Today I gave myself a bit too ambitious workout. It was going to 5,000 yards which is in itself ambitious. I could have sucked it up and finished it even with a cramp in my leg but decided to save it for another day.
I started off with a short warmup of 300 swim, 300 kick, 300 pull. So a 900 yard warm up. I don't know why I didn't just do another 100 to round it up but it ended up working out at the end of it all.
Next up was a stroke warm up since the main set was all stroke.
200 IM Kick
200 IM Pull
200 IM 25 drill / 25 swim
I didn't do this on any interval and got to admit the pulling killed me so I rested for a few seconds at the 1/2 way point. (600/1500)
Now the main set. I modified it from a Sunday afternoon workout I did in February which you can see HERE. As for today this is how I did it:
3x50's backstroke on 55
3x100's IM on 1:45
3x150's 100 Back / 50 Free on 2:20
rest about 1 min or so to square up the clock.
3x50's free on 55
3x100's IM on 1:45
3x150's all free on 2:10
This time i rested a bit more then a minute as I was chatting it up.
3x50's back on 55
3x100's IM on 1:45
3x150's 100 Back / 50 Free on 2:20
Then once again took some time for water and some more chit chat. I was getting tired but I had one more round to go. Since this round was to be butterfly I started to fiddle with the set.
6x25's fly on 30
3x100's free kick on 2 minutes
then as I was about to start my 150's with fly I pushed off the wall and cramp. Doh! I knew it was coming when I was kicking. I should have just drank more water and rest a bit more. But the pool was slowly getting crowded and I was losing my private lane
I just warmed down a 100 free. So that was 3,250 with the warm down for that set. Total yardage was 4.750 yards. Not bad.
Luckily the Crepe'n Around Food Truck was parked right outside. So after my workout I got to eat in the park. I ordered just the veggie crepe. They were out of garlic fries. So sad! I love garlic fries. Garlic fries make Dodger games worth going to. Anyways I was either really hungry or I had the best veggie crepe ever! You can follow them on twitter @crepenaround.
I am beginning to get a nice golden brown tan from swimming in the day time as opposed to 6am or 7pm. Me likey!
I started off with the usual warm up of 400 swim, 300 pull, 200 kick and 100 swim. Then I put on my Finis Zoomers to do a warm up set. I decided to start using them
more this month. I noticed in my backstroke kick I was able to do the kick that helps me rotate as opposed to my usual flat kick. So I did 8x50's alternating kick / drill. I did 2 fly, 2 back, 2 free and then 2 breast. Did the breast at the end so I had time to take off the fins and not have to put them back on. That is 1,400 yards.
Main Set:
I found this set from a short time ago and just adjusted it just a bit.
200 Free Recovery on 2:50
2x75's Breaststroke on 1:20
1x100 Free on 1:20
4x50's Breaststroke on 55
Took a bit of a rest. Maybe a minute or so.
200 Free Recovery on 2:50
2x75's Backstroke on 1:15
1x100 Free on 1:20
4x50's Backstroke on 55
I really worked those 4x50's backstroke. I had my own lane so I decided to cruise the 50's at a good clip. After I took a quick pee break before moving on.
200 Free Recovery on 2:50
2x75's Butterfly on 1:20
1x100 Free on 1:20
4x50's Butterfly on 55.
55 sounded like a good interval for the 50's fly but even with the long rest I was getting winded and tired. Took another quick break before moving on.
200 Free Recovery on 2:50
2x75's Freestyle on 60
1x100 Free on 1:20
4x50's Freestyle on 40
The whole set was 2,600 yards. The freestyle was killing me. My body was hurting all over. I just kept going knowing I was pretty much down for the day (2,600/4,000)
I then warmed down with 4x25's backstroke kick. I tried to stay under water for as long as I could. Mostly I was trying to get some sun on my other side. So the workout was a total 4,100 yards. I can't believe I did that much breaststroke. I hate breaststroke. But not having someone on my feet allowed me to relax and work on my stroke. Not that I really have a clear concept on proper breaststroke technique. But at least I did it. I originally had written down a 400 IM at the end of this workout but felt it was time to go home. Another time...
