AM
9.5 mi run w/ 4 @ 8:20 pace
850 yd swim

PM
3 mi bike

---

maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

2000 scy this am. Outside of Thanksgiving, I haven't missed a day in a LONG time. 🏊😊

Hmm...well I went to the pool with a plan to do another USRPT set. Warmup suuuucked. Got kicked out of my lane for some aerobics class. Gave up, went on to work.

WU:
200ez
2x25 kick

done.

600 swim as 200 free, 50 back, 150 free, 50 back, 200 snorkel swim, 100 snorkel kick

500 snorkel and paddles, aerobic
500 as 50 free, 50 nonfree
500 snorkel

4 x 200 @ 3:15, 3:10, 3:05, 3:00

9 x 100 @ 1:45, 1:40, 1:35 x 3

3600m long course

 


4 mi run w/ middle two miles 8:13, 8:06
1225 yd swim main set 10 x 100 on 1:30

---

maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

I’m at the Southern Pacific SCM Regional Championships in the beautiful City of Commerce. Several Masters world records were broken. No personal records on my part, but I did only one race, the 1500m free. My best is a 19:35. This time not so hot at a 20:26 [corrected - thanks DTC]. Still, I got 1st, thanks to Bruce Thomas not swimming it – he’s gonna devistate the other distance events, 400 & 800.
Today, I have the 400 free & 100 Breaststroke. Tomorrow is the 800 free, 200 free and 200 breaststroke. That’s all gonna hurt!

---

Proud member of FISHTWITCH: doing a bit more than fish exercise now.

20:23, you mean?

good luck w/ other races!

---

maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

Longcourse, with 12 people per lane (see? It CAN be done! Circle swimming works)

600 warm-up as 200 free, 100 back, 200 snorkel, 100 kick with snorkel

4 x {3 x 100
Odd rounds @1:30 free descend (1:20, :18, :15)
Even rounds @1:45, 25 no free, 75 free descend

4x50 @ 1:00, 8 fast strokes, easy the rest of the 50

8 x 200 @ 5:00 as 50 sprint, 150 easy. Split lanes so that half start from the opposite sides, swim the easy 150 after your side has all finished the fast 50
:34 on all

3600m long course

I just realized it is December....OK OK.I got to the pool late so only had 30 min of lane swim before it flipped to public swim which means dividing buoy line across the pool....so a bit of a pain to swim lengths during this time. During the first half of my swim, I got my 25M kickboard sprint time down to 26 seconds. Sub 25 and maybe even 22 is in reach! Second half of the swim, did under water dolphin sprints under the buoy line (lengths). After that I went to widths for 15 min and did dolphin sprints across the width focus on moving water backwards with both sides of my feet and then recovered on the way back working my breast stroke.

Also if I can make a request to you all on these swim threads. Honestly I find most of the top line metrics of another person's workouts close to useless other than its a one upmanship bragging rites thing.

What would be far more beneficial to everyone is people talking about the technical aspects of swimming and what they were working on. I really don't want to know that my fellow tennis player served up 100 tennis balls. What I want to know is what she was technically working on, because when she talks about that, it can make my serve better. Just hearing that she hammered 100 tennis balls is largely useless information.

In any case here is what I want to contribute to my gripe and try to change the culture of these thread to more learning oriented (vs feats of strength oriented)...This is what I wrote on the November thread to Monty. He was talking about Slowman just "kicking down" and being slow:

LOL....you beating up on slowman's kick actually improved mine today. As I have leg control issues with my left, leg and applying force like a normal human I noticed during some kick sets that I was kicking the water down with my left shin, whereas with the right I was kind of flicking it backwards. So I focused on that, and got my 25M down to 26 seconds today. I THINK if I keep working on this, I can get down to 22 by improving not just the propulsion, but the timing and streamline....it's almost like you want to "catch" the water using the shin as the paddle and throw the water back with the shin and then foot but finish with a streamline (like we would do with fins) vs just slapping turbulent water....thinking like using each leg as a dolphin's body 180 degrees out of phase with the other dolphin body (leg) and using the foot as a tail fin.....am I on the right track?


Can you guys help and talk more about technical improvements....and yes, I am the slowest swimmer around these threads, but when I go to most pools I am one of the faster people.

Also cool thing at yesterday's swim. I was swimming with the CEO of a local tech company who, in his youth with basically second in Canada to Alex Baumann....for those who don't know Alex Baumann won the 200m and 400m IM golds at the LA Olympics. This guy used to beat Baumann until Baumann had a growth spurt and then it was second place from then onwards!

Ok dev. But, I certainly don't consider mine any form of one upmanship. Today was a makeup usrpt set since I sucked yesterday. Besides the task of swimming the set... My focus while swimming the laps was twofold. Ok the downleg I focused on the extension, keeping the arm high and reaching forward without causing my body to snake. I focused on lifting the wrist and elbow not the hand (avoiding the stop sign). On the return, I focused on my kick timing (down on same side finish) and keeping it tight (no splay) on the breath.

Other than that pacing is always a challenge with these usrpt sets. It's easy to go out 4-8 seconds fast for the first 2-3 100s. But, the repayment sucks starting around #12.

Wu:
200ez
2x50 kick
2x(2x50 simglearm / swim)

Ms;
20x100 usrpt @1:39 failed at #15

Cd:
200ez

2700scy

As noted in November, I was hoping to do all 20 usrpt reps today. No joy. I'm thinking about going past the 20 max in order to get a second failure. It seems to me that the training stimulus is decreasing too much once I get to the point where I only fail once in the first 20.

Thoughts?

Ps: the tip on kicking was good. I followed your lead and focused on kinda whipping the shin down into the water. Took 6 seconds on both 50s (:66 :68 respectively). Less hip lever and more whip action.

Wu: 200ez

Ms:
2x(4x50 (:30))as kick/pull/singlarn/swim
5x100 (:30) swim
2x50 kixk
2x50 swim with strong kick
2x(2x50 (:30)) as kick/swim-strong kick
5x100 (:30) as singlarm/swim

Cd: 200ez

Focus today was
1. On simglearm think reach, catch, pull through, and brush thigh on finish. All lengths were slow and deliberate.

2. On kick. Focus on whipping the leg knee ankle and foot. Try to feel water in toes and let ankle relax. Took 2 more seconds off my 50 kick from yesterday.

3. On swim with strong kick. Focus on maintaining whip action with legs and keeping a steady rhythm with legs. Don't let breathing interrupt rhythm.

Today was a bit ad hoc. Kinda made it up as I went along. I knew I wanted to rest the shoulders a bit and focus on some kicking.

Weekly summary : 6 swims (2 usrpt), 12k

I was reading in one of the other threads from Tallswimmer and feeling the water flow through the toes during kicking. By spreading the toes and trying to get the water flow through (it probably is not), it almost feels like you make the surface of the foot (top and bottom wider) and create some more propulsion (turning your foot into a tail fin of sorts).

