Getting Chicked... Again and Again AND AGAIN.

I had quite a humbling experience in the pool today. It's not that I've never been passed before, because I definitely have... many times. Girls and guys alike - it's not new to me. I've never been chicked like this before, though... woah boy...

Lots of gear out on the deck today, aka SEE (swim enhancing equipment)

Some Background: since I'm out of town on Friday and most of Saturday, I've decided to try and swim at least 3, maybe 4 times before Friday (at a lower distance) as well as to finish strong before the xmas holiday (out of town for 8 straight days). Today's workout mirrored yesterday's swim-workout, albeit with an extra 100m cool-down. Let's set the stage for maximum chicking:

Ladder Workout - 2100m
500m - warm-up
500m - 9:03 (1:49min/100m avg.)
400m - 7:15 (1:49min/100m avg.)
300m - 5:24 (1:48min/100m avg.)
200m - 3:33 (1:46min/100m avg.)
100m - 1:37 (1:37min/100m avg.)
100m - cool-down

I was pretty gassed from yesterday's swim-gym combo so I didn't expect my times to reflect any great improvement, but then again I would also be pretty disappointed if my times took a serious hit. HOWEVER, I was very pleasantly surprised to see that all of my times fell below the 1:50 mark. Very nice! I was really gassed by the end though, so the 200m and 100m sprint just did not feel like my best work.

[I then hit the gym for 30 minutes and then the trainer for another 30 minutes (no knee pain!). PROGRESS again on the knee...]

Back to the chicking thing...

This girl in my lane was relentless. We may have well as been swimming 3-wide in the lane - people going down, people coming back and this chick just passing people in the middle. It really hit home though on my last 100m. Like I said above, I wasn't feeling my best at this point. I went BALLS OUT from the wall. About halfway down she comes cruising right by... no hard-breathing, no erratic form... just cruisin'. Faaaaaaaaaaack! I hit the 50m mark and I see her there on the wall pulled up in front of me resting. She then takes off again - thankfully, otherwise I would have been chicken TWICE in only 100m. 

Me = IMPRESSED.

The price I paid for swimming right up against the lane-marker in fear of the ultra-swimmer who kept chicking me.

All things considered, it was kiiiiinda hot.... i'm just sayin'...

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Shortened Swim, Supplemented w/Gym

The swim-workout was shortened today due to ulterior responsibilities.

We had 8 people in our lane today. This was definitely the most crowded I have ever experienced at this pool.

Tired and leaving the pool.

With that said, I was only able to squeeze out 2000 meters and they looked like this:

Ladder Workout - 2000m
500m - warm-up
500m - 9:10 (1:50min/100m avg.)
400m - 7:11 (1:48min/100m avg.)
300m - 5:22 (1:47min/100m avg.)
200m - 3:29 (1:45min/100m avg.)
100m - 1:31 (1:31min/100m avg.)
No cool-down

I then hustled on down to the gym and got in about 30 minutes of light weight-lifting and abs before heading home.

I'm headed to Philly for Friday and Saturday so my usual Friday swim is going to be canceled. My interim goal is to make it to the pool two more times this week before then, and then perhaps celebrate by going a 4th time on Saturday afternoon when I return. We'll see how that goes, though.

In other news, my yankees picked up Curtis Granderson from the Tigers. Since I grew up in Detroit, I get to enjoy the prospect of all of my friends moaning and groaning. My NL team, the phillies (great year last year for my teams, btw.) are looking like they're about to lose one ace (Cliff Lee) and pick up another (Roy Halladay). I'm clueless as to what their incentive for this was, but we'll wait to see the final details on the deal before jumping to too many conclusions.

Oh, and I also got this (below) in the mail. I was able to train using aerobars and a similar seat-post, but my friend was so inspired by following along with my ups and downs that he has decided to get back into it himself - thus, no more borrowing bike stuff.

 

Sweeeeeeeeeet.

Current weight = 178 pounds. Nice!... although NONE of my suit-jackets fit me anymore, EXCEPT the suit I wore in highschool (aka the prom suit). Looks like I may have to borrow something for the remainder of the Christmas party season.

