June Rearview Mirror: Swim, Running and Cycling

Here is June by the numbers:

I ran 15.92 miles.  Not a big running month but more then May.  Hopefully July will be the month I run again! 

Compared to past months:

May I ran 3.08 miles.
April I ran 28.23 miles.
March I ran 91.35 miles.
February I ran 75.14 miles.
January I ran 124.97 miles.

338.69 miles for 2010.

I swam 43,650 SC Yards and 4,000 LC Meters for the month.

Compared to past months:

May I swam 55,000 SCY
April I swam 46,050 SCY
February I swam 53,250 SCY
January I swam 46,750 SCY

235,225 SCY for 2010.

And since I cycled in June for the first time in ages I have some miles logged.  64.98 miles to be exact.

And that was June by the numbers. 

Sleep Swimming - Insomnia Strikes Back

Chalk it up to stress over various things but I've been battle restless nights for the last month.  This ongoing lack of sleep is making my morning workouts seem like impossible tasks.  Last night was one of the worst nights as I would get about 40 minutes of sleep then wake up, toss and turn then fall back asleep for another 40 minutes.  Finally around 4:45am I gave up and got up to check emails and get ready for 6am swim.  I didn't get a new air tube for the rear tire on my bicycle but luckily I have access to another bicycle at the moment.  So I cycled to the pool.  Unluckily I realized that the brakes don't work very well on this bicycle. 

Once at the pool I felt like a zombie of the night.  I spent the whole workout just trying to wake up and get my body into gear.  I warmed up a 500 mix swim / pull and a 100 kick.  It was a very slow warm up as I was just sleep swimming. 

Warm Up Set:
50 Fist Drill / 200 Pull / 400 Distance Per Stroke.  (650/1250)

5x100's Pace on 1:15.  I started off with a 1:07, then a few 1:08's and finished up with a 1:09.  (500/1750)

Grr...can't remember the whole workout. 

500 on 6 Minutes. Followed by something. 

Then something here.  Then we did some 50's and 25's.  I think maybe 4x50's build on 45. As for the 25's I just don't remember maybe 4 of those also.  (300/2050)

I'll have to update this post when/if I remember. 

Stroke Warm Up:

50 Drill / 100 Swim / 50 Drill / 50 Swim.  (250/2300)  I did this butterfly.

Stroke Set:

100 on 1:30

2x50's on 50

extra 30 seconds

4x50's on 50

4x25's on 30

I did this all fly.  (500/2800)

That's 750 yards fly.  It was bit tough but I made it.  I was tired and sore but I pushed myself.  Was easier that there was only two of us in the lane so I didn't have to worry about one arm butterfly.  I was able to just get into the stroke and keep at it.  Will admit I did hang at the walls a bit longer than I should have to get an extra second or so rest from time to time.

Warm downed a 150. (150/2950)

The Flat Morning

Finally a night that for the most part I slept all night.  Of course I didn't fall asleep to after midnight and was up at 5 but that is a full night.  Once up I grabbed my stuff for swimming and cycled to the pool.

Started to warm up and was feeling sluggish.  I don't know what it is but it seems to take me longer and longer to be able to wake up and swim.  Swam about a 400.

Warm Up Set:

4x150's Kick.  (50 breast / 50 free on side / 50 fly on side)  Took a 100 off for a pee break.  So wasn't feeling the set.  Was ready to just go home.  (500/900)

2x300's Pull descending on 4:15 or was it 4:30.  My lane was the slower of the two fast lanes.  The first 300 I pulled it nice an easy feeling comfortable.  The second 300 I tried to get some speed but it just wasn't there.  Around the 200 mark I was so hating the workout or at least myself.  (600/1500)

Main Set:

12x150's as follows.

4 Free on 2:00 Descending

4 75 Free / 75 Stroke on 2:20 Descending

4 All Stroke on 2:30 Descending

The freestyle 150's were okay.  Not saying I was swimming super fast but comfortable.  Better then the 300's at least.  Which isn't saying much.  During the 75/75's 150's I was beginning to feel a bit better.  It was like I was finally waking up.  Then the last which were the all stroke felt good.  I was able to crank up some speed.  I did backstroke for all my stroke.  I was going to do the 75's butterfly but chickened out in fear I'd die during the 150's stroke.  There was NO extra rest between each set of 4.  Also since the coach didn't specify a slower interval for our lane which I'm sure was just implied I did the faster lane's interval so I didn't have to think about intervals on top of remembering how many and what stroke to do.  (1800/3300)

Then we did 8x25's on 30.  25 Easy Free / 25 Sprint Free or Fly no breathing.  The first two fly no breathers were doable.  But then the third I needed more.  I like oxygen!  (300/3600)

Overall the workout wasn't so bad once I woke up.  3,600 yards was the total workout.  I think that will be it for swimming until Monday.  No more Sunday afternoons and don't know if I want to drive all the way to Roosevelt to swim early on Sunday morning. 

