The swimsuit thing? Starting to piss me off.
Yesterday I was so worked up about this that I was ready to rant my brains out. I've calmed down considerably (not to mention have been mellowed by a night of crappy sleep and hard swimming this morning), so I'm going to tone down what I wrote yesterday a little bit.
At any rate, here are the facts: FINA approved the polyurethane suits for use in Rome. The Arena and Jaked suits are legal. Anyone can wear them. Wearing these suits is not cheating, and it's not the same as using performance enhancing drugs.
There are a lot of swimmers wearing these suits in Italy. And why wouldn't they? They have a legitimate, legal way to get an edge in a competitive sport. I can honestly say that, if it were me, I wouldn't turn it down. Especially if there were potential sponsorship dollars to be made depending on the outcome.
The issue, really, is that there are a couple of big name swimmers that aren't wearing the new suits. Those swimmers are (occasionally) getting beat out by the guys in the Jakeds and the Arenas, and everyone is now finger pointing, calling these swimmers out as cheaters, comparing the suits they're wearing to steroids. It's ridiculous, to say the least. The suits are LEGAL. I can't say that enough times. FINA had the chance to ban them - even DID put a ban on them, which they later revoked - and then backed down. I don't really know the reason why, but I'm fairly certain it has something to do with money and politics.
Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte aren't wearing these new tech suits for one reason: they have high paying sponsorship deals with Speedo. It worked out really well for them in Beijing when the LZRs were the fastest suits in the water, but not so much now, when European companies finally have a competitive suit. Maybe the polyurethane suits give the swimmer an advantage, but the LZRs do too, just like the Fastskin suits did before them. Swimsuit technology has been heading this direction since Athens. Saying that the swimmers in the Arenas and Jakeds don't deserve their world records but not saying the same thing about the swimmers wearing LZRs in the Olympics is a double-standard. Twenty-five world records were set in Beijing. Sixteen have been set so far in Rome. There were seventeen set two years ago at the World Championships in Melbourne. It's not like it's a new trend.
I have two reigning thoughts as far as this whole debacle: 1. If the people swimming in these suits predominantly don't like the way the technology is changing the sport, then FINA is right in (at least attempting to) roll back to something more old school, and 2. If people don't like the way the suits are being handled currently, they should place their blame on FINA, not on the swimmers, who aren't doing anything they aren't allowed to do. I'm sure all of this is touching a nerve with me because a couple of my favorite swimmers are being called cheaters by fans of Phelps and Lochte, and I realize that I'm probably being too sensitive, but the definition of cheating is 'violating accepted standards or rules'. No rules are being broken here. Speedo is being out done by other suit manufacturers, and their swimmers are suffering for it, one way or another. Nike went through the same thing in China, and they had to pull out of the speed suit game because they couldn't keep up, to the detriment of their sponsored swimmers (guys like Jason Lezak, Aaron Peirsol, and Brendan Hansen).
Is all this speed suit nonsense unfair? Sure it is, because people in the new suits are swimming faster than they have before, and the guys not wearing them aren't getting that advantage. But, honestly, the only way to resolve that would be to force every swimmer to wear the exact same suit. Take away the swimsuit choices and you end up with something more like what other sports do as far as awarding contracts to a single company (Reebok making all NHL jerseys, for instance), which changes the game dramatically. If the swimsuit companies can't outfit specific swimmers, there wouldn't be sponsorship opportunities (no one cares what kind of goggles a swimmer is wearing). The sponsorship money these swimmers get is literally the biggest part of their paycheck (the money they get from USA swimming isn't enough to cover cost of living), so unless they were getting sponsored by non-swimsuit related companies (like Phelps is), they're going to have to get a day job to make ends meet.
Long story short here is that, yes, some suits are faster. Anyone can wear them (so long as they're legal, like they are right now), but some people don't, because of contractual obligations. That's how sponsorship works. You're betting on one company to make the best gear available for you to compete in, and if they don't, you unfortunately have to deal with that.
Phelps made a comment in an interview yesterday that initially pissed me off, but upon further reflection, I like the sentiment that was underlying. He wants to competition to be about talent, training, and ability, and not what suit you get your hands on. I agree with that wholeheartedly. I agree with FINA trying to cut off the tech suit trend before it gets too much more out of hand. They need to man up in a big way and put down some concrete rules that aren't governed by how much money or pressure they're getting from the swimsuit companies. If they can put together some real guidelines for the swimsuit companies to follow (rather than all this cryptic air trapping crap that they can't even really test for), I think we could finally get back to the healthy competition there used to be out there between Nike, Speedo, and TYR. The Arena and Jaked suits were almost undeniably a response from the European countries that weren't easily able to get their hands on the LZR before Beijing. I have a feeling they're not just going to go away when/if the polyurethane suits are banned.
I really think all of this should be up to the athletes. They're the ones swimming in these things, after all. I don't honestly think changing the length of the legs, or how much of torso coverage there is on the swimsuits is going to make a hell of a lot of a difference now. The world records that have been set in the last two years are never going to get broken if the suits get reset, which I think is a bit of a shame. I don't think records necessarily need to be set every race, but I do think that once everyone is at the same starting point, these things will hold up a bit longer without being set in stone for years and years. A balance needs to be found, and it's not going to be easy, but the sooner things get smoothed over and people get back to the swimming, the better.
I'm going to finish up by posting a link to a video made by (my consummate hero) Mel Stewart of Phelps' press conference from yesterday. I have a bit of a love/dislike relationship with Michael, but what he said here reminded me of why I liked him in the first place, and definitely renewed my respect for him:
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1173335128487&ref=nf
Edited to add this: To paraphrase Brendan Hansen, don't hate the player (the swimmers), hate the game (FINA).
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Typing Outloud
I wanted somewhere to splah about this, and this blog is as good a place as any, so...
The pool I swim in for Masters (and on the weekends) is closed August 8 - September 7 for some kind of maintenance or other (I've heard two stories, one about the roof and one about the pool drains), so my team isn't practicing for a month. I contacted another Masters team in the area whom I plan to swim that month with, and they have an interesting schedule that includes three morning practices (M/W/F), two evening practices (T/R) and a weekend practice (Saturday).