Friday's swim. I was not feeling it ..

warmup
200 swim/200 kick
150 swim/150 kick
100 swim/100 kick
50 swim/50 kick

6x75 back/breast/free

200 kick
2x100 pull
4x50 swim

20x25

100 cd

2650 scm. no real main set. need to put that day away and move on

---

_____________________________________
What are you people, on dope?

—Mr. Hand

Yep. Read that too. That's what prompted me to focus on it. More than anything my point today was just to try and feel it. It seems that since swimming is so proprioceptive that anything you can do to expand your awareness is potentially a good thing.

My other hobby is motor racing, which is a similarly proprioceptive sport. In that we talk about having 10 units of concentration. When you first start driving fast on a track, you spend 5 units just staying on track, 2 units on braking, 2 units on shifting, and 1 unit on where other cars are. There's nothing left for feeling the tire traction, thinking about strategy, etc. As you get practice those things drindle to 1 or 2 units leaving more mental capacity for subtleties, tactics and strategy.

So, i see swimming the same way. I spent the last year spending every moment thinking about all the big aspects of swimming: balance, arm cross over, body roll, etc. Swimming every day is starting to allow me to free up some of that processing for other more subtle aspects and sensations. Feeling water flow here or there, paying attention to small deflections at the waist, playing with breath timing, kick timing, etc.

I'm not much faster yet, but I feel much more relaxed in the water and my sensation of pace is much more refined.

yesterday 40.4 mi bike
today 8.5 mi run (workout) + 1625 yd swim

run 5k as 1 mi @ 8:13, 1 mi @ 8:06, 1.1 mi @ 8:00, 1/2 mi easy, 1 mi @ 7:53, some tenths easy, .75 mi @ 7:47 (just couldn't get that last quarter), a couple miles fartlek

swim
2 x 100 on 1:30
50 kick
3 x 100 on 1:30
50 kick
4 x 100 on 1:30
50 kick
1 x 100 on 1:30
50 kick
goofed around to get to over 1600

---

maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

Spent the last three days sitting around most of the day, then an occasional anaerobic burst of swimming.
Results from SPMS SCM Masters Regional Championships:
1500 free 20:26.34 1st place
400 free 5:06.92 4th place
100 breast 1:25.02 4th place
800 free 10:32.59 4th place
200 free 2:25.84 3rd place

GF Heidi did well:
1500 free 20:03.29 2nd place
100 free 1:05.37 2nd place
400 free 4:48.43 3rd place
50 free 28.37 1st place
200 free 2:17.44 3rd place

Got in a 6 mile trail run today. Back to the ocean tomorrow morning, if the wind hasn't picked up too much.

---

Proud member of FISHTWITCH: doing a bit more than fish exercise now.

Wow!

---

"They're made of latex, not nitroglycerin"

 


x2
congrats to you both!

---

maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

My December "sprinting oriented" focus continues

Main set was 10x100m as 25m hard 25 m moderate/easy

• First 2x100m all kick: 25m easy - 25m hard repeat.....hard was 26-29 seconds....easy was as easy as I wanted it to go
• 4x100m with fins as 25m underwater dolphin kick, 8m recovery recovery free 17m hard free, 25 fly sprint-25 m back easy
• 4x100m wihtout fins with 20m underwater dolphin sprint, then final 5 m easy free to wall, then 25m easy free, 25 fly sprint-25 m easy free

60 seconds recovery between 100's before the next underwater dolphin kick sprint leg.

At this point I am fairly certain that if I take enough rest in between I won't die from passing out due to low oxygen during the underwater dolphin sprint. Actually on my last of 8 underwater legs, rather than doing 20m, I did the full 25m length. It was doable, but it is almost twice as hard for me to go 25m vs 20m.

In terms of streamlining, I am trying to focus on closing the gap between my biceps and my neck



Also in term of streamline I am trying to experiment between tighter more frequent low amplitude kicks vs higher amplitude lower frequency. On the smaller amplitude there is no "rest phase" between kicks as I launch into the next one without a "pause" whereas, the higher amplitude, there is a slight pause/rest.....but I think the lower amplitude has less drag, so it may be the way to get to a faster sprint mode for me.

Steamline is getting better. It's not like a magically gained more fitness in a short time. It is translating into a stronger fly and breast stroke (OK my breast stroke is bad, but it is less bad now....it's actually decent for an adult onset triathlon swimmer). I think my fly sprint is limited not by the strength of my pull, but the ability of my legs to move through the dolphin kick fast enough....so maybe this will help that too.

Congrats to you and your GF. Those are some smoking fast times!

Back in November I posted a workout that was filmed by Swim Swam. The video just came out so thought I’d share it - https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3T-XMvraq0M

---

https://twitter.com/mungub

General reply to the fish around here....any of you guys can kick 25m in sub 20 seconds? sub 22? Sub 25? Just curious how far away I am from real swimmer kicking?

I can't. It will vary a lot by person, and the sprinters (as expected) will be much better at it. I am a terrible kicker, to the point that on my brief college swimming stint, I got lapped in kick sets.

---

maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

AM 9.5 mi run 80:19, 725 yd swim
PM 6 mi bike on a gravel path

---

maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

 

Gary, I think you would approve of this.

20x25m sprint.....12.5m underwater dolphin sprint, 12.5m above water either free or fly. 10 seconds recovery and repeat. definitely a fun set. My entire body is sore like I was just increased the weights in the weight room (which is basically what this work out is like as it's like doing 20x12 "reps" circuit training. The funny part is that this was the "main set" during a 90 min swim. The "other set" was 5x200m IM as 50 fly-25 back-25 breast-100 free.

Also did one set of 5x100m fins as 25m underwater dolphin sprint, 25m free easy, 25 back kick hard, 25 fly hard, 30 seconds rest repeat. Focus of this was kicking hard with quads on all phases other than the second 25m of easy free.

Dev

Sounds like a real lung burner!

My number one objective this winter/spring season is to get a USMS Nationals Qualifying Time of 20:33 in the 1650 before the Spring Nationals meet entry deadline. I've gotten to the point where I can hold that pace through a set that's well over 1650 yards long, now I'm trying to increase the work:rest ratio with longer repeats on ~same rest.

Today it was 20 x 125 on 1:55, targeting <1:32.5 I failed @ 14 & 19. I've been trying to work in an extra breath (breathing two consecutive strokes) going into a turn, but that's tough because I don't always come into the wall on the same stroke. Mid-set, I switched to breathing two consecutive strokes off the turn. That seemed to work a lot better. Going to continue to use that pattern for anything 500 pace or slower for the foreseeable future.

---

"They're made of latex, not nitroglycerin"

Interesting. My goal for the winter is to try and get below 1:30 pace using usrpt 20x100s. Ive sorta been wondering how to transition from usrpt sets to full distance once I obtain my best pace over the winter. Do you plan to continue to extend the work interval? Up to what distance?

