400 IMs

holy cow butterfly is hard.

did the regular 1500 warm up. but i'd forgotten my shirt, so i made it IM day. and it kicked my butt. 5x400 IMs on about 8. they were soooooo hard. it was great to use a lot of different muscles, but wow i couldn't believe how hard it was.

3500 total.



i've been a few other days that i haven't blogged. one morning was 50m which was really fun. i loved it because it was soooo much easier to count. i think i did a pair of 1000s that day. felt really good to swim long course and was a good confidence boost for open water.

swam in donath with rocket a week before that. it was a big downer. REALLY murky and i got spooked. couldn't see my hands in front of me, so i just didn't really want to swim in it. was worried about running into something. it was just creepy. i really hope horsetooth is cleaner. we'll see.

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i was all amped up to have time to go to the pool but then sorta fizzed out when i got there. especially during warm up. was feeling really slow and crummy with the shirt on. but once i got going on the 500s, i was a bit more into it and added an extra one.

Warm Up
500 swim
500 kick
500 drills

3x500s hypoxic 5 on 9
i think the first two went 740 and then 8ish, with the tshirt on and breathing every 5.
number 3 was added (about halfway through #2) without a shirt and breathing every 3. kind of and oxygen experiment. felt a million times faster and was able to chase down some people. i think it was right at 720 or a little bit under. which was really encouraging - to feel like i had the speed but was dragging it off with the tshirt. my stroke felt a bit wide without the shirt on. so i probably need to really be aware of my shoulders and do a few practices without it. it is a great tool though. i'm excited to shed the boardshorts too.

Cool Down
500 swim

Total: 3500

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evil 200s

i hate how i'm too busy to get to the pool very systematically. i'm hoping . . . i'm going to make that change after recital. today was the first day i swam with a shirt. it didn't feel bad at first, just doing the warm up. it wasn't a significant amount of drag that i had to take it off. i knew i was probably going slower, but this was definitely confirmed when i started the actual sets. wow, i was working soooooooo hard and going soooooooo slow. got out starving and exhausted, but proud i had made it, without significant time loss. and was tired like i'd really gotten a good workout.

warm up
500 swim
500 drills
500 kick

5x200s hypoxic 5 on 3 min
with the tshirt on
2:35 - 2:50
2 minutes rest

5x200s hypoxic 5 (mostly) on 3 min
with the tshirt on
paddles on the last 3
2:40 - 2:55
2 minutes rest

5x200s hypoxic 5/3 on 3 min
no tshirt
paddles on the last two
2:45 - 2:50 - ended on 2:35

cool down
500 float

really felt terrible on the cool down. my body just wouldn't go. it think it was because i hadn't eaten much. still working on a protein shake and made a bunch of eggs. hopefully they can digest fast enough to knit me back together.

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Run

rocket and i did the lake house tree and back home run. felt really good.

she did great. it was nice and cool. and she got in the little swamp that is just over the highway. so she ran and ran like a maniac.

it was fun. and unbelievable perfect weather.

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getting back to speed

500 swim
500 drills - 200 total immersion
500 kick - 200 apnea

2x550s on 10 hypoxic 5
- 7:20
- 7:14

500 cool down

felt pretty good. it was pretty easy to stay on the pace, so i was very pleased. i would have done at least one more 500, but a hs team was getting in.

3000 total

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boys meet

still not feeling 100% so today was another easy day.

500 swim
500 drills
500 kick

1000 hypoxic 5 - real easy. it wasn't too bad at all, because i was going slow and swimming really efficiently. there were some girls beside me that were swimming at least twice as hard as i was and were going half as fast. i'm sure that's infuriating for people, but i have been at it for a long time. and i've really been focused on "perfect" free. it's cool, i'm excited to be able to really get after it in the coming weeks.

and i need to start showing up earlier so i don't have to worry about swim meets and uss practice.

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saturday quickie

took it easy because i wasn't feeling real hot, and i didn't have a lot of time.

500 swim
500 kick
500 drills

500 cool down

2000 total

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200s

warm up
500 swim
500 drill
500 kick

6x200s hypoxic 5 on 3min
did all of them between 230 & 235. did the last one with paddles.

there was a high school meet so i got chased out and did my cool down in the diving tank.

cool down
400 swim

total: 3500

i didn't realize it, but i felt really crummy today. i think i pushed a lot harder than i realized yesterday running with rocket. my legs still hurt this evening (11p)

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287 Tree Run

just finished a run with rocket. we went to 287, then up to the lake house, the tree, then back home. it's cold too. it's below freezing, and the wind is blowing pretty hard, so i don't know what the windchill is. it's coming from laramie for sure though.

