first water, cold

It was cold this morning. Once in the water, things are fine. It's the walk to and from the pool that really suck. And I ran in to a nurse that took care of me when I was sick - Cyndi. Most memories from that time are not super clear but the more she talked the more I remembered. She's always happy and smiling it seems, and I remember how good that was to have around me when I was sick. After talking to her, I did some good butterfly lengths - her influence, I know it.

last water

The Los Banos pool was cold last night. Actually, the pool felt OK - the walk to and from the pool was friggin' frigid. Last week kept me out of the water because of this stupid cold, so last night's evening session was my first in a while. I did a bunch of different things for a total of 1200m - OK considering my condition and the variety of strokes and drills. About normal, actually. Butterfly feels better than ever.

first water, I believe I can fly

I did a length of butterfly today, my first 50m long course of fly ever. It was rad and tiring at the same time. What else was rad was doing fly with 2 kicks after the catch, which helps kind of a lot cuz straight butterflying for 50m is way tiring. Other than that, I went through a bunch of the usual drills, zipperswitch with flutter and fly kick, some kicking, back and breaststroke, and some easy freestyle. Total distance: 1300m.

first water, better butterfly

I'm not doing much freestyle this week. Instead, I'm focused on bettering my butterfly stroke. Butterfly is rad, obviously, so I've been pretty psyched on morning pool sessions the past few days. On the other hand, putting in a full-distance workout without much freestyle is not super easy, nor is it super fast. It took me about an hour to log 1500m this morning. No worries - I'm psyched I don't have to swim free 'til I puke. Those other strokes are getting done too, back and breastroke, or whatever. And lots of drills, especially zipperswitch w/ flutter and fly kick.

da numbers:

• I don't even know, lots of different stuff

total distance: 1500m

first water, something different

I did a bunch of different strokes and drills today, and not much freestyle. In recent days I've caught myself dreading the freestyle sets I've been putting myself through lately. So, I worked on the other strokes, mostly butterfly, and did some stroke drills like zipperswitch and one-arm fly. Not a lot in terms of contiguous sets here, few turns, and maybe 200m of freestyle in all. But it all added up to 1100m. And it was fun instead of grueling, for whatever that's worth.

first water, over easy

I really wasn't feeling the Eye of the Tiger this morning. So, what started out as a 1000m swim turned in to 3 x 200m freestyle then just turned in to random IM stuff, mostly butterfly. It's cool though - I'd rather stay psyched than keep beating my head against the wall with distance freestyle.
da numbers:

• 150m easy free
• 3 x 200m free @ 5:00
• ordinarily, I would do 200's @ 4:00 - this is pretty slow
• coming in between 3:20 - 3:25
• 50m easy free
• 100m zipperswitch drill
• 200m fly drill
• 200m 1/2 length fly
• 100m catch-up drill

total distance: 1400m

first water, IM

I thought I would mix things up by taking a break from freestyle to work on the other strokes, especially butterfly. It was rad.

da numbers:

• 100m easy free
• 200m fly stroke drills
• 200m backstroke
• 200m 1/2 length fly then free
• 100m breaststroke
• 100m kick

total distance: 900m

first water, sprint

I just wanted to do 1 fast 100m today.

da numbers:

• 400m easy free/zipperswitch/catch-up drill
• 3 x 50m free
• 100m free
• time: 1:17
• 150m easy free/zipperswitch/catch-up drill
• 200m kick

total distance: 1000m

first water, faster at a price

I repeated last weeks set of 12 x 100m @ 2:00, bettering my split times by about 3 seconds for most of the 100m intervals. And it wasn't magical. I wasn't faster because I implemented some new technique. I just pushed harder. And it hurt more. But I suppose if swimming hard felt good everyone would be in the pool. Which would really suck.

da numbers:

• 50m easy free
• 2 x 50m catch-up drill
• 12 x 100m @ 2:00
• every 100 was under 1:45, which is what I wanted
• 50m easy free
• 2 x 50m catch-up drill
• 200m fly drill

total distance: 1700m

first water, subtlety

There's a subtlety to good technique. Some training sessions are devoted entirely to technique, to developing the form in which you swim, run, lift, or otherwise contest your sport. For points-based sports like gymnastics or diving, I don't know; but for those scored on indisputable metrics, such as time or distance, there is the concept of proper form, there in most cases to optimize the contestants' speed, efficiency or power. And most athletes will do best to implement at least a variation of this concept.