Before hitting the pool I did hit the gym for some weights. Worked on chest and arms. I went right from the gym to the pool. I had planned on hitting the gym early this morning but that didn't happen. Last night I ate KFC for dinner and well let's just say I spend some time praying to the porcelain god. So I didn't sleep well after that. Since the pool and gym are so close to each other I decided to do back to back workouts. I'll pay for it later.
Warmed Up
400 Swim
300 Pull
200 Kick
100 Swim
During warm up my stomach still felt a bit sour from last night. Was thinking of giving up and going home. But I stuck with it and after a few dozen burps I felt better.
Main Set:
4 Rounds - One of each stroke IM Order. So one round fly, one round back, etc....
100 Kick on 2 mins
75 Swim on 1:15
50 Kick on 60
25 Swim on 30
I took some extra rest and did the set again but a bit different
100 Swim on 1:30
75 Kick on 1:30
50 Swim on 60
25 Kick on 30
Once again one round of each stroke IM Order. The fly felt pretty good. Breaststroke was a struggle but it always is. Had to add some extra rest to the breaststroke intervals.
I then did the entire thing a second time taking some rest in between the rounds. The entire set was 4,000 yards. I had the lane to myself for the most part. Every so often someone would get in my lane but then move over. When I first got in the pool people had already taken over the fast lanes so I started in the medium lane. I moved over before I was done with the warm up. I think it's funny that in both swimming on a team and swimming in lap swims that people really have this thing about swimming in the fast lane. Like it's so important that they be swimming in the fast lane. It's all relative and I'm sure they'll be a time when I need to move down but ya know I won't care. It doesn't really matter to me what the sign says at the end of the lane. All that matters to me is that I am swimming. With warm up I swam 5,000 yards today.
Warmed up the usual 400 swim, 300 pull, 200 kick and 100 swim. Then went into the main set:
6x50's free swim on 60
4x100 free swim on 1:30
3x200's on 2:40
4x100's in 1:20
6x50's free on 40
I took some extra rest after the 1st rould of 4x100's and after the 3x200's. The set was 2,000 yards.
then I did a series of kick sets. I broke up what was going to be 10x100's kick just cuz' kicking is boring.
5x100's kick on 2:05. I put a 5 in the interval so it was easier to count how many 100's I had done. Decided to do that when I was going to do all 10.
8x25's kick on 30 2 of each stoke IM order.
1x100 fly kick
1x100 free kick.
So 1,000 kick. I did this relaxed at the end enjoying the sun. I did work the 5x100's as I was trying to keep pace with someone swimming in the next lane.
50 easy to get my arms back.
3x300's pull on 4 minutes.
50 easy.
The workout was 5,000 yards. I was toying with the idea of staying but I needed food!
Yesterday's spin / 24cycle class really did a number on my legs. As soon as I hit the water I knew I was in for some pain. Luckily the sun came out long enough for me to get in a good afternoon swim and I had my own lane to boot! Well one guy did swim a 50 with me before moving over.
Warmed Up
400 Swim / 300 Pull / 200 Kick / 100 Swim
I actually did a bit of kicking today!
Two Rounds:
100 freestyle kick on 2 minutes
75 freestyle swim on 60
50 freestyle drill on 60
25 swim on 30
100 butterfly kick on 2 mins
75 butterfly swim on 1:15
50 butterfly drill on 60
25 butterfly swim on 30
100 backstroke kick on 2 mins
75 backstroke swim on 1:15
50 backstroke drill on 60
25 backstroke swim (1500/2500)
Lots of kicking in that set. Since the interval was pretty easy I was able to kick that much. I worked the 75 and 25 swims. The drills on 60 was time to think about the drills and recover a bit.
Next...
100 Butterfly on 1:30
2x50's Butterfly on 60
4x25's Butterfly on 30
take an extra 30 seconds rest
100 Backstroke on 1:30
2x50's Backstroke on 60
4x25's Backstroke on 30
600 Yards so that was 3100 Yards.
I then started another set only not to finish it. I was tired. I did a 200 freestyle then another 100 which was 50 fly / 50 free. The set was 5x200's starting with free and adding a 50 stroke till a full 200 IM. I just gave up. So another 300 yards for 3400 yards. When I added it up in the pool I counted 3500 but that was wrong. But 3400 yards in about 60 minutes isn't so bad.
