I never thought I would say that 57 degrees is warm and "good weather for a swim".  But it was very nice tonight.  Not too cold, the water was perfect and I felt really good after not having been in the pool for over a week.

It was a pretty light workout, but I'm sore and tired anyway.  It sucks to get old!

Warm Up:
100 Swim, 100 Kick (x4)

First Set
10 x 50 Free on :60

Second set 10 x 50 Kick
Odd on 1:15 (that's fast for me)
Even easy...moving recovery

Cool Down
100 Swim
50 Swim
50 Swim

Total: 2000 meters. 

I told coach Whitney tonight that 48 degrees is the coldest I've ever got into the pool.  Then again, over the next couple of months she'll be hearing me say that a lot.  You probably will get sick of it. "OK, James, we get it.  It's cold!"

It really is cool to come up for air at the end of the set and watch the steam rising off the water, but it's also a little surreal to be swimming and smelling an oak fire burning in some fireplace in the neighborhood.  Someone is toasty warm in a blanket watching Family Guy and I'm out here suffering the most severe case of shrinkage of my life and loving it.  

I almost didn't go tonight because of the weather. But it was a pretty good workout.  Like I tell my son when he doesn't want to go to the pool.  "You'll be glad you did it when it's over."  Now my feet are warm and my muscles are sore and I really am glad I went.

Here's the workout:

Warmup: 1000
10 x 100 odd freestyle even kick

Main Set: 550 (650)
11 x 50 inverted pyramid
We did this set starting on 1:15 and subtracted :05 every rep down to 50, then back up.  So it went like this:
1:15
1:10
1:05
:60
:55
:50
:55
:60
1:05
1:10
1:15 

The only thing is, we lost track of what we were doing.  Whitney was just trying not to freeze and Karyn and I were having a hard time keeping the time.  We ended up doing an extra 1:10 and an extra :50.  (better too much than not enough)

Cool Down: 400
200 Kick
200 Swim 

Total 2050

No, really, Coach Rob is a great swim coach. He's a very knowledgable coach and we're lucky to have him in pFast.  

He said that he gets complaints posted about him by the high school teams all of the time on Twitter and Facebook.  They say he's too tough, but they don't know how lucky they are to have a real coach.  My daughter had a high school coach that would run them through 600 yard workouts and say "Ok, good job y'all!" and cut them loose. So I thought I'd add my own Google juice to the mix and try to pull his name up. 

I'm not in really bad shape.  I've been swimming pretty consistently for a couple of months now, and he smoked me tonight. He did.  And he only needed a 1900 yard workout to do it.  Are you intrigued? Shall I tease you for a while with anticipation?  Nah...I'll just get to it.

Warm Up
300 Swim
300 Kick/Drill/Swim by 25s

Main Set
20 x 50 Swim @ 60 seconds

Last Set
12 x  25 Kick @ 50 seconds

Total: 1900 meters

Ok, so a little explanaintion:  

The Kick/Drill/Swim set means that we did 4 75s.  Each one was a 25 kick, a 25 drill (I alternated between a fingertip drag and a 50% catch up), and a 25 swim.

He wanted us to do the main set on a 50 second interval, but I was coming in at around 49 seconds, so I had to stretch it to 60 seconds.  It was a little fast for me at that, because I was at about 85% of my max heart rate and I had to take a 1 minute break between the 8th and 9th 50.  

I did start to pick up the pace toward the end though.  I like to think it's because I was getting into a groove, not because I was loafing the first half of the set. 

The same went for the kicks.  I was coming in pretty good on 40 seconds, and with a 10 second rest, it was ok.  Toward the end though, Coach Rob told me to kick deeper.  I did this and picked it up enough to actually keep up with my female swim buddy who normally smokes me in kick sets.

So here's my bathroom mirror.  Just in case you cant read my red and black dry-erase markers, I'll post the workouts below:

Monday 10/17/11

500 Swim
200 Kick
200 Drill
5 x 200  odd swim even kick 

50 cool down

Total: 1900

Wednesday 10/19/11

300 Swim
300 Kick
300 Swim
100 Kick

10 x 100
1 - 4 build 25s
5 hard kick
6 - 9 descend  (1:46, 1:33, 1:30, 1:23)
10 normal kick 

I'm really proud of that descend set.  on the third 100 I thought I had given it my all.  I had no idea how I was going to beat that time.  My coach said "You're not kicking hard enough.  Remember your 3 beat kick."

Yeah.  I took another seven seconds off.  My coach rocks....but I rock more.

Tonight was my first experience with weather that I would consider solid fall weather.  I got in the pool at 7:30 and at precisely 8:35 the cold front hit.