I'm also curious when to escalate the pace? I've been stuck with failing at 19 for a couple times. I've been wondering if I should escalate the pace or maybe extend beyond 20 reps until I fail a second time? I haven't been sure how to handle these very late set first fails where I could go beyond the prescribed 20 before a second failure?

Upgraded my usrpt pace today to 1:36/100scy.

WU: 200ez

MS: 20x100 @1:36 (:20) failed at #9, #13, and #16

CD: 200ez

2000scy

Focus today was pretty simple. Hang onto the pace---being my first attempt at 1:36 (dropping 3 sec/100scy). That said....I noticed some side-side wobble in my left side pull. Basically my left hand fluttering like a leaf as it falls from a tree. So, I tried to focus on holding that steady and keeping the pull straight back---that was hard to fix. I also tried to focus on the mid-late portion of the stroke, and accelerating through the finish...the part that is more of a push rather than a pull. Seemed to help, though it resulted in some inconsistent pacing (I think)...with a 1:31, 1:33, and 1:34 mixed into the set while trying to maintain the 1:36 pace.

8.6 mi run w/ 2 x 3 mi @ 8:41, 8:34
1175 yd swim

10 x 100 on 1:30
100 kick
50 swim
25 kick

---

maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

first post on any swim challenge thread.
Recovering from artificial disc replacement in April (I got my left arm back, ye ha!), then nasty crash on the bike in late July took out right arm.

Just realized I did SBR yesterday. Bike 40k (20k "hard"), easy 5k run. Swim (was first when I was freshest)...

all SCY
300 easy
200 kick w/fins
1,000 medium (working on lower stroke count, slow- 15:15)
then 3x(50, 100, 300) all hard, between each: w/~20 rest, 50 swim (really slow), 30+ rest.
best 50's were 31, best 100 was 69, best 300 was 3:54 (haven't got my "toughness" back, yet)

3,300
making some slow progress (which is motivating)

---

I saw this on a white board in a window box at my daughters middle school...
List of what life owes you:
1. __________
2. __________
3. __________

At what distance are you trying to get your pace below 1:30? That's a key component to formulating a plan.


As to whether you should go for more than one failure, the answer is "absolutely yes." One of the critical tenants of USRPT is that swimming to failure (neural fatigue, unable to hold the pace) is the catalyst for improvement, and you should structure the sets so that you swim to failure 3 times (or two consecutive failures) almost every time. While the science behind that claim is far from unimpeachable, I've had great success using USRPT to train for shorter distance races (500 and under) in the past. For races up to 200, the criteria for changing pace is quite clear. First of all, the "offering" is 7.5 times race distance, so 30x25 for 100 (on 15 seconds rest) and 30X50 (on 20 seconds rest) for 200. If you can do 4x race distance without a failure (i.e. 16 consecutive repeats) at pace, or you can do 6.5x race distance before failing the set, you're ready to advance the pace. Things get a little murkier at distances beyond that. The "book" calls for 30x50 or 24x75's for 400/500 races, but I've only found good workout-pace:race-pace correlation with 75's. The manual also calls for 30-35x75 or 24-30x100 for 1500/1650, but again I've personally found the correlations lacking. I'm still trying to find the right repeat-distance/#-of-repeats combination which correlates to 1650 race pace, but I suspect it's probably something like 18-20 consecutive 150's or 12-14 consecutive 200's. I'll have a better idea when I get a chance to actually race a 1650 again in mid-January.

---

"They're made of latex, not nitroglycerin"

Oly distance swim. So, 1650y.


ETA: At this point I am just using USRPT as a framework for getting faster through the end of January...and, expected that I'd have to determine how to extend that speed to a continuous 1650 after that. First Oly race isn't until late April...and my goal for 2018 year is to break 25 minutes for the Oly swim. Thus the pace target.



yes, I've read that. I had an offline conversation with SnappingT, and he recommended the 20x100s. Initially 3 failures wasn't a concern. But, as November progressed I reached the point where the first failure was ~15+, at which point I might only fail once more or not at all. I followed up with Tim on this same issue, but I know he's busy (and I'm just a random internet guy) and I hadn't heard back...hence my question.

As noted above (in todays workout), I increased the pace this morning (to 1:36), so I'm back to failing three times. But, I'll increase the "offering" to something like 25-30 to ensure I fail correctly as the month progresses. I figured that was the case and that I was "leaving something on the table", by stopping short.



Ok, yes that's another question that I'd sent to Tim in the same message...in a slightly different form. I'd asked how to correlate the 20x100 pace to expected 1650 pace. ie, pace+10s or whatever. Sounds like you don't think it does, and that in general your experience at middle distance (and greater) is that longer work intervals correlate better with race results than the "book" currently prescribes.

I guess what you are learning makes sense compared to the shorter events, where the work-interval is a larger percentage of the race distance....eg 25% ish...and the total offering is (3-5x) many times the overall race distance. But, scaling that up to 1650 is unwieldy. I'd noted the same differences in the manual, but there isn't any explanation for "why". I'd actually done a bunch of google searching to try to find more data on the 1650 application.

Thanks.

WU: 600m easy
MS: 6x (25/50/75/100/125/150/175/200); 10s
6000m

A distance swimmer going by the book would be doing multiple (2-3) USRPT sets in a workout, and 9 workouts week, so maybe in that context the shorter prescribed repeat distances work. But for someone like me who has limited time and far less total exposure to race-paced work in a week, it doesn't seem to. It's a bit of a fool's errand, really, to try to hack my way to quality swims in the 1650 and the 200 fly on five to six 2000-3500 yard workouts a week, but that's what I'm trying to do.

---

"They're made of latex, not nitroglycerin"

Yeah well...that AINT happ'nin anytime soon, for me. My 5-6x @2.5-3k each is alls-I-can-stand...and is about double what I was doing "in season". Also, its probably 3x the weekly training stimulus with the usrpt sets vs. the mostly-drilling sets I was doing previously. I'm now 9 seconds faster per 100scy at this USRPT set than I was 6 weeks ago.

I don't have time for a 5k workout every day, or 30k per week. I also don't have the joint resilience for it. Something would breakdown...probably my left shoulder.

WU:
200ez
2x50 kick

MS:

8x50 (:30) @0:45
5x100 (:30) @1:37
8x50 (:30) @0:45

CD:
200ez

1800scy

I cut it a bit short today, I skipped the last set of 5x100. Shoulders were fatigued from yesterday, and I tomorrow I've got another RPT set to do. The 50s were ok today, but the 100s degraded pretty quickly. So, I didn't want to compromise tomorrow by overdoing it today---I made that mistake last week. I'm thinking maybe I'll change up my "off day" swims to 30-40x50s at "pace" to reinforce the same neural patterns without some of the fatigue associated with the longer intervals.