Hopefully the rain won't be so bad tomorrow. I'd like to get in a swim in. If not I'll make it up over the weekend. Maybe get my base lap swims to at least 4,000 yards. Who knows by next week I may be just watching soaps and eating bon bons.
Heading to swim practice the day after a swim meet is always a mixed bag. For the first half of the workout I feel still and sore but I always think I'm now recovering. Then comes the second half in which I am just beaten. My body is aching all over and I start to get slower and slower. Even with that said I really tried to focus on what various coaches have been telling me about my stroke and putting it to use.
Warm Up
400 Swim
Hmm...then 3x100's which were 50 drill / 50 swim 10 seconds rest. Drills were one arm, finger tip drag and fist. (300/700)
Then a 400 Pull. I tried working on rotating my hips by doing some alternate side breathing. The 1st 100 I breathed every 3 then after that every other 50. I use to always breath every 3 but at some point stopped swimming that way. Need to work on that slowly in warm up and eventually into my main sets. (400/1100)
Main Free Set:
300 on 4 mins
2x150's on 2 mins
4x75's on 1 min
Felt good in the 300 and I came in at 3:34. I got a bit slower towards the end but rallied by the last 75. (900/2000)
Then a 50 easy. (50/2050)
Then some stroke. 75 kick / 50 drill / 50 swim / 75 kick. I did butterfly. (250/2300)
Then a quick stroke set:
100 free on 1:20
4x25's stroke on 30 I did butterfly
take an extra 15 seconds rest
2x50's free on 45
2x50's stroke on 50. i did butterfly
take and extra 15 seconds rest
4x25's free on 30
100 stroke on 1:30. I did butterfly
take and extra 15 seconds rest.
100 free on 1:20
4x25's stroke on 30 I did backstroke
take an extra 15 seconds rest
2x50's free on 45
2x50's stroke on 50. i did backstroke
take and extra 15 seconds rest
4x25's free on 30
100 stroke on 1:30. I did backstroke. (1200/3500)
The fly felt okay. Not great but not horribly painful. Something did dawn on me when swimming the fly today. The other week in boot camp class at the gym and in the pool sometimes that when raising my hands above my head it's a lot easier for me to do a superman position with my hand above but with space between compared with overlapping hands and streamlined. I did have a pinched nerve a year ago on one side but that shouldn't be a problem with the other side. Wondering if it's a butterfly thing or just that I'm too stiff up in the shoulders. I'll need to do some research.
After that we did about 2 minutes of deep end kicking. And with a 100 warmdown my total yardage today was 3,600 yards. Not bad. Feeling a bit stiff from yesterday still so maybe I should hit the gym for a yoga class either today or tomorrow.
Actually had the song The Stroke in my head during workout. Mostly because it was an all stroke workout. It was a tough workout which was even harder by some lane mates nipping on my heels. Doh!
Warm up started off pretty slowly on my part. The lanes were crowded so I keep eyeing the other lanes debating if I wanted to move down to have less people. Mind you I wasn't the slowest in the lane but sometimes it's just easier to move down for me. My ego can handle swimming in the medium lane. I know for some they just want to swim in the fast lane even if they will need to cheat and sit out parts of the workout. So my warm up was I don't know, let's say a 400.
Drilling Warm Up Set:
3x75's Drilling. IM Order, no free and 1 of each stroke. I was getting a bit pissed off as I could see people in my lane swimming free instead of butterfly and swimming in general instead of drilling.
3x50's 25 drill / 25 swim same way as the 75's
3x25's swim working our underwater and first few strokes, blast off I think the coach calls it. ditto im order
3x50's kick ditto im order
3x25's swim ditto im order and blast offs.
