Distance Swim

2.4 miles @ GMU, 1 hour, 7 minutes

The GMU team is taking up a lot of space. Suspended GMU swimmers were training in the diving well, taking up 4 or 5 lanes! One each. Since the rec pool is closed, water walkers, etc. are taking half of the remaining space. It worked out today, but this could be trouble. I'll bet in a month they won't be taking up quite as much space, but GMU needs to post a schedule.

Swim, Lift

Wednesday:
Distance Swim: Failed. Felt sick at about 1 mile.

Lift: Squat (185), RDL(145), bench(8x205, 185, 185), abs, shoulder circuit.

Transition: 3mi bike, 1 mi run

Thursday:
My body was wiped out. I took it easy.
Run 1.5 miles, stretch, abs

Friday:
Swim: 2500Y, breaststroke workout. Main sets: 10x100 kick, 5x200 br. (3'5")
The 200's were alternated with kicking, so I could up my oxygen levels. I am not in the best distance breaststroke shape, and resolving that issue will make my 100 breast much better, and allow me to be competant in the 200 br. I need to be able to do this set without alternation on a simple interval, and I think I should start really slow and do more repetitions, such as 6 or 8 x 200 @ 4'. Since I have worked so much with short distances, I have gotten really used to doing 3 strokes on my first length, and 4 on every length thereafter unless I am trying to go fast. I increase speed by adding strokes. I would like to make that easy, but in the mean time I think I need an extra breath per length. I should do this by removing the last part of my extended glide, and conserve energy as required by controlling my kick power. As I get into better shape, I can increase my power as required for EN3 and increase my glide for EN1-2. I don't think I should use 6 strokes until I am ready to put in a lot more power for the duration. Essentially, I should be able to go race pace with 5-6 strokes a length. I should download a video of Hanson or Moses to find out what kind of stroke count I might want to aspire to.

Saturday: Montclair Lake Swim: 1mi open water - 26:51

This is my best open water time, but the fastest times did not seem that fast. I don't know if this was due to the course or the field. The conditions were wonderful. A little cool, but perfect once you are warmed up. The venue is quite good. There is a sand beach, tiered seating, and a large enough lake for a simple 1/2 mile course or a slightly curved 1 mile course. There is a triathlon that uses the 1 mile setup. Since I did not break my training for this event, I think I will have no problem going faster next season. It is still about 3 minutes off of my SCY time.

Monday:
Lift: RDL (3x10x135lbs), squats(3x10x185lbs), bench (3x8x205lbs,185,185)
Aerobic: bike 3 miles, run 1 mile. Good t2 transition practice. I ended up with DOMS from the squats.

Tuesday:
Swim: Breaststroke, 2500Y. Main set - 10x50 br. 42" @ 1', 2x50spr 30-31"
The sprints were again quite fast. I need to work up this short distance set in two ways: longer distance or less rest. Next practice: distance free. Next br. practice: I will get used to 200s. (4 or 5 x 200)
Run: 1.5 miles in 13'55" with Java Dog.

I took the previous week off following my end of season meet. I did work out, but not with focus.

Tuesday:
morning: 2500 breaststroke workout. 50y breast time: 31"

lunch: rdl, biceps, bench(3x8x185), 1 mile run

Wednesday:
morning: 4250y free 1:05'

Colony Zones LCM Champs

I failed to post my workouts last week. It was a pretty normal week except for a mini-taper at the end.

I won my age group in the 100 LC Breaststroke at Colony Zones. My time was on par with meets over the last 1.5 years, a 1:17. I have been very focused on all around fitness and don't feel specialized at all to breaststroke. The good news is that with all the weight I have lost, I think I can break through this barrier in the coming months. I only focused my training on breaststroke for a few weeks before this meet, so I feel that being "on par" was a good achievement. Amazingly, the 40-somethings have the most competitive age group, about 9 seconds faster than me and only a few seconds off of olympic trial cuts.

Here is my goal for the GMU sprint classic: below 30" in the 50 breast, below 1'03" in the 100 breast. I have 8-9 weeks. If I hit those times and feel I can continue to cut, I may taper and shave for a USS meet this winter. In previous years health has been a major impediment in the winter, but last year I was only sick for about four weeks in the winter as compared to 8 weeks in 2004-2005, and I may find ways to improve that statistic again this year. I should certainly be ready for the spring meets: Colony Zones SCY(masters) and maybe PVS Senior Championships(uss).

Thurs Run, Friday Break

Thursday:
3.2 mile run (braddock lake)

Friday Off

Distance Swim

3900M LCM (2.4 mi.) free @ GMU 29'10"/mi. pace