On the way home I had a flat.  Tried putting air in the tire but it didn't take.  So I had to walk home.  Grrr....

Cycling, Lifting and Swimming.

Yesterday morning I got on my bike and cycled the 5.05 miles to the 24 Hour Fitness near Western and Wilshire.  Once at the gym I worked on my usual routine of arms, chest, shoulders and some ab work.  I then showered and got dressed and walked with my bike the few blocks to work.  At the end of the day it was time to cycle back.  The ride home was a bit longer and had more traffic so I rode 6.23 miles home.  When I got home I debated on going swimming but I really needed the night off.  11.28 miles for someone who only does 2 miles every so often was a bit much. 

This morning I woke up at about 5:50am.  Just 10 minutes before swim practice.  DOH!  I grabbed my stuff and bolted out the door.  I biked to the pool hoping that would wake me up.  It's 2.25 miles but it wasn't enough to wake me up.

We had two fast lanes and I got into what I thought would be a slower fast lane but we did the same intervals.  Which were doable for everyone.  Today's workout was a sprint workout.  Since I had only been up 10 minutes I slept swam the warm up.  I did about a 250 before we started the warm up set.

I went last in the warm up set as I was just waking up and not ready to even attempt to go fast.  I'm struggling to even remember what it was.  I know it was some kick and a 100 pulling.  Hmmm...4x150's (100 breathing by 25 3/5/3/7 then 25 kick no board trying to get to the black line underwater then 25 butterfly kick on our backs) (600/850)

Warm Up:

300 IM 25 Drill / 25 Swim / 25 Free Swim on 4:50

200 Stroke 50 Drill / 150 Swim (i did backstroke)

100 IM Swim

4x50's Free Descend on 45 (800/1650)

50 easy (50/1700)

Main Set:

4 - Rounds

100 Recovery Free on 1:30

2x75's Stroke on 1:15

2x25's Same Stroke Sprint on 30

50 Choice Recovery on 60

50 Choice Sprint on 60 (1600/3300)

All the choice recovery 50's I did freestyle.  The stroke and sprint 50's I did the first round backstroke, the second round butterfly, the third round backstroke and the fourth round butterfly again.

I gotta admit once I got past the first part of warm up I was feeling good.  After the 300 IM I woke up and the 200 stroke felt good.  During the main set the butterfly felt pretty good.  The last 50 sprint butterfly I did a 32 for the 50 yards which isn't great but it was okay for the end of workout.  We had four people in our lane which made butterfly challenging at times.  I gotta admit for the 50's sprint I tried to time myself so I didn't do any one arm fly.  Luckily some people in my lane did breaststroke so I was able to just swim the full 50 without having to do any one arm. 

Glad I rushed to the pool and got in the swim.  Maybe I should sleep in to the very last minute more often.

That's A Little Better Swim Wise.

Sometime around 3am I woke up to the sound of the LAPD helicopter circling above my neighborhood.  Once up I was pretty much up for the rest of the night.  I did dose off for less then an hour but that was it.  So  by the time 5am rolled around I was up and ready.  Well as ready as one can be at 5am.  I felt pretty good so I decided to go swimming.  I got on my bicycle and road the easy down hill trip to the pool.

At the pool we had to wait about 5 minutes for the pool chemicals to balance out.  That is never a good sign.  The lifeguards mentioned that the chlorine was low so they added more.  I tested the pool using my Aquachek Test Strips from healthypools.org and it did read the chlorine was low.  When we did get in the water I could smell the the chloramines.  Yeah, that is my new word of the day.  CHLORAMINES.  I've learned from someone who knows that "The well-known 'chlorine smell' is actually caused by chloramines, which form when chlorine reacts with contaminants in the pool (body oils, urine, cosmetics, etc)."

Warm up was my usual 50 swim then some chat then another 50.  Only did about a 350 warm up.

Then we did a warm up set.

2x200's 100 Kick / 50 Drill / 50 Swim (400/750)

500 Pull (500/1250)

Main Set:

2x200's on 2:40 race strategy

take an extra 20 seconds

3x100's on 1:25 descend

take an extra 15 seconds

4x50's on 45 (800/2025) build within each 50

then we did some an easy 50 (50/2075)

some kick / drill stroke work.  2x100's I think.  (200/2175)

25 easy to the deep end (2200)

200 IM Fast (200/2400) no interval just fast technique

Stroke Set:

100 IM on 1:30

4x25's Fly on 30

take extra rest

100 IM on 1:35

4x25's Back on 30

take extra rest

100 IM on 1:15

4x25's breast on 30

2x25's free sprint on 30 (650/3050)

And that was it.  The easier intervals today made swimming a bit easier.  I don't want to say I felt strong swimming today but felt better then yesterday.  