I don't remember the intervals. Hell I wasn't really paying attention since I wasn't leading. (625/1025)
Kicking Warm Up Set:
3 Rounds -
150 Kick
100 Kick
50 Kick
I did round 1 and 3 butterfly on my back. Working those abs. For round 2 I did freestyle with the board. I am the worst freestyle kicker! Knowing that and being passive aggressive is why I did freestyle. While kicking butterfly on my back I kept seeing the person behind me swimming to keep up. I did hope to whack him in the head with my butterfly kick but that didn't happen so I figured I'd slow up thinking maybe then he'd kick. I gotta admit it did make me kick harder then I'd like. So for all of the aggravation to me it did have some benefit. (900/1925)
At least by now one person got out of the workout so the lane was down one person.
50 easy so now we are up to 1975 yards. Ahh...1975 such a nice year. I remember it well. That was the year I went to kindergarden. One day my mother gave me the choice of either a Hostess Cupcake or a Korb's Bakery Oversized Chocolate Chip Cookie. For some reason I wouldn't give in that day to only having one snack. I wanted both. So either I snuck both snacks or my mother gave in. Well it was also the last day of a school mate who I liked. Since I had two snacks it took me longer to eat and then clean up. I ended up missing saying good bye to my friend at the time. Starting another 35 years of anti-social behavior by me. Anyways...
Main Set:
200 Stroke on I think 3 mins. I did backstroke. (200)
50 easy free on some interval that i can't remember. (50/250)
4x25's butterfly on some interval that well ditto (100/350)
50 easy free on some interval that i can't remember. (50/400)
2x100's stroke on I think 1:40. I did backstroke. (200/600)
50 easy free on some interval that i can't remember. (50/650)
4x25's fly. ditto on interval (100/750)
50 easy free on some interval that i can't remember. (50/850)
4x50's stroke on some interval. I did backstroke. (200/1050)
50 easy free on some interval that i can't remember. (50/1100)
4x50's fly on some interval (200/1300)
50 easy free on some interval that i can't remember. (50/1350)
8x25's I did backstroke. (200/1550)
50 easy free on some interval that i can't remember. (50/1600)
8x25's fly (200/1800)
50 easy (1850)
I think that was 1,850 yards. So that would be a total of 3,725 yards. I then did another 50 to warm down for 3,750 yards. Crazy as it sounds but two mates in the lane next to me and the lane leader in my lane did the entire thing butterfly (except the 50 easy frees). CRAZY! If I had done that I would have been pulled out of the pool and put in a hearse. And if that isn't crazy enough for you...two of them did a 200 for time after all this. FUCK! I am a slacker! I shouldn't say they are crazy because it's inspiring. It pushes me to work harder when I see it.
Overall it was a good workout. It started off a bit on the bad side but once I got going it was okay. Now with three good workouts in a row it sorta blew my theory that I was only having good workouts every other workout. For a while it seemed I'd have one good workout then a bad workout then a good workout. This past week I've seemed to settle in. Good thing with a swim meet this weekend. Well unless it rains...
Early today I ran the 1.8 miles to the gym before my weight training. Weight training bores me but I know it's something I gotta do. Afterward I ran home. Runnilng to the gym is all downhill which means running home is uphill.
Then this evening I cycled to the pool. It's a few blocks further from the gym so it's no big deal. Actually I always feel pretty much awake by the time I get to the pool. But like running it's all downhill to the pool and uphill after workout to get home. Hitting the hill on the way home is a bitch but it's worth it. Making my weak little legs a bit stronger each time up that hill.
Tonight at the pool we had the choice between a stroke workout or a freestyle workout. I jumped in the fast free lane as did one other swimmer. Felt bad that some of the other lanes had 5 people in them but oh well. Pretty much it was the two of us for the whole workout but we did have the wall lane so that sucked.
Warmed up a 400 swim followed by a 100 kick. (500)
We did a short warm up set 3x100's taking 10 seconds rest. Each 100 was 50 drill / 50 swim. The drills were one arm, finger tip drag and then catch up. (300/800)
Then we went right into 5x200's. 1/3/5 were pulling on 1:35 and 2/4 were swim. The 3rd one was also breath controll every 3/5/any/7 by 50. I missed the interval on that one. I hate breath control. (1,000/1,800)
We went right into 5x100's pace on 1:15 (500/2,300) The first two felt sorta sluggish but then I found my pace. I was thinking I was going to fast and feared what was next.
