3200

300 swim / 200 kick (warmup)
2000 continuous

200 free
100 backstroke kick
100 free
50 back kick
50 free
--
200 back
100 free
100 back
50 free
50 back
--
200 pull
100 drill (catchup)
100 pull
50 drill (fist)
50 pull
--
200 kick
100 free
100 kick
50 free
50 kick

3 x 100 free from middle (4 flipturns)
4 x 50 kick
4 x 50 kick w/fins (-10 seconds interval)

Total: 3200

Broken sleep again last night. I really need to go to the store and get some Sudafed. My sinuses are going nuts lately.

Anyway, this was our distance day (as you can tell by that 2000 set up there). We got to choose our own patterns for those 4 x 500 sets, but they had to be 200/100/100/50/50 where the 200, second 100, and second 50 were the same, and the first 100 and first 50 were the same. There were no rest periods at all, outside of whatever time it took to get a board or a buoy or whatever. As expected, I was about 400 yards behind everyone, so I did my last set with fins to try and catch up.

The 300 free (I'm pretty sure everyone else did more like 500 here, since I was still finishing the previous set) after that was fun. We started in the middle of the pool and swam 100, doing flipturns on the walls and then making sure we were streamlining at least to the flags (adding dolphin kicks if we wanted). My flipturns still suck since I have issues breathing out when I'm doing the turn and I tend to get water up my nose, but it was really good practice. I was actually just thinking the other day I wanted to practice some of those in stroke clinic next week.

The last two sets were just kicking, and I did mine on my back. We were supposed to find an interval without fins that we could make with about 5 seconds rest between 50s. My interval ended up being about 1:25. Then we were supposed to do the next four 50s with an interval ten seconds faster (so 1:15) with fins on. Except I can do a 50 with fins in about :45, so I did more like :55 so I wouldn't have so much rest.

I can not seem to get warm today. I started getting goose-bumps in the pool after the kick set at the end and I haven't warmed up since. Brrr.

3050

200 free (warmup)
8 x 75, 25 kick / 25 catchup / 25 kick (with fins)
10 x 50, 1 breast, 7 back, 2 free (set was 4 non-free, 4 choice, 4 free, but I cut the last 100 because I was so far behind)
400 free
3 x 50 back
400 free
5 x 50 back kick (that extra 50 was to catch up on the 50 I skipped earlier)
400 free
100 free easy (warmdown)
50 back easy (warmdown)

Total: 3050

I had a rough night last night, as my sleeping schedule was kind of a mess after five days off from work and masters swimming for the holidays. I managed to get to bed at 11:30, but could not seem to fall asleep. I think I must have drifted out a little after midnight, but woke up at least twice because I couldn't breathe (jointly because of congested sinuses, and tightness in my chest from my asthma). Surprisingly, waking up at 5:00 wasn't as horrid as expected.

Swimming was a little hard, though, as the tightness hadn't really gone away. I hit my inhaler about twice as much as normal, and didn't really get into any kind of groove until that 5 x 50 backstroke kick set, which I did to attempt to save myself from drowning. Every time I tried to do backstroke all together I was getting a really nasty burn in my thighs from oxygen debt, so I cut the arms out to see if it would help (it did).

Once I finished the bulk of the core set (I cut the last 4 x 50 non-free that everyone else did, but I tend to do at least 500 less than my teammates on average anyway), I did the 100 free to get myself to 3000, and tacked on that last 50 because being in the water felt really nice. I don't spend a lot of time just enjoying the feeling of being almost weightless, and I took some time today to find my zen, just kicking slowly through the pool on my back. It felt really nice. Centering.

Two hours later, I still can't breathe worth a damn. It's sort of hard to understand if you don't have asthma, but right now I feel like someone is pressing really hard against my sternum constantly (meaning, basically, pain, in the area of my bronchial tubes). Beyond that, I can't get a deep, full breath unless I really focus and draw my inhalations deeply. The pain is constant, but it increases when I breathe in like that. Fun times.

Luckily our insurance rolls over on Thursday, so I'm hoping I can actually get my new group number on Friday and pick up my Advair then. I wish I wouldn't have had to go off it for almost a month, but I couldn't afford the $200 price tag (ouch).

Birth of a Swim-blog

Not that anyone is going to follow this blog, but I'm starting this so I can track my progress for my masters swimming practices. Starting January 1, 2009, I'm going to be participating in the Go The Distance event through USMS (US Masters Swimming), so I want to get into the habit of keeping track of my daily distances.

Some information about me:

I am a 29 year old beginning swimmer. I had swimming lessons when I was little, and did a little bit of fitness swimming in college, but the whole concept of goal oriented swimming is completely new to me.

I've been swimming since September 2008, starting out with two sessions in a basic adult class and then three months of stroke clinic before I joined a masters team in December. I've just recently learned both the butterfly and breast strokes, but they are woefully slow. I tend to do most of my swimming with free and backstroke, because I have a better chance of keeping up with the rest of my teammates.

I originally started swimming in order to compete in triathlons, but I like it so much that I've decided I'd like to get really good at swimming separately as well. It all feels like baby steps, but for having only really been training for four months, I don't think I'm doing all that badly.

Additionally, I have a couple small obstacles to overcome in the form of asthma (mostly EIA and AIA) and allergies (notably to choline, which relates to the AIA). I was recently prescribed Advair to try and manage the asthma (in addition to the Albuterol that I'm already taking), but my insurance currently sucks, so I won't be able to start taking it until early 2009. I was on it for a month trial and it seemed to help, so I'm hoping getting back on asthma maintainance will do good things for my endurance and my speed.

Outside the pool I'm a vegetarian, computer nerd (read web programmer), recreational writer, and ice hockey defenseman. In the summer, I dabble as a softball second baseman, runner, and cyclist.