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hypoxic 1000s

Warm Up
500 Swim
500 Kick
500 Drills

3x1100s on 20
Hypoxic 5s holding 1:20
14:37, 15:00, 14:39 (with paddles)

Cool Down
500 swim

Total: 5000

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500s

Warm Up
500 swim
500 kick


4x500s on 10
hypoxic 5s holding 1:20
7:17, 7:18, 7:20, 7:17 with paddles

Cool Down
500 swim

Total: 3500

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200 IMs

Warm Up
500 swim

10x200 IM on 3:45 or 4

Cool Down
500 swim

Total: 3000

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Sick Monday

Had a crazy busy week, then a sick week. So i took it a bit easy today . . . so i don't have a sick month.

Warm Up
500 swim

15x100s on 2

Cool Down
500 swim

Total: 2500

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2h 44m

did you know it takes 2hours and 44 minutes to swim 10,000 meters? well that's how long it took yesterday.

(10k is 20 500's in case you were wondering)
1 - 7.22* --(7.22)--
2 - 10.33** --(17.55)--
3 - 7.55 --(25.51)--
4 - 7.50 --(33.42)--
5 - 7.54 --(41.36)--
6 - 8.08 --(49.45)--
7 - 7.55 --(57.40)--
8 - 8.03 --(1.05.44)--
9 - 8.21 --(1.14.05)--
10 - 8.14 --(1.22.10)--
11 - 8.09 --(1.30.11)--
12 - 8.07 --(1.38.37)--
13 - 8.25 --(1.47.13)--
14 - 8.25 --(1.55.12)--
15 - 8.16 --(2.03.28)--
16 - 8.24 --(2.11.53)--
17 - 8.14 --(2.20.17)--
18 - 8.20 --(2.28.27)--
19 - 8.23 --(2.36.50)--
20 - 8.08 --(2.44.58)--

*this is only 2 seconds off the 1:20/100 pace (which is under a 2.5h 10k)
**i had some major goggle issues on this one, so i swam it mostly blind, and then had to get out and put my cap back on and get my goggles reset.

then i went home and ate half the house. :)

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a swimmer's pool

wow, when the swim teams are at epic, there are a lot of swimmers. a boy's hs team had 5 lanes, the FAST (uss) team had 5 lanes, plus 3 in the shallow end. so i was in one of the two lanes in the diving tank, and ended up getting kicked out by another group. it was kind of cool. it felt like zone warm ups.

warm up
500 swim
500 drill
500 kick

10x200s on 2:55

cool down
300

3800 total

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evil 200s strike again

200s are still the worst distance. in context now they are really short, but it sure doesn't feel that way in the middle of one.

500 warm up
500 drills
500 kick

11x200s on 3
they started off well, as 200s usually do, but it all went downhill quickly. i was shooting for 2.20 (i think) and did okay for the first few, but man they got hard. it seemed to be the second 50. i think when i was off pace at 100 my mind let me slip on back, and suddenly i was doing 235s and 240s. and that's 1k pace! grrr.

11x100s on 1.30
these weren't so bad

500 cool down

total - 5000


weights
i did about 15 miles on the bike and kind of over did it. i was really watching my heart rate, and the power reading on the bike. so i'll have to do some more experimenting, because my heart was bothering me late that night. otherwise, the usual rounds. cut short on the arms though, my shoulders were popping. and i was just tired.

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Chilson

i ended up at chilson rec center in loveland today because the day totally got away from me. i was at the loveland studio late, left rocket there, and went to swim. WAAAAAAAY to many people there. everybody seemed to be there getting a late workout. it's a nice place. terrible pool to swim in though. they've got a huge waterslide that actually creates a current that crosses in the middle of the pool. so you swim sideways half the length, and then swim sideways the other way for the second half. which is actually great for open water training. and it was murky and hot. so it was good in a bad way.

500 warm up
500 drills

1 hour swim
i knew what time they'd kick me out, so i decided to see how far i could go with time to cool down. i kept splits by 550.
1 - 7.57
2 - 8.03
3 - 8.03
4 - 8.09
5 - 7.58
6 - 7.53
3000m - 48.06
i hadn't looked at those until just now and it's blowing my mind. it did feel really steady.

500 cool down

4500 total

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HS Girls State

today was an adventure. i got up to EPIC which was closed because the girl's state meet is going on this weekend. so i went to the Mullberry pool for the first time. it reminds me a lot of the cody pool in it's layout, but it felt like the powell pool because it was kind of a pit. which is PERFECT to train in. it was murky and the water was way too warm and there was NO air circulation. so i was actually kind of excited, because i knew it would make the workout a bit harder.

so anyway . . .

Warm Up
500 swim
500 dills
500 kick

5x550s on 830ish
this set started out as 4x500s but i was feeling really good on 3 & 4 so i decided to add on one more. i had a real hard time counting because their clock is on the fritz, i keeps time, but the numbers aren't displaying properly. so i was reading the wrong time, and then adjusting my count. and then i'd stop, and be a minute into the next set on my watch. so the first two were 600s or 650s. at least i was long. i was holding 120 the entire time too. so i was pretty pleased with that. the last two were fast. #5 was on a 1:15 pace, i think.