Athletes of every echelon of all sports benefit from continually practiced technique, though no doubt new practitioners focus here more heavily. And while the importance of such training for all athletes is seldom argued, the serious athlete should recognize when his thoughts are to be consumed by form development. For a boxer, that time is not in the ring on fight night. Nor is it appropriate for a swimmer to be distracted by technique before taking her mark on the starting block. It is at these moments the athlete should be in a mental state that will allow her to exert a maximum effort, leaving nothing in the pool or the ring or on the track that could have bettered the performance. I try to think about that sometimes when I'm swimming in the morning. Sometimes I imagine how I would feel next to an athlete in a race, how my effort would intensify and how that would affect my form. Any change to my technique near race intensity would have to be done smoothly so that my time would not suffer. I really need to focus on moving forward, directing all movement in that effort, not on some new detail of my stroke. Any change to my form would have to be subtle. I've swam long enough that I instinctively swim in basically good form. Most of the recent change to my stroke has happened subconsciously, from my body naturally becoming efficient mechanically and physiologically.

Swimmers maybe appreciate more than other athletes the importance of subtlety. Humans do not intuitively perform well in the water and the skill can not be rushed. It is only after many miles over many sessions that a swimmer will start to look comfortable in the pool. I swam almost 80 miles this summer but I'm amazed how much more efficient competitive swimmers look. They've adapted their technique, sometimes consciously but, I suspect, mostly in subtle ways they are unaware of. For highly developed athletes technique would have to be second nature, so they clear their minds of any such distractions, dealing instead with the psychological impact of physical exertion near human potential. To them, any conscious effort to adjust technique would be very subtle.

da numbers:

• 150m easy free
• 1000m free
  • time: 18:30
• 3 x 50m free
• 200m fly kick
• 100m catch-up drill

total distance: 1600m

water, not first

I swam with Bridget and Micah at noon. Bridget made me go faster.

da numbers:

• 3 x 100m easy free
• 500m free
• 100m easy free
• 4 x 50m free
• 100m free
• time: 1:20
• this was fast for me, and it hurt
• 100m easy free
• 100m fly drill
• 200m fly/back

total distance: 1600m

first water, need for speed

I'm getting slow. I need to do sprints tomorrow.

da numbers:

• 150m easy free
• 12 x 100m free
• coming in ~1:47, slow
• 150m easy free
• 200m fly kick

total distance: 1700m

first water, low and slow - or - efficiency and perspective

There are a bunch of concepts at play when training. Efficiency, for one, is painfully obvious but maybe not so easy to describe. That's what kinesiologists are for. As a recreational or amateur athlete, I just need to know it when I see it. Like today. Time is always important to me in the pool, so I was a little bummed to see my slowest time ever for a 1000m free. 18:35 is almost 5 seconds slower than the first day I swam it, in years anyway, 4 weeks ago. My goal is to get this time under 17:30. So, I consider the swim - how I felt and what I was focused on. I'm trying to gauge intensity and form. And my intensity was low, significantly lower than any previous swim at this distance. Form felt much better. Four weeks ago my intensity was almost unbearably high. I've relaxed a bunch, smoothed out my stroke and slid in to an intensity level I can maintain almost indefinitely. To roughly quantify, I would say I've decreased intensity 20% for a decrease in speed less than 2%. Speed is the goal, but efficiency is necessary. As much as I hate to have a slow day, I should be happy with the improved efficiency. I'm confident that on a more intense day I will see a dramatic speed increase.

