the17thman

March Review Mirror: Swimming

Quarter one is over and Spring is just about to arrive and yet I swam less in March then usual.  We've had the warm weather but I was more concerned with training and then running the LA Marathon.  So swimming took a back seat.  I did swim and swam a total of 36,775 yards for the month.  But compared to February when I swam 53,250 and January when I swam 46,750 yards it was almost like not even swimming.  So far for 2010 I have swam 136,775 yards and one LCM workout of 3,150.  

It does seem like we are getting more yardage done in the morning workouts so hopefully April will be a turn around month for me.  I know it's not about the yardage but the quality but I do feel the more I swim the better I feel in the water.  So the more yardage the better.

Feeling Like A Slug In The Water

I am still recovering from my cold last week.  It's sorta been a odd cold since it seemed to have gone away then crept back.  Over the weekend I was tossing, turning and coughing at night but feeling better in the day time.  Last night was the first good night sleep I've had in days.  So much so that I didn't want to get out of bed.  I had planned on an early morning jog to the gym and then do some weights.  But I hit the snooze button.  And then again and again.  Then I started bartering with myself first by saying "i'll just read the morning paper then go" then it was "i'll just have a quick breakfast and go" and then it continued to watching some tv, eating lunch and finally around 2pm I just gave up.  So then I told myself I'd go to swim practice tonight.  Which I almost missed as I fell asleep watching some Law & Order.  Doh!  

I did make it to the pool.  I got in for warm up and felt sluggish.  But I am always a bit sluggish in warm up but told myself to suck it up and keep going.  I swam about a 650 mixing it up with some fly, back and freestyle.  

Then we did a warm up set.  I struggled with this set.  I just couldn't get out of feeling like a slug.  

200 Pull breathing 3/5/3/7.  This is when recovering from a cold really hurts.  Normally 5 and 7 are hard but tonight even 3 was killing me.  People who I normally am ahead of were kicking my ass.  I just had nothing.  

4x50's Drill IM Order

100 IM drill

then I think 4x25's.  Doh i don't remember it all.  think we may have some choice fast 50's too.  then we did a modified repeat of the warm up set all over again.  My 2nd 200 pull was even more of a struggle.  So we are about 1,650 plus a bit so far in yardage.

Main Set:

4x50's choice of 50 (i did backstroke)

2x100's IM on 1:30 2nd one faster then the 1st

2x200's free on 2:45 2nd one faster then the 1st

8x25's on 30 choice with numbers 3 and 7 being sprints

take an extra 30 seconds rest 

4x50's choice of 50 (i did backstroke)

2x100's IM on 1:30 2nd one faster then the 1st

2x200's free on 2:45 2nd one faster then the 1st

8x25's on 30 choice with numbers 3 and 7 being sprints

I really had no speed in me.  I was tired and just couldn't get any speed.  With both 200's the first one was brutal while the second I was able to get some speed but nothing like I'd normally be able to get.  It wasn't that I was feeling sore from a hard workout in fact I didn't.  I just felt blah and couldn't find any speed in me.  I'll blame it on being sick.  Hopefully I'll be able to find my speed back.  This set was 2,000 yards.  I really like this set.  This was two workouts in a row that I enjoyed the set and workout but just had nothing in me!  

At this point in the workout it was 8:15 so I did a 50 warm down and got out.  I figured I was tired so maybe I needed to take it easy.  I had planned on swimming to 8:30 but figured if I'm struggling then maybe I just need to ease back into it.  No need on making myself get sick again or sicker.  The pool will be closed tomorrow morning so there is no swim practice.  I want to get in at least one hard swim in later this week.  Maybe two.  It's just so hard to be motivated when your body just wants to sleep all day.  Total yardage tonight was 3,700.

Oh I forgot to post this yesterday but it just dawned on me.  After the morning workout I thanked the coach for the workout and commented how the intervals were perfect.  The coach commented something about how it's easier to figure out intervals when it's not as busy.  And it dawned on me that for every I gripe about a too fast or too slow interval it's really not about me and my ability it's the coach trying to find a balance between the various swimmers.  Something for me to think about the next time I am bitching about something.  As I've said several times I'm lucky to have some great swim coaches.  Each one of them brings something different to swimming so no matter who is on deck I'm always in for something different and challenging.  

Swimming Again.

Another month is coming to a close.  Funny how time flies.  I went to bed somewhat early last night hoping to get a full night sleep in.  But since my cold is lingering around I spent most of the night tossing, turning and coughing.  Finally for the 2nd night in a row I just gave up sleeping and watched some tv.  I've come to realize that watching Law & Order SVU at 4 am is creepy.  Once 5 am rolled around I started to get my swim stuff together.  I figured I'd swim and if I started to cough or felt like crap I could just slow it down or get out.  Luckily today's workout was challenging but not impossible.  I had no speed but at least I stuck it out and finished it.

