This weekend Chopstick got her first JO time. As she finished the 50 back, I watched nervously at the board waiting to see what it would show for lane 6, not caring one bit about the place just the precious number. And the number was under 39.49....in fact it was 39.08! I contained my excitement and did what I usually do when a new milestone is reached (done previously for her 4 8&under PRTs), I wrote JO in sharpie on my palm.
She got out of the water looking pretty content with her swim and reacted well to my smile but I had a surprise for her. I said very clearly, "you couldn't have gone faster than that?" Judging by the look she gave me, my act is getting old and she knew I was up to something so I opened my hand for her to read the magical letters. Jay Oh.
The funny part is that what I remember about the smile is her braces. I noticed the colors that she'd chosen (blue and a lighter blue) I guess because I had a lot of time to look at them. She finally asked, "I did it?" And, yes she did. She was a Junior Olympian.
I say "was" because it turns out she DQ'd on her turn. She was a bit away from the wall and gave an extra kick that I guess she wasn't supposed to. She doesn't remember it but I do now that her coach explained what it was. She's had enough DQs to know that they're not a bad thing, just a reminder to be diligent with your stroke. But this one was different, she wanted this one bad after missing out on the Fall JOs by .01 seconds. All I could tell her was that she swam a JO time and will do it again. DQ or not, she can swim with the JOers and will.
Next meet, the 50 back is her first event on Sunday, an excellent time to get her JOiness back. Unfortunately, the meet after that it's right after the 100 fly (though she may do the 100 breast instead). For the "last chance" meet, it's after either the 200 free with a break or 100 breast. So she has three chances but two of them she's going to most likely be tired from a big event first.
No matter what she's swam a JO and will again but it was an unfortunate time to turn wrong.
09 February 2010
03 February 2010
Out of breath
Am I crazy or am I not as out of breath as I used to be while swimming? I don't know when it happened but I suddenly realized it today: I can swim without stopping. Much, without stopping much. I am routinely doing 100-200 yards between breathers and even then they are limited.
According to my Go the Distance graphs, I'm doing pretty well, closing in on 1.5 MPH. The big drop that you see early in the month is when I started doing kick sets for the first time...even at only 100 yards, that slows me down dramatically.
The last two days have been fairly spectacular at 1.36 MPH (distances of 1800 & 1400 yards). But I know why yesterday happened. Bikini Girl was in the lane next to me and she just never stops, kind of like a Terminator but, you know, a waterproof one. I realized that if I was hanging out at the wall, she'd notice and laugh all robotically at me. That is just something I don't want.
It's important to note why this matters to me. In the six months that I've been swimming, only three swimmers have been consistent this whole time. The Other Coach Bill, Dale, and Bikini Girl. The Other Coach Bill is always helpful, if he sees me breathing like crazy or kicking funny, he'll help me out so I don't mind flailing in front of him. Dale swims several lanes away usually and she considers *me* a good swimmer; when she sees me huffing and puffing, that is a sign that I'm working hard to her. But Bikini Girl is about my speed (a little slower) and about my fitness level (except for the Terminator never stopping thing). I don't want to look like a wimp next to her.
Of course, this is exactly why I need to get up an hour earlier and swim with the Master's Team. Peer pressure group motivation is a powerful and useful tool. I *know* it would make me a better swimmer.
According to my Go the Distance graphs, I'm doing pretty well, closing in on 1.5 MPH. The big drop that you see early in the month is when I started doing kick sets for the first time...even at only 100 yards, that slows me down dramatically.
The last two days have been fairly spectacular at 1.36 MPH (distances of 1800 & 1400 yards). But I know why yesterday happened. Bikini Girl was in the lane next to me and she just never stops, kind of like a Terminator but, you know, a waterproof one. I realized that if I was hanging out at the wall, she'd notice and laugh all robotically at me. That is just something I don't want.