The morning practices are pretty much the same time as the ones I'm currently doing (fifteen minutes earlier), so I was thinking I'd just do those. The only issue there is that it's pretty far from home (doubling my driving time, really), and they don't have a place to shower, so I'd either have to drive all the way back home to shower, and then back across town to work, or brave the scary, uncleaned work shower.
The evening practices are a bit late (7:00 - 8:30), but I could go to them and then back home to shower and not have to drive around as much. Plus there's the added bonus of not having to wake up at 4:30 in the morning. Though I'm not sure if Lori can make the night practices. Plus they're late enough that I'd probably rather be at home on my couch in my PJs than going out to swim at seven at night.
I think going to the Saturday morning practice is a given, though. If I do M/W/F morning and then add Saturday (which isn't early, 8:00AM - 9:30AM), that would be a pretty good setup, assuming the getting up thirty minutes earlier doesn't kill me.
Blah blah blah. Anyway, when I go back to my regular team in September, they're opening up practice to be six days a week, Monday through Saturday. I don't know yet what time of day the T/R/S practices are going to be, but... It's a very real possibility that I might try and swim all six days a week. Which will probably be insane, but I think a good thing as well. I like swimming, the cost (assuming they don't change it and they let us swim as many days a week as we want) is awesome, and the health benefits are already very apparent.
What does this mean for me? Well, for one, it means I need to learn how to go to bed before midnight, because if I'm getting up at 5:00AM all five working days and not sleeping, I will crash really hard in the middle of the week. And be miserable. Another thing, it means I will need to reevaluate my winter sports participation.
Usually I play in two hockey leagues, and adult recreational league and on an all women's travel team. The women's team has once a week practices, which are great, but they're also at 9:30PM. Last season they went 90 minutes, so I didn't get home until after 11:30, then had to get up at 5:00 the next morning. I suppose I'll wait and see what comes out as far as practice and such, but I might just sign up as a practice only player (and a sub) and not do all the travel games, or I might not play with the women's team at all. I will probably still play in the adult rec league because it's only one day a week - usually Sunday - and I DO still want to play hockey. I love hockey.
What I really need is just more hours in the day. Who do I talk to about that? ;)
But honestly, back when I was lazy and kinda overweight and such, people would say, "oh, you can get addicted to exercise", to which I responded, "yeah right." Well. Yeah. Guess who's a believer? And I'm really excited about all this extra practice. This guy on my team, Reu, is going to be coaching the extra three days and I'm geeked because he's a GREAT coach. And a pretty super guy, too.
The pool I swim in for Masters (and on the weekends) is closed August 8 - September 7 for some kind of maintenance or other (I've heard two stories, one about the roof and one about the pool drains), so my team isn't practicing for a month. I contacted another Masters team in the area whom I plan to swim that month with, and they have an interesting schedule that includes three morning practices (M/W/F), two evening practices (T/R) and a weekend practice (Saturday).
The morning practices are pretty much the same time as the ones I'm currently doing (fifteen minutes earlier), so I was thinking I'd just do those. The only issue there is that it's pretty far from home (doubling my driving time, really), and they don't have a place to shower, so I'd either have to drive all the way back home to shower, and then back across town to work, or brave the scary, uncleaned work shower.
The evening practices are a bit late (7:00 - 8:30), but I could go to them and then back home to shower and not have to drive around as much. Plus there's the added bonus of not having to wake up at 4:30 in the morning. Though I'm not sure if Lori can make the night practices. Plus they're late enough that I'd probably rather be at home on my couch in my PJs than going out to swim at seven at night.
I think going to the Saturday morning practice is a given, though. If I do M/W/F morning and then add Saturday (which isn't early, 8:00AM - 9:30AM), that would be a pretty good setup, assuming the getting up thirty minutes earlier doesn't kill me.
Blah blah blah. Anyway, when I go back to my regular team in September, they're opening up practice to be six days a week, Monday through Saturday. I don't know yet what time of day the T/R/S practices are going to be, but... It's a very real possibility that I might try and swim all six days a week. Which will probably be insane, but I think a good thing as well. I like swimming, the cost (assuming they don't change it and they let us swim as many days a week as we want) is awesome, and the health benefits are already very apparent.
What does this mean for me? Well, for one, it means I need to learn how to go to bed before midnight, because if I'm getting up at 5:00AM all five working days and not sleeping, I will crash really hard in the middle of the week. And be miserable. Another thing, it means I will need to reevaluate my winter sports participation.
Usually I play in two hockey leagues, and adult recreational league and on an all women's travel team. The women's team has once a week practices, which are great, but they're also at 9:30PM. Last season they went 90 minutes, so I didn't get home until after 11:30, then had to get up at 5:00 the next morning. I suppose I'll wait and see what comes out as far as practice and such, but I might just sign up as a practice only player (and a sub) and not do all the travel games, or I might not play with the women's team at all. I will probably still play in the adult rec league because it's only one day a week - usually Sunday - and I DO still want to play hockey. I love hockey.
What I really need is just more hours in the day. Who do I talk to about that? ;)
But honestly, back when I was lazy and kinda overweight and such, people would say, "oh, you can get addicted to exercise", to which I responded, "yeah right." Well. Yeah. Guess who's a believer? And I'm really excited about all this extra practice. This guy on my team, Reu, is going to be coaching the extra three days and I'm geeked because he's a GREAT coach. And a pretty super guy, too.
Monday, July 20, 2009
3400 (34700/284000)
It's always fascinating to me when I start to realize just what muscles are needed to do certain things. I spent a bunch of time on Sunday throwing and pitching at softball practice and ow, my lats on my right side are killing me today. I also did some weights last night, but the pain from that is pretty minimal in comparison.
