12/25 - A Holiday Cherrished Moment of The Lost Swim & The Found Running Sock

Hey, Hey, Ho, Ho!  Despite being a bit umm. filled with Holiday Spirit from last night I woke up and decided to go swimming.  Unfortunately I have no proof of my swim as I've lost the swim workout when I had to reboot my computer mid sync.  But I did swim 1,225 yards.  I walked to the other end of the pool and warmed up a 225.  Then kicked a 100.  Then 4x100's pulling w/o paddles on 130.  Then 4x100's IM on 1:45 and warmed down a 100.  Making for a 1,225 yard swim.

That was it.  I came home and quickly ate a banana before heading out for a run.  I had to search high and low to find my running tights.  It was a bit chilly out.  Then I decided to wear a long sleeve running shirt.  I grabbed the orange one I last wore on Halloween 2011 for Aquaman.  Well after I put in on I wondered why I had one shoulder pad?  Shoulder pad?  It turned out to be one of my favorite socks.  I never tossed out the other one cuz' I still hoped they'd reunite some day.  And today they did.  It was my little running christmas miracle. I only ran 2.5 miles to celebrate the 25th of the month of December.  So that's it.  I got in my holiday workouts.  I've now have ran 498 runs using Nike+.  I'm going to fit 2 more runs in this year to finish up my 500th run in 2012.

Workout Inspiration: Chances of Success

Active Taper Easily Morning Swim

Wish every swim was a taper swim!  No actually I don't!  But with my first Masters swim meet in months I better get my body ready.  I really do wish I had more opportunities to compete.  Just to get my body use to racing and my mind use to race strategy and just racing.

Today's Taper Swim
Mixed 500 (the usual of 200 swim/100 pull w/o paddles/200 pull w/paddles)

300 Kick (300/800)

Then 3x100's on 1:50 Swim/Kick/Pull/Build Swim.  On the first 100 I grabbed my pull buoy for the pulling and left in on the other end.  The 2nd two 100's I used the buoy as a kickboard then for pulling.   (300/1100)

8x50's on 55 Free descending in groups of 2 (400/1500)

200 FAST.  I was averaging 35's for my 50 splits so a 2:20.  Not fast but not bad.  (200/1700)

300 IM warmdown Pull/Kick/Swim (300/2000)

So a nice an easy 2,000 yard taper workout.   Now I'm trying to do a nice taper dry land routine at the gym.  Which is sorta interesting as I'm trying to complete all 17 of the classes the gym offers in 7 days.  Yesterday I took some of the easier classes such as Sit & Be Fit, Healthy Lifestyles, Yoga and Zumba.  Saturday I took Group Step (Step Aerobics) and Group Groove (Aerobic Dancing.)  With everything gym related and workout related you only get out of a workout what you put into it.  And I will admit I was a bit slacking at the gym.  But hey it's a taper!  OH yeah I even cycled to the pool and back this morning.

I am doing okay on my year goal for USMS Go The Distance.  Maybe the 42x100's I do for my 42nd Birthday will get me ahead just a bit.  That is if I do 42x100's and not 42x50's or 42x25's.  Good god I'm old!

A Little Bit Of IM In The Morning...

Busy morning.  Heading out in a bit to head to the gym but before I do my morning swim workout…

250 Swim / 200 Pull / 200 Kick (650)

Wish I had mixed it up with some stroke…

6x175's on 3 minutes (50 Fly/Back/Breast and 25 Free) (800/1450) (1050/1700)

4x75's Free Pull breathing every 3 (300/1750) m(300/2000)

And that's it.  Now on to spinning at 9:30 and 10:45.

Running Into 2012

I gotta admit that after January 9th running became not such a big focus for me.  On the 9th I finished the Disney Marathon. 