It's important to note why this matters to me. In the six months that I've been swimming, only three swimmers have been consistent this whole time. The Other Coach Bill, Dale, and Bikini Girl. The Other Coach Bill is always helpful, if he sees me breathing like crazy or kicking funny, he'll help me out so I don't mind flailing in front of him. Dale swims several lanes away usually and she considers *me* a good swimmer; when she sees me huffing and puffing, that is a sign that I'm working hard to her. But Bikini Girl is about my speed (a little slower) and about my fitness level (except for the Terminator never stopping thing). I don't want to look like a wimp next to her.
Of course, this is exactly why I need to get up an hour earlier and swim with the Master's Team. Peer pressure group motivation is a powerful and useful tool. I *know* it would make me a better swimmer.
29 January 2010
Go the Distance: numerical motivation
I'm not an official member of US Masters but they still kindly let me use their Go the Distance spreadsheet to keep track of my yardage, err mileage. And I'll be damned but it is motivating. Every morning that I don't want to swim, I think what that will do to my daily average and my yearly projection. I think how many extra yards I'll have to swim to make up for it. And I get up, curse the very existence of Speedo, and make my way to the pool.
So, in the interest of full disclosure, my goal for 2010 is 150 miles and I'm on pace for just over 190. So far I've swam 15.28 miles. And here is what was running through my head this morning as I approached my eleven hundredth yard, "if I swim 100 more yards, that increases my projected total 1200 yards or about 0.7 miles." And those extra 100 yards seemed like a small price to pay for that benefit. So I swam a 100 yards more than my lazy ass wanted to.
Another thing they do is publish daily results. That's less motivating because it amazes me that the guy at the top of my age group has swam over 40 miles more than I have already (note: there is something wrong with him). But, there is hope, I'm going to try to keep at 50% of the great Rob D who is winning his age bracket by a healthy 4 miles. Since he blogs and tweets like there is no tomorrow, I can see any time he puts in one of his patented 10,000 yard days and swim an extra couple hundred every day that week to try to catch up.
All told, this is better motivation than trying to catch up to Chopstick's times because I believe that is impossible. So I'll just keep going the distance and try to tack on an extra hundred whenever I think of my spreadsheet.
So, in the interest of full disclosure, my goal for 2010 is 150 miles and I'm on pace for just over 190. So far I've swam 15.28 miles. And here is what was running through my head this morning as I approached my eleven hundredth yard, "if I swim 100 more yards, that increases my projected total 1200 yards or about 0.7 miles." And those extra 100 yards seemed like a small price to pay for that benefit. So I swam a 100 yards more than my lazy ass wanted to.
Another thing they do is publish daily results. That's less motivating because it amazes me that the guy at the top of my age group has swam over 40 miles more than I have already (note: there is something wrong with him). But, there is hope, I'm going to try to keep at 50% of the great Rob D who is winning his age bracket by a healthy 4 miles. Since he blogs and tweets like there is no tomorrow, I can see any time he puts in one of his patented 10,000 yard days and swim an extra couple hundred every day that week to try to catch up.
All told, this is better motivation than trying to catch up to Chopstick's times because I believe that is impossible. So I'll just keep going the distance and try to tack on an extra hundred whenever I think of my spreadsheet.
21 January 2010
Aren't you scared of lightning?
Like most of California, Oakland has been besieged by rain this week. Freakin' buckets of the stuff, sometimes mixed with its dastardly cousin the hail pellet. Not pleasant for land based creatures but not so bad for aquatic minded folk {interesting aside, both of my hobbies (sailing & swimming) are done rain or shine}.
Yesterday morning, after swimming my yards, I was in the clubhouse drinking my celebratory cup of coffee when a woman asked me, "what's it like to swim in the rain?" I didn't have a good answer, I think I mumbled something like, "you don't really notice it .... even though I thought somebody was splashing me at one point today."