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Friday (Almost) Fun Swim!

I've been following the blog of the ridiculously hard-working Dirk De Heer and his swim workouts had just baffled me. I don't know that I've seen any one swim workout the same as any others, EVER. Part of that makes my OCD side freak out, but then the other part of me (the part that's in the pool) relishes the opportunity to break out of the mind-numbing repetition that my swim-workouts are becoming. With that in mind, I present you my first ladder swim-workout!

Ladder Workout - 3000m
500m - warm-up
100m - 1:42 (1:42min/100m avg.)
200m - 3:42 (1:51min/100m avg.)
300m - 5:46 (1:55min/100m avg.)
400m - 7:41 (1:55min/100m avg.)
500m - 9:42 (1:56min/100m avg.)
400m - 7:30 (1:53min/100m avg.)
300m - 5:36 (1:52min/100m avg.)
200m - 3:29 (1:44min/100m avg.)
100m - 1:33 (1:33min/100m avg.)
No cool-down

I got caught up again in the first half of the ladder trying to worry about times and ultimately under-performing in my mind, as opposed to focusing on technique. I felt a lot better in the second half, but I also felt like I was pushing myself harder.  Oddly, or not, improvement per-100m from the first half to the second half was quite low. I felt like death on the last 100m, but was also intrigued by this feeling of chaos happening in my body.

As stated above, there was no cool-down b/c I had to quick rush home and get showered so that I could meet my fiancee at the airport. Thus began an awesome weekend full of long walks on the beach in the freezing rain, a 40-man bar crawl and the best bleu cheese to ever enter my mouth (Saint Agur, from Cheesetique).

First of all, there were f-ing Santas EVERYWHERE... very strange.

The 2nd shirt-concept adopted in t-shirt form. Concept #1 would have had a manger scene on the front with the words "one-night stands aren't always a bad thing" on the back. Classssssy!

What night is complete w/o doing a "bucket stand" at a bar with no windows and not even enough permits to mix your drinks for you - yes, they handed you small travel-sized bottles, a can of coke, a bucket of ice and a plastic cup.

I followed up the weekend by hitting the gym for an assortment of weight-training exercises and jumping-rope. I then parked my trainer in front of the TV for Eagles vs. Giants on Sunday night football. (GO EAGLES!!!!!!). 45 minutes on that and my knee was telling me to get the f*** off. So I did, then iced and aspirined... then ate Chicken Ala King over white rice. It was heavenly.

Tomorrow: Swimming

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3-Day Update (Bonus Morning Swim!)

Tuesday
Baby steps on the trainer, again. About 33 minutes while watching an episode of Breaking Bad, but the knee started to feel a bit tight so I called it quits and enjoyed the fact that 33 minutes was better than 0 minutes. Then I did some abs and some push-ups.

Pad Thai for dinner... again. This is the 4th night in a row...

Wednesday
I dragged my ass out of bed at 5:50am. It was miserable. I could hear the rain splashing against the windows and walls of my apartment. The scooter was drenched, which meant I would be taking the bus to the pool for my first morning swim since last August. I expected to see the big guns out there making waves, but the pool was surprisingly uncrowded. Half-awake, I swam the following...

Two to three in a lane, tops!

Speed Workout - 3000m
500m - warm-up
5 x 100m - 1:40, 1:41, 1:38, 1:41, 1:42 (1:40min/100m avg.)
5 x 200m - 3:39, 3:36, 3:38, 3:34, 3:37 (1:48min/100m avg.)
5 x 100m - 1:41, 1:42, 1:43, 1:41, 1:37 (1:41min/100m avg.)
100m - w/paddles (looked/felt like a fool... very uncoordinated)
400m - warm-down

I felt tired as hell during the 3rd 200m and eventually would fall into my "slow down and try to be more graceful with your form" mindset and that did not seem to cause me to sacrifice any time.