Today - I forgot my workout and only had 50 mins so I did

400 WU 4 X (75 swim, 25 kick)

Swim Ladder

50
100
150
200
250
300
250
200
150
100
50

100 cool down

focused on quality flip turns and finishing my stroke at my him, gaining the last 3 inches of propulsion.

2300 ttl

I slept in.

7.6 mi run w/ 1.66 mi (8:13, .66 @ 8:06) + .25 easy + 4.5 @ 8:06
400 yd swim

---

maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

Dr. Tigerchik wrote:

I slept in.

I should have, too... maybe
All this wind in Southern California has cooled the ocean down to 57-58, maybe 56 degrees. So that, combined with windchop and windchill, made for a cool swim experience. nevertheless, I got in 2375 yards in 36 and a half minutes. Getting out, I ran up and down the beach to generate some heat - didn't work that well. Two fingers where white and numb as were most of my toes. Surprisingly, I didn't shiver, but I'm sure it wasn't that point beyond hypothermia where shivering stops. Anyway, it took about an hour before my fingers returned to normal. My toes still, 4 hours later, are funky feeling. Planning on a run in an hour... see what happens.

I spent Wednesday in the pool - 2500 yards

10x100@1:30 1:25~1:12
4x200 kwf reverse IM order
200IM w/fins
200 pull
4x50@1:00 sprint 25/cruise 25
100 cool

and a 3.8 mile trail run at lunch.


Tuesday morning saw me in the ocean for a brief time, where I got in maybe 1200 yards because the ocean seemed colder, but the fierce wind was much colder. The chop was nasty and anytime I lifted my face out of the water, it stung. Around noon, a steep trail run of 4.1 miles.


Monday was no swim, but a nice, steep 6 mile trail run through O'Neill Park.

---

Proud member of FISHTWITCH: doing a bit more than fish exercise now.

Do any of you fishes use monofins in your training? I currently use TYR burners, but I am seriously considering buying the Finis Trainer 1 monofin. I would like to hear of any positive or negative reviews of monofins in general and what type (if any) you fishes recommend.

I have been eyeing them too, but never pulled out the wallet. It just feels like spending ~$100 on something that is 'almost achieved' keeping your feet close together would do it. But I am told it is quite different locking both legs into 100% sync. I would like to try them before dropping $$$ on them.

2 mi walk, 3225 yd swim

5 x 100 on 1:30, extra :30 after the last one
200 on 3:00 (2:33)
5 x 100 on 1:30, extra :30 after the last one
2 x 200 on 3:30 (2:31, 2:33)
5 x 100 on 1:30, extra :30 after the last one
3 x 300 on 3:30 (2:33, 2:37, 2:36)
2 x 100 on 1:30
50 kick
100 fast 1:16
50 kick
100 fast 1:16
25 kick c/d

---

maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

Mad at myself for not getting out of bed this morning. I was exhausted yesterday (probably sleep deprived from previous days). Couldn't bring myself to get up this am. My pool is closed for a swim meet tonight...maybe I can find a walk-in option somewhere.

Stroke lesson tomorrow.

wow, had to click back all the way to page 4 to find the thread. anyway ... was too tired to swim when I got up yesterday, so I did some easy high cadence intervals on the bike first. short swim was later:

500 mixed bag w/u
12x25, 2-3sec RI
12x50 on :55
12x25, 2-3sec RI
12x50 on :50

---

_____________________________________
What are you people, on dope?

—Mr. Hand

yesterday 4.5 mile easy run
today raced a half marathon 1:51:20 ish (result not up), swam 1825 yds

swim 15 x 100 on 1:30 then 325 c/d alternate kick swim by 50

---

maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

1 hour swim lesson yesterday, in and endless pool. No idea on yardage. I need to swim in that thing more often. It seems a lot like swimming in semi chop. I couldn't quite get the feel for my normal kick rhythm and timing. Just felt like I was out of sync.

General feedback during the lesson was that I'm putting up the stopsign during the extend, and also I wasn't completely finishing my stroke. I was letting my hand rotate thumbs down early and not finishing with my palm to the rear. I was also dropping my right elbow a bit during the transition from pull to push.

Hey, just thought I would report back on some progress on dolphin kicking. I have been doing some 25m underwater sprints for the last bunch of workouts which typically go at 4x100 (25m underwater kick-25 moderate free-25 hard fly-25m hard kick on back, 40 second rest repeat)....this is with fins. Or without fins 16-20m underwater dolphin with rest of length free, then 25m moderate free, 25m hard fly, 25m kick on back.

Now having that established, I just tallied my year's mileage and later this week I will hit 1200K swimming for the year (basically a bit over 100K per month, every month,all strokes).

Soooooo for my 1200th kilometer, I will repeat the 1000m time trial alterating 50m fly-50 m free time 10. In the spring I did this in 18:34. I told myself, I want to break 18 min by the end of the year, but I have been mainly focusing on different technical aspects rather than mindlessly chasing the clock......underwater dolphin has been a part of creating a better conditioned core, better streamline, and better power endurance.

In any case, today my main set was 500m as 50/50 fly free, 100m kick, 200 IM as 50 fly-25 back-25 breast-100 free. Then I did the final 500m again as 50/50 but with medium size padels on and timed it. I surprised myself with a sub 8:20. That puts me on a pace for sub 18 min for 1000m and maybe even close to 17:30. But I had paddles on and it is half the distance. I'll be giving the TT a go on Thursday.

Also tried something interesting. On the fly legs I breathed only once every 2 strokes as I can pull harder with head down....and on the free leg for the first 25m, I breathed every arm entry (both sides) and for second 25, every second to totally oxygen top up for the fly leg....felt like being in a bike criterium with guys jacking up the intensity on me and doing the yoyo thing. But it was a lot faster than in the spring.

I am also trying to decide on the fly if I get the most power in the front of the catch (above my head to nose level) or from chin level to belly button segment of the body. Honestly I can't tell where I should apply harder force....thoughts?

Hmph. Well today sucked, and I'm not sure why. Slow...lots of strokes. Pushed through anyway. Hope tomorrow is more "as expected".

WU:
200ez
2x50 kick

MS:
12x100 (:20)
2x200 (:30)

CD:
100 ez

1900 scy

It was supposed to be a USRPT day. But, it was clear something was "off" early on. 200ez was slow, kicking was slow, spl was high (+3), and pace fell off fast on the first few 100s. Backed off trying to hold the pace, but decided not to bail on the workout entirely. I really don't have an explanation for the day. Maybe since I missed Friday, and my lesson on Saturday was in an endless pool...its just been "too long" since I was in real water. Dunno. Hope tomorrow brings things back to normal.

today I ran 8.5 miles w/ 2 @ 8:37, 2 @ 8:27, and 5k @ 8:20
then 1075 yd swim

100, 150, 100, 200, 100 on a 1:30 base
2 x [50 kick + 100 fast] 1:15s
25 kick c/d

---

maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

I only did 2500m this morning but it included 3 sets of 8 x 25 all out on 60s. Kills me every time.