Now, I say "cold front" but really, I'm from Kansas.  That wasn't a cold front.  More like someone turned the AC on low.  But I could tell the difference.  The temperature dropped 10 degrees and the wind kicked up.  The flags were blowing one directon on one lap and the other on the next.  I actually expected it to be colder than it was when I got out.

It's been three weeks since my last post, but only two weeks since I swam last.  I have two workouts written on my bathroom mirror that I have been meaning to post.  I've just been busy with a new project that I'm working on, so blogging sometimes takes a back seat.  I guess I could take a picture and post it up here.  That would be cool.

So here's today's workout.

Warm UP
8 x 100 odds swim, evens kick

First Set
4 x 100 swim split

Second Set
3 x 100 kick recover

Third Set
3 x 100 swim split 

Cool Down
100 swim easy

Total: 1900

I don't know if it was the fact that I hadn't swam in 2 weeks, that the weather was getting cold or that I'm just not hydrating enough, but my calf started to cramp on the first set during one of the fast splits.  I suffered through it by doing a lot of breast-stroke kicks in set two.

Lots of water folks!  If you're cramping it's too late to hydrate.

The training effect is a cruel mistress.  She lures you in and then slaps you in the face when you can't perform. The older I get, the more often I get slapped.  (Yes, I'm still talking about swimming).

What's the training effect?  What I mean is this: when you're working out and doing a set, the first x number of reps are simply to get you to the place where you can make improvement.  Think about the dudes in the gym that are spotting another guy doing bench press.  He's screaming like Stalone pumping M60 rounds into the sky, and they're yelling "ONE MORE DUDE!  ONE MORE!!".

They're egging him on, because he's at that point where every additional rep he does makes him stronger.  All the ones that came before?  They're wasted if he doesn't do just one more.  

I don't think I drank enough water today.  Toward the end of my workout I got a headache and my calves started cramping up.  This is a pretty good sign that you're dehydrated, and it's too late to hydrate right now.  You should have done that already.  Now you just have to either stop or work through the cramps.

I stopped just before the last set, took off my googgles and pulled out my earplugs.  I was the only one who showed up tonight, so it was just me and the coach. I was cramping up, couldn't catch my breath and had a headache.  I was done.

But after a minute or so, I thought "No way I'm wasting all this work and getting nothing out of it!"  So in went the plugs, on went the goggles and I did the last set.  But the I got slapped in the face.  I cramped up and had to do the last 50 of the last kick set one legged.  It took me forever!  But I did it.

Going home is for pussies. 

Here's the workout.

300 Swim
100 Kick
300 Swim
100 Kick

200 Swim (build on the 50s)

300 Swim (build the 100s on 25)
200 Kick (build the 100s on 25) 

* this is where I almost went home

300 Swim (build the 100s on 25)
200 Kick (build the 100s on 25) 

Total workout: 2000 meters

At the risk of making Tom Myer (@myerman) roll his eyes, I have to apologize to all the ladies (my daugher Alex above all) who are offended by the customary use of the female anatomy as a euphamism for weakness.  It's the only word that conveys what I was feeling at the time.

Our coach was sick today with the stomach bug that's been going around.  So he literally phoned it in.  The backup coach was standing on the deck yelling out the sets to us.  And it would not have surprised me if she was taking video to send to him.

It was kind of cold today, well, by Texas standards anyway.  I think it was below 80 when we got into the pool.  Not really cool I admit, but it did give me pause.  I haven't done any outdoor swimming in the winter, but they do it all year round here because the pool is heated.  The kids do it morning and night all winter long, so it shouldn't be a big deal for me right?

It was the weirdest thing though.  I was chilly when I jumped off the deck and for about a half a second as I entered the water, but before I was done with my pullout, I was comfortable.  It really is better in the water than in the air.  Maybe I'll even go swimming on New Years Day like a true Austinite!

Here's the workout:

As always, the only aparatus I'm using these days is a snorkel and a board for the kick sets.

500 Swim
300 Kick
200 Drill (catch up and fingertip drag)

200 Swim
100 Kick 

200 Swim
100 Kick 

200 Swim
100 Kick 

100 Swim (cool down...just to make it an even 2K)

Total 2000 meters.

It occurs to me that I should write a post about drills.  They're really good for evening out your stroke and working on those bad habits.  If you want to see something like that, leave me a comment! (like anybody reads this)

So the wife texted me at work today and said that we're having dinner with our friends at Asia Market at 6:30.  This is the second Friday in a row that she has done this to me.  She knows that I'm supposed to swim from 7:30 to 8:30.  But she gets done teaching and it's PARTY TIME!