After swimming on Saturday I thought maybe I'd be up for swimming normally without resulting to a buoy or fins, but after getting smoked SO HARD in a 200 IM, I gave in. My whip kick is still broken, because a) I can't turn my knee out the way I need to in order to do the beginning of the kick, and b) bringing my legs together hurts like an SOB. So I limped my way through those two 200 IMs and then didn't do any more breaststroke.
Anyway, anything in parentheses as far as fins or pulling is my addition so I could make it through this thing without getting my ass run down. I am still having mobility issues with my knee, which is probably why I'm still so gimpy, even in the pool.
I did try to throw in as many flipturns as I could today, which went pretty well, I think. Especially when I was pulling. Maybe one day I'll actually get better at them, ha.
300 swim (warmup)
200 kick (warmup)
200 IM (warmup)
100 swim (warmup)
100 pull
200 IM
300 pull
200 back
100 pull
8 x 25 kick, odds free / evens non (fins)
100 free easy
200 free fast (pull)
200 free easy
100 free fast (pull)
8 x 25 kick, odds free / evens non (fins)
100 fly (fins)
200 free (fins)
100 back (fins)
Total: 3100 SCM (~3400 SCY)
After swimming on Saturday I thought maybe I'd be up for swimming normally without resulting to a buoy or fins, but after getting smoked SO HARD in a 200 IM, I gave in. My whip kick is still broken, because a) I can't turn my knee out the way I need to in order to do the beginning of the kick, and b) bringing my legs together hurts like an SOB. So I limped my way through those two 200 IMs and then didn't do any more breaststroke.
Anyway, anything in parentheses as far as fins or pulling is my addition so I could make it through this thing without getting my ass run down. I am still having mobility issues with my knee, which is probably why I'm still so gimpy, even in the pool.
I did try to throw in as many flipturns as I could today, which went pretty well, I think. Especially when I was pulling. Maybe one day I'll actually get better at them, ha.
300 swim (warmup)
200 kick (warmup)
200 IM (warmup)
100 swim (warmup)
100 pull
200 IM
300 pull
200 back
100 pull
8 x 25 kick, odds free / evens non (fins)
100 free easy
200 free fast (pull)
200 free easy
100 free fast (pull)
8 x 25 kick, odds free / evens non (fins)
100 fly (fins)
200 free (fins)
100 back (fins)
Total: 3100 SCM (~3400 SCY)
Saturday, July 18, 2009
3800 (31300/280600)
I woke up this morning with a super stiff neck, something that's been happening to me a lot lately. Today I'm in search of a new pillow, but my neck was so sore when I got up that I wasn't sure I'd be able to swim today, the range of motion was so pathetic.
After I had some breakfast, I put some heat on my neck and the muscles loosened up enough that I went to the pool. I didn't really have any plans, other than trying to swim a mile again, so I just sorta did what came to me. My one goal, though, was to do more flipturns.
At this point I decided to go back to my arm assisted flipturns, because I can not do them consistently without. Mostly I end up sorta flailing a little with my right arm to complete the turn, but it's better than inhaling pool, which is what I end up doing without. Even with that, I was pretty tired of doing them by the time I got to my mile, so I made myself a deal that I would do 50% of my turns as flipturns, and it worked out pretty well.
The 12 minute swim test is something my friend Alix does with her Masters team, so I wanted to see how far I could swim in 12 minutes. I did almost 575 meters, which is 50s on just about 1:03, which is pretty normal for me.
As far as the knee, most of the swimming wasn't bad, and I'm probably pretty close to 100% again on my kick, though I still can't push off hard on that side, so I babied it on the turns. Also, whipkick was miserable, both in pain and execution. I think I'll lay off the breaststroke until things are feeling back to normal. Fly hurt a little, but not bad enough to discourage me from swimming it a little.
400 pull with paddles (flipturns)
100 IM
50 free, easy
50 back
12 minute swim test (575 meters)
25 free
1600 free (alternate flip and open turns, 1000m on 21:40, 1600m on 34:22)
500 pull with paddles (warmdown, flipturns)
Total: 3500 SCM (~3800 SCY)
Friday, July 17, 2009
3450 (27500/276800)
My knee is actually feeling remarkably better than it was on Wednesday, but I'm still having mobility issues (can't bend or straighten it fully), so I played it safe and did all those long sets with a buoy. When I was swimming/kicking without fins, it felt like my right leg was at about 75% normal power, but wow with the slow. Lori was handily kicking my butt in the warmup kick set, as well as the six kick hesitation 50s.
My turns are still a mess too, but I can tuck up more now than before, so they're improving. It still hurts to push off with my right leg, so I avoided that, but could at least get my gimp leg out of the way so I could push better with the good one.
Blah blah blah. I honestly don't have much to say today. I wish I could have done the distance sets without pulling, but what are you gonna do?
200 swim (warmup)
200 kick (warmup)
6 x 50 kick, odds fast, evens easy on 1:10 (with fins)
3 x 100 build, descend 1-3 (pull)
700 swim, every fourth 25 fast (pull)
2 x 200, six kick hesitation / swim by 50
500 swim, every third 50 fast (pull)
100 free
100 back
300 swim, every fourth 25 fast (pull)
50 easy (warmdown)
Total: 3150 SCM (~3450 SCY)
My turns are still a mess too, but I can tuck up more now than before, so they're improving. It still hurts to push off with my right leg, so I avoided that, but could at least get my gimp leg out of the way so I could push better with the good one.
Blah blah blah. I honestly don't have much to say today. I wish I could have done the distance sets without pulling, but what are you gonna do?
200 swim (warmup)
200 kick (warmup)
6 x 50 kick, odds fast, evens easy on 1:10 (with fins)
3 x 100 build, descend 1-3 (pull)
700 swim, every fourth 25 fast (pull)
2 x 200, six kick hesitation / swim by 50
500 swim, every third 50 fast (pull)
100 free
100 back
300 swim, every fourth 25 fast (pull)
50 easy (warmdown)
Total: 3150 SCM (~3450 SCY)
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
2900 (24050/273350) or How I Ended Up at the Hospital Three Times in One Day
So yesterday, Jeff (my boyfriend) became an uncle. Jeff's brother's wife had a Cesarean Section yesterday afternoon, so when I left work on my bike, I just rode straight to the hospital. Except apparently they hadn't been moved to their room yet, and Jeff was still at home, so I rode the rest of the way home.
