churned out about 4,500 yards of mostly breaststroke in one hour and 45 minutes. The group had been increasing yardage since coming back from the Austin Grand Prix. I was not aware of this until Coley Stickels mentione dit to me as I walked into the pool complex. I wasn't sure we were going to do lots of yardage on breaststroke day, but when he started spewing out a 2,400-yard final set, I knew he meant business. The set was basically an IM set without the butterfly (thankfully), but after about 3,000 yards of mostly breaststroke before that, all my other strokes weren't feeling up to the challenge.
What was even more challenging about the final set was that it was supposed to be at 75 percent effort, which made me happy, but I think I was the only one swimming at that pace. Everyone around me seemed to be going close to 95 percent effort. For example, I swam 50 yards of breaststroke in 35 seconds in the middle of the set, and I knew it was close to 85 percent effort -- and there were three others ahead of me! I swam a 50 free in 29 seconds, knowing there was a freestyler right on my heels behind me. I think when you're a kid, you don't really know what the various swimming pace efforts are. If someone tells me to go 75 percent effort, I feel like I can approximate that very well. Seventy-five percent effort for 50 yards of freestyle for me is in the 35-second range.
In any case, today's workout was about putting more concentration on breaststroke pullouts. In the past 24 hours, many people have sent in suggestions for fixing my pullouts, and most have suggested a longer glide on the dive/push-off. After today's workout, I think they might be on to something. I was so afraid of losing speed quickly because of my bad ankles, but I think I hold speed pretty well. The new pullout seemed to work well, but I'll have to do more work with it to feel comfortable. And not gliding too long after the kick on the pullout feels good, too. Again, more work needs to be done on it before I fully embrace it.
So, thanks to everyone who has offered their suggestions. In the next few days, I will tinker with my pullout a little more and see if the changes are good or bad for me.
Time: 4:40 p.m.
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Short Course Yards
158 days to Olympic Trials
Today's workout with the top group at Phoenix Swim Club was tough! We churned out about 4,500 yards of mostly breaststroke in one hour and 45 minutes. The group had been increasing yardage since coming back from the Austin Grand Prix. I was not aware of this until Coley Stickels mentione dit to me as I walked into the pool complex. I wasn't sure we were going to do lots of yardage on breaststroke day, but when he started spewing out a 2,400-yard final set, I knew he meant business. The set was basically an IM set without the butterfly (thankfully), but after about 3,000 yards of mostly breaststroke before that, all my other strokes weren't feeling up to the challenge.
What was even more challenging about the final set was that it was supposed to be at 75 percent effort, which made me happy, but I think I was the only one swimming at that pace. Everyone around me seemed to be going close to 95 percent effort. For example, I swam 50 yards of breaststroke in 35 seconds in the middle of the set, and I knew it was close to 85 percent effort -- and there were three others ahead of me! I swam a 50 free in 29 seconds, knowing there was a freestyler right on my heels behind me. I think when you're a kid, you don't really know what the various swimming pace efforts are. If someone tells me to go 75 percent effort, I feel like I can approximate that very well. Seventy-five percent effort for 50 yards of freestyle for me is in the 35-second range.
In any case, today's workout was about putting more concentration on breaststroke pullouts. In the past 24 hours, many people have sent in suggestions for fixing my pullouts, and most have suggested a longer glide on the dive/push-off. After today's workout, I think they might be on to something. I was so afraid of losing speed quickly because of my bad ankles, but I think I hold speed pretty well. The new pullout seemed to work well, but I'll have to do more work with it to feel comfortable. And not gliding too long after the kick on the pullout feels good, too. Again, more work needs to be done on it before I fully embrace it.
So, thanks to everyone who has offered their suggestions. In the next few days, I will tinker with my pullout a little more and see if the changes are good or bad for me.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
In the Deep
Date: Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Time: 5:45 a.m.
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Short Course Yards
159 days to Olympic Trials
1100 warmup
16x25 on :30, descend 1-4 to 90 percent effort
Four rounds:
75 fast on :1:30
25 fast on 1:00
Rounds 1 and 2: kick with short fins (:50 on 75, :14 on 25)
Rounds 3 and 4: breast pull with short fins (:43 on 75, :13 on 25)
200 easy
10x25 on 1:00 fast
Odd: breast from dive*
Even: free from push
*After touching the wall on the odd 25s, I did 20 seconds of moderately aggressive vertical kicking.