If you want to change intensity, find a new perspective. Intensity is a psychological concept. While physical efficiency, the result of focused technique, happens unknowingly, intensity is a measure of your conscious effort. And it's stressful. Most folks avoid high intensity training, and as a result define their performance ceiling at a point far below their physical potential. Those that push themselves above this median pay a psychological toll to see great performance. Accomplishing an athletic goal is rewarding but the day-to-day stress of intense training can make one crazy. I believe this is why many of the athletes I respect seem a little off. The point is, it's hard work that you have to make sense of in your head. Here's where the principle of periodized training is most useful, I feel. It forces you to take a new perspective, sneaking in a little more effort than you would have otherwise chosen to exert. The effect is cumulative, resulting in a pronounced increase at the end of the periodized regimen, most likely months. Conversely, if you can show up to the pool or the weight room or whatever, lay it all out every day with little variation to your program and see steady gains, then do that. If you're like most of us and you inadvertently hit a plateau, change things up. If you're still stuck, change it more. It impresses me how much variation I need to incorporate in to my routine to see a measurable change. If I'm bench pressing and 315 lbs feels heavy, I might rack 405 lbs and do a negative. I'm telling myself: 'You think this is heavy? Try this.' The same principle is useful in the pool. I'm starting to think 1000m is far. It's probably time to swim a 2000m freestyle. After taking away the intimidation I feel with my goal distance, I will be more comfortable pushing harder for the duration of the event. The thing is, 2000m will massively suck. Whatever - it has to be done because I'm not here to suck for forever.

da numbers:

• 2 x 100m easy free
• 1000m free
• time: 18:35
• 100m easy free
• 200m fly kick

total distance: 1500m

first water, fly baby

I thought I'd do a little butterfly today.

da numbers:

• 300m easy free
• 3 x 100m fly drills
• 200m fly kick

total distance: 800m

first water, 200s galore

I did some 200m freestyle today, on the 4:00, trying to find a good pace for my 1000m free on Monday. My last 200 of the set was good. I'm almost at the point where I've pushed hard enough to force my body to adapt to the fatigue with a more efficient stroke. Near the end of this set I concentrated on keeping my leading arm out longer, elbows high, and catching closer to my lead arm. Despite how tired I was it was easier and faster. And that's the point.
da numbers:

• 150m easy free
• 5 x 200m free @ 4:00
• 1st time: 3:22
• 2nd time: 3:32
• 3rd time: 3:32
• 4th time: 3:32
• 5th time: 3:25
• got tired but went faster at the end - good stroke
• 150m easy free
• 200m fly kick

total distance: 1500m

first water, finding consistency

There is an art to pacing oneself. My focus in the pool now is to bring my 1000m time under 17:30. That puts my average 100m split at 1:45, a non-trivial time for me at this stage. And this is long course, which is kicking my ass. But that's good. This is a good opportunity to think about pace. Today's pool session focused on this set: 10 x 100m @ 2:00. My thinking here was that I would focus on finishing each 100m just under 1:45. And I did, except the fist couple. Something I've forgotten since high school swimming seems to be that one should not go out fast. My fist 100m was just under 1:35, the next just under 1:40, and the next five or six 100s at almost 1:45. That's a fast start, not my trademark, and really not a smart way to race. So the challenge seems to be this: find a pace regardless of energy level. You will feel good at the start, obviously, but know what 1:45 feels like when fresh, when tired, and when dying. I'd actually prefer to go out slow. That's really the way to race, I feel. Staying behind, keeping other racers close, then running them down near the end is the rad thing to do. And I better get this pace thing under control - my birthday challenge for next year may be a 1000m at 15:00.

da numbers:

• 150m easy free
• 10 x 100m @ 2:00
• coming in between 1:40 - 1:45, except the first couple fast ones, which I'm not counting cuz I'm an idiot
• 150m easy free
• 200m fly kick

total distance: 1500m

first water, over easy

1000m swims are kinda hard for me. They hurt and I didn't really feel like hurting this morning. So, I did my 1000m at a somewhat pedestrian pace. Or so it felt. In reality, my time was 5 seconds slower than last Monday, and almost 25 seconds faster than the previous Monday. Two weeks ago was my fist time in years trying a 1000m for time so maybe that isn't so significant. What I feel happened is I'm generally in better shape for this distance after a couple weeks, kicked the intensity down maybe 5% today and sacrificed about one-half of 1% in performance. Sure, I would like to have bettered my time this morning but I feel there is something to be gained at varying intensity like this. I concentrated on my stroke and became more comfortable at this, a distance that until now was very much not comfortable. As with all sports, my theory goes anyway, pushing your limit has to be fun. If you're miserable, you won't push yourself day after day. It takes tons of time, but finding the limit of your performance envelope and consistently bumping up against it can be meaningful and really is necessary for improvement. To put in the time it takes to see big improvement better be fun for you or there's gonna be a lot of misery.