Those are so beneficial, especially if you usually do longer sets/straight swims.

Two good ones that were basically a double with Sunday evening swim, and then a 5 am swim this morning.

Sunday - from the go 1600 steady (19:10), 200 easy, 1600 neg split w//paddles (19:08), 200 easy for 4400

Monday at crack of dawn - main set of 12x75@:55, 400pull, 6x150@1:55, 400 pull, 3x300@3:45, 400 pull for 5400

---

https://twitter.com/mungub

Tuesday: 15.5 mi bike, 1075 yd swim

500 w/u
3 x 100 odds fast 1:16, 1:14
25 kick, 25 swim
200 fast 2:33
25 kick c/d

plan had been to bike long, but my feet froze (31 degrees when I started and didn't warm up much)

---

maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

First time back in the pool yesterday after a 2-week layoff (eye infection similar to pink-eye, then travel for work week one, then work meetings last week). Met a STer at the workout yesterday too.

250 w/u
3x200 as (1) count strokes, (2) 3/5 breathing and (3) descend each 50 [600/850]
3x100 (I forget what) [300/1150]
6x50 pull [300/1450]
250 c/d [1700 SCY]

---

clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com

Had a couple of weeks pretty much out of the water sick and busy again, so did the obligatory first 1100 workout a couple days ago to make sure I can still swim. Today was the first real workout back;

5x100s@1;40(1;25/22)
3x100IM kick@2;20(2;01/1;56)
5x200p@3;00 (2;40/2;36)
100IM kick
4x50 fly/free@1;10(37/37/37/35)
100IM kick
4x50 brst/ free@1;10(40/39/39/38)
100IM kick
2500SCY

Hopefully after a couple more of these without incidence, I can do a good set of those fly/free's close to failure. And of course get back on 1;30base, 1;40 just does not feel right..)-;

V sluggish swim:

600 easy cruise
200swim/200kick
150/150
100/100
50/50
7x50 on :55, build to fast 1-7
4x150 pull as easy/hard by 25 on 2:30
4x75 perfect
8x25 all out on :30
2x100

Run off the swim was miserable:
Main set 5x1min hill flat-out/3min walk back down. Boot factor 4.375/5

---

_____________________________________
What are you people, on dope?

—Mr. Hand

200 pull, 200 kick warmup

12x25 drill
(1 x one-goggle right, 3x one-goggle left, 2 x three & six, 2 x fists, 2x switch, 2 x minimal stroke count)

125's on 1:55, target 1:32.50
made 20 consecutive

100 backstroke EZ

3300 SCY


In the low teens, my touch time was creeping up close to my maximum target time. Felt tight, was aware that I wasn't getting good rotation to the left side ( side I was breathing on). I was trying different things to do to fix that, when I stumbled onto something. Rotating my hand just slightly outward (pink downward) as I speared gave me good rotation without losing balance. I dropped from the 1:32.lows back to the 1:31.mids and was able to hold that to the end of the set (20 reps).

---

"They're made of latex, not nitroglycerin"

Wu:
200
2x50 kick
2x(2x50 single arm / swim)

Ms:
20x100 @1:35 (:20).

Cd: 200

2700scy.

This was a bit of a mess. Around #7 a third guy jumped into the lane so we had to circle. 1:35 didn't work to well with two guys swimming about 2:05. Even going out first I caught them before getting to 75. Tried going first, and last. Kept tickling the toes of the guy in front with 35 yds to go.

Don't have much experience with circle swimming. Usually can get a lane alone or split. Not complaining, still got a good workout; just not sure what other options I might have had to make it work better with the other guys. We were all cool about it. Chatted a bit between reps.

3000 SCM this morning

300 WU
4 x (
200 pull
2x50 fast - :32/:33)
200 kick
10x100 on 1:30 - mostly 1:14s but drifting to 1:15s at the end.
300 CD

Hey glad you are back here so I can share the insanity. The other day I got down to 6:28 for the 400m fly-free, but it was with paddles on. Seem to be stuck at 6:50ish without paddles. On Friday I will hit 1200K of swimming for the year and plan to make the 1200th K the 1000M fly-free TT. This week I finally got into some specific prep sets for that. In any case, why is my pull so much stronger with paddles on than without....I would think that without paddles I should pull less water, but my cadence should be a bit higher. I think I need to focus on my fingers actually pushing on the water a bit harder and not letting them be too lose. FYI, I THINK my fastest approach is fly breath every second stroke, free breath every stroke for 10-12m and then every second after that to be topped up for the fly leg. Not sure if I gain more with some hard dolphin kicks underwater (less oxygen), or just coasting and get up to the surface, and then do a few strokes of pulling with the arms (try to keep the velocity) before first breath.

Any inputs from all you guys is appreciated.

All of you jokers posting about running on the fish thread, get the running out of here on Dec 15th. We have the 100/100 starting so make sure you post your runs over there. This place should be an unpolluted zone for the dolphin tank marine animal crew. Any of you amphibians, go post about your land feats of strength on the 100/100....deal?....I am saying this as someone who will probably swim further this year than half of ST will run LOL (Dev...."aka broken cheetah trying to be dolphin tank mammal")

Dev

7.2 mi run w/ 4 x 10 minutes @ 8:13, 8:06, 8:06, 8:00 pace
1225 yd easy swim


I'm not joining the 100/100. I don't need to be any more OCD about running than I already am.

---

maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

Going to the pool when it's cold outside - bleh!

200 w/u
3x200 (600/800)
300 pull (300/1100)
4x75 (300/1400)
4x100 pull (400/1800)
4x50 hard/easy counting strokes) (200/2000)
50 back c/d (2050)

---

clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com

8.5 mi run w/ 2 x 2.5 mi @ 8:00, 7:53
1525 yd swim

500, 50 kick, 400, 50 kick, 3 x 100, 25 kick, 200 c/d

---

maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

Felt like dinosaur do do today, but went through the motions somewhat;

4x500 swim@7;30(7;18) IM kick@10;30(9;59)pull@7;30(6;56) IM kick(9;48)

2000SCY

If you don't join the 100/100 and post your runs there, I'll need to get you excommunicated out of your own fish thread....seriously nothing stopping you from joining the challenge but never looking at the results/table. I join every montly swim challenge and never look at the log/challenge feature. If you join the run challenge it can give others motivation even if you never check it!

OK since you are the only one who kind of participated in the insanity, TODAY IS THE DAY.....1000m ITT of 50/50 fly/free is happening. I did it back in Feb and it was the hardest endurance test of my life and I have been avoiding trying it again. Between some point in leg 7 and the fly part of leg 9 is the absolute worst pain I have dealt with in my life and I knew it would be like that. So here we go again, and during today's 1000m I will also hit 1200 km swim volume for the year. T minus 1 hour for the pain hammer to fall. Don't ask me why I am doing this to myself.