Then, around 8:00, we went by and actually got to see the twins (which were cute, a boy and a girl). So, hospital visit number two.
From there, we went to our softball game. We were up to bat first, and I'm third in the order, so I got up and ended up getting walked. We had one out, so I was running if the ball was hit on the ground by the guy behind me, and it was, so I took off to second. His hit went past the third baseman and into shallow left field, so I decided to go for third, since no one was telling me to go or stop. They were close to getting the ball to their third baseman, and they told him to tag me, since it wasn't a force out. Except instead of turning to tag me, he planted his foot in the middle of the bag right before I stepped on it, so I landed on his foot instead. My entire leg buckled and my right knee popped, sending me to the dirt in pain.
Apparently I skinned both of my knees and ripped a large hole in the back of my right thigh when I fell, but the knee hurt so badly that I didn't notice those until quite a bit later. After laying on my face in the infield dirt for a few minutes, two of my teammates (both doctors, incidentally) helped me to the dugout and I sat on the bench next to one of them (Anna). The field manager came and brought a bag of ice, which Anna held to my knee. I was definitely in shock, both when I was down in the field and sitting there on the bench, my ears ringing and my vision all blocky. I felt massively lightheaded and kept trying to shake myself out of it, tried leaning forward to get my balance but couldn't, and reached back to grab the back of the bench.
The next thing I knew I was on the ground, looking up at my teammates. I'd passed out and fallen forward off the bench, hitting my head on the cement. Anna caught me right at the end, so I didn't hit my head too hard, but I was totally confused about where I was and what was happening for a couple of minutes. The field manager called 911, and I ended up having at least one ambulance and a firetruck show up, a cadre of firefighters and EMTs crowding around and checking my vitals (which were fine) and asking me a million questions.
At that point, I mostly felt fine, except I was insanely dehydrated. I asked for some water and then started feeling lightheaded again, so I got laid back and the EMTs tried to convince me to let them take me in to get checked out. Now I know this is nuts, but I kept saying there was no way I'd go in the ambulance, because of the cost. I finally convinced them to radio in and get permission to let me go in one of our own vehicles, signed a form saying that I refused the ambulance, and then Jeff drove me to the ER.
I was not excited to go in, after everything that's happened this week, but I went. They checked me in but refused to give me water (something about not wanting to give me anything before a doctor saw me), and I waited a bit, but not too long. The whole thing took about 90 minutes, and I basically just got my vitals taken a billion times. But my BP is great, my O2 sats are always at 100%, and my resting heart rate is at about 50. Exciting.
So I was released with a diagnosis that my knee was probably just strained (which is not new for me) and that I fainted because of vasovagal syncope due to the pain (also not new - it's happened to me before). And all that for the low, low price of $190 (plus what ever UHC decides to charge me later).
My knee last night felt okay, but tender. During the night, it got worse, woke me up at 4:15. But I said screw it and went to practice anyway. I knew I was going to take it easy, and was really careful when I first started kicking. Right now I can't fully straighten my knee, and I can't bend it past 90ยบ, so my kick on that side might have been at about 30%. Halfway through that first set of 75s I came up with the idea to wear a fin on my good side to try and make up for the lack of power and it worked pretty well (though doing one legged dolphin kick was really hard - I did manage the butterfly, however, somehow).
I spent the rest of the workout either pulling (when it was swimming only) or using the one fin method. Doing that, I was able to do the entire workout without cutting anything, and with very minimal pain. My turns were a little ridiculous (not only could I not push off with my right leg, but I couldn't even tuck it out of the way, so it made the push really pathetic) and I had a little trouble getting out of the pool, having to pull myself out backwards at the gutter and then couldn't get up from the pool deck. I made Evan come help me, heh. :)
Also, and this is mostly for Rob, I used my H20 Audio Interval system during my warmup today and I LOVED IT. The ear pieces I picked fit really snugly and didn't slip or move at all, and made a tight seal in my ear. The sound quality was great, about what I'd expect from any headphones. I obviously wasn't doing anything crazy, stroke wise, but the device didn't move around or bother me on my goggle straps, and it was easy enough to skip songs or change the volume while I was wearing it. Also, it made the 500 meters I swam go by SO fast. I can definitely see myself going to swim on the weekends more now that I have this thing, to keep me from getting bored and lost in my own head. Music is definitely motivating to me when I exercise, and I love being able to have it in the pool now as well. :)
300 swim, free/back by 50 (warmup)
200 kick, free/back by 50 (warmup)
4 x 75, kick/swim/kick, odd choice, even fly
6 x 50 free, odds on :50, evens on 1:00 (pull)
400 pull (with paddles)
3 x 100, 25 kick / 25 right arm / 25 left arm / 25 swim
200 free, negative split (pull)
3 x 100, 25 swim / 25 kick / 25 fingertip drag / 25 swim
3 x 100 free on 1:50 (pull)
50 pull (warmdown)
Total: 2650 SCM (~2900 SCY)
Then, around 8:00, we went by and actually got to see the twins (which were cute, a boy and a girl). So, hospital visit number two.
From there, we went to our softball game. We were up to bat first, and I'm third in the order, so I got up and ended up getting walked. We had one out, so I was running if the ball was hit on the ground by the guy behind me, and it was, so I took off to second. His hit went past the third baseman and into shallow left field, so I decided to go for third, since no one was telling me to go or stop. They were close to getting the ball to their third baseman, and they told him to tag me, since it wasn't a force out. Except instead of turning to tag me, he planted his foot in the middle of the bag right before I stepped on it, so I landed on his foot instead. My entire leg buckled and my right knee popped, sending me to the dirt in pain.
