I remember when I was in HS that after every Sat morning swim practice I would come home, have 2 waffles with cream cheese and syrup and go downstairs to the basement, turn on the TV and crash on the couch for at least two hours. A normal practice on sat morning would last 2 1/2-3 hours and we'd probably do at least 8,000 yards. I was a 200 butterflier so I remember many repeater sets...8 x 200 Fly, 20 x 100 fly or the one I remember the most (due to the pain) was 8 x 400 IM. Well, this morning's swim brought back a lot of memories and as much as I thought I didn't miss competitive swimming, I reminded myself how much I loved being a swimmer. Last night after Karel and I watched a movie I checked the weather and with no surprise (after a full evening of rain and wind) the forecast showed crazy wind on sat morning. Not just a little wind, but gusts over 30 mph. I'm sure the northerners would take wind over ice and snow but it was pretty scary outside this morning. Karel and I both woke up around 5:30am because of the noises from the wind. It sounded like ghosts and I knew I wouldn't be going on my bike ride this morning. Because I checked the weather last night, I had prepared myself with plan B if I didn't ride. After Friday, of being totally out of it to decide what to do, I told myself I would do a LONG swim to take the place of my sat ride. I plan on riding on sun which should be ok for weather. It was around 6:45am and I asked Karel if he thought I should ride and he said no. He said he has seen grown men get flown off their bikes into the water (last year, one of our Gearlink friends) and if I rode I'd probably fall over before I made it 1 mile down the road. And plus, since I am all about training right now, I decided that there was no way I would be able to train when I am trying to stabilize myself on my bike. The Clearwater Y opens at 8am so I jumped on the treadmill for a 2 mile run before my swim. Surprisingly, no pain in the legs and I was able to run after only a 2 min. warm-up..and I felt great. I wrote down my swim workout prior to arriving at the Y so I didn't need to think about what I was going to do in the water as I was running. I typically think of workouts either in the pool or right before I get in the water..therefore, I am probably not the best at making myself do something that I don't want to do..that I probably should do....especially when I am swimming solo. After the run I quickly changed into my suit so that I would be the first one in the pool to get a lane. I had the lane to myself for a while and then surprisingly, a man that I coach jumped into my lane...what a great surprise! I think it was kinda funny that he saw me pushing myself and barely catching my breath when normally I am the one pushing others.
Ok, so now to the set. My good friend Angela (http://angesdrivetotri.blogspot.com) had posted on her blog about an Epic swim set of 7000 yards. As a college swimmer herself, we both swim very comparable times and I wrote down her workout just incase I wanted to swim 7000 yards. I haven't swam anything over 3000 yards since Kona (maybe 3400) and nothing over an hour in a long time. I'm a triathlete now (not a college swimmer) so therefore, I validate my 1-hour swim as time-mangement, quality swimming :) Or, I just play around in the water after a 1500 warm-up and the "workout" usually takes up an hour. So back to this morning's set. I was motivated, determined and ready to swim a 5000. I didn't feel like I would have the discipline to swim solo for 7000 yards but perhaps if I had a buddy who could swim my pace I would have tried the challenge. Again, I graduated college in 2004 and since then, I have only swam for the purpose of training for triathlons. After a 500 warm-up I began the BIG main set from angela's EPIC workout. Here's the set:
400, 4 x 100, 8 x 50
The 400 was on 6 min, 100's on 1:30 and 50's on 45 (Angela did 40 sec. but I wasn't feeling speedy)
300, 3 x 100, 6 x 50
After 1 minute break I began the next set and continued with the rest of the set on the same cycles and 1 min break after the 50's.
200, 2 x100, 4 x 50, 100, 100, 2 x 50
If you total up the main set it comes to 3000. After 100 easy swim, 200 drill breathing 3,5,7,9 by 50, and 100 fly kick, I started another set which I made up just to give me yardage.
200, 150, 100, 50 w/ 5 sec rest.
Next set 100 free pull, 100 back (to losen up my back muscles and work the chest), 100 free and 100 back.