I did have a full-on collision with this horse's ass who thought when you pass someone it's proper etiquette to move ALL THE WAY OVER to the other side of the lane, instead of just swimming in the middle. I tried to hold back the frustration and waited for him to apologize but he just looked at me like I was in the wrong spot. I finally broke the silence with "what, no apology? nothing?" His response?... "No." I swam off. A few laps later he waved me down while I was between sets and very graciously apologized. That made me feel good, b/c we're both out here busting our asses together early in the morning. No hard feelings.

Overall, I was really proud of the fact that I was able to pull off the morning swim. As it did during the summer, it totally changes your attitude and outlook on the rest of the day in a pretty positive way (so long as you're not incredibly tired). I would very much like to try and make a habit of morning swims. Unfortunately that means going to bed at a decent time.

I'm feeling a self-discipline New Years resolution forming in my head...

(p.s. pad thai AGAIN for dinner... arrrRRRRRGHGHGHG!!!)

Thursday
More progress. I did 45 minutes on the bike trainer staying around 160bpm on the heart-rate monitor. The legs felt GREAT. I ate a healthy portion of pad thai right after work before the "ride," but I covered it in soy sauce to make it feel like I wasn't eating the same damn thing I've eaten for at least 7 or so meals already this week. I also forgot to drink anything before/during/after dinner, as well as have any type of hydration on-hand for the workout itself. Felt a little woozy toward the end there, but very VERY happy with this subtle progress, none-the-less.

More pad thai for dinner... only one more god-forsaken meal to go then I'm rid of that shit for at least another three months. Soy sauce is running low though and Sriracha just doesn't trick me anymore.

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Slllllllllooooowwwwwwwww

Pretty sluggish today, but I did raise my daily distance total to 3000 meters.

Distance Workout - 3000m
500m - warm-up
500m - 9:27 (1:53min/100m)
500m - 9:23 (1:53min/100m)
500m - 9:27 (1:53min/100m)
500m - 9:29 (1:54min/100m)
300m - Drills
200m - cool-down

My form felt sloppy - something I've been starting to feel more and more of lately. Perhaps this is a sign I should be focusing more on form and not as much on (attempted) speed.

We'll give it another go on Wednesday and see what happens.

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Progress.

One BIG, small step forward tonight.

I rattled off 33 minutes on the bike trainer that has been gathering dust in my living room for the past two months. My knee has not permitted me to run, let alone do any time on the bike for quite a while now. It's been easing up a bit, so I thought I'd give it a shot.

Of those 33 minutes, the first 7 or 8 were spent warming up and feeling out my knee to see how it was going to respond. I got no warning signs so I cranked it up slowly and sat "in zone" (~160 bpm) for the remainder of the time. I wanted to stop before I felt something that made me say "you did too much, stop," which is why I got off when I did.

It's Christmas season, so enjoy these photos of my trainer setup (watching Sunday Night Football) with green and red color isolation.

I'll give it another shot on Tuesday and see about going for at least 45 minutes.

Progress.

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WTF... SNOW?!?!?

I dragged myself outta bed at a normal hour this morning hoping to get to the pool by when it opened at 9am. HOWEVER, I looked out my window and saw heavy rain/sleet. Craaaaap. That meant an enjoyable scooter ride would be replaced with a long-ass bus ride. On the scooter, I can get there in about 10 minutes. On the bus, it takes closer to 45 minutes.

When I did FINALLY make it to the pool, this is how it looked outside.

Gross, but better than the "Michigan Alternative."

I ended up getting inside around 10am. THE POOL WAS PACKED. I mean, PACKED. There were literally no less than 8 people in each lane (except for the fat-lady/old-man lane on the far right... only about 3 in that one). I jumped in and just got in line.

This was taken on my way out. 

Notice how un-crowded the pool is now.

I wasn't doing any intervals or any other time-specific drills, so I had no problem going slightly slower/faster than usual. My plan was to do a 3000+ meter swim (a personal distance record) in an attempt to start raising my distances another notch.