1.5 mi bike commute
5.5 mi run w/ 2 x 2 mi 8:27, 8:20
800 yd swim

flying back to Maine later!!!

---

maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

2500 - main set of 15x100

Where is Erikmulk....I have to thank him for pointing out the Tom Dolan fly technique...it worked beautifully for me today 17:36 for the 1000m 50fly/50 free. Took 58 seconds off my time from the spring. More to come, but BREATHING EVERY STROKE on half of my free legs made a huge delta on fly legs. On the fly legs, I am faster breathing every second stroke, which means only around 10-12 breaths during the fly legs.....on the free legs, I got around 30-40 breaths in to catch up and recover.

Did pretty much the same workout as a couple days ago, gonna just keep hammering it until I feel better. Cut the interval on the set and even went a bit faster, so heading the right direction;

500s@7;30(7;19) 500IM kick@10;30(9;52)500p@7;00(6;33)500IM kick@10;30(9;41)
4x50p@1;00(32's)
100 kick
2300SCY

First off, in terms of it getting 'easier' maybe a better description would be 'It went from feeling like i want to die/drown vs the 800 lbs gorilla jumping on my back with a grand piano"....so just degrees of 'easier'.

The breathing every stroke it is like doing fly with half of your body in some ways. I actually close my eyes and try to basically keep my chin aligned with my sternum for the entire process with only a slight head swivel...basically my body is turning at the hips but head and shoulders almost static compared to each other....does that make sense? Maybe Monty can explain that better. I think I give away around 1 second in that 25m but I make it up and more on the next free 25m and the next 50 of fly since my oxygen is topped up. Make sense?

Hopefully car repair is not too expensive.

Saturday off; Sunday 7.5 mi easy run; today 3.1 mi run + 1075 yd swim

5 x 100 on 1:30
50 kick
5 x 100 odds fast on 1:30 (1:13s), easies on 2:00
25 kick c/d

---

maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

Felt like a fish today!! Got in 54 minutes;

5x100@1;40(1;25/23)
5x100IM kick@2;10(1;57 to 1;48)
10x50@1;10 fly/free(39/38's). 100IM kick
3x150p@2;15(1;56/54/51) 100IM kick
10x50@1;10 breast/free(41to39's) 100IM kick
2750SCY

3200 SCY

400pull
6x125 (25 kick, 100 free)
1500 "time trial" for coach (1:41 pace, probably had a bit more in the tank to get lower than this)
50 back
10x50 @ ~1:28-1:30 pace

Started going to a "coached" swim once a week for the last 3 weeks with the group my coach works under. The coach who runs the swim sessions wanted to see what I could do for a 1500 since I am newer. I'm happy with those times coming from being a 2:00 swimmer a year ago and a 1:40 pace for a hard 1000 just 2 weeks ago. Problem is his main comment was that I had a good stroke and only criticism was that he felt I should breathe bi-laterally. I realize this isn't supposed to be a 1 on 1 training, and I need to schedule that at some point. But I'm hoping to get down to ~1:30 by this point next year. I was really hoping he'd find some huge flaw that knocked 5 seconds off. Sounds like it's mostly hard work I've got left........wish I just had more low hanging fruit, haha.

Bilateral breathing is low hanging fruit - do you flip turn? Also low hanging fruit :-)

9 mi run (3.6 mi @ 7:53, 4 mi progressive 8:27, 8:20, 8:13, 8:06) and 1175 yd swim

550 w.u. kick the last lap
6 x 100 on 1:30 focus on low stroke count
25 kick c/d

---

maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

My last swim with my coach for the year. Backdoor brag heading to Paris and then London on Friday

12 Days of Christmas

12 x 50 (4 swim, 4 pull, 4 kick)
11 x 25 first 10 strokes hard
10 pool push ups
9 x 25 drill
8 practice turns
7 kick butterfly breast
6 x 50 desc (1, 2, 3) 4, 5, 6)
5 push offs
4 x 30 seconds vertical kick
3 x 75 (back, breast, free)
2 x 50 2 count pause
100

---

All I Wanted Was A Pepsi, Just One Pepsi

Team Zoot, Team Zoot Mid-Atlantic

Damn you guys....I spend all year swimming endless meters and I can't come anywhere close to those times. Maybe I lost all my layers of bioprene (TM) and am actually down to my high school track weight (and Kona 2006 race weight) so I am sinking and creating more drag (no Monty, I did not call you soft, you callled yourself soft in the 100/100 thread)...wait till you lose 15 lbs and it's gonna feel like you have a parachute on!!!

I do flip turn on anything 1000 or shorter. I start to get winded much faster with flip turns, so still building up on the long stuff.

Bi-lateral isn't low hanging for me, haha. I work on it when I can. I can't figure out why, but I can breathe easy and calm as can be to the right no matter what the pace, barely getting my mouth out of the water, etc.. Try and breathe to the left and it feels like I'm being water boarded.

we've spent yearS swimming endless meters. you've made a great start :)

---

maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

Holiday swim. It was a lot more mental than physical while doing it. Nothing "mental" about how my shoulders feel now, though.


103x100 LCM as:
3x100 easy choice
10x100 @ 2:00
10x100 @ 1:55
10x100 @ 1:50
10x100 @ 1:45
20x100 @ 1:40
10x100 @ 1:45
10x100 @ 1:50
10x100 @ 1:55
10x100 @ 2:00

Nice job!

7 mi run easy
1175 yd swim

5 x 100 on 1:30
50 kick
6 x 100 on 1:25
25 kick

---

maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

something we did as kids / teens... will have my son do this still over the holidays... Pipe works best but you can cut broken hockey sticks too.

---

___________________________________________
http://en.wikipedia.org/...eoesophageal_fistula
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerebral_palsy
2020 National Masters Champion - M40-44 - 400m IM
Canadian Record Holder 35-39M & 40-44M - 200 m Butterfly (LCM)

4300 scmeters


800 warmup


3x {4x25 kick on :35, 2x50 drill on 1:00, 100 smooth on 1:40}


6x100 pull w/ paddles on 1:40, breathe every 3 #1-3, descend #4-6 [1:06 on last]
8x50 fast on 1:00 alt free/choice[:31-:33]

Main set:
200 hard on 2:50 [2:24]
100 smooth on 1:30
150 hard on 2:10 [1:49]
2x75 smooth on 1:10
100 hard on 1:20 [1:10]
100 smooth

4x50 on 1:00 breathe 5,4,3,2x only by 50s

400 free for time (~ 90%) [4:53]

200 warmdown

---

Strava

Only had 22 minutes to swim today, so short and sweet at moderate pace;

10x150p@2;15 (2;00 to 1;58's)
1500SCY

This is awesome. Does a pipe work better because it sinks vs hockey stick that floats? I will try it tomorrow. I can see the value! Looks like the ultimate catch up.