Apparently I skinned both of my knees and ripped a large hole in the back of my right thigh when I fell, but the knee hurt so badly that I didn't notice those until quite a bit later. After laying on my face in the infield dirt for a few minutes, two of my teammates (both doctors, incidentally) helped me to the dugout and I sat on the bench next to one of them (Anna). The field manager came and brought a bag of ice, which Anna held to my knee. I was definitely in shock, both when I was down in the field and sitting there on the bench, my ears ringing and my vision all blocky. I felt massively lightheaded and kept trying to shake myself out of it, tried leaning forward to get my balance but couldn't, and reached back to grab the back of the bench.
The next thing I knew I was on the ground, looking up at my teammates. I'd passed out and fallen forward off the bench, hitting my head on the cement. Anna caught me right at the end, so I didn't hit my head too hard, but I was totally confused about where I was and what was happening for a couple of minutes. The field manager called 911, and I ended up having at least one ambulance and a firetruck show up, a cadre of firefighters and EMTs crowding around and checking my vitals (which were fine) and asking me a million questions.
At that point, I mostly felt fine, except I was insanely dehydrated. I asked for some water and then started feeling lightheaded again, so I got laid back and the EMTs tried to convince me to let them take me in to get checked out. Now I know this is nuts, but I kept saying there was no way I'd go in the ambulance, because of the cost. I finally convinced them to radio in and get permission to let me go in one of our own vehicles, signed a form saying that I refused the ambulance, and then Jeff drove me to the ER.
I was not excited to go in, after everything that's happened this week, but I went. They checked me in but refused to give me water (something about not wanting to give me anything before a doctor saw me), and I waited a bit, but not too long. The whole thing took about 90 minutes, and I basically just got my vitals taken a billion times. But my BP is great, my O2 sats are always at 100%, and my resting heart rate is at about 50. Exciting.
So I was released with a diagnosis that my knee was probably just strained (which is not new for me) and that I fainted because of vasovagal syncope due to the pain (also not new - it's happened to me before). And all that for the low, low price of $190 (plus what ever UHC decides to charge me later).
My knee last night felt okay, but tender. During the night, it got worse, woke me up at 4:15. But I said screw it and went to practice anyway. I knew I was going to take it easy, and was really careful when I first started kicking. Right now I can't fully straighten my knee, and I can't bend it past 90ยบ, so my kick on that side might have been at about 30%. Halfway through that first set of 75s I came up with the idea to wear a fin on my good side to try and make up for the lack of power and it worked pretty well (though doing one legged dolphin kick was really hard - I did manage the butterfly, however, somehow).
I spent the rest of the workout either pulling (when it was swimming only) or using the one fin method. Doing that, I was able to do the entire workout without cutting anything, and with very minimal pain. My turns were a little ridiculous (not only could I not push off with my right leg, but I couldn't even tuck it out of the way, so it made the push really pathetic) and I had a little trouble getting out of the pool, having to pull myself out backwards at the gutter and then couldn't get up from the pool deck. I made Evan come help me, heh. :)
Also, and this is mostly for Rob, I used my H20 Audio Interval system during my warmup today and I LOVED IT. The ear pieces I picked fit really snugly and didn't slip or move at all, and made a tight seal in my ear. The sound quality was great, about what I'd expect from any headphones. I obviously wasn't doing anything crazy, stroke wise, but the device didn't move around or bother me on my goggle straps, and it was easy enough to skip songs or change the volume while I was wearing it. Also, it made the 500 meters I swam go by SO fast. I can definitely see myself going to swim on the weekends more now that I have this thing, to keep me from getting bored and lost in my own head. Music is definitely motivating to me when I exercise, and I love being able to have it in the pool now as well. :)
300 swim, free/back by 50 (warmup)
200 kick, free/back by 50 (warmup)
4 x 75, kick/swim/kick, odd choice, even fly
6 x 50 free, odds on :50, evens on 1:00 (pull)
400 pull (with paddles)
3 x 100, 25 kick / 25 right arm / 25 left arm / 25 swim
200 free, negative split (pull)
3 x 100, 25 swim / 25 kick / 25 fingertip drag / 25 swim
3 x 100 free on 1:50 (pull)
50 pull (warmdown)
Total: 2650 SCM (~2900 SCY)
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Boulder Sunset Tri
I had such a great time in the Boulder Sunrise Triathlon last month that I decided to sign up for the Boulder Sunset Tri in September. It's another Tri for Your Cause event, so I'm fundraising again, this time for the Colorado Dachshund Rescue. I picked that organization because it's where my sister adopted her dog, and I've been involved with some of their fundraisers before. They're a great organization, and they've been overwhelmed lately because of the economy and having even more dogs to rescue than normal.
Anyway, here's the donation link, if any of my readers are so inclined:
http://www.active.com/donate/TFYCSep122009/LFuller72
The tri this time is a 750 meter swim, a 23 mile bike ride, and a 5K run. The best part, though, is that it starts at 3:30PM. Which means I don't have to get up at four in the morning. :)
Anyway, here's the donation link, if any of my readers are so inclined:
http://www.active.com/donate/TFYCSep122009/LFuller72
The tri this time is a 750 meter swim, a 23 mile bike ride, and a 5K run. The best part, though, is that it starts at 3:30PM. Which means I don't have to get up at four in the morning. :)
2200 (21150/270450)
So I don't really want to get into it too much, but Sunday night a friend that Jeff and I play hockey with died (they think it was an undiagnosed heart condition, but we're not sure yet) and we were up pretty late staying with his roommate/cousin, so I didn't get to practice Monday morning. I attempted to go swim later in the afternoon, and got a little in, but my heart wasn't really into it. Here's what I did do, though.
