200th Blog Post!

Although I've been backing off with daily updates of mundane workouts, today marks my 200th blog post since starting "Swimming Upstream" in October 2011. It really has been a fun way to keep track of my progress (and regression) throughout the years, even if it comes at the cost of annoying my friends and family on Facebook every time I share a link to a post. To that end, I'm sure I have been "unfollowed" on many people's social media feeds. Oh well ... I use it as an accountability tool. I don't really expect people to read through my musings about my personal health. It's incredibly narcissistic and kind of weird, I know.

A fist pump for 200 blog posts!

Anyway, today was another day of swim class and another day of me sucking wind. Since Cooper was born about six weeks ago, my diet has completely fallen apart and my exercise has mostly been limited to my twice-weekly swim classes. That has resulted in me gaining back 7 of the 12 pounds I lost during my 12-week diet and decreased stamina in the pool. I need to get back on the wagon soon, as the Huntsville Half Marathon is sneaking up on me and I have to take training seriously. At the same time, I need to continue working with the Weber State Masters team to prepare for the SDRC Meet in November.

Jen will get the OK for exercise from the doctor any day now, so we are excited to start setting new goals together and help each other out with our eating habits. It's so much easier when you and your spouse are on the same (or similar) page.

Total distance: 700 yards swimming (butterfly day)

South Davis Masters success!

Today was the big day. I got just enough sleep and was able to get up at a reasonable hour and eat a good breakfast before Jen, Jessica, Kelly and I drove down to Bountiful for the South Davis Masters meet. Right off the bat I was a bit stunned as to how many swimmers were there. I was a little intimidated at first, but settled down after my first event.


Me coming into the wall during the 500-free

 I swam the 50-free first, the event I specialized in during high school, but I was realistic with my seed time, aiming for less than 30 seconds. I felt good, got a good start and when I hit the wall, I had no idea what place I was in. I looked up at the board and saw I finished with a time of 28.41, second in my heat, losing to another swimmer by one-hundredth of a second. Yes, you read right. ONE HUNDREDTH OF A SECOND! Sheesh. It was still, a personal best since I took up swimming again, but nowhere near the time I pulled off when I was 16.

The second event was the 100-IM. I was particularly excited for this one, because I had been practicing it a lot. I was in the third of four heats and got off to an OK start on my butterfly. I kind of had tunnel vision and didn't pay attention to any of the other swimmers around me until I pushed off the wall during the freestyle leg and saw I was out front by an arm-length or so, so I really turned it on and ended up winning my heat with a personal-best time of 1:13.91. My previous personal best was about 1:18.00. Not too shabby. Here's a video of me holding on for the win.

By the time the 500-free came around, I was feeling a bit tired. My shoulder was killing me by this point, despite being loaded up with ibuprofen. Kelly and I had a nice long break between events, so we ate a bagel and warmed up again. We ended up being in the same heat for the first and only time during the meet, so that was fun. However, he was in Lane 2 and I was in Lane 8, so we werent' exactly able to compete neck-and-neck. I was already hurting by about my fourth lap and I feared I pushed it too hard right out of the block. I gutted it out though, and ended up smashing my previous best (7:51.00) with a time of 7:09.64. I was completely shocked.

My last event was the 200-free. Being fairly satisfied with my first three swims, I was just swimming this one to get my money's worth, because my shoulder was shot after the 500. Kelly, Josh and I were going to swim in the 200-free relay to finish the meet, but couldn't find a fourth swimmer, so this ended up being my last event. I tried keeping up with a very fast swimmer from Utah State during my first 100 and I paid for it, running out of gas on my last 50, but I still beat my seed time (2:30.00) with a time of 2:28.85. I count it as a personal best only because I have never swam the 200 before and simply guessed my seed time. And I barely beat it.

Kelly and I after finishing the 500-free. I was spent.

Whew... What a meet. Kelly and I were both pretty happy with our results and we met a lot of good swimmers from around the area. Jessica and Jen were great supporters, even though the meet kind of dragged on down the stretch when we had less events. I hear there is another Masters meet in St. George in January and I'm tempted to sign up. We shall see.

Next up, the Weber State Turkey Triathlon next Saturday...

Total distance: 1,050 yards

Resting for the big day

Ice, heat, drink, repeat. That's how my day has been going so far. Tomorrow's the swim meet I've been looking forward to, so I'm trying my best to physically and mentally prepare myself today. My shoulder is still aching a great deal, so I've been icing it off and on and jumping in and out of a hot bath all morning for about 15 minutes each. I was supposed to swim in the 1,650 free tonight, but I couldn't get the night off from work, so I'm going to have to settle for the 50 free, 200 free, 100 IM and 500 free tomorrow. Perhaps even a relay.

I've also been inhaling water like it's my job. Hydration and carbo-loading are key the day (or even days) before a race. It's really bringing back memories from high school. I can't believe I was able to eat whatever junk I wanted, drink soda and practice hard the day before a race. Not anymore, though. Today is strictly water, fruits, veggies and complex carbohydrates with low fat. I'll throw in a little bit of grilled chicken for my protein.

Speaking of high school, I went and watched Roy High take on Bonneville and Bear River yesterday in a tri-meet. It was fun to watch and genuinely got my blood pumping. I was even getting butterflies in my stomach watching them race. I can't believe it's been almost nine years since I last competed in a swim meet. I'm almost certain I'll hardly sleep tonight. Hopefully I'm not stuck at work too late and can get into bed at reasonable hour. Anyway, thanks for reading my "Uncle Rico" moment.

