Mind 0 Matter 1

The last day of February.  Leap Day.  After swimming the last four days in a row I should have leaped over today and stayed out of the water.  But I work up at 5am and got on my bike at 5:40am to get to swim.  I felt pretty good actually swimming but the intervals got to me.  I didn't stick it out and gave up too early.   Once I got out of the pool and was in the locker room I knew I could have stayed in and done the workout but when it's a mind over matter sometimes one gives up the fight.  Today was that day.

Warmed up on my own a mixed 300.  Then we moved on to a kick and drill set.  50 Drill / 3x100's Kick, 50 Drill  / 3x50's Kick, 50 Drill / 6x25's Kick.

Main Set:
4x100's Free.  Intervals 1:15/1:15/1:10/1:10
200 IM
3x100's Free.  1:15/1:10/1:10
2x150's IM on 2:10
Then I did a 50 out of a 100. 

These intervals were tough with me just barely making them with a second or two to spare.  If I had gone in a slower but still a fast lane I would have stayed in.  I just couldnt' keep it up at a fast pace.  Oh well I got 45 minutes of pool time in.  Taking the rest of today and Saturday off as my recovery time.  I'll be back in the pool Sunday at 3pm.

Thursdays Gym, Spin and Swim

Lately I've been having a hard time sleeping so I've been falling asleep on the couch watching Simpsons DVD's.   This morning waking up on the couch around 6am I hit snooze of my phone a few times and finally got up around 7am.  After that it was a very slow start before I walked the .7miles to get to the gym by 8am.  After an hour of weights and ab work I staked out my spin bike for the 9:15am class.  After about two months of the same songs the instructor had a new cd and I missed the old music.  I want the classic disco tunes back so bad!  At the end of the class the instructor gave me some compliment in front of the class that I brushed off out loud to which he then responded that I shouldn't be ashamed that I'm in better shape than the rest of the class.  Which really isn't saying much with the group that showed up this morning. 

This evening I got on the bike and biked the 2+ miles to swim.  I warmed up a 500 on my own.  Then we did quickly 2x50's scull drill before going on to some warm up set.  Six times something kick/drill/swim.  I don't remember or care.

Main Set:
50 Drill Free on 55
100 Kick Free on 1:50
2x100's Free Swim on 1:15
take 5 seconds rest
50 Stroke Drill on 55
100 Kick Stroke on 1:50
2x100's Stroke Swim on 1:30 (i did backstroke for this round)
take 5 seconds rest
50 Free Drill on 55
100 Kick Free on 1:50
2x200's Free Swim on 1:35
take 5 seconds rest
50 Drill Stroke on 55 did this fly
100 Kick Stroke on 1:50 mixed this up
2x200's Stroke Swim on 3:00.  I was in the wall lane so after doing the 1st one all fly I gave up and did the 2nd one 25 back / 25 fly.
5 seconds rest
50 Drill Free on 55
100 Kick Free on 1:50
2x300's Free Swim on 4:00.  The 2nd one I did on 3:24. 

50 easy

We then did 5 minutes kick.  50 Moderate / 25 Sprint.  I took a pee break and missed the 1st 50.

Then we got on the blocks and did 25 Sprints.  I think we did 4 of them.

Well dinner is here.  Time to eat and get to bed.

Back In The Pool 10 Hours Later

My original plans was to run the 2+ miles to practice this morning but after all the kick and spin yesterday my legs were not up to it.  So instead of running I got back on the bike.  Maybe if my legs recover later today I'll go for a short run.   Really trying to get in the running habit now that it is getting warmer here in LA. 

Warmed Up a mixed 400.

3x75 kick / 50 drill / 50 swim.  One Fly, One Back, One Fly.

You'll being to notice the Monday and Wednesday morning workouts will be mostly IM for a few weeks not by my choice but the coach's choice.

I think we did something else but I can't remember the workouts are all blurring together.

Main Set:
2x
200 Free on 3:00 Recovery
3x100 IM's on 1:30

Then we got up on the blocks to do 8 sprint 50's.  IM order on the coaches send off.