200 swim (flipturns)
200 drill (IM order by 50)
200 kick (IM order by 50)
250, 25 fly / 50 back / 75 breast / 100 free
250, 50 fly / 75 back / 100 breast / 25 free
400 pull (with paddles, flipturns)
100 flutter kick (with fins)
100 dolphin kick (with fins and snorkel)
300 free (100 catchup / 100 fingertip drag / 100 swim, with snorkel)
Total: 2000 SCM (~2200 SCY)
200 swim (flipturns)
200 drill (IM order by 50)
200 kick (IM order by 50)
250, 25 fly / 50 back / 75 breast / 100 free
250, 50 fly / 75 back / 100 breast / 25 free
400 pull (with paddles, flipturns)
100 flutter kick (with fins)
100 dolphin kick (with fins and snorkel)
300 free (100 catchup / 100 fingertip drag / 100 swim, with snorkel)
Total: 2000 SCM (~2200 SCY)
Saturday, July 11, 2009
3300 (18950/268250)
So my regular pool (EPIC) is closed this weekend, so I had to go over to the other muni pool to swim this morning. At first I didn't really mind swimming at Mulberry, but now that I'm swimming more in a set, I'd really prefer to go to EPIC. The lighting inside Mulberry isn't very good, for one, and there are only six lap lanes. There's a tiny diving well with one low diving board, then the a section of shallow pool that has this large piece of what is basically playground equipment in it. Because there are so many kids playing in there, the pool is filthy, and has WAY more chemicals in it, so the water is gross and cloudy.
But I did it anyway. Mulberry is in yards, so to swim a mile I had to do 1800. My time was about a minute slower than my last 1600 meters, but I'm going to attribute that to a) 1600 meters being about 1750 yards, so I swam an additional 50 yards today, and b) my turns are pretty bad, so more turns generally means more lag for me. Swimming that far is still boring, but I do have to say that it makes me happy that I can do that much distance. When I first started Masters last December, I could barely swim a 400 consecutively, and now I could probably do a 2k if I felt like it. Also, my BFF Cheryl bought me one of those H2O Audio setups for my birthday that just arrived today, so as soon as I get myself a new iPod shuffle, I can start listening to music during these workouts. I can't wait!
I enjoyed the IMs today, since I got to do them on my own pace, and focus on my form instead of trying to keep up with my teammates.
Okay, off to watch some US National Championship trials. Wee. :)
4 x 100, 50 drill / 50 kick, IM order
2 x 100 IM (second 1:56)
400 pull (with paddles, flipturns)
1800 free (35 flat)
150 kick, 50 back / 25 free / 25 breast / 25 back / 25 fly
100 IM
50 free
Total: 3300 SCY
Friday, July 10, 2009
3100 (15650/264950)
OMG breathing fail today. I woke up feeling heavy in my chest and I knew I was in for some fun at the pool this morning. I had pretty much nothing going into this practice, and I have literally no idea how I managed to do all that fly without puking or passing out.
That said, on the second round of those broken 25s, Evan made a point to tell me that my butterfly technique is really good, I just need a little more kick. Which sounds about right to me. I was very pleased to receive the compliment, though. It definitely made me feel better about today's fail!swim.
So everyone but me and Lori were doing 100 IM fast followed by 100 IM easy. Evan was having us do just a 50 easy afterward, but at the end, Lori said, "let's do another one." Evan said of course SHE wanted to do another one, she wasn't swimming fly. ;) But I did it anyway.
I've mentioned this here before (probably a million times), but I LOVE butterfly. It's hard and I can't do much of it at a time, but it's my favorite stroke. So I really liked getting to do so much of it today, despite the pain and suffering. And wow, was there pain. When I'm having asthma problems, it usually starts with pain in my chest that just spreads out through my limbs. By the freestyle of all of those IMs, everything was burning, and my arms felt like they weighed 100 pounds each. Ugh.
I still love swimming. Even when it's killing me. Maybe even more when it does. ;)
400, free/back by 50 (warmup)
4 x 75, 50 drill / 25 swim (IM order) on 2:10
8 x 25 swim, IM order (supposed to be on :30, was more like :40)
250 free
100 IM fast
50 free easy
6 x 25 swim, IM order (minus free) on :40 - adjusted by Evan so I wouldn't die, heh
350 pull
100 IM fast
50 free easy
6 x 25 swim, IM order (minus free) on :40
350 pull
100 IM fast
100 IM smooth
200 kick (with fins - warmdown)
Total: 2850 SCM (~3100 SCY)
That said, on the second round of those broken 25s, Evan made a point to tell me that my butterfly technique is really good, I just need a little more kick. Which sounds about right to me. I was very pleased to receive the compliment, though. It definitely made me feel better about today's fail!swim.
So everyone but me and Lori were doing 100 IM fast followed by 100 IM easy. Evan was having us do just a 50 easy afterward, but at the end, Lori said, "let's do another one." Evan said of course SHE wanted to do another one, she wasn't swimming fly. ;) But I did it anyway.
I've mentioned this here before (probably a million times), but I LOVE butterfly. It's hard and I can't do much of it at a time, but it's my favorite stroke. So I really liked getting to do so much of it today, despite the pain and suffering. And wow, was there pain. When I'm having asthma problems, it usually starts with pain in my chest that just spreads out through my limbs. By the freestyle of all of those IMs, everything was burning, and my arms felt like they weighed 100 pounds each. Ugh.
I still love swimming. Even when it's killing me. Maybe even more when it does. ;)
400, free/back by 50 (warmup)
4 x 75, 50 drill / 25 swim (IM order) on 2:10
8 x 25 swim, IM order (supposed to be on :30, was more like :40)
250 free
100 IM fast
50 free easy
6 x 25 swim, IM order (minus free) on :40 - adjusted by Evan so I wouldn't die, heh
350 pull
100 IM fast
50 free easy
6 x 25 swim, IM order (minus free) on :40
350 pull
100 IM fast
100 IM smooth
200 kick (with fins - warmdown)
Total: 2850 SCM (~3100 SCY)
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
3700 (12550/261850)
Since this is posting to my Facebook now, I should probably put the writeup at the top, rather than below the workout. I'm sure most people don't care about my swimming sets. :)
This felt like a lot of yardage when I was doing it, but I didn't realize it was THAT much. Nice. And we cut a 100 at the end because, the age group swimmers needed to get into the pool. It was really tiring, but it felt good to do that much swimming, and try to hit those intervals (even if I wasn't completely successful). Man, I love to swim.