Since I was even early to the pool I got in and started to warm up right away if not a minute or two early.  I did a 600 mixing it up with some stroke but mostly pulling the whole 600.

We then did a warm up set:

3 Rounds

25 freestyle kick w/o a kickboard on 30

50 freestyle catch up drill on 55 (i think)

75 IM drill (i don't remember the interval)

100 IM swim (hmm...maybe on 1:45) (750/1350)

We then went right into our main set.  It was the perfect set.  It had an easy pattern to follow.  Even the intervals followed a pattern and would square up the clock making it that much easier to keep track.

100 Free on 1:20 (100)

150 Free on 2:00 (250)

200 Free on 2:40 (450)

2x75's Stroke on 1:15 (did backstroke) (600)

100 IM on 2:00.  (had extra rest built in) (700)

150 Free on 2:00 (850)

200 Free on 2:40 (1050)

250 Free on 3:20 (1300)

2x75's Stroke on 1:15 (did backstroke) (1450)

200 IM on 3:00 (1650)

200 Free on 2:40 (1850)

250 Free on 3:20 (2100)

300 Free on 4:00 (2400)

2x75's Stroke on 1:15 (did backstroke) (2550)

300 IM (300/2850)

And that was it.  The freestyle pattern was adding a 50 to the distance and 40 seconds to the interval.  I was slowing up at the end.  I tried to pull it together for the 300 Free but failed.  But from not swimming much and being sick I am glad I was able to stick it out.  I so wanted to stop and give up a few times but I just kept swimming.  I didn't want to finish up with the 300 IM.  I was getting sore and super tired.  But I figured it was only a 300.  This set was 2,850 yards.  Pretty good for a set.  The total yardage today was 4,200 which is damn good for 75 minutes of swimming.  I wish we could get in this much yardage every morning swim.  My only complaint really is with myself in that I wish I wasn't recovering from a cold.  I really enjoyed the set and since it was a simple pattern I think I could have swam it a bit harder.  Next time.

Back In The Pool

I decided I was feeling pretty good so I'd try and swim tonight.  When I got to the pool I hung out with some of my mates and we talked about the marathon.  When I swim at night I try to get on deck a bit early to chit chat since a few people also show up early.  In the morning I am too tired to be chatty.  Once warm up started I didnt think I was going to swim the workout.  My left foot felt sore like it did during the marathon.  Also my legs in general were sore and pulling my legs up to do a flip turn hurt.  As workout went on I felt a bit better.  At the very end I got a cramp in my leg and called it a night.  But I did swim 60 minutes and finished the main set. 

Warm Up

400 swim / 100 kick (500)

We did a drill/swim set.  I missed part of it for a pee break but here is what I did:

50 swim / 25 drill / 50 swim / 25 drill/ 50 swim (200/700)

100 then 2x50's all kick.  this didnt hurt as much as I thought it would.  (200/900)

300 pull!  YEAH!  (300/1200)

Main Set:

4 Rounds

50 on 45

100 on 1:15

150 on 2:05

150 on 2:05

100 on 1:15

50 on 55

2,400 yard set.  The three of us in the fast lane are pretty close in speed.  Actually the other two are faster sprinters.  I went 2nd but since we were on all top of each other I went 10 seconds after the 1st person. The guy behind me stayed 5 seconds behind me and didn't like the fact I was going 10 seconds behnd.  He said it made him so far behind.  I didn't really care since I knew he'd skip parts of the set anyways which he did.  After two rounds the 1st swimmer got out so I started to lead.  By then end I had the lane to myself.  I felt pretty strong for the whole set and had plenty of rest. 

Total yardage tonight was 3,600 yards.  When I was sore and tired kept reminding myself that I finished a marathon so this workout is nothing.  So need to keep doing that when workouts get hard!

Daylight Savings Blah.

After sleeping most of Sunday away I didn't sleep much last night.  I woke up around 4am and just layed in bed.  Eventually I got up and went swimming.  Which was a mistake.  I was tired and groggy and had a terrible swim.  I ended up leaving early.

400 Warm Up (400)

3x200's 50 kick / 50 drill / 50 swim / 50 kick (600/1000)

400 Pull (400/1400)

500 on 6:30 (500/1900)

5x100's on 1:15 descend. (500/2400)

And that was it.  I got out.  At least I got some sort of workout done.  Hopefully I'll get back on my normal sleep cycle.  Tomorrow is a short run and gym time.  The rest of today is about relaxing!