The first 1700m were TOUGH. In addition to the pool being crowded, I just didn't feel like I could get into a rhythm. I made a point not to time myself so that I didn't start trying to shoot for any specific time, or make-up for a slower lap with an especially faster one. Although if I had to guess, I'd say I was somewhere in the neighborhood of 2:00min/100m.

The rest of the swim was gravy. The lanes starting to clear out and I quickly fell into rhythm. One of my small motivational tools are to measure my progress against other swimmers in my lane. For instance, if you and I cross paths in front of the lifeguard's chair going opposite directions, then my goal for the next lap would be to get to the lifeguard's chair first. It's lame, I know, and the other person has NO IDEA I'm racing them. Buuuuuuuut, I know - and I'll take any motivation I can get.

Around the 3000m mark I started feeling sluggish. I was secretly plotting against myself, though and had long-ago decided that if I made it to 3000m without any drastic problems, then I was going to go for 3300m. Heh, and at that point I began plotting secretly against myself even more and decided at 3200m that I was going to take it to 3500m!

So I swam 3500m! That's the longest swim of my life by a factor of 800m!! Wohoo!! I felt tired, but great at the same time. My lower back was a bit sore, but I quickly remedied that my marinating in the hot-tub. While soaking, I looked out the window and saw the following...

Ahh!! What is that white crap?!?

Grrrreat - it was snowing.  At this point I was incredibly happy that I had decided not to take the scooter through the rain/sleet because it would be 100% unrideable in this mess.

Nasty!

In any event, I'm proud of the new distance-record set (3500m) and my subsequent weekly record (8900m). I'm now planning on raising the baseline distances for my regular weekly workouts (currently 2700m) to around 3000m and then trying to squeeze off a nice, longer-distance, continuous distance swim on a weekend morning.

 

I'm now looking forward to laying back on the couch and enjoying a great day of college football!

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No More Tears!

I kinda suck at uploading photos at the same time as I write-up a post. In keeping with that theme, I've added photos of the two pairs of goggles I mentioned two post's ago HERE.

I pulled a muscle in my back yesterday at the gym doing some circuit training so instead of doing my schedule swim today, I simply did some kick-boarding and marinated in the hot-tub. Tomorrow morning will be a big make-up swim though, I promise.

On a side note, I did make it out to the store and picked up some Johnson & Johnson Baby Shampoo. Ryan, member of the American Girl Tri Team, recommended it to me after I complained about foggy goggles on multiple occasions. I tried to squirt a small drop onto just one lens, but it ended up being more like a healthy spoonful. Never-the-less, I smeared it all around the insides of the lenses and then gently rinsed them out in an effort to leave a tiny film behind. I did all of this before heading to the pool this evening and can confirm that it worked BRILLIANTLY - no more tears!... or fogginess!

Got a few funny looks shopping in the baby section...

In the meantime, I'm going to go make myself some pad thai!

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EAT MY WAKE, B*TCHES!!

I had a good swim today. Very good.

Well, for me at least...

After Monday's splashathon, I was ready to get back into the pool and show myself that the lapse in my times were a fluke and that I had not regressed, but actually PROgressed. Buuuuuuut, I almost forgot my goggles again. You see, through a very convoluted path that did not involve any mailing/shipping services I was able to get them from MI to DC. All I had to now was pick them up... in the middle of a work-day... on my scooter... while it was raining outside... all the way across town. NICE!

My SWEET ride.

I hopped on my scooter, which I had named Renzo for about a day (but then decided I hate people who name their vehicles so I quickly unnamed it), and vowed not to return to the office until I had a pair of goggles stuffed sloppily into my jacket pocket, probably scratching the screen of my case-less iphone.

Aside from the one wrong turn that put me in front of Cafe Saint Ex, instead of about 7 blocks to the West, I made it to my destination, recovered the goggles and returned to work.

Fast-forward to 7pm: Sean arrives at the pool to find THIS...

WTF?!?!?

Where did my f-ing 50m pool go?! What is this 25m crap?!

Well, as I later learned, thanks to the power of the internet, it was not in fact 25m, but only 25 yds. Awww crap! Lets go to the stats...