My legs are totally feeling it right now, though. Also, I did a lot of biking and running yesterday, so my quads are shot. I'm taking my road bike in for a tuneup today, and if I have to leave it overnight I'll be riding the mountain bike to work tomorrow, which should be... entertaining, heh. Probably good for me, though. Builds character.
I just ate my body weight in food. I was starving when I got out of the pool. Mmm, giant breakfast.
300 swim (warmup)
200 pull (warmup)
100 IM (warmup)
3 x 200 free, descend 1-3 on 3:50
2 x 200 pull, breathe 3/5/7/choice by 50
300 free with fins, every 4th 25 fast kick only
2 x 300 free on 5:30
3 x 200 free on 3:50
2 x 100 free on 1:50
100 free (warmdown)
Total: 3400 SCM (~3700 SCY)
This felt like a lot of yardage when I was doing it, but I didn't realize it was THAT much. Nice. And we cut a 100 at the end because, the age group swimmers needed to get into the pool. It was really tiring, but it felt good to do that much swimming, and try to hit those intervals (even if I wasn't completely successful). Man, I love to swim.
My legs are totally feeling it right now, though. Also, I did a lot of biking and running yesterday, so my quads are shot. I'm taking my road bike in for a tuneup today, and if I have to leave it overnight I'll be riding the mountain bike to work tomorrow, which should be... entertaining, heh. Probably good for me, though. Builds character.
I just ate my body weight in food. I was starving when I got out of the pool. Mmm, giant breakfast.
300 swim (warmup)
200 pull (warmup)
100 IM (warmup)
3 x 200 free, descend 1-3 on 3:50
2 x 200 pull, breathe 3/5/7/choice by 50
300 free with fins, every 4th 25 fast kick only
2 x 300 free on 5:30
3 x 200 free on 3:50
2 x 100 free on 1:50
100 free (warmdown)
Total: 3400 SCM (~3700 SCY)
Monday, July 6, 2009
3000 (8850/258150)
Well, with this post I am FINALLY caught up. Whew. Again, sorry for the massive spam.
100 swim (warmup)
300 pull (warmup)
4 x 75, kick/swim/kick, odds breast, evens free
4 x 150, 50 9-kick hesitation / 50 6-kick hesitation / 50 swim, 3&4 with fins
300, 100 free / 100 breast / 100 free
300, 100 free / 100 back / 100 free
4 x 100, odds 50 catchup / 50 free, evens 50 breast drill / 50 breast
12 x 25 { 4 x 25 drill, 25 swim, 25 fast } (1-3 fly, 4-6 back, 7-9 breast, 10-12 free)
100 pull (warmdown)
Total: 2800 SCM (~3000 SCY)
I really liked this workout, though I did abuse myself with a ton of breaststroke. Evan had a bunch written into it, but then I added my own when we were supposed to swim choice sets.
The 25s drill/swim/fast were fun, because the breaks made me feel like I could sprint a little fly. I love it, but it still dislikes me quite a bit, heh. The last 25 was my free sprint, and Evan commented that it looked "really fast". And it was, something like :20, which isn't bad for 25 meters. If only I could keep up that pace for a 50 or 100, heh.
The bummer is that we found out this morning that EPIC (the pool where we swim) is closed ALL of August for cleaning and ceiling renovation, so we won't have any practice. If I go that long without swimming, I WILL turn into a giant blob, no lie. So I'm in the process of enacting a backup plan.
Option one is to swim at the other, smaller muni pool. They do open at 5:30AM, but I have no idea if they have swim teams practicing at that time or not. The cost for drop in is $4 a session, or $3.20 if you get a Super Pass multi-use card. That brings the total for three swims a week for four weeks to either $48 or $38.40. I'm paying $35 a month to FAST for dues, which Tasha said shouldn't be charged the month we're not practicing. So the cost isn't much worse. The only drawbacks are a) not knowing if we'll have the space to do it, and b) the workouts aren't coached.
Option two is to swim with another Masters team for a month. T2 Coaching (triathlon group) has a Masters team, but they apparently also practice at EPIC, so thye're likely SOL as well. There's one at a local health club, but I'm pretty sure you have to be a member of the club to participate, and their pool is TEENY. Then there's Vortex, who I was considering joining when I was trying to find a team to swim with. They are currently swimming at a private outdoor pool, which is very appealing to me. The drawback here is that their dues are $60 for the month, but they do have a more open practice schedule, so I could swim even more than three times a week, if I wanted. I sent them an email today to see about joining for August only, just to see if they'd even let me do it.
So, yeah. I WILL swim in August, even it I have to take two hour lunch breaks and work until six everyday to make it work. I'm hoping the Vortex thing works out, even though it's more expensive, because I'd like to keep up with coached workouts.
100 swim (warmup)
300 pull (warmup)
4 x 75, kick/swim/kick, odds breast, evens free
4 x 150, 50 9-kick hesitation / 50 6-kick hesitation / 50 swim, 3&4 with fins
300, 100 free / 100 breast / 100 free
300, 100 free / 100 back / 100 free
4 x 100, odds 50 catchup / 50 free, evens 50 breast drill / 50 breast
12 x 25 { 4 x 25 drill, 25 swim, 25 fast } (1-3 fly, 4-6 back, 7-9 breast, 10-12 free)
100 pull (warmdown)
Total: 2800 SCM (~3000 SCY)
I really liked this workout, though I did abuse myself with a ton of breaststroke. Evan had a bunch written into it, but then I added my own when we were supposed to swim choice sets.
The 25s drill/swim/fast were fun, because the breaks made me feel like I could sprint a little fly. I love it, but it still dislikes me quite a bit, heh. The last 25 was my free sprint, and Evan commented that it looked "really fast". And it was, something like :20, which isn't bad for 25 meters. If only I could keep up that pace for a 50 or 100, heh.
The bummer is that we found out this morning that EPIC (the pool where we swim) is closed ALL of August for cleaning and ceiling renovation, so we won't have any practice. If I go that long without swimming, I WILL turn into a giant blob, no lie. So I'm in the process of enacting a backup plan.