But then she dropped the bombshell, "aren't you scared of lightning?" The club has a big sign posted that the pool has to be evacuated in the case of lightning but then again, I'm not really sure I'd see the lightning while swimming so there's very little chance I'd even know to leave the pool. So I told her the truth, "well, I am scared of lightning because I know I'm supposed to be but really it seems pretty darned unlikely." My other hobby, sailing, involves floating on water with a 40 foot lightning rod attached to the boat, how could it be worse in a pool surrounded by huge oak trees?
So I guess I now have to figure out if I am scared of lightning. I know my daughter's practices are halted during lightning. I know my club's insurance policy makes them post signs that the pool must be evacuated. But I also know that it's exceedingly rare to have lightning in the Oakland Hills and that by the time it happens I'd already be dead. So I don't think I am. For now.
Yesterday morning, after swimming my yards, I was in the clubhouse drinking my celebratory cup of coffee when a woman asked me, "what's it like to swim in the rain?" I didn't have a good answer, I think I mumbled something like, "you don't really notice it .... even though I thought somebody was splashing me at one point today."
But then she dropped the bombshell, "aren't you scared of lightning?" The club has a big sign posted that the pool has to be evacuated in the case of lightning but then again, I'm not really sure I'd see the lightning while swimming so there's very little chance I'd even know to leave the pool. So I told her the truth, "well, I am scared of lightning because I know I'm supposed to be but really it seems pretty darned unlikely." My other hobby, sailing, involves floating on water with a 40 foot lightning rod attached to the boat, how could it be worse in a pool surrounded by huge oak trees?
So I guess I now have to figure out if I am scared of lightning. I know my daughter's practices are halted during lightning. I know my club's insurance policy makes them post signs that the pool must be evacuated. But I also know that it's exceedingly rare to have lightning in the Oakland Hills and that by the time it happens I'd already be dead. So I don't think I am. For now.
18 January 2010
One Thousand Eight Hundred Yards of Glory
This past weekend I swam my contraband set, the secret setlist that a Master's swimmer had inadvertently left behind at the pool last Friday. All day Saturday I made sure I got enough rest and Sunday I had a good breakfast to get ready.
Sunday afternoon, I headed up to the pool and got to work. I brought the setlist with me and pasted it to a kickboard by the wall like I'd seen others do it. I even looked official.
As I started up I realized that the warmup set intervals were kind of lame so I chopped 30 seconds off of them knowing that when I got to the 100s, I'd need those 30 seconds back. And, I did, I used up all four 30 second credits in the first four 100 sets.
Then I got to the mysteriously titled set where I was to swim some stroke known as "other than free". Since I realized that this was a made-up fantasyland stroke probably designed to confuse the competition if the setlist ever got into enemy hands, I decided just to skip those 200 yards. I figured that if I still had energy left after the sprints, I'd do those 200 with a real stroke.
But then I got into the sprints and found out I really enjoyed that part. The intervals gave plenty of rest and I even found that my times were getting faster as I went along. The only problem was my calves were cramping since I rarely kicked that hard (as an aside I had a banana before going up there so this should *not* have happened). I have to admit that I love the feeling of hitting the wall at full speed and having a wave catch up to me as I pull up. I need to do more of that.
But after the sprinting, I knew that I wasn't going to make up the "other than freestyle" set but felt pretty darned satisfied with my 1800 yards, the most I'd ever done, and with sprinting to boot.
With some slight modifications I think I can do this insane 6AM master's workout. If I get an alarm clock that is.
As an aside, there didn't seem to be any "missing" master's swimmers at the pool this morning; word may not have gotten out that one of them didn't shred the setlist. I'm not saying anything.
Sunday afternoon, I headed up to the pool and got to work. I brought the setlist with me and pasted it to a kickboard by the wall like I'd seen others do it. I even looked official.
As I started up I realized that the warmup set intervals were kind of lame so I chopped 30 seconds off of them knowing that when I got to the 100s, I'd need those 30 seconds back. And, I did, I used up all four 30 second credits in the first four 100 sets.