Three starts
200 easy
Total: 2,600 yards (80 minutes)
Not a bad workout today. The water was a little too warm, though I could feel cool water coming out of the jets, which potentially means good things for tomorrow.
Since I was still thinking about Sunday's swimming, I had a goal of working on some problem points in my breaststroke, specifically my start and arm recovery during the stroke. That was the reason I did the main set with short fins, to focus only on the pull. I felt like my hands were faster on the recovery, and helped to set up the next stroke better. Doing this more often will help train my muscles to swim like this, especially when I get tired. Since I'm more tired than not in workout, I tend to slow down my recovery, for no other reason than the muscles responsible for proper recovery are usually very sore and don't want to do things correctly. I'm going to make sure these muscles are ready to swim correctly long before I step up on the blocks in Omaha. It starts today!!!!!
On the final set, I asked Mark to time me to 15 meters on my start. He timed me at 6.3 seconds on average, which is almost a second faster than I was in Austin. Why is that? I know my legs were tired in Austin, but were they so tired I couldn't push myself off the block stronger at 9:30 a.m. than I could today at 6:50 a.m.? I plan to get timed to 15 meters regularly. Hopefully, I will get under six seconds soon!
Felt great working with JR today. Lots of exercises geared specifically for breaststroke. Some of the better ones are not easy to explain, but they involve exercising the muscles while simulating parts of breaststroke swimming, like the arm recovery (!) and the pulldown. While it's also great to go the gym and do the standard bench press and so on, I like knowing exactly how these exercises will help me in the pool.
Tomorrow is breaststroke day with the elite group at Phoenix Swim Club. That's 90 minutes of pure mental focus on breaststroke. When I was in high school, I dreaded doing breaststroke in workout, but that was because I would usually do stuff like 10x100 on 1:20 (yards), and barely make the interval after number five. Now, every set with Coley on Thursdays pretty much has a purpose. Most of the time, that purpose is to fatigue me, and it usually works! Strangely enough, Thursday has become my new favorite swimming day.
Time: 5:45 a.m.
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Short Course Yards
159 days to Olympic Trials
1100 warmup
16x25 on :30, descend 1-4 to 90 percent effort
Four rounds:
75 fast on :1:30
25 fast on 1:00
Rounds 1 and 2: kick with short fins (:50 on 75, :14 on 25)
Rounds 3 and 4: breast pull with short fins (:43 on 75, :13 on 25)
200 easy
10x25 on 1:00 fast
Odd: breast from dive*
Even: free from push
*After touching the wall on the odd 25s, I did 20 seconds of moderately aggressive vertical kicking.
Three starts
200 easy
Total: 2,600 yards (80 minutes)
Not a bad workout today. The water was a little too warm, though I could feel cool water coming out of the jets, which potentially means good things for tomorrow.
Since I was still thinking about Sunday's swimming, I had a goal of working on some problem points in my breaststroke, specifically my start and arm recovery during the stroke. That was the reason I did the main set with short fins, to focus only on the pull. I felt like my hands were faster on the recovery, and helped to set up the next stroke better. Doing this more often will help train my muscles to swim like this, especially when I get tired. Since I'm more tired than not in workout, I tend to slow down my recovery, for no other reason than the muscles responsible for proper recovery are usually very sore and don't want to do things correctly. I'm going to make sure these muscles are ready to swim correctly long before I step up on the blocks in Omaha. It starts today!!!!!
On the final set, I asked Mark to time me to 15 meters on my start. He timed me at 6.3 seconds on average, which is almost a second faster than I was in Austin. Why is that? I know my legs were tired in Austin, but were they so tired I couldn't push myself off the block stronger at 9:30 a.m. than I could today at 6:50 a.m.? I plan to get timed to 15 meters regularly. Hopefully, I will get under six seconds soon!
Felt great working with JR today. Lots of exercises geared specifically for breaststroke. Some of the better ones are not easy to explain, but they involve exercising the muscles while simulating parts of breaststroke swimming, like the arm recovery (!) and the pulldown. While it's also great to go the gym and do the standard bench press and so on, I like knowing exactly how these exercises will help me in the pool.
Tomorrow is breaststroke day with the elite group at Phoenix Swim Club. That's 90 minutes of pure mental focus on breaststroke. When I was in high school, I dreaded doing breaststroke in workout, but that was because I would usually do stuff like 10x100 on 1:20 (yards), and barely make the interval after number five. Now, every set with Coley on Thursdays pretty much has a purpose. Most of the time, that purpose is to fatigue me, and it usually works! Strangely enough, Thursday has become my new favorite swimming day.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Rewind
Date: January 17,2 012
Time: 5:45 a.m.