So I left work a little early to take the boy to the pool, and thought that maybe I could slip into an empty lane and get some laps in.  Well it worked out.  I did a pretty good workout and justified the three bowls of rice I pounded at supper ;)

It was different swimming at 4:30 instead of 7:30.  There were kids playing and swimming, and every once in a while I'd run into a stray training fin that had floated into my lane. Then the high-school kids showed up, and I started feeling really old.

There's nothing like pounding out what you believe to be hard kick sets and hearing the "wop wop" of Vietnam-era Huey's approaching.  I swear I heard "Ride of the Valkyries" playing as they kicked by me, their tight 16 year-old butts disappearing in a cloud of bubbles.  I was feeling pretty good about myself until then...

So anyway, I did a lot of kicks and punished myself for being old and fat, then went and stuffed my face with the best Chinese food in Austin.  Now I'm exhausted, but alert.  I should go to sleep.  My body craves it, but I'm just not sleepy.

Ain't swimming the best?

The Workout
(all swim is free style and all kick is with snorkel and kickboard) 

Warm up
500 swim 
300 kick 
200 swim

Pyramid
100 swim
150 kick
200 swim
250 kick
300 swim
250 kick
200 swim
150 kick
100 swim

Total: 2700

As always, I think I may have put in a few extra laps because I lost track of my lap count a couple of times.  My general rule is that if I cant remember if I've done 3 or 4 laps, I do with 3.  Yeah, I'm a masochist.

Mike's workouts tend to be pretty straight forward.  Lots of distance and lots of kicks.  It takes some time to get used to a new coach, but I think this one's doing alright.

Before I give you the workout I should teach you a vocabulary word: build.  Build means that you start slow and by the end you're sprinting.  So if a coach tells you to do 200 and build the 50s that means that you'll be doing 4 laps (up and back) and each lap you'll start out slow and get faster and faster until you're sprinting.

The way I normally do it is to split it up into fourths. The first 25% I go nice and easy, the next I speed up to about 50%, then up to about 65% on the third.  The fourth quarter I sprint as hard as I can. (because I know a slow quarter is coming up).

OK, so here's the workout we did tonignt  (we swim in a 25 meter pool, so it's a little longer than SCY: 

500 swim ( I actually did 550 accidentally...oops!)
200 kick
200 drill
100 swim 

500 swim (build the 100s)

500 swim (build the 100s)

(total 2000 meters)

I took a couple huffs of my inhaler before we started, but by the end I was wheezing and couldn't catch my breath.  That means I was working hard. ;)

What do you say to a friend you haven't spoken to in 4 1/2 months?  "Hi"? "How's it been going"?  There's not a lot you can say that will make it less uncomfortable.  You really just have to go straight to the matter and say "Dude.  I'm sorry I haven't called you in months.  There's really no excuse.  I missed hanging out with you, but I had other things going on."

That's kinda where I am right now.  I haven't posted on this blog since the middle of May.  Yikes!  4 1/2 months ago when I hurt my back.  Yeah! I didn't tell you did I? (because I didn't post...duh)  I hurt my back in May. It happens when you get old and are carrying 30 or 40 extra pounds...mostly around the midsection area.  

Actually, it was swimming related.  I was coaching my son at the YMCA in Round Rock Texas.  It's a sweet indoor-outdoor saltwater pool BTW.  You should totally go if you have a chance.  Anyway, Ben was having problems getting his fins on for a kick set and I reached down to give him a hand so he could sit on the edge and do it....and I heard something pop.

You don't realize just how alone you are in a crowd until your back pops and you can't stand up.  There were people all around me and noboby said "Hey, are you alright?"  I actually had to grab a guy and say "Can you help me up?"  I literally had to have the guy support me while I straightened out.  He was looking at me the whole time like I was trying to sell him drugs too!  Amazing.

But that's no excuse.  I should have been back on here telling you about my back injury and getting back in the pool.  But I didn't.  It only happened again when my son started swimming on the local swim team.  The coach said something about a Masters class...and I said "you mean like a real Masters class with a coach and everything?"  I'M IN!  and the rest is agony.

We started about 3 weeks ago and our first workout was only 1300 meters and I was TOE UP! I was so embarrassed that 1300 would kill me like that.  But I hadn't been swimming in a quarter and a half, and it's always more challenging swimming with a coach. Not to mention people in the water with you pushing you to go farther and faster.

We have worked up to about 2000 meter workouts and I'm starting to feel better.  I'm still fat, and the high-school kids in the next lane still kick my butt up and down the pool (the girls).  But I'm getting better and feeling more fit. 

So...more workouts for your reading pleasure?  Coming up.  And if you want to join a Masters program, let me know.  We'd love to have some more swimmers.