Then I got to the mysteriously titled set where I was to swim some stroke known as "other than free". Since I realized that this was a made-up fantasyland stroke probably designed to confuse the competition if the setlist ever got into enemy hands, I decided just to skip those 200 yards. I figured that if I still had energy left after the sprints, I'd do those 200 with a real stroke.
But then I got into the sprints and found out I really enjoyed that part. The intervals gave plenty of rest and I even found that my times were getting faster as I went along. The only problem was my calves were cramping since I rarely kicked that hard (as an aside I had a banana before going up there so this should *not* have happened). I have to admit that I love the feeling of hitting the wall at full speed and having a wave catch up to me as I pull up. I need to do more of that.
But after the sprinting, I knew that I wasn't going to make up the "other than freestyle" set but felt pretty darned satisfied with my 1800 yards, the most I'd ever done, and with sprinting to boot.
With some slight modifications I think I can do this insane 6AM master's workout. If I get an alarm clock that is.
As an aside, there didn't seem to be any "missing" master's swimmers at the pool this morning; word may not have gotten out that one of them didn't shred the setlist. I'm not saying anything.
15 January 2010
Swimming contraband
I got up early to swim this morning only to find a pool full of master's swimmers (read as no lanes). So I sat in the hot tub and watched. They were doing 25s and I thought, h3ll I can do 25s. It looked like they were sprinting one way and lollygagging on the way back, something I know I can do. Then they started sprinting 25s and hanging out at the wall for a long time. Again, one of my specialties.
What I got out watching them is, "I can do that." So then I swam. And after I swam I got something else out of the effort, someone had left their set list glued to a kickboard. With a quick glance around to see if anyone was watching, I surreptitiously peeled it off and ran into the locker room. I had info!
I looked over the intervals they were doing and they all looked do-able. Except maybe the 100s I'll need to add 15 seconds to. And it fits my pace, about 2000 yards in an hour. I've never swam that long but I do about 1100 to 1200 yards in half an hour so I should be able to get to 2000 in double the time.
I'm going to give it a shot this weekend and if I can do this, I can try to get up at 6AM one morning and see how the slow lane feels.
What I got out watching them is, "I can do that." So then I swam. And after I swam I got something else out of the effort, someone had left their set list glued to a kickboard. With a quick glance around to see if anyone was watching, I surreptitiously peeled it off and ran into the locker room. I had info!
I looked over the intervals they were doing and they all looked do-able. Except maybe the 100s I'll need to add 15 seconds to. And it fits my pace, about 2000 yards in an hour. I've never swam that long but I do about 1100 to 1200 yards in half an hour so I should be able to get to 2000 in double the time.
I'm going to give it a shot this weekend and if I can do this, I can try to get up at 6AM one morning and see how the slow lane feels.
07 January 2010
Huge Relief
Today, Chopstick's winter session practices started. I am now no longer in charge of getting her to swim; her Mom drives her, her coach coaches her (interesting thought, should the word "Mom" be changed to "Driver" to make that sentence more accurate?). For me, it solves my worries that I'm an overbearing Swim Dad since I'm out of the equation until the next meet in about a month.
So, to celebrate, I swam 1400 yards this morning bringing my daily average up to 1130 -- a full 30 yards higher than my daily goal for the month. This goal will have to be modified once I start swimming with the Masters for a full hour instead of 30 minutes but I'll believe that once I see it.
Anyway, I feel better about my swimdadishness and my swimyardageosity today. So I thought I should blog it.
So, to celebrate, I swam 1400 yards this morning bringing my daily average up to 1130 -- a full 30 yards higher than my daily goal for the month. This goal will have to be modified once I start swimming with the Masters for a full hour instead of 30 minutes but I'll believe that once I see it.
Anyway, I feel better about my swimdadishness and my swimyardageosity today. So I thought I should blog it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