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Short Course Meters
160 days to Olympic Trials
200 warmup
2x500 on 8:00 -- 25 kick or drill/25 swim
#1 free, #2 non-free
24x25 on :25
odd: back
even: breast
4x100 on 2:00
odd: breast pull
even: back with breast kick (or close to normal backstroke for me!)
(The purpose of this set was to do a stroke with a different kick.)
6x250 on 4:00, descend 1-3, 4-6
200 back/50 breast
3:30, 3:21, 3:16, 3:42, 3:22, 3:11
300 easy
Total: 4,000 meters (80 minutes)
Instead of talking about today's workout, the warm pool and my heavy, tired legs, I would rather continue discussing last Sunday's racing. I thought about it a lot in workout today, particularly when doing breaststroke.
Before I continue, take a look at my 100 breast, provided to you thanks to Chris Lundie and his team at TakeItLive, which was streaming the meet live online:
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/geSHdftGNww" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
As you can clearly see, I lose a lot on my start. The guy to my left gains a half-body length on me, and the guy two lanes over is a body length ahead before the first stroke! I've watched this video at least 20 times, pondering the mystery of my deficient start. It would appear that my trouble starts after the pulldown, that I lose forward velocity quickly. I want to believe it is my extremely inflexible ankles slowing me down after doing the dolphin kick. There seems to be no other explanation. What else could be slowing me down so severely? When I dive in, I'm pretty much even with these guys.
One thing Coley Stickels suggested to me immediately after the race was that my arms were recovering too slowly after the pullout. I think he was onto something, though as you can see on the video, the damage had already been done by the time I was recovering my arms to start swimming . This morning in workout, I consciously recovered my arms faster, to find that I was able to keep my velocity so much easier! It's such a small thing, but it means so much.
The good news is that on the first 50, I kind of make up some ground on the guy to my left. That makes me feel good, that I'm outswimming him. Or, maybe I'm overswimming the first 50? That's not true, since I only went out in 30.8 or 30.9, depending on your stopwatch. That's not too bad for the first 50 of an in-season swim.When I swam my 1:04.42 last July, I was out in 30.26, and was probably doing the same pullout then that I did on Sunday. (I don't have a time goal for Omaha, but I do know that I want my first 50 to be under 30 seconds.)
The more I watch the video, the more encouraged I am by what I see. (Of course, I stop before the camera pans to the scoreboard. I don't need to be reminded of the time!) I like seeing that there is a major point in the race that needs fixing, and by simply fixing it, I can probably drop five tenths of a second or more on the first 50! My pullout on my turn was just as bad. As you can see, I turned almost even with the guy in lane four, but he took off after that. He must have been quite rested, because he swam a time very close to his seed time. I, on the other hand, was swimming on about six hours of sleep and tired legs.
Today I got some body work done with Tod Miller, and I asked for his opinion about my ankle inflexibility. He stated with full authority that anything can be made better with a little work. And with that, he put his body weight on my Achilles heel and did his best to stretch them out. I don't feel any difference three hours later, but maybe with his monthly techniques, things could improve. In my life, I have tried everything to make my ankles more flexible, from using the FINIS rack to sitting on my heels while watching television. My collee coach, Eddie Reese, once suggested breaking my ankles to reset the tendons. I think he was kidding.
I know you have the urge to tell me how to fix my start, pullout and overall stroke. I would love to hear from you. Post your comments here on the blog, or if you're too shy, send me an email to jeffswim@aol.com.
Time: 5:45 a.m.
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Short Course Meters
160 days to Olympic Trials
200 warmup
2x500 on 8:00 -- 25 kick or drill/25 swim
#1 free, #2 non-free
24x25 on :25
odd: back
even: breast
4x100 on 2:00
odd: breast pull
even: back with breast kick (or close to normal backstroke for me!)
(The purpose of this set was to do a stroke with a different kick.)
6x250 on 4:00, descend 1-3, 4-6
200 back/50 breast
3:30, 3:21, 3:16, 3:42, 3:22, 3:11
300 easy
Total: 4,000 meters (80 minutes)
Instead of talking about today's workout, the warm pool and my heavy, tired legs, I would rather continue discussing last Sunday's racing. I thought about it a lot in workout today, particularly when doing breaststroke.