The workout shouldn't have been so hard but I was tired and sore from all the stroke last night so it was a struggle for me.  I was tempted to stay and do the 7:15 swim freestyle but I was getting leg cramps.  I blame leg cramps on kicking!  I really hate kicking as I'm sure I've mentioned several hundred times here.

Tuesday Spinning and Swimming

This morning I hit the gym for 50 minutes of weight training and spin class.  My favorite spin class is Tuesday morning at 9:15.  The first time I went I didn't like her and I think I referred to her as being too chipper and compared here to Katie Couric.  That was after only one class.  She grew on me. 

Tonight I took the bike for the 2 mile ride to swim practice.

Warmed Up 400 Swim / 250 Pull / 100 Kick

Kick Set:
I hate kicking so I took my time and took a pee break so I only did a 750 total.
300 Kick (okay did that)
3x100 Kick on 1:50  (missed a 100 for a pee break)
6x50's on 55 (missed one at the very end by kicking breaststroke and letting the first person to catch up)

6x50's Swim.  1-3 Free / 4-6 Stroke.  Mixed it up with Fly and Back

Main Set: 12x200's on 3:00 broken in groups of 4
4x200 50 Free / 150 Stroke.  I did these IM so butter, back and breast
4x200 100 Free / 100 Stroke.  I did these 25 fly / 50 back / 25 fly
4x200's 50 Free / 50 Stroke / 50 Free / 50 Stroke.  The first two I did 25 fly / 25 back.  The third one back and the last one fly for the stroke.

50 easy

6x25 on 30.  1-3 back / 4-6 fly.  One easy, one build and one fast.

Damn, this workout killed my legs.  I was cramping up by the last round of 200's.  During the 25's I couldn't kick.  Way too much leg work for one day.

Monday Swim

I know it's not snowing and really not that cold here in Los Angeles but this morning on the way to the 6am swim practice I was freezing.  I was riding my bike but even if I was driving it would still have been cold.  The pool water was way too warm again but it was nice for the 1st twenty five yards after biking in the cold.  I warmed up a mixed 500.  Monday's mornings have a low turnout in the fast lane mostly it's just me.  Some of the other swimmers don't like the Monday coach so they swim all weekend and use Monday as a recovery day.  Which leads me with my own lane.  Wahoo!  Overall turnout was low and we were two or one per lane. 

Warm Up Set
3x50 Kick / 50 Drill / 50 Swim / 50 Kick.  One fly, One back, One breast

Yeah, it's an IM workout today.  Another thing about is that this coach really pushes everyone to swim the Cal Tech Pentathlon so for the next month we'll be doing lot's of IM.

200 Pull IM

We didn't start our main set to about 6:45 so he had 45 minute of warm up.  After the 200 we did some 50's.  Can't remember how many.  But stroke.

Main Set:
200 on 4:00 Recovery Free
100 IM on 1:45
50 Fly on 60 SPRINT
25 Fly on 30 SPRINT
25 fly on 60 SPRINT
then after that she pushed my intervals while the other lanes continued on...
200 on 2:30
100 IM on 1:30
50 Back on 60 SPRINT
25 Back on 30 SPRINT
25 Back on 60 SPRINT
200 Free on 2:30
1oo IM on 1:30
50 Breast on 60 SPRINT
25 Breast on 30 SPRINT
25 Breast SPRINT

100 easy.

Then we did some jumping things.  Vertical pushoffs and frog jumps.  Don't ask me.  I then did a 25 warmdown.

Besides my own little blog here I've been updating our team blog the last week after we let it lapse a bit.  Check it out here

Lap Swim Morning

I woke up at 6am in order to hit the lap swim for 7.  Don't know if the fear or rain or the cold temps kept people away but I was able to have my own lane.  The pool was 1/2 empty for the 70 minutes I was in it.  I wrote down a workout before leaving figuring I'd be swimming around lap swimmers so I made the distances very short.

