Sunday, June 29, 2014

Deek Creek open water practice

Thanks to Karen, Mandi, & Gerald!  We spent the afternoon practicing our open water swimming skills at Deer Creek Reservoir.  I had a blast!  I was expecting to feel some sea sickness or fear of the open water, but I had no issues at all.  In fact, there were times I couldn't stop smiling while I was swimming.

At first I tested out with the wet suit.  It is a sleeveless one I am borrowing from Mandi (just like my wedding dress).  I was fast at putting it on.  I think the trick is to roll it up.  I got it on my ankles, right where I wanted it.  Then I rolled it up to my knees, and so on.  It was really fast. 

When I walked into the water I couldn't even feel the water on my legs.  It was a strange and cozy feeling.  The wet suit was very comforting and felt like a security blanket wrapped snugly around me.  I was surprised that I liked it so much.  And boy does the wet suit make you buoyant!  And warm.  My ear canals were cold at first, but that was it.  Everything else was just fine.  But the water was a bit warmer than I thought it would be.  I tried it for a lap without the suit too.  If the water at Bear Lake warms up, I might just be able to do it without the wet suit after all.

I did not keep very good track of how far I swam. But I swam for about an hour or so with some small breaks throughout.  I think if was somewhere around 1 1/2 miles.  That is pretty good.  I was definitely slower without the suit on.  I am hoping that Matt and I can do another practice swim in the next couple of weeks. 

Afterwards, they treated me to a wonderful little cookout with some delicious potato salad and chicken kabobs.  All in all, it was a wonderful experience.  And we when home through Provo Canyon.  I was surprised how nice, green, and beautiful it is. 


Friday, June 27, 2014

It sure doesn't feel like Friday

I have not had any problems waking up to swim this week.  That has been a nice blessing.  But the week has been an odd one for my schedule, so it sure doesn't feel Friday-ish to me.  That means that the weekend will be a pleasant surprise. 


I have a few things I really want to do:
  1. Pick raspberries (maybe make jam)
  2. Climb on a ladder and pick cherries (do something excellent with them~I still need to research the best thing to do with cherries, I have never had a cherry tree before!
  3. Plant my basil
  4. Organize the playroom
That being said, I am also swimming at Deer Creek Reservoir tomorrow.  This is the second attempt at open water practice.  It should be good and cold!


Here is this morning's workout:


Warm up:
100 drill
200 50 kick/50 choice
300 build


6x50 reverse build (start each one FAST and finish easy) @:50


Main Set (8 times):
100~~~25 SPRINT/75very strong (85-90%) @1:45 (2:00/2:15)
25 Recover @:30


12x25 @:30
1-half easy/half fast
2-all fast
3-half fast/half easy


8x50 @:50 Cool Down


2,600 yards total

Thursday, June 26, 2014

Yet another distance day

This morning was another distance day.  It is actually good for me to get this kind of workout in. 

Wes' workout:

300 Swim
200 Back
100 Drill

2x50 fast/easy  easy/fast (I got in late, but if you have time, do more of these)

Main Set:

3x200 @3:00
3x200 @ 2:50
3x200 @ 2:40

10x50 @:50 cool down

3,000 yards total


We are still set up for Saturday at Deer Creek.  I am excited and anxious at the same time.

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

What! Two days in a row!

This is the second day this week that I have actually gotten myself out of bed and into the pool.  We did another long distance workout, but not like yesterdays.  Admittedly, I could really use these fitness building, endurance workouts like Laura gave yesterday.  But I love breath control sets, and we did one today.


Here is Shawn's workout:


400 Warm Up


6x [25 no free @:30 then 50 free @:50]


Main Set:
100 Stroke
50 Kick
200 Free
50 Kick
300 Pull
50 Kick
200 Free
50 Kick
100 Stroke
Go through it straight through, take rest when/if you need it.


14x25 breath control @:30
6 breaths down to 0 breaths then repeat


200 Cool Down


2,400 yards total


Shawn also took a poll of people who might be interested in some organized open water swims.  That would be awesome!  I am pretty nervous about swimming in a lake rather than a pool.  The last time we (Mandi, Karen, and I) tried to go out something came up and we couldn't go.  We are planning to go this Saturday, probably to Black Ridge in Herriman.  Let's hope this really happens.  Also, Shawn offered to lend me his kayak for the Bear Lake swim (and before to practice).  So a big thanks to him for that!

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Less than a month left!

There is less than a month until the Bear Lake 7+ mile race.  I need to hit the pool (and lakes) hard!  Today was a great workout for that.  It was long and endurance based.  Let's see if I can be more consistent for the next 4 weeks.  I need it!