"

I made a mistake after that run and that was by taking time off.  Too much time off. I didn't run at all for a whole month!  So so bad.  Now I didn't run in June but that was a health issue.  I got back to running for short 3-4 mile runs.  I don't have much motivation to go out and run 10 or 13.1 miles.  I am spending more time at the gym then ever so that cuts into my time.  But really I keep putting a goal for myself to be running at least two short runs around 4 miles during the week and a longer 8 - 10 mile run on the weekend.  Hopefully I can start working on that after this week.  The last few days I've spent hours on the bike learning a release so I can sub teaching starting tomorrow morning.  So I've been spinning like a mad man.  But I'm loving it!  Really, really loving it!  So maybe running went on the backburner in 2011 but it's a New Year and that a lot of new roads to run down!

Wednesday's Swim Report - Fancy Pants Swimmers

Lane 1 - Port Macquarie News posts "James Magnussen comes home.  PORT Macquarie’s world swimming champion James Magnussen has reflected on the biggest year of his life saying he’s learnt a lot about himself.  The 20-year-old became the first Australian to win the 100m world title in July and he admitted that it changed his life in a big way."

Lane 2 - iol posts "Cameron, Le Clos sparkle in the pool.  Cameron van der Burgh and Chad le Clos hogged the swimming limelight in 2011 with the former extending his reign as the country's king of the pool while the latter became the crown prince.  The duo provided a flicker of hope in an otherwise bleak year for South African swimming.  The national team placed a lowly 25th at the Fina World Championships in Shanghai, China, in July with three bronze medals – their worst performance since Barcelona in 2003. "

Lane 3 - China Daily posts "World highest altitude swimming race to start.  The 2012 Qinghai International Winter Yellow River Crossing Challenge will be held from January 6 to 7 in Guide County, Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, said organizers on Wednesday.  The race will take place over 2,200 meters above the sea level, said Tsering Thar, director of the Qinghai provincial sports administration.  Forty swimmers from China, Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan will compete in the extreme high altitude climate where the water temperature will be about four degree Celsius."

Lane 4 - This Is Grimsby posts "Medley king Tom has shot at London 2012.  EENAGE swimming talent Tom Paine has a shot at qualification for London 2012 after qualifying for the British Olympic Trials."

Lane 5 - Dorset Echo posts "Fancy dress swimmers make best West Bay Wallow so far.  NUNS, witch doctors, Santas and even Oompa Loompas took the plunge at the best West Bay Wallow so far.  They were among the 156 fancydressed swimmers to make a splash at the slipway in the seventh Boxing Day extravaganza."  Isle of Wight News has "Ventnor Boxing Day Swim: Over A Thousand Watch 100+ Swimmers.  Many gathered at Ventnor beach for the now-traditional Boxing Day Swim, raising money for PATCH, an Island cancer charity."

Lane 6 - Sooke News Mirror posts "Tide is turning for Rip Current masters.  Fifth place out of 18 teams at an Island swim meet is not a bad place to be, especially when you take into account that many of the members on the new SEAPARC Rip Currents masters swimming team have never competed before.  Masters swimming is an international adult program that is a carry over from competitive swimming, said Bell. There are regional, provincial national and even world events."

Lane 7 - StAugustine.com posts "Polar Bear swim New Year's day.  Join St. Johns County lifeguards with a plunge in the chilled waters of the Atlantic in the annual New Year’s Day Polar Bear swim. The one-mile swims are not competitive and take about 30 minutes to an hour to complete, depending on the water conditions. Wet suits are advised."

Lane 8 - Non-swimming but incredible story from The Villages Daily Sun "96-year-old Villages yoga instructor inspires her students."

No Swim. All Ride.

So no swimming today as I did a mini-marathon Group Ride today.  With vacations one of the instructor taught the the morning classes today.  That's 5:45, 7:00, 8:15 and 9:30 all back to back.  Since she has been mentoring me she got to get off the bike for the last three listed above and had me on the bike upfront "co-teaching."  She did most of the talking but I spoke up from time to time and gave some direction.  I didn't know the releases she did so I had to play it by ear.  Had a blast and a damn good workout.

RIP My iPod Nano! Damn You!

So I lost my iPod Nano at my gym last week.  Damn you who ever has it.  It had been crashing a lot and one of the buttons was sticking.  I so should have sent it back to Apple for repairs.  But I didn't and I guess I lost it.  So now comes the big question?  What do I replace it with?