600 warmup as 100 free/50 back or 50 kick
2 x (6x 25) fly fast @:40 with 50 kick after each (:15-:16 on each)*
500 snorkel free
4 x 50 @ :25 rest, 500 pace with strong kick (:29-:30 on each)
50 kick fast
4 x 75 @ :25 rest, 1650 pace (:46-:47 each)
50 kick fast
300 snorkel swim
200 @ mid/high-mid aerobic

2600 yards

* by coincidence, I swam next to a college swimmer, who was home for the holidays. I beat him on a 25 fly. That was nice, since I'm more than twice his age.

More fun to play with when not doing the drill ;)

---

___________________________________________
http://en.wikipedia.org/...eoesophageal_fistula
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerebral_palsy
2020 National Masters Champion - M40-44 - 400m IM
Canadian Record Holder 35-39M & 40-44M - 200 m Butterfly (LCM)

Just busted out this paddle session of bad-assery that I'm pretty pleased with. I consider myself a fish but am pretty basic w.r.t. training plans and approach sessions like I do with running and riding (minimal structure, specific intensity focus, little mixing). Lately (last few months) have really been low intensity efforts (I'm tracking HR in the swim...when the pod works of course) and swimming longer 1-2hrs if I can (these have worked out to be a steady 1:39/100 and sitting at 120ish bpm HR...My max HR when swimming will hit about 176bpm, maybe 180ish if the water temp is high).

The following is a 1hr fartlek swim, no stops, concluded by about 10minutes of structure consisting of 100s (still always moving), but hitting every second 100 at about 1:16/100 and the rest-er-val on a 1:35/100.

Data file here:
http://www.movescount.com/moves/move191364841

or here:
https://www.strava.com/activities/1322235875

Nice!

no swim yesterday; 11 mi run in 92 minutes and picked up a couple weights
today 4.5 mi run, 1275 yd swim

5 x 100 on 1:30
50 kick
200 fast 2:30
50 kick
200 fast 2:29
50 kick
100 fast 1:12
125 c/d

---

maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

I tried a few Paul-style no-breath 25 yard UDK's at my last workout. Went 15's with shorty fins, 18's without. Swam an easy 25 backstroke and then took a little over a minute's rest in between. I really do need to firm up this sub-skill to improve my turns for the sprint events. I get a decent streamline out, but have been only been doing one, poor (too much knee bend) UDK before breaking out. I think if I could develop a good, core-driven, two-way-propulsion UDK off the walls, I could cut 1/4 second off my SC 50 time and 3/4 off my SC 100 time.

---

"They're made of latex, not nitroglycerin"

I've got a pretty bad cold, but I thought going to the pool might help, but also bc I can't pass up long course. Today's was pretty low-key, which is what I needed.

500 warm-up as 200 free, 200 snorkel free, 100 snorkel kick
8 x 50 as odd scull + kick + swim, even as fly-br-ba in thirds of the 50
4 x {200 descending 50s @ 3:15
{100 stretch @ 2:00
5 x {100 stretch/smooth @ 2:30
{50 FAST @ 1:30
I did the 2nd and 3rd fast 50s with a 2kg weight held in streamline while I kicked on my back
650 as 50 easy, 200 snorkel + paddles, 200 paddles (50 free, back, br, free), 100 easy

3100 lcm

The next time the pool is lc is next Friday and Saturday morning. I hope I can get a 100 x 100 practice in.

SO have gotten in the water for almost two weeks in a row now, just swim downs every other day after my runs, but in the water. Did my test set today from a couple weeks ago on less rest again and went faster, so making progress;

500s@7;30(7;05) 500IM kick@10;15(9;42)500p@7;00(6;31)500IMkick@10;15(9;31)
4x100 alt breast@2;00/kick@2;30. breast-1;33/1;31--kicks 1;56/1;51
100SD
2400SCY

Monty, I have a question for you. I literally 3-4 second faster per 100m with finger paddles on vs bare hands:



FYI, I only use them with the middle finger strap so literally they are partially on my palm and partially on the fingers, not just on the fingers, so they don't really add much surface at all. But my catch feels so much more stable and secure....thoughts?

On another note I finally broke 90 seconds for 50m fly + 50m free. Yes my turns suck, but until I get my disc surgery, that's the way its gonna be.

By the way, did you already lose 12 lbs from all your training madness and are you going to crack out your Nike Air Mariahs some time soon and ditch the old guy Hokas moon boots?

Almost everyone is going to swim faster with paddles, it is just more unbroken surface area, and for some it forces them to pull correctly. Kind of a lever for swimming. I use just the one finger too, it really forces you to keep a steady force against the paddle and your hand in the proper position. Swim Off just a bit and it slips off, so instant feedback.

Nice job on the 100 fly/free, I have your 1000 swim in the back of my mind, but going to attack it in pieces first. Doing 50's fly/free, next up full 50's of each, then tying them together. I will do an 1100 SCY to match you 1000m, my goal will be to hold about a 1;30 pace per 100 or so. So maybe around a mid 16 minute swim?

I got a rude awakening on my weight after about 5 days of training everyday, I gained 2 lbs!!! I got pissed and lost it in the next couple, so back at 180. I really think that I have been turning fat into muscle, pants are getting looser but weight up, so thats how I explain it to myself. I really need to be able to do a couple hours a day I think to burn the big calories, 30 minutes here and there, well my fat cells are just laughing at me. Plus thus far I'm still not doing anything really hard, almost all 120 HR stuff with a couple minutes in the 130's here and there, so just getting efficient at the moment. Did my first bike ride and double this week though, and the bike felt good and was fun. So going to just throw in a short ride here and there to compliment the two challenges I'm in right now. Look at me, I'm a triathlete again..(-;

Don't think I'm ever going to get rid of my Hokas, just hope I won't be wearing them out so fast if I can crack under 170..

Have a great Xmas there Dev, and everyone else on the fishes thread here. I know a lot of pools are closed so it is extra tough on us, besides all the other stress..

Oh great, another idiot in for the 1000m fly/free madness. I believe 1:40 per 100m gets you 16:40...so yes, 90 second per 100 yards is mid 16's for sure. I MAY give this silliness another crack before end of the year. I would need to hold 1:42 per 100m to get it under 17 seconds. I am not sure if this is doable with a few tweaks on my dolphin kick and maybe better tactics and push off. But I THINK if I give it another go, it may be possible to go from 17:36 down to 17:16 range mainly from better tactics and focusing on holding streamline....or maybe I am dreaming.

For the holidays, my pool is closed on the 25th, 26th and 1st of Jan. I may see if I can brow beat some friends into trying a 10K swim on Dec 31st. I keep talking about doing a 10K swim set, but never do it. I am thinking something like this

10x 1000m (where the 1000m is 1x100, 1x200, 1x400, 1x200, 1x100). Alternating 1000's where the 100's and 200's are IM, with the 400m always being free)....that would still have 10x 200m IM and 10x100m IM in the set...the rest all free.

