Swimming With Toys

I was able to get a swim in today even though I didn't feel like swimming or doing much of anything.  Even while swimming I took it easy.  Was enjoying just being in the sun more then wanting to push myself in a workout.

Warmed Up

200 Swim

200 Pull

200 Kick

200 Pull

200 Kick

Then I did a 200 Swim.  So an even 1,000 yards.  

I switched it up and did another 1,000 of broken 200's but IM.

16x25's odds drill / evens swim

16x25's kick

umm...I can't remember the whole thing but it was 1,000 total.

Hmm...what else.  I did some pulling and swimming for another 1,000.  I was making the workout up as I was in the water.  I remember that I did 16x50's breath control by 50's every 3/5/7 and 9 four rounds.  After that I know I did some more 50's breathing every 3 and 5 counting my strokes for some distance per stroke.  This is when I started to forget how much I was swimming.  Counting strokes is hard enough for my little brain to handle never mind remember how much I swam.  I need an abacus!

At the end I was playing musical lanes trying to have my own lane.  That didn't work out so well.  So I warmed down doing some over / unders for 25's.  I don't mind sharing a lane but I did have to move to get out of one guys way.  Now I know my stroke isn't perfect or pretty to watch but this guys arms are all over and he doesn't swim straight down the lane.  He's all over and even worse when swimming backstroke.  Knowing that I got out of the lane right away.  But I did enough for today.  I wasn't motivated to workout so any swim is better then no swim.  I'd say in total I did about 3,400 yards give or take.  

4,000 Yard Quick Morning Workout

With a little less then about 5 hours sleep it was hard to get going this morning.  So after a late start I cycled to the pool.  Luckily it isn't that busy in the morning so I got in the lane with another "swimmer".  For the most part the "swimmer" stayed out of my way and moved to another lane so it worked out.

Warm Up

300 Swim

300 Pull

300 Kick 

100 Swim 

1,000 yard warm up.

Then it was time to ease into my 5x400 IM's.  It's an easy pattern to remember when swimming.  I use to carry a ziploc bag with a bunch of workouts in it but I lost the bag.  Doh!  But I am making the workouts up as I swim.

16x25's on 30 alternating 25 drill / 25 swim.  4 of each stroke so 4 fly, 4 back, etc.

8x50's on 50 IM order 1 fly, 1 back, etc. and repeat.

took a quick pee break but no break between the 25's and 50's.

4x100's IM swim on 1:40

2x200's IM swim on 3:00.

well one 200 on 3 mins really since I took another pee break but once again no break between the 100's and 200's. (2000/3000)

400 IM.   I took the fly out somewhat fast, didn't allow myself to slack off too much in the backstroke, tried to hold my breaststroke together at a fast pace for me and then worked the free.  

Then I took a breather and went on to the last part of the workout.

20x50's Pulling 1 breathing every 3, 1 breathing every 5, 1 breathing every 3 and 1 breathing every 7.  Repeating that pattern 5 times.  

First 12 of them on 55.

13-16 on 50

17-20 on 40.

I really was working on rotating my axis.  Alternate side breathing while pulling helps that.  I'm just more aware of my rotation when pulling.  That was another 1,000 so 4,000 yard workout for today.  

Updating since I forgot one thing.  I don't know how I forgot since it's hurting like a bitch.  Today I did something I haven't done in some time.  While doing a backstroke flip turn I hit my heal on the wall.  Ouchie!  Didn't break the skin or anything so no blood.  But it smarts!  Hopefully I'll be off my feet for a bit today.

The Morning 4400

Chilly & Windy morning here in LA.  I headed to the pool for the morning swim.  It wasn't so bad getting to the pool as the wind was to my back.  Mostly coasted.

Warm Up

300 Swim

300 Pull

300 Kick

100 Swim

So a nice easy 1,000 warm up.

Then I did 11x300's Freestyle.  It was a ladder set.

12x25's Freestyle. Alternating one arm drill / swim on 30.

6x50's Free on 45.

4x75's on 60.

3x100's on 1:15.  I was sharing a lane from the end of warm up to the 100's.  So annoying.  During the 50's I started almost a full 50 behind him but by the end was on his feet.  Grr...at least in the 100's he would stop at the wall before he moved over when I was finally done with the 100's. After these 100's I took an extra 15 secs rest to give him so space.

2x150's on 2:00.

300 on 4:00

2x150's on 2:00

3x100's on 1:20

6x50's on 40

12x25's on on 20

So that was 11x300's.  From the 1st round of 150's to the end with the 12x25's I swam it without any extra rest.  It was a good set.  Afterwards I just warmed down a 100.  For a total of 3,400 yards.

Cycling home wasn't fun.  I was going against the wind.  Felt like I was going backwards.