A sweaty afternoon

I got up earlier than I normally do today, so I could get a head start at the gym. I wanted to have enough time to do a long bike workout before I swam. I'm glad I did, because today was fairly productive.

My view from the stationary bike upstairs.

Normally I bike anywhere from 3-10 miles at a leisurely pace, but today I wanted to crank it up a notch in preparation for my sprint triathlon. This way, I could simulate some of the more difficult hill climbs that I'm not accustomed to. I set a hill climb program and it absolutely kicked my butt. I usually sweat a great deal when I do land training, but today it was at a whole new level. I was seriously pouring. The cardio and weight rooms have a nice view of the pool below us, so that provided extra motivation to power through my workout as quick as possible. The cool water never looked so inviting.

I finished with about 8.8 miles after my cool down and I was very relieved to hit the pool. Here's what I did once I got in.

Warm up
200 free
Core
250 free (ladder build up)
500 free
1,750 free (one mile)
2 x 50 sprints
Cool down
100 free easy
100 breast

Overall, I'm starting to feel a little more confident heading into the Masters meet. My speed hasn't increased significantly, but my cardio feels solid and I'm still dropping pounds, so the workouts are starting to get a bit easier.

Total distance: 1.70 miles

Swim/bike combo

Last night I stayed up way too late reading a book I've been caught up in, so I was a little sluggish getting to the pool today. It only took a cold shower in the locker room to wake me right up and I was ready to go.

Here's today's swim.
Warm up
200 free
Core
500 free on the 9:00 (10 second break in between sets)
200 free
150 free
100 free
50 free
500 free on the 9:00 descending
100 free
100 free
100 free
100 free
100 free
4 x 50, 25 head out, 25 three breaths
4 x 50, 25 hard, 25 easy
Cool down
200 free/breast

I did my first 500 in 8:25 and my second in 8:14. They aren't great times, but the fact that I could still descend and cut that much time on the second ladder was encouraging. Some time this week I'm going to time my 500 and really push it to see what a realistic seed time would be for the South Davis Masters Meet in a few weeks.

Right after swim I went upstairs and sat on the bike and did 5.5 easy miles in about 25 minutes. Admittedly, I was reading the same book I stayed up all night with and didn't focus on pushing myself terribly hard.

Total distance: 1.59 miles

Bonus workout

I generally don't work out more than four times a week, but today Jen and I went to the gym together again. Given I'm on pace to work out every day this week, I took it relatively easy today and considered it all a bonus workout. Extra, if you will.

My shoulder was still in significant pain from yesterday's swim, so I figured I'd just try and establish a seed time for the 1,650-yard freestyle at the South Davis Masters meet in November and call it good.

Warm up
150 free
Core
1,650 free
Cool down
100 breast

I swam the 1,650 in 28:03.75, which I consider to be a so-so time, but it was still encouraging given my shoulder was on fire for the first 800-900 yards or so. That should give me a decent goal for the big meet. I hope to do it in under 27 minutes.

After the swim, I joined Jen upstairs for a light session on the bike. I did 5.5 miles in 25 minutes and then we both worked on some core/abdomen exercises for about 10 minutes. Nice little workout indeed....

Total distance: 1.08 miles

Long distance training ... kind of.

For most people, finding motivation to do things is usually hardest on Mondays. Not for me, though. I tend to fall apart by the end of the week and after taking a breather during the weekend, I look forward to starting my weekly exercise goal on Mondays.

Today, however, I did get off to a late start. I had to take my car to get the windshield replaced at 9 a.m., so I didn't get to the Roy Recreation Center until about 11:15. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays I will usually run, bike and swim, but given my late start, I skipped the run and bike and hopped straight in the pool (lap swim only lasts until 1 p.m.).

Roy Recreation Center pool, my home away from home

I'm currently training for the South Davis Masters Swim Meet in November and it will be my first official swim meet since I was in high school. Although I've been swimmming a lot during the past 6-7 months and have already competed in a few open water marathons (1 mile and 5k), I'm still incredibly nervous and feel somewhat unprepared.

My events are the 1,650-yard freestyle on the first day of the meet and the 500-yard free and 200-yard free on the second day. All three are short distances compared to what I've been doing (1-2 miles per swim), but my speed and technique are a major concern, not to mention I haven't done a start or a flipturn in almost nine years.

Anita -- a lifeguard at the Roy Rec Center, who also happens to be the Roy High swim coach -- gave me a few workouts to increase my endurance over short distances, as strange as that may sound. My long-distance endurance isn't too bad, but to cut out two-thirds of my normal swim and increase the pace ten-fold, it requires a different type of training and endurance.

Here's what I did today.
Warm up
400 free
Core
500 free broken set time: On the 8:00 rest 10 seconds after each distance
200 free
150 free
100 free
50 free
500 free broken descend time from above time
200 free
150 free
100 free
50 free
4x50 pull 25 head out, 25 two breaths only
4x50 free 25 hard, 25 easy on the 1:00
Cool down
200 free

Eventually, I'm supposed to be able to do the 500 broken sets three times, but right now, I can only pull off two and still finish the other sets. I did the first 500 in 7:58 and the second barely a second faster at 7:57. The 50 pull, head out, 25 two breaths only completely gasses me. Sprinting and swimming at a much harder pace is something I'm certainly not used to. Low and slow is usually my game. We'll try it again tomorrow.

Total distance: 1.7 miles