Option one is to swim at the other, smaller muni pool. They do open at 5:30AM, but I have no idea if they have swim teams practicing at that time or not. The cost for drop in is $4 a session, or $3.20 if you get a Super Pass multi-use card. That brings the total for three swims a week for four weeks to either $48 or $38.40. I'm paying $35 a month to FAST for dues, which Tasha said shouldn't be charged the month we're not practicing. So the cost isn't much worse. The only drawbacks are a) not knowing if we'll have the space to do it, and b) the workouts aren't coached.
Option two is to swim with another Masters team for a month. T2 Coaching (triathlon group) has a Masters team, but they apparently also practice at EPIC, so thye're likely SOL as well. There's one at a local health club, but I'm pretty sure you have to be a member of the club to participate, and their pool is TEENY. Then there's Vortex, who I was considering joining when I was trying to find a team to swim with. They are currently swimming at a private outdoor pool, which is very appealing to me. The drawback here is that their dues are $60 for the month, but they do have a more open practice schedule, so I could swim even more than three times a week, if I wanted. I sent them an email today to see about joining for August only, just to see if they'd even let me do it.
So, yeah. I WILL swim in August, even it I have to take two hour lunch breaks and work until six everyday to make it work. I'm hoping the Vortex thing works out, even though it's more expensive, because I'd like to keep up with coached workouts.
Friday, July 3, 2009
2850 (5850/255150)
500, 100 free / 75 free, 25 back / 50 free, 50 back / 25 free, 75 back / 100 back (warmup)
10 x 50, 25 kick / 25 drill (IM order)
12 x 25 kick with fins, 2 free, 2 choice x 3
700 pull, 500 Fartlek (25 smooth / 25 strong, 50 smooth / 50 strong, 75 smooth / 75 strong, 100 smooth / 100 strong), 200 build
100 free fast, 25 - 10 seconds rest - 25 - 10 seconds rest - 50
100 free fast, 25 - 10 seconds rest - 50 - 10 seconds rest - 25
100 free fast, 50 - 10 seconds rest - 25 - 10 seconds rest - 25
100 free fast, 25 - 10 seconds rest - 25 - 10 seconds rest - 25 - ten seconds rest - 25
100 free fast, for time (1:38)
100 free (warmdown)
Total: 2600 SCM (~2850 SCY)
So this was actually an off day from work, so I got up feeling relaxed knowing that I could come home and go back to bed whenever I wanted. Which was 12:00 in the afternoon, after breakfast and a snack and a bunch of Heroes season 1. Heh.
Anyway, Tasha coached us this morning and I LOVED the little broken 100s at the end. I can haul a ton of ass when I do 25s, and I always feel really fast when I get to do them. The 1:38 at the end seems appropriate considering the other 100m times I've been getting, so yay!
So this was actually an off day from work, so I got up feeling relaxed knowing that I could come home and go back to bed whenever I wanted. Which was 12:00 in the afternoon, after breakfast and a snack and a bunch of Heroes season 1. Heh.
Anyway, Tasha coached us this morning and I LOVED the little broken 100s at the end. I can haul a ton of ass when I do 25s, and I always feel really fast when I get to do them. The 1:38 at the end seems appropriate considering the other 100m times I've been getting, so yay!
Thursday, July 2, 2009
3000 (3000/252300)
So the Wednesday before this I rode my bike to work, then came home and proceeded to run for 45 minutes on my elliptical runner. At a fairly high setting. And then lifted weights.
I think I killed myself a little, because I not only managed to forget to reset my alarm to 5:00AM for Masters practice, I turned off my backup alarm. In my sleep. I guess my body wanted rest. :p
So I went over my lunch break and swam about 70 minutes, doing another distance test.
200 swim (flipturns, warmup)
200 drill (flipturns, warmup)
200 kick (IM order, warmup)
600 pull with paddles
1600 swim (34:06)
200 pull (warmdown)
Total: 3000 SCM (~3300 SCY)
Where I got slower. What the? I'm not sure how that happened, unless it was the aforementioned body killage from the night before. Ah well. I do really like doing the mile, so I think I'll keep trying that here and there when I swim on my own.
Sadly, it turns out that by missing the morning practice, I missed my last LC workout. Wah. :(
A side note: I can now bench press 50 pounds, which is probably not even remotely impressive, but back in high school I could BARELY press ten pounds. Yes really. I was a 125 pound dancer weakling that only had muscle in my legs. I think this goes to show what swimming has done for me. I do weigh ten pounds more than that seventeen year old dancer, but I can guarantee that those ten pounds and more is from muscle. And I really like that I can say that. I'm in the best shape of my life at the ripe young age of thirty. I might be a slower learner, but at least it's better late than never. :)
I think I killed myself a little, because I not only managed to forget to reset my alarm to 5:00AM for Masters practice, I turned off my backup alarm. In my sleep. I guess my body wanted rest. :p
So I went over my lunch break and swam about 70 minutes, doing another distance test.
200 swim (flipturns, warmup)
200 drill (flipturns, warmup)
200 kick (IM order, warmup)
600 pull with paddles
1600 swim (34:06)
200 pull (warmdown)
Total: 3000 SCM (~3300 SCY)
Where I got slower. What the? I'm not sure how that happened, unless it was the aforementioned body killage from the night before. Ah well. I do really like doing the mile, so I think I'll keep trying that here and there when I swim on my own.
Sadly, it turns out that by missing the morning practice, I missed my last LC workout. Wah. :(
A side note: I can now bench press 50 pounds, which is probably not even remotely impressive, but back in high school I could BARELY press ten pounds. Yes really. I was a 125 pound dancer weakling that only had muscle in my legs. I think this goes to show what swimming has done for me. I do weigh ten pounds more than that seventeen year old dancer, but I can guarantee that those ten pounds and more is from muscle. And I really like that I can say that. I'm in the best shape of my life at the ripe young age of thirty. I might be a slower learner, but at least it's better late than never. :)
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