Before I continue, take a look at my 100 breast, provided to you thanks to Chris Lundie and his team at TakeItLive, which was streaming the meet live online:
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/geSHdftGNww" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
As you can clearly see, I lose a lot on my start. The guy to my left gains a half-body length on me, and the guy two lanes over is a body length ahead before the first stroke! I've watched this video at least 20 times, pondering the mystery of my deficient start. It would appear that my trouble starts after the pulldown, that I lose forward velocity quickly. I want to believe it is my extremely inflexible ankles slowing me down after doing the dolphin kick. There seems to be no other explanation. What else could be slowing me down so severely? When I dive in, I'm pretty much even with these guys.
One thing Coley Stickels suggested to me immediately after the race was that my arms were recovering too slowly after the pullout. I think he was onto something, though as you can see on the video, the damage had already been done by the time I was recovering my arms to start swimming . This morning in workout, I consciously recovered my arms faster, to find that I was able to keep my velocity so much easier! It's such a small thing, but it means so much.
The good news is that on the first 50, I kind of make up some ground on the guy to my left. That makes me feel good, that I'm outswimming him. Or, maybe I'm overswimming the first 50? That's not true, since I only went out in 30.8 or 30.9, depending on your stopwatch. That's not too bad for the first 50 of an in-season swim.When I swam my 1:04.42 last July, I was out in 30.26, and was probably doing the same pullout then that I did on Sunday. (I don't have a time goal for Omaha, but I do know that I want my first 50 to be under 30 seconds.)
The more I watch the video, the more encouraged I am by what I see. (Of course, I stop before the camera pans to the scoreboard. I don't need to be reminded of the time!) I like seeing that there is a major point in the race that needs fixing, and by simply fixing it, I can probably drop five tenths of a second or more on the first 50! My pullout on my turn was just as bad. As you can see, I turned almost even with the guy in lane four, but he took off after that. He must have been quite rested, because he swam a time very close to his seed time. I, on the other hand, was swimming on about six hours of sleep and tired legs.
Today I got some body work done with Tod Miller, and I asked for his opinion about my ankle inflexibility. He stated with full authority that anything can be made better with a little work. And with that, he put his body weight on my Achilles heel and did his best to stretch them out. I don't feel any difference three hours later, but maybe with his monthly techniques, things could improve. In my life, I have tried everything to make my ankles more flexible, from using the FINIS rack to sitting on my heels while watching television. My collee coach, Eddie Reese, once suggested breaking my ankles to reset the tendons. I think he was kidding.
I know you have the urge to tell me how to fix my start, pullout and overall stroke. I would love to hear from you. Post your comments here on the blog, or if you're too shy, send me an email to jeffswim@aol.com.
Monday, January 16, 2012
Deep in the Heart of Texas
Date: Monday, January 16, 2012
161 days to Olympic Trials
Times at the Austin Grand Prix (long course meters):
100 breast: 1:07.11
200 IM: 2:14.80
I had a lot of fun in Austin, Texas, despite what the official results from the meet show. I had hopes for swimming very fast at the meet, but I was not upset by the times on the scoreboard. Well, maybe for about five minutes. I was only upset because I knew I could have done better, that external circumstances hindered me from doing my best, that I had come all that way (from Phoenix to Austin) only to swim slower than expected and that I wasn't going to be able to swim in finals. But in the end, it was a very valuable learning experience that I could not have gotten if I had, say, swum those races in a Masters meet or local meet in Arizona.
What I learned is that my racing skills are very rough around the edges. I got the opportunity to watch my 100 breast on video a few hours later, and I saw lots of things that were not only rookie mistakes, but were easily fixable with some concentration during workout.
Sitting down with Coley Stickels after my 100 breast, he told me I had surfaced from the pullout after the start about a body length behind. That's a lot of ground to make up in a 100-meter race, and it's a lot to lose in the first15 meters. What we both believed (and was confirmed by me when I watched the video) was that when I recover my arms after the pulldown, I am very slow, which in turn slows me down quicker. By recovering my arms faster, I can keep my velocity on the pullout high and not work so hard to get up to racing speed. In fact, I would likely be at racing speed if I did it correctly. Also, my first stroke after the pullout is taken too long after the first kick. These were things that I was doing in a race, because I was probably doing them in workout. When you're tired, the first thing to go is speed, and when you're doing long repeats, the little things get dropped, and sometimes you or your coach don't notice that it's happening. No offense to my coach, Mark Rankin, but he probably didn't notice these issues either, and he sees me doing breaststroke a lot during the week. There are many things coaches miss when standing on deck. Making a video of my technique helps everyone see the mistakes, but they are highlighted the most in races.