Last Sunday Afternoon Swim

Good bye Sunday afternoon workouts.  Once again summer time is here and the pool opens up for more snotty little brats who pee in the pool and wear a ton of sunscreen which creates white slick waves of oil.  So till November no more afternoon workouts. 

I got in the water and slowly warmed up.  I'd guess I swam a 400.  Pretty much doing a few laps without counting. (400)

Warm Up Set:

Three Rounds -

25 Kick

50 Free Fist Drill

75 Kick

100 IM Drill

Took a quick pee break and missed a 50 during the last round.  (700/1100)

6x25's on 30.  1-3 Free / 4-6 Stroke.  (150/1250)

Main Set:

200 Free on 2:45 (200)

3x100's on 1:30 (i think)  These were stroke or IM.  I did them backstroke. (300/500)

4x75's Free.  I don't know the interval. (300/800)

3x50's Stroke (I think).  These were stroke and I did them backstroke. (150/950)

take 30 seconds rest.

200 Free on 2:45 (200/1150)

3x100's on 1:30 (i think)  These were stroke or IM.  I did them butterfly. (300/1450)

I then took a little bit rest and went last for the 75's but only did two before getting out.  (150/1600/ 2850)

For whatever reason I was tired and had no speed today.  During the warm up I just felt tired and almost got out.  But decided to stay in hoping my body would wake up.  Then came the main set and I still didn't feel right in the water.  I was sluggish.  I told myself just to finish the last of the 50's stroke.  Since I did backstroke during the first round I felt a bit better to swim the set.  I decided to swim the 100's butterfly.  Mainly since I was already feeling sluggish why not push myself.  If I can't get speed at least I could get something out of the workout.  Maybe too much as I had nothing afterwards.  I gave up after 2x75's.  I know I should have continued.  But tomorrow is another day.  A swim is a swim. 

Double Double Swimming

After this mornings swim I decided to hit the evening workout.  Twice in one day. 

400 Warm Up

10 Minutes Kick 20 seconds easy / 40 seconds fast or vice versa.  Kicked a 600.  (600/1000)

Then we did some drill work.  Started with 25's and 50's.  We worked on head position, breathing and hip rotation.  Let's say we did a 150.  (150/1150)

6x50's on 50 Free.  Working on what we learned from the drills.  Head position, high elbows and breathing.  (150/1300)

Main Set:

3x100's IM on 1:40

rest 20 seconds

3x100's IM on 1:35 Minus one stroke replaced by free.  I did 25 fly / 25 back / 50 Free

rest 20 seconds

3x100's IM on 1:30 Minus one more stroke replace by free.  I did 25 fly / 75 Free.

(900/2200)

And that was it.  I liked the workout.  Friday nights are 60 minutes and with a focus on drill work.  I like that.  Nice to slow up and learn to swim right.  With this mornings butterfly workout I was feeling strong during the fly tonight.  It was like this morning was my warm up.  Tonight I felt strong.  I almost mastered breathing keeping my head low.  Normally when I breath my head comes all the way out almost like I am about to look around. 

Friday Stroke Workout

After a couple of weeks of swimming at night my body has gotten use to being lazy and slow in the morning.  So as the WeHo Pool is open again it was a tough fight with myself to get myself into gear and in the water.  Once in the water it took me a few minutes of standing around before I actually started to swim.  I did a 350 for warm up.  The words "slow motion" could be used to describe my warm up.  After warm up we split between "freestyle" and "stroke" workouts.  It seemed more people opted for the "freestyle" workout so I moved to one of the two stroke lanes.  Our intervals were very generous in the "stroke" lanes.

4 Rounds (Odds Free / Evens Stroke)

50 Kick on 1:05

100 Kick on 2:10

50 Drill on 60 (I took a pee break and missed a 50 kick so I did 750/1100)

Main Set:

4x200's on 3:20 (800)

4x150's on 2:50 (i think it was suppose to be 2:30) (600/1400)

4x100's on 1:40 (400/1800)

4x50's on 50 (200/2000/3100)

The third one of each round was easy free.  I mixed it up with butterfly and freestyle.  For the 200's the first two I alternated by 25 fly / free but the last 200 swam it all fly.  I swam the 150's all backstroke.  The 100's I did butterfly and finished up with backstroke for the 50's.  The 200 all fly killed me.  Then the 150's I was able to recover and swim a few strong 100's butterfly.  Luckily the 3rd one was a nice recovery freestyle.  