As for the Hokas, well, hey if they get you out running, they get you out running...and the most important thing is the belt buckle tests vs the weigh scale!

I think the holiday schedule and my 6 day surfing/camping trip with the family is going to squash any mega sets I might want to do, but thanks for the invite. If I can stay on course here and not have any huge hiccups, I will do some good birthday set this year, 62 of something on a something interval. Thinking if all is well and I can find someone to lead the lane, 62x100p@1;25(or even 1;20 if all stars align) or so for SCY...

Today was another solo in the club pool:

5x100s@1;40(1;24 to 1;19)
5x100IM kick@2;05(1;56 to 1;48)
5x150p@2;15(1;56/56/54/53/52)
3x100 IM kick@2;05(1;57/55/51)
5x100p@1;30(1;17/16/16/15/14)
200 dolphin kick

2750SCY

When is our 62nd birthday...is it before the end of year....in which case, you could do your 100 year old set 38 years early!!!

Monty when you do IM kick does thin involve the kick board for the back kick?

OK last 2 days I did 8x100m fly-free on 2 min. I was coming in at 1:32 to 1:38 range. Next up is to do it on 1:50 and see what pace I can hold. I think 1:40-1:42 will be a bit "hot" for a full 1000m, but let's see.

Happy holidays fishies! I asked a question several weeks ago about a monofin...well Santa Claus brought me the Finis Trainer 1. I had to get in and try it after opening the other presents and helping my wife get the spread ready.

To cut to the chase, it was freakin' hard to get used to the monofin. I could not get the kick action down compared to when I wear my TYR burners and I actually started turning sideways underwater. I guess this means either I'm not coordinated enough to use this tool or I have an extremely inefficient kick and this tool exacerbates the problem. I did eight lengths of the pool before ditching them and going back to the burners.

Looking for someone out there to provide some tips on what I might need to do. HELP!

BTW, other than the failed monofin attempt, I swam (scy):

400 warmup
Fin drills
60x50 (cuz 50 wasn't enough) on 60sec. as 10 long stroke, 10 B-3, 10 B-4, 10 (odds easy, evens fast), 12 as 3x(build, moderate, build, easy), 8 (odds easy, evens fast).
150 warmdown.

Hello and Merry Christmas or whatever near year-end event you celebrate. I just realized I haven't posted on here since December 7th. Well, since then, a lot of swimming and a lot of running and only one bike ride. One thing I've noticed; my left hip is not giving me much grief at all since I've stopped riding. Maybe I should get a refit or just drop triathlon and do only swims, runs and SwimRuns,

Almost every day a run from about 3 to 7 miles and then, most of these swims are 6:00 AM toes in the water
12/9 3250 yards in Rocklin, Ca indoor pool (thank goodness as it was 38 outside)
12/12 3005 yards in the ocean 60 deg water (43:16)
12/13 2793 yards in the ocean (36:55)
12/14 3152 yards in the ocean (38:22)
12/16 3718 yards in teh ocean (51:21)
12/17 2904 yards in the ocean (38:15)
12/18 2200 yards in the pool [500s, 1000IM kick w/fins, 10x50@:50 alt ez/hard, 200 cool] (42:00)
12/20 2416 yards in the ocean (36:27)
12/22 2343 yards in the ocean (38:06)
12/24 4474 yards in the ocean (51:28 - that's what my GPS clocked me at) Also did 13.4 mile run after in 2:16 1,400 feet climbing.
12/25 2980 yards in the ocean (41:43)

---

Proud member of FISHTWITCH: doing a bit more than fish exercise now.

Merry Xmas Steve, good on ya for doing those cold ocean swims. I will be heading to Jalama tomorrow, so probably some low 50's water. Mostly surfing with just a top on, so should build some cold water skills there.

Squeezed in a last pool swim this afternoon, moving up the fishes challenge!

3x150/100/50 two swim on 1;35 base/1 IM kick on 2;10 base(2;12/2;07/1;24/1;20/40/39) kicks(2;54/1;53/48)
8x100 two fly/free@2;00(1;21/1;20)2 kick@2;15(1;56/1;52)two best/free@2;00(1;24/1;23)two kick@2;15(1;55/1;49)
2x150/100/50p@1;30 base (1;56/1;52/1;16/1;15/36/35) 2x100 kick@2;10(1;56/1;53)
50fly@1;00(36)100kick. 50brst@1;00(42)100kick
2600SCY

snow kept me from swimming on Saturday. The pool was closed the past two days.

today 6.2 mi run easy, 1125 yd swim
felt very stiff on both accounts

500 w/u
50 kick
3 x 100 on 1:30
250 swim
25 kick c/d

---

maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

visiting friends/family in Burlington, VT
10 ish mile run on treadmill (it's -10 ish here), 5 min goof around in the hotel pool that I called 100 yards

---

maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

Theme: "18"
5 x {300 @ :18 rest
{200 snorkel @ :18 rest
{200 pull buoy @ :18 rest
300s were: free, 50k-100 free, 50back-100 free, 100k-200 free, 200 back-100br

18 x 100 @ 1:30, started at 1:26, went down to 1:20 for the last 3

400 snorkel as 50k-50sw, 50k-50sw, 200 swim
100 easy as 50k-50sw

5800 LONG COURSE METERS

nice swim, 140triguy.
To the person who asked about monofins, I've never used one.

4 mi run, legs felt really good
1225 yd swim (500 w/u, 7 x 100 on 1:30, 25 kick c/d)

---

maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

Not really a workout but definitely a challenge. The ocean is about 52, full on face/head freezing cold. The past couple days I have gotten in and tried to get acclimated so I could swim, but head felt like it was going to explode. But yesterday I got stubborn and just stayed in until the head freeze was tolerable, then I did about 400 yards or so. Caught some waves and came in shivering .

So 1x400

52?? Where you swimming, Monty?? Should be about 62, only hitting 52 when the Santa Ana winds kick up. I’m up near Auburn for the holidays enjoying an 82-84 deg indoor pool. Got in 4000 this morning as 6x(300/200/100) mixing it up with kicks, drills, pulls & sprints plus 400 cool down. Gonna run a 10 mile trail race on the 1st, over some of the Western States Race route.
The Oak Street pod is swimming as a float parade – towing whimsical inflatables from Oak Street to Main Beach buoy and back on the first. I will miss it, sadly, as I have my 4 foot tiki wanting to join

---

Proud member of FISHTWITCH: doing a bit more than fish exercise now.

I'm north of Pt. Conception at Jalama, that is where you go from So cal water to Northern temps. Have a great race, 10 miles is what I do in a week now!

That's 1x400 more than I would get in. I'm going to do part of a 100x100m workout tomorrow, so I'm posting here in preparation.

101 x 100y. Details on the 100 x 100 thread.