Another reason I was glad to swim int he Grand Prix was because I was racing people of the caliber I will be racing in Omaha. No offense to my wonderful Masters friends, teammates and most competitors, but the mistakes I made yesterday in the 100 breast would not have been as easy to see in a Masters meet, because I would already be ahead after the start.
As I had mentioned earlier, a few external things conspired to cause me to swim a little slower than expected, though I will place no blame on them. First, I had a bad cold the weekend before, and I don't think I was fully over it. Second, I didn't sleep well the night before. I woke up at 4:30, and could not get back to sleep until about 5:45, which was 30 minutes before my alarm was set to go off. I did feel a little groggy in warmup yesterday, and did have a hard time getting my brain amped to race. Finally, I spent Saturday afternoon with one of my best friends in the world, who I met in college, and after a great lunch, he sowed me around one of the big malls in Austin. I did not know he was going to do that until we were halfway through the mall, and by then, I think we had walked half a mile! My legs didn't feel awesome in warmup Sunday morning, though they had felt pretty good in my brief "workout" on Saturday.
Going forward, I have to make sure everything I do in and out of the pool has a focus on making my 100 breast the best it can be for Trials. I think I'm going to move up my training schedule a bit to start my race pace training a few weeks early, like the middle of February. I need to get my fast-twitch muscles primed to race, even in in-season meets, and I need to race plenty of times to hone those flaws I was making yesterday. Before this weekend, I was on the fence about going to sectionals in March, but I am going to try to make that happen. Like Austin, I probably won't have any time goals, but to be able to race people who are as fast as me will be invaluable come June 25.
As for tomorrow, I might be doing a lot of breaststroke pullouts!
161 days to Olympic Trials
Times at the Austin Grand Prix (long course meters):
100 breast: 1:07.11
200 IM: 2:14.80
I had a lot of fun in Austin, Texas, despite what the official results from the meet show. I had hopes for swimming very fast at the meet, but I was not upset by the times on the scoreboard. Well, maybe for about five minutes. I was only upset because I knew I could have done better, that external circumstances hindered me from doing my best, that I had come all that way (from Phoenix to Austin) only to swim slower than expected and that I wasn't going to be able to swim in finals. But in the end, it was a very valuable learning experience that I could not have gotten if I had, say, swum those races in a Masters meet or local meet in Arizona.
What I learned is that my racing skills are very rough around the edges. I got the opportunity to watch my 100 breast on video a few hours later, and I saw lots of things that were not only rookie mistakes, but were easily fixable with some concentration during workout.
Sitting down with Coley Stickels after my 100 breast, he told me I had surfaced from the pullout after the start about a body length behind. That's a lot of ground to make up in a 100-meter race, and it's a lot to lose in the first15 meters. What we both believed (and was confirmed by me when I watched the video) was that when I recover my arms after the pulldown, I am very slow, which in turn slows me down quicker. By recovering my arms faster, I can keep my velocity on the pullout high and not work so hard to get up to racing speed. In fact, I would likely be at racing speed if I did it correctly. Also, my first stroke after the pullout is taken too long after the first kick. These were things that I was doing in a race, because I was probably doing them in workout. When you're tired, the first thing to go is speed, and when you're doing long repeats, the little things get dropped, and sometimes you or your coach don't notice that it's happening. No offense to my coach, Mark Rankin, but he probably didn't notice these issues either, and he sees me doing breaststroke a lot during the week. There are many things coaches miss when standing on deck. Making a video of my technique helps everyone see the mistakes, but they are highlighted the most in races.
Another reason I was glad to swim int he Grand Prix was because I was racing people of the caliber I will be racing in Omaha. No offense to my wonderful Masters friends, teammates and most competitors, but the mistakes I made yesterday in the 100 breast would not have been as easy to see in a Masters meet, because I would already be ahead after the start.
As I had mentioned earlier, a few external things conspired to cause me to swim a little slower than expected, though I will place no blame on them. First, I had a bad cold the weekend before, and I don't think I was fully over it. Second, I didn't sleep well the night before. I woke up at 4:30, and could not get back to sleep until about 5:45, which was 30 minutes before my alarm was set to go off. I did feel a little groggy in warmup yesterday, and did have a hard time getting my brain amped to race. Finally, I spent Saturday afternoon with one of my best friends in the world, who I met in college, and after a great lunch, he sowed me around one of the big malls in Austin. I did not know he was going to do that until we were halfway through the mall, and by then, I think we had walked half a mile! My legs didn't feel awesome in warmup Sunday morning, though they had felt pretty good in my brief "workout" on Saturday.