Distance Workout - 2800m
500m - warm-up
500m - 9:09 (1:50min/100m)(1min rest in between)
500m - 8:02 (1:36min/100m)
500m - 8:07 (1:37min/100m)
500m - 8:06 (1:37min/100m)
100m - kick
200m - cool-down

EAT MY WAKE, B*TCHES!!!!

Wellllllllllllll, not so fast...

As it turns out my assumption that the pool width was 25m was incorrect. It is actually 25 yards across, which means I would have had to swim one more there-back for it to represent my stats accurately. So lets look at the corrected stats, completed with the necessary 5th grade to translate my times.

Distance Workout - 2800m
500m - warm-up
500m - 9:09 (2:01min/100m)(1min rest in between)
500m - 8:02 (1:46min/100m)
500m - 8:07 (1:47min/100m)
500m - 8:06 (1:47min/100m)
100m - kick (i hate this... HATE)
200m - cool-down

Still, not bad. I'll chalk up the first 500m to finding my rhythm, or something, because the next 3x500s were pretty sweet. I felt GREAT for all of them. This is also positive reinforcement since my body was quite sore from doing weights the day prior.

Did I mention I hate kick-boards?

I really REALLY suck at kicking. When performed, I am barely moving and are usually burying my head underwater so you cannot read the agony on my face.

Who knows, maybe my real talent just lies in pushing off the wall really fast...

And btw- yes, I am the donkey sharing the lane with you that does not know how to do something which resembles anything close to a flip-turn. I awkwardly put one arm on the wall, then the toes of my left foot, then push off... all followed by a halfway decent streamline that transitions into the ugliest whale-breaching-the-surface gasp for air you'll ever see in your life.

Take a few strokes.

Repeat.

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Day 1 - Beer & Wings?

I ate healthily all day and drank lots of water. I went home after work all geared up for my swim, got changed and realized "SH*T... I left my goggles in Michigan." I then pivoted my head and sighed as I stared at the ugly truth of what I was about to wear.

old-ass, crusty speedo goggles with crusty black foam and off-white, 

too-elastic, single-strap... strap

Shiiiiiiiiiit. Not too excited about this. I was given these goggles out of pity by a desk-jockey from the Washington Sports Club. I used them once, and immediately went to the sporting goods store afterward to pick up what I currently use, and are COMPLETELY satisfied with.

awesome new(er) speedo goggles

Distance Workout - 2500m
300m - warm-up
500m - 9:54 (1:59min/100m avg.)(w/1:00 rest)
500m - 9:51 (1:58min/100m avg.)
500m - 9:48 (1:58min/100m avg.)
500m - 9:39 (1:56min/100m avg.)
200m - cool-down (w/50 kick)

Not my best performance by a long-shot. I wish I would have hit my watch to mark all of the times I had to stop to either empty the water out or clean the fog out. However, that can't be completely blamed for the poor performance. My form was sloppy and I could never settle into a rhythm because constant fidgeting with the goggles. All in all I just felt sloppy like I hadn't really swam seriously in two weeks.

I can take something positive out of this. I had a similar freak-out moment to what I experienced during the swim portion of the DC Tri, albeit much less, when I was getting into my sets early on. The foggy goggles kept blocking up and letting water in. It elevated my heart-rate significantly and caused my head to start spinning with thoughts of frustration and a yearning to just say "f*ck it" and leave the pool until I had my other goggles back for Wednesdays swim. Thankfully, it was overcome and I finished the workout.

Annnnnnnnd then I went to the bar with two friends because we HAD to watch Monday Night Football, where I ate hot-wings and drank 2.25 bottles of Coors Lights (the bartender gave me 3rd for free, but, like a fat lady who thought 5 donuts were excessive so she just ate 4, I opted to nurse the 3rd beer until we left). And yes, the mountains being blue on the bottle ARE in fact a good way of knowing if the beer you are about to ingest is cold enough that you don't have to contemplate it's (lack-of) flavor on the way down.

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