First swim meet

One of my goals this year was to support the Blacksburg Country Club Barracudas swim team by swimming in the meets.  Both adults and kids swim in the summer league.  On the one hand, I think it's great for kids to see adults engaging in physical activity rather than just sitting on the sidelines.  On the other hand, I don't think adult placings should be equally weighted with kids.  It's something like 20 points for first on down.  So Grant comes in 12/17 and earns just a few points for the team.  I come in 3rd/3 and earn 17 points for the team.

I decided the morning of that I'd do the meet and fortunately had a chance to practice diving in with goggles.  I swam my 50 free in 33.87 (give or take!).  It was a total rush and I had more left in the engine for next time.  Need to commit to the flip turn next time too.

It was a great meet and nice opportunity to catch up with old friends that I only seem to see at these events. The kids are always so inspirational, especially the ones who work so hard just to make it to the other end of the pool.  They are brave children, every one of them!

Time to start logging again

I pretty much stopped recording my workouts with my injury, but now that a new chapter is about to start, it's time to resume so here is the fresh new Workout Log.

Still loving the bike. Logged 33 miles yesterday starting with the 8 am Weight Club ride that was just me, Robert, and Andy. We rode a conservative loop out Glade to Mt Zion to McCoy and back, then I rode it again, pushing harder. I had to make a detour at mile 26 for a haircut appointment and thankfully Robert brought my wallet to me to pay!

Still having saddle issues but I'll give it a little more time and see what happens before I look at options.

Feeling good about the cycling and even the running, swimming is another story. Fortunately I have time to gain confidence there.

Balancing act

click to enlarge

It'll be an interesting summer trying to juggle and balance but I will just do the best I can do and try like heck to listen to my body to prevent overuse injuries. My shoulders have been tweaky and I am wondering now if it's because my handlebars are, I think, a bit off where they should be. I had a great almost 20 miler yesterday on the bike but bagged the swim. I have minor shoulder issues from lifting in the past and they can be problematic.

Jake put together my new workout split -- as I told him, my goals are a moving target. It's not easy keeping up with me. The above table is the guideline; if I can get two bike rides and two good swims in a week, I will be happy. Of course the running doesn't kick in immediately, nor does tennis.

Swimming homework from Jim

And why does he refer to my "desire to kick" I wonder LOL!!!

Swim thoughts:

• Chest pressed into the water!
• Head down, but not looking back at all. Rotation is all on the long axis through the top of your head and out your bottom.
• No crossing mid line with your stroke.
• Slow stroke down!

Drills:

• 1 arm swimming…other arm stays out front.
• Catch up drill…one arm at a time, other waits.
• Swim golf…50 time in seconds + total number of strokes. 90 is probably your base, 80 when you pay attention…now get it down into the low 70’s consistently!
• Kicking on your back (didn’t do this one but it’s good for you and your desire to kick). Laying on back, hands over head…biceps touching ears, breath normally, flutter kick all the way down the lane…short, quick, fluttery kicking.
  

Workout format:

• 5+/- min. warmup (mixed stroke ideally)
• 10 minutes of drills
• 10-15 minutes of other swimming (intervals, playing with swim golf, continuous swim, etc.)
• 5+/- min. cooldown

Discipline

I had to archive this great quote from the day. Saturday is my scheduled day off but I had/have an interest in joining a beginner bike ride in the morning and perhaps swimming in the afternoon. Swimming runs the risk of interfering with a shoulder workout on Sunday. The trainer is pretty adamant that I have a rest day.

I said, "Rest is important, yes, but isn't it OK sometimes to sacrifice performance to feed the soul."

To which he replied "No because the soul is greedy and if it were up to you, you would eat chocolate for every meal. Sometimes you've got to use your head."

BURN!

So what will I do? Still conflicted and the ride leaves at 8 am.