Going forward, I have to make sure everything I do in and out of the pool has a focus on making my 100 breast the best it can be for Trials. I think I'm going to move up my training schedule a bit to start my race pace training a few weeks early, like the middle of February. I need to get my fast-twitch muscles primed to race, even in in-season meets, and I need to race plenty of times to hone those flaws I was making yesterday. Before this weekend, I was on the fence about going to sectionals in March, but I am going to try to make that happen. Like Austin, I probably won't have any time goals, but to be able to race people who are as fast as me will be invaluable come June 25.
As for tomorrow, I might be doing a lot of breaststroke pullouts!
Friday, January 13, 2012
Morning Has Broken
Date: Friday, January 12, 2012
Time: 5:45 a.m.
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Short Course Meters
164 days to Olympic Trials
1300 warmup, swim and kick
6x100 on 2:00
15 breakout/85 free breathe every 5
100 easy
Two rounds:
16x25 on :30
Start with 15 strokes on #1, then 14 strokes on #2, all the way to zero strokes on #16 (similar to a 25 kick)
Round 1: free
Round 2: 8 back, 8 breast
8x50 on :50
4 back, 4 free
100 easy
Total: 3,300 meters
Another workout perfect for the type of swimming I wanted to do today. On the set of 100s on 2:00, everyone was doing fast kick, but I was able to make perfect changes.
I probably should have done a fast swim today beyond the 15-meter breakouts. Before the final set of 50s, the team did a fast 200 kick for time. I hung out on the wall, watching Alan Carter go 2:57 backstroke kick with fins. I could have done a 200 breast kick for time, and my prep for this weekend would not have been hampered. I think I was just being lazy and using the excuse of resting for the meet too much. I would have like to see how fast I could go. Maybe under 3:20? We'll never know.
It was extremely cold this morning. My car's thermostat read "36 degrees," and it sure felt that way. The pool was comfortable (about 81 degrees), but most times I could feel the sting of cold air when I took huge gulps of air. I think it'll warm up very soon!
As I've mentioned before, I'm very excited to be racing in the Austin Grand Prix this weekend. The uncertainty of how I will place in the 100 breast makes me very nervous, but I'm excited to be back in the pool I lived in for five years. The last time I raced there was at Masters nationals in 2008. I did very well there. In fact, I think I have swum well every time I've raced in Austin ... with the exception of a few dual meets here and there.
I won't have computer access in Austin, so I'll be back here Monday with a recap of how things went!
Time: 5:45 a.m.
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Short Course Meters
164 days to Olympic Trials
1300 warmup, swim and kick
6x100 on 2:00
15 breakout/85 free breathe every 5
100 easy
Two rounds:
16x25 on :30
Start with 15 strokes on #1, then 14 strokes on #2, all the way to zero strokes on #16 (similar to a 25 kick)
Round 1: free
Round 2: 8 back, 8 breast
8x50 on :50
4 back, 4 free
100 easy
Total: 3,300 meters
Another workout perfect for the type of swimming I wanted to do today. On the set of 100s on 2:00, everyone was doing fast kick, but I was able to make perfect changes.
I probably should have done a fast swim today beyond the 15-meter breakouts. Before the final set of 50s, the team did a fast 200 kick for time. I hung out on the wall, watching Alan Carter go 2:57 backstroke kick with fins. I could have done a 200 breast kick for time, and my prep for this weekend would not have been hampered. I think I was just being lazy and using the excuse of resting for the meet too much. I would have like to see how fast I could go. Maybe under 3:20? We'll never know.
It was extremely cold this morning. My car's thermostat read "36 degrees," and it sure felt that way. The pool was comfortable (about 81 degrees), but most times I could feel the sting of cold air when I took huge gulps of air. I think it'll warm up very soon!
As I've mentioned before, I'm very excited to be racing in the Austin Grand Prix this weekend. The uncertainty of how I will place in the 100 breast makes me very nervous, but I'm excited to be back in the pool I lived in for five years. The last time I raced there was at Masters nationals in 2008. I did very well there. In fact, I think I have swum well every time I've raced in Austin ... with the exception of a few dual meets here and there.
I won't have computer access in Austin, so I'll be back here Monday with a recap of how things went!
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