I then did another 100 fly kick and flopped around for the last 100 cool-down.
So, there it is....a 5000 yard swim!!!!! I really enjoyed just feeling like a swimmer and wow am I beat. I came home and found Karel on the couch and I told him I can feel my back muscles, in addition to my shoulders and biceps. I always want to tell him about my swim workouts but I know he doesn't understand the swimmer lingo. So I just tell him "OK babe, I know you won't understand but let me tell you what I just did." I am not sure if he listens but he always ends in "that's great". That's ok, he talks "bike" and I don't always get it. Right now and even during the workout, I'm not incredibly sore but I feel pretty tired. I didn't really slow down during the workout but i could tell I was getting tired from being in the pool for 1 hour and 35 minutes. Karel said it was super windy out and only 1 guy showed up for the group ride. I guess I made the right decision this morning. Most of all, I feel like i had a quality workout and really never talked myself out of a set this morning. I focused on just swimming and didn't think about all the other things I have to do today (like studying which I am procrastinating as my book is sitting right by this computer as I am typing). I want to wish all the Florida Great Escape athletes in Clermont Florida good luck this weekend!! Gay and Kate...go out there and have fun!!!
Ok, so now to the set. My good friend Angela (http://angesdrivetotri.blogspot.com) had posted on her blog about an Epic swim set of 7000 yards. As a college swimmer herself, we both swim very comparable times and I wrote down her workout just incase I wanted to swim 7000 yards. I haven't swam anything over 3000 yards since Kona (maybe 3400) and nothing over an hour in a long time. I'm a triathlete now (not a college swimmer) so therefore, I validate my 1-hour swim as time-mangement, quality swimming :) Or, I just play around in the water after a 1500 warm-up and the "workout" usually takes up an hour. So back to this morning's set. I was motivated, determined and ready to swim a 5000. I didn't feel like I would have the discipline to swim solo for 7000 yards but perhaps if I had a buddy who could swim my pace I would have tried the challenge. Again, I graduated college in 2004 and since then, I have only swam for the purpose of training for triathlons. After a 500 warm-up I began the BIG main set from angela's EPIC workout. Here's the set:
400, 4 x 100, 8 x 50
The 400 was on 6 min, 100's on 1:30 and 50's on 45 (Angela did 40 sec. but I wasn't feeling speedy)
300, 3 x 100, 6 x 50
After 1 minute break I began the next set and continued with the rest of the set on the same cycles and 1 min break after the 50's.
200, 2 x100, 4 x 50, 100, 100, 2 x 50
If you total up the main set it comes to 3000. After 100 easy swim, 200 drill breathing 3,5,7,9 by 50, and 100 fly kick, I started another set which I made up just to give me yardage.
200, 150, 100, 50 w/ 5 sec rest.
Next set 100 free pull, 100 back (to losen up my back muscles and work the chest), 100 free and 100 back.
I then did another 100 fly kick and flopped around for the last 100 cool-down.
So, there it is....a 5000 yard swim!!!!! I really enjoyed just feeling like a swimmer and wow am I beat. I came home and found Karel on the couch and I told him I can feel my back muscles, in addition to my shoulders and biceps. I always want to tell him about my swim workouts but I know he doesn't understand the swimmer lingo. So I just tell him "OK babe, I know you won't understand but let me tell you what I just did." I am not sure if he listens but he always ends in "that's great". That's ok, he talks "bike" and I don't always get it. Right now and even during the workout, I'm not incredibly sore but I feel pretty tired. I didn't really slow down during the workout but i could tell I was getting tired from being in the pool for 1 hour and 35 minutes. Karel said it was super windy out and only 1 guy showed up for the group ride. I guess I made the right decision this morning. Most of all, I feel like i had a quality workout and really never talked myself out of a set this morning. I focused on just swimming and didn't think about all the other things I have to do today (like studying which I am procrastinating as my book is sitting right by this computer as I am typing). I want to wish all the Florida Great Escape athletes in Clermont Florida good luck this weekend!! Gay and Kate...go out there and have fun!!!