10x100s on 1:30
kept all of these at 1:20 until the last three. 8&9 were 1:15 and the last one was a 1:10.

Cool Down
500 float

Total: 5500

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a full 3k

warm up
500 swim
500 kick

3000
i stopped briefly after each 1000* to check splits and see where i was. this started off as a 2500, but stretched into a 3k because there's no logical way to break it up.

Cool Down
500

Total: 4500

*actually 1100s

then off to the weight room. (which included 5 miles on the bike)

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weights first

so today i did the weight room first. and i think it took a little bit too much out of me. so i'll probably use what i've got left over to do weights from now on.

500 warm up
200 or 300 swim then drills

500 kick
alternating flutter then dolphin by 100

3x500s on 10ish
again trying to hold that 120 pace. a 120 seemed really fast today. i think mostly because i had already lifted. the first one i got behind on and then fought back to get on pace, and actually made it. so i was proud of myself for that. but the second one was a disaster, i kept on it until 200 or so and then my brain quit. so it was embarassing. i almost quit in the middle of it, but decided the yardage was worth it if nothing else. i think i was only 20 seconds off. but the third one i redeemed myself and stayed right on the 1:20 pace. that puts me at 8 minutes for 500 meters, which is definitely too slow. it was just a hard day. i need to get on that pace for a thousand. then see if i can build from there. but it's still very early on, and i'm trying to build a lot of muscle mass. but it is frustrating to feel like i'm sliding backwards a bit.

500 cool down

total 3000

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15x200s

500 warm up

500 kick

15x200s on 3
235-245ish most of them were on 240

500 cool down

total 4500


then i spent some time in the weight room. i don't remember what exactly i did, but it was enough to sweat out some of the chlorine.

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holding pace

warm up
300 or so

2x1000s on 20
1 - 14:50
2 - 15:30
obviously still a ways to go, but at least i can hold the pace for 15 minutes. i didn't feel like i was getting the oxygen through my system. and i was hot. by halfway, i was pretty warm.

5x100s on 1:45
1-4 - 1:15
5 - 1:10
100s are a breeze on 145

700 cool down

3500 total

then jennissa came by and showed me some weight training stuff.

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grr.

500 warm up

it was supposed to be a 3000, but i was way off pace, so it turned into 3x1000s. the first two were decent. #3 sucked. my mind crapped out. i almost quit because i was just on cruise control and couldn't get myself to push through.

500 cool down

and then i got out, because i was wasting my time.

4000 total.

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i hate 200s

i've been super tired since that long long swim on sunday, so i decided to go a bit shorter today and try to do some speed work.

500 warm up

11x200s on 3
the first one felt really good and i think i did about a 2:10. but it was all downhill after that. i think i was still a bit spent from sunday. i struggled through, on about 2:50 pace, which is slower than what i was doing 1000s at the other day. so that was pretty frustrating.

12x100s on 1:45
these felt way better. however i was still just cruising through most of the set. the last two were pretty fast. i think 1:10 and 1:05. i was trying to go under a minute, but was just too low on gas.

500 cool down


4000* total

*compensated meters

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7K on a Sunday

i was planning to get in the water yesterday, but we had the winter music recital. and i didn't get up early enough to get everything done, so i had to swim today. i was feeling pretty good, so i decided to shoot for 7500. i ran out of time and decided to bail before the million little kids all went to the locker room at once, so i ended up settling for 7000.

500* Warm Up
-200 swim
-300 drill

5000* Swim
it was really like 5x1000s with no break. stopping only to check the split, and to get a drink at 2k&4k. having my watch really helped. i felt really good considering i was holding a pace for 5000 consecutive meters. i was able to control my breathing for the entire distance, which was great. and i managed to stay pretty on top of the pace too.
1 - 16:07
2 - 16:18 32:26
3 - 16:23 48:49
4 - 18:44 1:07:04
5 - 17:07 1:24:11
it looks like an extra 100 snuck into #4. i think that one should have been around 17:00. i was surprised at how good it felt and how well i stayed on the pace. it really helped that there were some other people in the water than i could chase. i was staying under a 3 hour 10k pace. so i think being under 2.5 is very realistic.

11x100s on 1:45
this went way better than the set i did a few days ago on 1:30. having that extra bit of recovery time made it possible for me to easily hold a 120-125 pace. and i was able to push through and do them all.

500* cool down
-200 kick
-300 swim

* compensated 1000m = 1100y

i'm pretty tired now. ate some eggs and took the dog for a walk. and jennissa is cooking hamburger helper right now.