Warmed Up
300 Swim
300 Pull
200 Kick
100 Swim

1st Set:
16x50's
-4 Free on 50
-4 broken 25 stroke / 25 free on 60
-4 Free on 50
-4 Strokeon 60.  Did one of each stroke.

2nd Set:
8x75's on 1:15 50 easy free / 25 sprint stroke.  alternated fly / back

3rd Set:
12x100's
-4 IM on 1:45
-4 Free on 1:30
-4 on 1:45.  1st one 75 Free / 25 Fly.  2nd one 50 Free / 50 Fly, 3rd on 25 Free / 75 Fly and finishing up with a 100 fly.

50 warmdown.

I wasn't going to fast as I was swimming alone.  It's hard to get in the zone when swimming against no one.  The fastest 100 free I did was a 1:10.  Which is slow.  But it's a workout I wouldn't have done so just getting in the water is a plus.

Swimming In The Rain

After swimming at 7pm last night I came home, ate dinner and went to bed.  I don't know when it started to rain over night but I was tossing and turning all night long from the sound of water going down the drain pipe of the building next door.  I had set my alarm on my iPhone to wake me up at 5am and I told myself if I get up then I'll go to swim.  I was up already before the alarm went off so I got up.  I layed my stuff out in the hallway outside the bathroom as always.  This prevents me from searching for a million things in the morning and then forgetting something. 

I get to the pool and help the lifeguard with moving the big round thingy that hold the pool covers.  As we get in the pool all of start to survey the pool to see how many people are in each lane.  The medium lanes had 4 in 2 lanes, the fast lane had 3 people in one lane for the stroke lanes.  As for the free lanes the slow group had 3 people spread out in 2 lanes and one fast swimmer in the other lane.  I'm only mentioning it becuase the coach didn't move anyone over.  She left the medium lanes one of which was against the wall continue to swim with 4 people each per lane.  One of them took it apon herself to move over to the fast free swimmer and ask him if he didn't mind splitting the lane.  Later on he'll go on to say it was more of being told that they were to split the lane.  Later on one of the slow swimmers in a lane by himself gets out.  So then the coach decides to move people about.  MInd you this is about 50 minutes into workout.  So the fast swimmer who is now moving onto a kick set moves into a lane of someone who is swimming a 400 free.  Since I was swimming I missed all the details but this upset the swimmer swimming the 400 free who then got into a screaming match with the coach causing her to cry.  This was all at 6:50am.  Early morning drama on deck is not a fun way to start the day.  Somehow it was resolved and the swimmer got out early but I'm sure this isn't the last I'll be hearing about this.  Being a swimmer who from time to time is lucky enough to get my own lane feels quilty when I see other lanes full.  Being a swimmer who is faster than the other lanes I can see why the coach would keep us apart.  Lapping people in a 200 isn't a fun thing.  I've been there.  One time when we had a situation like this I had to share the lane with medium swimmers and I was lapping them in a 200 IM. 

As for the workout the rain seemed to hold off to just a drizzle from time to time so swimming wasn't so bad after all.  Warmed up a mixed 300.  Took my time getting in the water as we were all chit chatting on deck.  This was my first weekday swim in a while so I was chatting with people I hadn't seen.  We then did a warm up set made up of 50's and 25's.  I don't really remember it as I was chatting with the girl/female/woman who moved over and split the lane with the guy which caused the drama later in the workout.

Main Set:

4x (One Fly, One Back, One Breast, One Free for the stroke part)

  3x50 1 Free / 25 Free-25Stroke / 1 Stroke on 50

  100 Kick on 2:00

  200 Free on 2:30

  150 Swim  50 Free / 50 Stroke / 25 Free / 25 Stroke (don't know interval)

  100 Fast Stroke on 1:30/1:40 (depending on stroke)

Since I suck big time at breast the one time breaststroke was a killer.  I made the 100 but barely.

Then a 50 easy.

6x75's on 1:15 50 Easy / 25 Sprint.  I did fly for the sprint part.

Warmed down a 50.