6x25's on 30.  1 easy / 2 sprint.  I did my sprints butterfly.  Some how I was able to get some speed for the last two of the sprints.  (150/3250)

Swimming butterfly use to be a lot easier or maybe since I was swimming more butterfly it just seemed easier.  Swimming a 200 butterfly is pure torture right now.  But all in a good way.  My times in my butterfly swims were pretty slow but at least I finished.  Need to build up my endurance before I start worrying about my swim times.  Of course that is easy to say now but when I was swimming I was frustrated by my times in the 100's.  Oh well. 

A Good Nite For A Swim. At Least I Felt Good In The Water.

After last nights swim and then the gym this morning I debated on swimming tonight.  I decided to go thinking that I'd be having a tough go of it.  But actually I felt good till the last 10 minutes of workout.  Then I hit the wall or the wall fell on me.  Either way I skipped some 25's sprints and warmed down.

Warmed Up

500 Mixed swimming and pulling finishing with a 100 IM swim.

3 Rounds - 50 Kick / 50 Drill / 50 Swim / 50 swordfish w/ underwater recovery (i skipped a 100 for a pee break) (500/1000)

500 Pull (500/1500)

3x75's Build on 60 (225/1725)

Main Set:

10x50's on 45 Build

take 10 seconds rest

5x50's on 45 Pace

take 15 seconds rest

4x50's on 45 Fast

take 20 seconds rest

1x50 SPRINT. (1000/2725)

then we did a 100 easy (100/2825)

300 - 50 Kick / 50 Drill of fly then back and breast (300/3025)

Stroke Set"

100 IM on 1:35

50 Fly on 50

25 Fly on 30

25 Fly on 35

100 IM on 1:35

50 Back on 50

25 Back on 30

25 Back on 25

100 IM (500/3525)

then I just warmed down.  I skipped the breaststroke round and some 25's sprints.  I warmed up about a 125. The end of the workout was a total of 3,650 yards.  I gotta admit for most of the workout I was being pushed by another swimmer in the next lane.  Normally we don't swim at the same workouts till' we started swimming at Culver.  We seem to be very close in speed so we were neck and neck the whole workout.  It really pushed me.  Gotta admit I really like swimming side by side with someone close in speed who doesn't cheat.  Makes the workout a challenge. 

Sorta A Swim Workout.

Well that sucked!  Yesterday at the very end of swim practice I got a cramp in my right calf.  Which is pretty common.  Guess I'm not eating enough banana's and properly hydrating or drinking pickle brine.  Pickel Brine, yup according to the NY Times.  I guess knowing my leg had cramped up going on a 4 mile walk wasn't a smart thing to do after wards.   But knowing that I'd be going swimming tonight I did my best to hydrate and eat nutritionally all day.  My calf was feeling a bit sore today.  Guess I really over did it.  But with calf pain and my on going insomnia issues I decided to head to the pool and fight the pain. 

Once in the water I realized my body was still beat up from Sundays swim.  Not just my right calf.  I took warm up super easy only doing about a 400.  Then we had a kick set that I goofed off even more so.  I knew my leg wasn't going to like a kick set so I just barely kicked.  Luckily I was in a slower lane so it didn't matter.

100 easy kick on 2:15

2x50's kick on 60

100 easy kick on 2:15

4x50's kick on 60

100 easy kick on 2:15

6x50's kick

I missed about 2x50's for a pee break.  (700/1100)

Then it was some swim time.  6x75's Freestyle.  The workout was going to be a free workout.  I was leading but I don't remember the interval.  Something really easy so let's say 1:20.  They were as follows 1 easy / 1 working the turns with a 6 beat kick into the wall / 1 build and repeat.  Now as always when it comes to freestyle I have difficulties kicking and swimming at the same time.  I've been slowly learning with some measure of small success.  Now for the 75's that were 6 beat kick into the wall and work the turn boy did I screw up.  My first turn I was so thinking about the kicking I forgot I was about to hit the wall.  After that I just gave up.  Figured it was too much to think about.  (450/1550)

I was still feeling a bit wonky in the water before we started our main set.  During the 75's I was looking around at the lanes and trying to decide if I should have told the coach I was moving up into the faster lane but then would he have spread us out?  There was four already in that lane and three in ours.  I didn't want to be the 5th person.  I noticed the two medium lanes only had 2 swimmers in each.  But I decided to stay put.  Which was a mistake.  I had too much rest, had too much time to psych myself out and give up.  I ended up getting out early.  Here is what I did do...

50 easy on 60

200 Free on 2:45 ( i was getting 20 seconds rest)

50 easy on 60

2x200's Free on 2:45

50 easy

At this point I pretty much gave up.  I just didn't feel like swimming.  Partly I was tired and was afraid my calf would cramp up but mostly I was like "meh" about swimming.  I swam a 100 of what was to be the first 200 of three and got out.  It was one of those workouts in which small things started to bother me.  I figured it was best to call it a night.  (750/2300)  At least I got in 2300 yards.