Next up right after that was an 800 FAST for time. I lead the lane and felt the pressure to keep up a good pace. Usually when we do a distance for time I look up after each 100 I look up to see the clock to find my pace. But with the lifeguard stand in the way I could only guess on my pace. I ended up doing it in 9:36. (800/3,100)
then a quick pee break and a 50 easy. (50/3150)
200 rotating 50 fist drill / 50 swim (200/3350)
then 4x25's kick on 35 (100/3450)
The we did the following 3 times (maybe 4 but lets say 3) -
100 DPS on 1:20
2x50's build on 40
4x25's sprint on 30
we took 20 seconds rest in between each round to square up the clocks (900/4,350)
then we did 12x25's on 30 4 fly / 4 free / 4 back. I was dying so sprinting wasn't happening for me. (300/4,650)
after i just did a 50 warm down and got out for a total of 4,700 yards. Funny I started the workout struggling and somehow found my swim mojo! Glad I stayed and stuck it out.
Well not every Sunday but today at swim we did a mostly freestyle workout. Which turned out to be a good thing. I didn't know which Joel had shown up for practice till we got to the main set. Would it be the Joel who can swim and do decent times or would it be that evil Joel from Friday whose stroke fell apart and was having a tough go of making easy intervals. Luckily the Joel who can swim and push himself to go a bit faster was the one who showed up but he didn't show till he was "forced" to show up.
Warm Up was the usual 10 minutes. I did a 750. I did 200 swim, 200 pull, 100 IM then just swam till we got held up.
After that we had a warm up set. I don't remember it all. I know we did the set a few times and it started with a 25 freestyle kick. We also did some drills: catchup, finger tip drag and fist. Each round also had a 100 distance per stroke. Other then that the set has slipped my mind. Let's say we did it twice. So that would be at least a 50 kick, 300 in drill work and 200 swim. (550/1300) I know it was more then that but whatever.
Then we did 4x50.s First one reverse build, second one build, third one easy and the last one sprint. I don't remember the interval. (200/1500)
Main Set:
This was when I had to put up or shut up. Well at least move down a lane. The coach gave us the set and send offs. Then was moved on other swimmer to the lane I was in and said you guys will be 5 seconds faster and then pointed out which parts we would be 5 seconds faster. WTF? Ummm...faster lane, me? Then I went second in the lane so I had to keep up a decent clip since the guy behind me should have been second. I just wanted to draft off him and hope to make the intervals and the descends.
Four Rounds
75 on 55
25 on 25
50 on 40
25 on 25
3x100's descend on 1:25. The 100's had the built in rest as they were the descend portion. The 75/25/50/25 were to be swam just to make the interval. We also got extra rest after each round.
That 2nd 25 was always touch and go but then it was the 1st 100 which was to be descended off. By the third round I was a bit nervous if I would be able to keep it up. But I was able to tough it out. Getting past the 75/25/50/25 on the last round was a bit easy at least in my mind. But those last 3x100's were tough. The very last was rough but I was able to pull some speed out. (1700/3200)
We then went on to a final set...
20x25's on the following pattern -
1 butterfly kick on your back on 30
1 butterfly swim on 30
1 easy choice on 35
1 fast choice on 35
I did all the fast ones butterfly. (500/3700)
Then I swam a 100 warm down. I should have done more but I was beat and just wanted to head home. Tomorrow it'll be a rainy morning so I plan on skipping swimming. If the day dries up I may swim at night. After this week I will swim the meet at UCLA and be done for SCY season. Yes! No Nationals for me this year so I can swim for fun. If I have a bad workout or just don't feel like waking up at 5am to go swimming I don't have to. I don't plan on taking time off but I will skip workouts from time to time. Mostly I'd like to work on my stroke technique. Today I got some great feed back that I want to work on.
As for the rest of my weekend I skipped the gym this morning. I woke up and hit snooze a few times and just didn't feel like it. I attended The Biggest Loser Boot Camp Class yesterday at my local 24 Hour Fitness and I will admit I was hurting this morning. I was using muscles in different ways then when I swim or run. The class was fun and I'd like to take more aerobic / boot camp classes. Just to mix it up from time to time.