The Cheap Solution:  The Shuffle?It's only 50 bucks.  If I ever do somehow misplace it I won't care so much.  Plus I'm poor and broke right now.  So 50 bucks isn't so bad!

The moderate solution with more options:  The Nano?
More control of music.  More music?  Playlists?  So much better but with options of  8GB: $129.00 or 16GB: $149.00.  16GB in Pink is pretty cool!

Oh My Did I Win Lottery Option:  MotoACTV GPS and Music for runners?  Oh wait how much?  $249.99  for 8GB!  HOLY COW.

I think the shuffle will just be the stop gap filler till I can afford another Nano.  I do think the MOTOactv is great but I just can't afford it right now.  Maybe I should give up running?

The lack of speed in this one is disturbing!

The lack of speed in this one is disturbing!  Or at least that is how I felt this morning. 

Warm Up
500 Mixed then 200 Kick (700)

Main Set:
6x50's on 50 Pace
300 FAST on 4:30
4x50's on 50 Pace
200 FAST on 3:00
2x50's Pace on 50
100 FAST on 1:30+30
4x100's IM Descending on 1:45 (1600/2300)

Oy!  I was feeling super slow at first.  I was in the low 3:50's for the 300.  The 200 I was 2:30 and the 100 on 1:04.  Those were all free.  The IM's I was 1:35, 1:25, 1:20 and 1:11.  Not the greatest times but not bad.  It wasn't to about the 100 fast free that I felt okay swimming.  For the most part it was a struggle.

Warmed down an easy 100 for 2,400 yards. 

Yesterday I got in a really hard Group Ride (Spinning Class.)  Oy!  That was all I did since I had a very early morning at work.  Taking any class at all was a miracle.  Today I have Group Power at noon.  This weekend with the holiday I'll be swimming both days and that is it.  Monday it's Power and Swim while Tuesday I'll be taking 3 Group Ride Classes in a row.  OY!

When The Wheels Fall Off The Bus or When I Swim Breaststroke.

When The Wheels Fall Off The Bus or When I Swim Breaststroke.

Last night I went to bed early and without a drop of wine.  I was just wiped out.  So I was hoping to have a good morning swim today.  But for whatever reason my body just couldn't wake up.  It wasn't a struggle to swim but during some of the breaststroke swimming I felt like the wheels had fallen off the bus.  My stroke was a mess and I was just sloppy at times.

Warm Up
Mixed 450 / 200 Kikc (650)

Tune Up
5x50's on 50
400 Pace

My 400 pace was about 16/17.  I was aiming for 15's.  Nothing too fast since I felt like I was still warming up.  I just couldn't muster any speed out of my arms today.  (650/1300)

IM Set
6 Rounds - 100 on 2 Minutes followed by a 25.

I did a modified IM - 25 fly/25 back/ 50 breast then 1 25 rotating fly/back/breast.  By the time I was in my breast rounds of the 25's I was feeling the wheels fall off the bus.  So my 3rd 100 I did it IM and the 6th I did 50 fly/ 25 back/ 25 breast. (750/2050)

Then I just warmed down an easy 150 to round up the yardage to 2,200 yards. 

Yesterday I did get some good gym time in with the noon time Group Ride (Spinning) followed by a quick run outside, 18 minutes on the Precor Crossramp (while watching the end of Days of Our Lives) then finished up with 30 minutes in another Group Ride class with my boss. 

As for the run it really wasn't much.  I wasn't feeling like going running so I had to force myself.  I went into an area I hadn't been before.  I really should map these out before I go outside running. I'm trying out a few alternate routes around the gym that have less traffic as the snowbirds return in mass in about a week.  For the next month or two the population explodes around here and it has been already ramping up.  My last time running I had to dodge a bit of traffic and it was frustrating.  So I need to find the less busier and wider streets to go running.

Today I'll be taking Group Power at noon.  Other then that it's all up in the air.  Tomorrow I'll be skipping swimming as I have an early morning at work.  But I'll get in a Group Ride tomorrow.