4x75's

3600 Yards On A Saturday Morning Swim

Well 1 out of 2 isn't so bad.  I had planned on waking up and getting to the gym to do some ab work and then go swimming.  But the coziness and warmth of my bed kept me in a bit longer this morning so I skipped ab work and just swam.  I had a busy day yesterday so I'll give myself some slack.  When I got to the pool I ran into a few swim mates so I swam with them.  They are a bit slower then me but it was okay as I did stroke while they did swim.  I don't know the full workout but it was about 3,600 yards.

Warmed up a mixed 600 or so.  

12x75's no interval broken into 4 sets of 3

Drill 75

Kick 75

Swim 75

Odds Free / Evens Stroke ( I did one round fly and one round back) (900/1500)

Then we did a set of

4 Rounds

100 Swim on 1:40

2x50's on 60

The first two rounds I did the 100's backstroke and 50's fly.  I took a pee break and a rest break and set out one 100 in the third round.  Did that to switch my 100's to fly and 50's to back.  (700/2200)

4 Rounds

50 on 60

2x25's on 30

I pulled the 50's doing breath control and the 25's I did 2 rounds fly and 2 rounds back. (400/2600)

Did a couple of easy 25's warm down.

Hmm...I am missin a 1,000 in there.  I don't think we just did 2,600 yards in over an hour.  Or did we?  Nah...they said they did 3,500 and I did a bit more after they left

Hmm...I must be missing something.  Oh well I'll be back in the pool tomorrow morning.  Hoping it'll be empty and I get my own lane.  Would like to do a freestyle sorta distance workout.  I've come to the conclusion that I like swimming distance freestyle with lane mates.  Swimming alone gets boring.  Which is odd cuz' in swim meets you swim alone basically.  Oh well, Happy Weekend!

Cinco Mil de Mayo a Nadar!

This morning I cycled over to the gym and did some weights.  I didn't think I'd get a chance to swim today so I really pushed myself at the gym.  Worked on chest and arms.  When I got home I found out that I did have the afternoon free.  So I ate a good breakfast and relaxed a bit.  A few hours later it was back at the pool.

Ahh....5000 yards.  That was my swim today.  I gotta admit I took it each and broke it down into groups.

Warm Up

300 Swim 

300 Pull (600)

Then I did a series of broken 400's concentrating on IM.

400 reverse IM kick (400/1000)

8x50's 25 drill / 25 swim IM order (400/1400)

4x100's Kick on 2:10 (400/1800)

16x25's on 30 IM Order 4 of each stroke (400/2200)

4x100's on 1:45 as follows 25 fly/75 free, 50 fly/50 free, 75 fly / 25 free, 100 fly(400/2600)

4x100's on 1:40 as follows 25 back / 75 free, 50 back / 50 free, 75 back / 25 free, 100 back. (400/3000)

4x100's on 1:45 as follows 25 breast / 75 free, 50 breast / 50 free, 75 breast / 25 free, 100 breast. (400/3400)

I had enough stroke so I switched to some easy free pulling.

12x50's Pull on 50.  1-4 w/o paddles, 4-8 breathing every 3 w/ paddles and 9-12 breathing every 5 w/ paddles.  (600/4000)

20x25's Swim 1 Fly, 1 Back, 1 Breast, 1 Free on 30's then 1 kicking underwater as long as possible then take a breather.  I was able to at least get 1/2 way on these and almost to the end at the end. (500/4500)

16x25's Kick 4 of each stroke reverse IM  (400/4900)

100 IM to warm down (100/5000)

I could have done more since it was a stretched out workout.  I should have done more freestyle pulling.  Oh well there is always tomorrow morning!

Quick Easy Lap Swim Workout

My goal was to swim this morning but even though I was up I just didn't feel like swimming.  Then I had a lunch meeting so couldn't swim the afternoon lap swim.  So I went to the evening swim.  I knew it was going to be busy so I went without a workout in mind.  Figured I'd just swim around people till I got tired or drowned one of the other swimmers.  Whichever came first.

Started off with my usual warmup.  400 Swim, 300 Pull, 200 Kick, 100 Swim.  So far so good with the lap swimmers.  Actually I gotta admit even when I shared the lane with two others we pretty much stayed out of each others way.

I then did 4x75's.  25 kick / 25 drill / 25 swim.  1 of each stroke.  (300/1300)

Then did 4x100's swim I did them on 1:25.  Nothing too hard.  (400/1700)

20x50's Pulling breathing every 3 strokes on 45.  I took some extra rest around the 8th, 10th and 15th.  Just to have some space in between me and the other swimmer.  (1000/2700)

Then I did 16x25's Kick.  4 of each stroke IM Order on 30 seconds.  (400/3100)

Finished up with 8x25's over / unders to warm down (200/3300)

And that was it.  Not a big workout but at least I got some cardio.  I cycled home with a quick stop at Trader Joe's.  Then a quick hike up Runyon Canon.  Now food and The Biggest Loser.

Saturday Super Soaker Ambush!