Laura's wonderful endurance workout:

400 SKDS (I only did 300)

8x50 Choice stroke; Drill/Swim @:50

Main Set:

6x300 Pull (I just swam them) @4:15; 100 fast/50 Easy

12x25 kick @:30; every third fast (I used fins)

200 Cool Down

3,100 Yards Total

Friday, June 13, 2014

Finesse Friday

Today we focused on the finesse of swimming freestyle.  Basically, the rotation and body position.  In freestyle, you should be rotating your entire body along your long (or vertical) axis, as one unit.  Most beginning swimmers rotate their upper bodies (from the hips up).  So today we practiced a progression into freestyle.


300 Warm Up (your choice)

6x25 kick on your side (take one stroke and switch sides at half)  When you need to breath, turn your head and then bring it right back down to face the bottom of the pool.

6x25 6 kick drill (kick ~6 times on your side, take one slow and thoughtful stroke, take 6 kicks on your other side, repeat)  Make sure that when you breath you take quick breathes that flow with your stroke

6x25 3x6 drill (take 3 slow and thoughtful strokes, kick 6 times on your side, take 3 slow thoughtful strokes, kick 6 times on the other side, repeat).  By thoughtful strokes I mean pay attention to every possible detail of your stroke especially your body rotation.

Main Set:
6x100 75 Fast/25 Recovery @2:15

5x50 cool down (aim for the exact same time each 50)

1,600 Total yards


This was not a very long workout, but if you have more time it would be easy to add in a pull set such as 4x200 negative split or descend or built. 

Thanks for reading/attending practice and I hope you are enjoying the post, however sporadic they may be at times.

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Shorter swim but quality sprinting.


Today Shawn wrote a workout geared towards quality rather than quantity.  We focused on two main parts in the main set.  They were some 25's and 50's fast.  As long as we did those ones right, we accomplished the goal of the workout.

Here is the workout:

300 Warm Up

8x100 25 kick/50 swim/25 kick @1:50

4x
[50 @75% on 1:00
 25 @90-95% on :30]

4x
[100 @80% on 1:45
 50 @95-100% on 1:00]

200 Cool Down

2,200 yards total


This Saturday, I am going with a couple of friends to swim at Deer Creek Reservoir.  We are both kind of nervous about open water swimming.  So this will help us get comfortable with it.  Thankfully, Mandy is coming to help us train.  She is quite the open water expert. 

Thursday, June 5, 2014

Two fer One workouts

So I forgot to post yesterday's workout.  I know that I am forgetting some of it.  But here are the two (or most of them) from yesterday and today.  That makes 3 workouts this week.  Goal achieved!

Wednesday's Workout (what I remember of it)
Warm Up: 400 skds?

10x25 fast/easy

Main Set (2 times)

50 fast
100 recovery
150 pull buoy
200 pull
150 fins
100 recovery
50 fast

300 cooldown

2,600 yards total


Thursday's Workout:
250 Warm Up

5x50 drill/swim

5x75 (+25) IM

500 choice

5x100 descend 1-3 then hold the fast pace for 4-5

15x25 @:25

2,300 yards total

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

8 Weeks left! (a post I forgot to publish last week)

So there are only about 8 weeks left until the Bear Lake swim.  That means I need to step up and get my swim on!  I have not really been swimming much in the last 6-8 weeks.  Plus, I have been having some back problems.  Hopefully that will be resolved when we get our bed back and stop sleeping on an air mattress.  If I buckle down, and swim regularly, I think I can still be ready for the race day.  I really want to get at least two open water practice swims in.  One that is about 45 to an hours long and the other somewhere between 1 1/2 to 2 hours.  Amelia has been sleeping through the night for over a week now!  That means I need to step up and wake up to swim.  I started today.

Here is the workout from Shawn:

Warm Up:
100 Free
100 Reverse IM
100 Stroke
100 Kick

10x
     50 Free @ :50
     25 Stroke @ :30

8x100 odds IM @ 2:00; evens free @1:45

8x25 Kick various styles and intensities

300 Cool Down

2,500 yards total

Long Distances

This was Tom's last master's workout.  Laura will be taking over for him.  I am glad that I went.  It wasn't anything fancy.  But I am still trying to get back into things.  I have to make sure to swim at least 3 times a week up until the race.  I think if I can do that, I will be fine.

Warm Up:
400 SKDS

4x75 left arm/right arm/swim @1:20

4x50 build @1:00

1000 for time (I went 13:23)

100 recovery

4x50 catch up @1:00

500 Kick (w/board & fins)

2,700 yards total