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Running with Rocket

rocket and i just did a run. i noticed my breathing is much different. i could tell i was using a lot less O2. which is great, it just confirms that swimming is really changing my body fast. we were just going to do the lake house to the tree then back home, but we went ahead and continued on to college. i think it's probably close to 3 miles. i don't really know. the temperature has dropped 40 degrees since yesterday. so it was about 30 when we were out. now it's 15. i think we're faster in the cold. i way overestimated it, so i was overheating. shed the hat, then gloves. if we had gone much further i would have taken off my sweatshirt too. i've read some more on open water swimming and am hearing that the low water temperature is one of the things that really makes it difficult. so maybe we should have run naked.

there was a huge horned owl in the tree when we got home.



and my shoes are hammered. i'm bummed because they aren't really that old, so maybe i can find some good insoles. but my knees hurt now. and my ankles were really bothering me during the run. like i had shin splits. but i haven't been running enough for anything to be wrong. i think i'm gonna go throw out those insoles right now.

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Meters & Yards

500 warm up
-200 swim
-200 drill
-100 kick

6x550's on 9
these were actually supposed to be a trio of 1Ks. but at about 350 or so a 500 started sounding like a much better idea.
i was managing these on about 8 minutes. my mind gave up on #3. i made myself do the 4th one, and felt a little bit better. i think just being more than half way really helped. i wasn't going to do the last two, because i didn't want to burn out, but when the clock hit, i went again. so i got all 6 done.
i think i need to start doing some shoulder strength exercises. my right one was feeling a bit strained.

11x100's on 1:30
this set was to try to build a little bit of speed with a very short recovery.
this just about killed me. the first one was great, but i was just on empty for the rest of them. i was holding about a 1:20 give or take. and i had to take a break after #6.

500 cool down
real slow.

Pace
which is actually pretty slow. i do have boardshorts on for drag, but i'm also training for an open water race. so i feel like i need to be able to hold that 1:20 pace for several thousand, and in meters that translates into more like a 1:12. i'm punching this all into the calculator right now, and realizing that is a BLAZING pace in open water. and that's just to hit the 2 hour mark.

Meter Pace Chart
100 1:12 1:20 1:25 1:30
1K 12 13:20 - 15
10K 2h 2:13 2:22 2.5h

Yards Compensated Pace Chart (1000m = 1100y)
100 1:05 1:14 - 1:22
1100 12 13:34 - 15
11000 2h 2:15 - 2.5h

wow. that's SO fast. i can't even hold a 1:20 pace for more than 300 yards right now. so maybe a more realistic goal is a 2.5 hour 10k.

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6K

well, i'm still old and slow, but i'm at least getting tougher. 6000 today. i can't believe how poorly my brain is working during the sets. i'm sure it's mostly oxygen deprivation, but it's probably at least party the fact that i haven't had to run splits for a decade.

500 warm up

5x1000s on 20
- 14:15
- 14:15
- 14:19
- 14:45
- 13:55

500 cool down

Total 6000

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open water

so i have been pondering doing the 10k "Horsetooth Swim" coming up this august. i definitely know how far 10,000 meters is. the goal will be a time. i'd really like to shoot for the 2 hour mark, but that's only 10 minutes off the olympic gold time. it's also 5 minutes faster than the record for the USMS 25-29 age group. so i could definitely be biting off more than i can chew. but we'll see how it goes. i can remember doing 100s on 1:15 in high school, no problem. be under 2 hours, i'd have to sustain a 1:20 pace . . . for 100 of them. in open water, no flip turns, and at a much lower temperature than the pool.

so who knows, i might be dreaming. but that's where i'm aiming at the moment. hopefully i'll be able to find some information about how to train for such and extreme distance. and how to deal with the exposure.

jennissa is excited about it. she's just happy that i'm working out. i don't think she realizes how lean swimmers are. but perhaps she and rocket can be my support boat for the race.

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already doing better

so today i was already feeling stronger, and added another 1000. and instead of a 500 set, they were 1000s on the same pace. and it didn't kill me, even though i was going twice the distance. so hopefully my heart is catching up.

500 warm up
-200 swim
-300 drills

3x1000s on 20
i did them all in 15 and could have probably left on the 19 instead of 20, but a broken goggle strap, and seeming impossible math in a very oxygen deprived brain kept me on the 20. but i felt better doing a thousand than i did two days ago doing 500s.

500 kick

500 warm down REAL slow

----------
total 4500

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3000!

so the goal today was to hit 2500 total. i haven't been in the water for ages, so i was really excited to be able to add an extra 500 to the set and hit 3000.

500 warm up
-200 swim
-200 drills
-100 kick

4x500s
i was doing them on about a 10 minute set, but holding a 7:30 pace. it just about killed me and this is when i realized that i'm REALLY old and slow.

500 cool down

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