So after a nite of tossing and turning (i so need to stop falling asleep to X-File episodes) I gave up on sleep around 4:30.  Not that it mattered much since I had set my alarm for 5am.  Because I had two nightmares that I ended up waking up from I was a bit groggy this morning.  After about 200 mg of caffeine I was on my cycle to the gym.  Well not right away since I hadn't packed or got my stuff together last night.  I packed my swim bag for swim and got my gym attire on.  Now I was ready to cycle to the gym and get there just a bit after the 6am opening.  

On my way to the gym on Santa Monica Blvd between Kings and Olive a late model burgundy Cadillac with one of those fake cloth roofs slowed up beside me.  I remember thinking that it was odd that the window was open since it was so cold out.    And just then splat.  I was attacked by a super soaker.  Smack dab in the face.  Of course I freaked out.  I've heard of stories of people being attacked with acids and bleach from super soaker.  Was this some gay bashing?  I continued on my way trying to wipe it away.  I noticed the Caddy turned on Holloway.  While I was at the light on La Cienega I saw the car turn into the Alta Cienega Hotel.  This was between 5:55 and 6:00 I'm guessing.  I'm being pretty detailed in this just in case I have been poisoned and my face burns off or something like that.  Yeah, once again I gotta stop watching X-Files episodes.  

When I got to the gym I washed my hands and face with soap and water.  So far so good without any bad reactions.  Then again I was also in the chlorine pool after which is bothering me a bit.  I'm hoping it is just the chlorine and not the first stage of dioxin poisoning.

Once I started to work out the squirt gun incident faded away and I did my routine.  I did about 40 minutes of chest and arms.  Since lap swim at the WeHo Pool started at 7 I knew I didn't have much time at the gym.  And it being early Saturday the gym was pretty empty so I was able to hit the machines I wanted.  

I then cycled illegally on the sidewalk to the pool.  Tisk tisk!  Mainly it didn't make sense for me to cross the street only to have to cross back on over a few blocks away.  I figured I see people ride on the sidewalk all the time so I don't think they are enforcing the no sidewalk cycling rule.  When I arrived at the pool I'm second in line to enter the pool.  Not that it's important but I was hoping to secure my own fast lane right away.  The lifeguard walked by and mentioned that the chlorine levels might be off.  Ugh!  The four of us in line all moaned.  Luckily a minute later they opened the pool.  By the time I got out of my gym stuff and into my Splish bathing suit from RobAquatics I jumped in the only free lane.  The medium lane.  Doh!  I ended up having my own lane and after 30 minutes I moved into my own fast lane.  I just always laugh at people jumping into the fast lanes right away.  It's always men with damn egos.  

The Workout:

I started of with a 400 easy swim.  After swimming the first 200 free I then did the rest alternating by 25 free / back.  My reasoning was to work on my turns.  I figured going from free to back I would practice pushing off on my back instead of my side.  I just had to remember to do that from back to free turns.  I figure if I make a point to doing it in warm ups hopefully it'll come naturally.  I think I've tried this before only to forget about it.  But alas I will keep at it.

Then I did a 400 kick.  The workout is basically based on 400's.  

Then a 400 pull.  I did the first 100 easy w/o paddles.  The second 100 breathing every 3 w/ paddles.  The third 100 was 50 breathing every 5 and 50 breathing every 3 w/ paddles..  I then took off my paddles and pulled the last 100 breathing every 3.  The point of the 3 and 5 was to get myself rotating more in my freestyle.  Another thing I'm working on.  For whatever reason I'm more aware of it when I'm pulling.

Then I swam an easy 100.  Warm up was a 1,300.

The rest of the workout I made up as I was doing it.

4x100's on 1:30 as follows

100 free

25 fly / 75 free

25 fly / 25 back / 50 free

100 IM

I then did the set again but this time kicking.  

Then I did 4 Rounds of 4x25's Pull IM order on 30.  Resting between each round.

Then I did 4 Rounds of 4x25's swimming IM order on 30.  Resting between each round

4x100's on 1:30 as follows

100 free

25 fly / 75 free

25 fly / 25 back / 50 free

100 IM

Hmmm....I am missing a round.  That is only 5 Rounds of broken 400 IM's and I thought I did 6 Rounds.  I really was going to do a total of nine 400 IM's.  Next up if I had continued was going to be 4x100's IM, then 2x200's and finishing up with a 400 IM.  Well it was 6 rounds for a total of 2,400 yards for this set.  

I then warmed down 4x25's over / unders.  So with my warm down I swam 3,800.  The workout was to be 5,000 yards.  I only stopped as the pool was starting to get crowded and I lost being solo in my lane.  I knew the person who entered and could have swam around him but just gave up.  I figured 3,800 yards is good enough for an early morning workout.  

If the dioxin poisoning doesn't kill me I plan on celebrating Free Comic Book Day at my local comic book store Meltdown Comics.  The Grilled Cheese Truck will be there so another day of eating off a food truck!  It's a fun filled day if I don't die from the Super Soaker Attack!