After swimming last night it was tough getting back in the pool.  At first it was a breeze and I was swiimming strong but as time went on my free became slower.  I had a burst of energy a the end during the 25 fly sprints. 

As always this is a Short Course Yard Workout.

Tuesday Night 300 Workout

This was a tough workout.  Really had to push myself.

Warm Up 400 Swim / 300 Pull / 250 Kick

Warm Up Set
3x
50 Kick
50 Kick / 50 Drill
50 Kick / 50 Drill / 50 Swim
The first round I did fly, the second round back and the last round mixed fly and breast.

Main Set:
2x300 on 4:00 (2nd one fast.  did it on 3:30)
4x100's IM on 1:40
2x300 on 4:00 (2nd one fast.  did it on 3:21)
4x100's on 1:40 25 fly / 25 free
2x300 on 4:00 (2nd one fast.  did it on 3:24)

Then we did a set of 6x50's.

Then 16x25's.

100 Warm Down

Quickly posting this as now I'm off to bed.  Ga'nite.

Presidential Swim

After swimming on Sunday it was back in the water this morning.  Today being President's Day or Washington's Birthday we only had one swim practice today for 90 minutes.  I wish all the weekday morning workouts could be 90 minutes.  The morning people are a bit more dedicated then the night people who have three 90 minute workouts a week plus Sunday afternoon and a good portion of them get out after 60 minutes. 

Warmed up a mixed 400.

Then we did some warm up set.  75's broken 50 drill / 25 swim.  I think we did 4 one of each stroke.

Then a warm up set of 100 breath control 50 kick.  Three times. 

Main Free Set:
100 on 1:15
50 on 40
200 on 2:30
50 on 45
300 on 3:45
50 on 50
200 on 2:30
50 on 40
200 on 2:30
50 on 50
300 on 3:45
50 on 45
200 on 3:45
50 on 40
100 on 1:15

Then we did some stroke thingy

Main Stroke Set:
100 Stroke on 1:30.
50 easy on 50
150 IM
50 easy on 50
200 Stroke on 3 mins
50 eas on 50
150 IM
50 easy on 50
100 stroke on 1:30

50 easy

Warm Down Set:
3 over unders.
1st one free 2 breathes / flip turn / under water 2 breathes
2nd one free 2 breathes including open turn / under water 1 breathe
3rd one back stroke / under water no breathing

After swimming on Sunday I was tired and sore but stuck it out.  The intervals weren't so bad. 

Back In The Water

I havn't been swimming much the last two weeks but that is changing.  After being sick I was in a funk and stayed away from swimming.  I'd wake up and hit snooze then say I'll just swim later at 7:15.  Then sleep past that saying I'll swim tonight and then never making it.  I'm just going to swim past this funk.  Of course the coach today put me in the faster fast group even though I havn't been swimming.  I made all the intervals even though some came down to 3 or 4 seconds rest.  As one of my lane mates said "you can do it but you are just lazy most of the time" and another one said "you never know which joel is going to show up the super fast one or the lazy one".  Well it's true I have good and bad days which are normally just mind over matter issues that I let the mine defeat myself.

Warmed Up a 300.

Warm Up Set:
2x
75 Drill
100 Kick
50 Kick Fast
25 Swim

Main Set:
8x50's on 50 Descend 1-4 and 5-8
4x150's IM on 2:15
12x100's as follows
  4x100 on 1:40 (75 Free / 25 Butter, 50 Free / 50 Butter, 25 Free / 75 Butter, 100 Butter)
  4x100's on 1:30 Free.  (Like above but instead of butter it was sprint)
  4x100 on 1:40 (75 Free / 25 Butter, 50 Free / 50 Butter, 25 Free / 75 Butter, 100 Butter)
4x150's IM on 2:15
8x50's on 50 Descend 1-4 and 5-8

That was one damn hard set.  After not swimming for a few days it was a struggle.  The butterfly as usual was my choice. 

Warm Down Set:
100 Easy
50 Easy
100 Breathe Control
50 Easy
75 Breathe Control
50 Easy
25 Underwater No Breathing
50 Easy