da numbers:

• 200m easy free
• 1000m free
• time: 18:17
• 200m easy free
• 200m fly kick

total distance: 1600m

first water, more fun

Swimming was pretty good today. I concentrated on finding a good rythm in my freestyle.

da numbers:

• 200m easy free
• 3 x 200m free @ 4:00
• coming in between 3:30-3:35
• not real fast but smooth and felt manageable
• 100m easy pull w/ paddles
• 200m fly kick

total distance: 1100m

first water, rad

I don't know what happened this morning. I just wanted to swim hard for some reason. Clearly, I didn't want to swim fast. Just hard. For the first time in a while I had to stop before something, maybe bad, happened. Or should I say, before having an epiphany in the pool, before breaking in to a realm of enlightenment. I don't know, but I can tell you my face was so friggin hot I was glad to be in the water just so I could cool it down and my back is on the verge of a record-breaking cramp-athon. Honestly, I could have puked. And that would be embarrassing in Los Banos del Mar. Not to say I haven't puked in a pool before. I have. Just not that pool. I don't think they're ready for that.
da numbers:

• 200m easy free
• 300m free
• time: 5:12
• went hard, meant to do a 400 but lost count
• 400/300/200/100m (without the 100m)
• 0:00 - 400m free
• time: 7:07, went hard
• 8:00 - 300m free
• time: 5:35, feeling pretty tired at this point
• 14:00 - 200m free
• time: 3:40, just trying not pass out here
• couldn't keep going, skipped the 100m
• 100m easy pull w/ paddles
• 200m fly kick

total distance: 1700m

first water, better

So, at least I counted right today. I'm able to record a time for 1000m instead of 900m. Things felt OK. A straight 1000m freestyle is kinda hard for me so just to get through it is good, let alone record a better time than last week. I would like to get my time down to 17:30 fairly soon, making 100m splits 1:45 on average. In the more distant future, this should be 1:30 splits, coming in at 15:00 for 1000m. That seems respectable.
da numbers:

• 1000m free
• time: 18:12
• 400m fly kick

total distance: 1400m

first water, learning to count

I didn't feel ultra-good this morning. Things were just OK. I'm nursing this shoulder thing and generally did not have the Eye of the Tiger for the straight 1000m freestyle I had scheduled for today. And stupidly, I lost count and ended up doing a 900m free instead. So, I'm not counting today. It used to be if I lost count I would start over, counting that is, not the swim. My punishment this time: do it again tomorrow. And try not to fuck it up this time.
da numbers:

• 900m free
• came in @ 16:40 - not blistering pace, about the same as last week's 1000m free in 18:30.
• 300m fly kick

total distance: 1200m

first water, not energetic

I must be spent from the last 2 mornings of swimming. Getting out of bed today was easy and everything was coming together for what I expected would be a great session in the pool. Wrong. Energy was low, my left shoulder hurt, and I just could not get things moving. The previous 2 days' swims were kinda intense so this maybe should not come as a complete shock. Today turned in to a focus on fly kick drill, which actually went well.

da numbers

• 200m easy free
• 4 x 100m free
• First 3 were slow, around 1:40-1:45, then I think the last one was just under 1:30. I was surprised, but did feel faster. If true, and I guess it is, the focus during sprints should be purely on maintaining momentum, not stroke mechanics.
• 3 x 100m pull w/ paddles
• these were coming in around 1:30
• 400m fly kick

total distance: 1300m

first water, 4 - 3 - 2 - 1 - puke

This week's theme is distance. Yesterday, 1000m straight. Today, the dreaded 400/300/200/100 pyramid I "loved" from short course yards. Porting short course workouts over to long course is good, I feel. That is, it's hard. And hard workouts make for good fitness. Today's set did not disappoint. It hurt and I'm happy to have finished the thing.
da numbers:

• pyramid:
• @00:00 - 400m free
• @08:00 - 300m free
• @14:00 - 200m free
• @18:00 - 100m free
• 100m fly kick drill

total distance: 1100m

first water, one big swim

It's been kind of a lot of years since I swam 1000m straight. It hasn't gotten easier.
da numbers:

• 1000m free
• time: ~18:30

Not super fast. This puts my 100m splits at ~1:51 on average. So, that's not pathetic, but I'd like to get that under 1:45, which puts total time at 17:30. That shouldn't be too bad. Well, that's not very hard to write. Remembering back to how I felt during the 1000 however... I'm happy to have finished the thing.
In more interesting news, Micah showed up to the pool - kind of interesting if one considers he should be in Greece. I took this unexpected opportunity to finish my workout after nineteen minutes and call in sick to work.

first water, cold

It was cold and cloudy this morning, making the steps from bed to pool long and involved.

• 100m easy free
• 400m free
• came in at ~7:05
• 100m pull w/ paddles
• 200m fly/back drill
• 300m fly kick

total distance: 1100m

first water, back in the game (kinda)

Swam a little bit more this morning. I got out of bed early-ish, amazingly. Still not totally back from my most recent repiratory infection but better than last week.

da numbers:

• 400m free
• 3 x 100m free easy/hard
• 3 x 100m pull w/ paddles easy/hard
• 100m fly kick

total distance: 1100m

first water, barely

I have got to start waking up earlier.
da numbers:

• 400m free
• 200m free
  
  • came in at ~3:30
• 200m pull w/ paddles
• 100m fly kick

total distance: 900m

first water, running a wee bit late

I set my alarm for 6:30, planned on being out the door at 7:15 and in the pool by 7:30. Right. So, I hit snooze until 8:15, got out the door at 8:20 and in the water at 8:35. This gave me 25 minutes to swim whatever I could in 25 minutes. I was so mad at myself I just swam two 400m's, the first freestyle, the second with paddles. Note to self: get out of be earlier. Dick.
da numbers:

• 400m free
• 400m pull w/ paddles
• 100m fly kick

total distance: 900m
On the plus side, 400m is a good length to make 100m feel not that far. In general, it's probably good I swim some longer distances -  good for my stroke and walls.

first water, or should I say second

Day two after a two week pause for illness. Things in the pool continue to suck. It's got to get better. I mean, it can't get any worse, right? I know. It can.

• 6 x 100m free
• 3 x 100m pull w/ paddles
• 200m fly kick

total distance: 1100m
Bridget was supposed to meet me and motivate me to not suck. But she didn't show up, so she sucks. Oddly, my stroke feels OK. I didn't even want to look at the clock for today's sets. I'll save that for when things start feeling a little less sucky.

first water, first in a long time

It's been almost 3 weeks since I last got in the pool. And I gotta say, being sick does not make one a better swimmer.
da numbers:

• 400m easy free
• 200m pull w/ paddles
• 200m fly kick

total distance: 800m
Not my best day ever. I'm taking things pretty easy as far as swimming goes until I feel totally healthy - for example, no more coughing up stuff. The 400m free was hard, the pull was hard and the kick drill was hard. Everything just felt bad, like I've been sick.

first water

I truly did not care this morning.
da numbers:

• 400m easy free
• First time w/ turns, making this my longest distance in long course. And it really wasn't that bad.
• 6 x 100m free @ 2:00
• Maybe I was tired from the "warm-up", most likely I just suck, but I could not keep my times near 1:30. For the first couple 100's I was a little under 1:35, and it went downhill from there. The last 2 or 3 were about 1:42. Sad.
• 200m pull w/ paddles
• 400m fly kick

total distance 1600m
Not to self: glide longer. The closer my recovering arm is to touching my catching arm, the better freestyle feels. This means turning around my lead arm. Do not pause with arm at side or in the air. Recover faster, catch for longer.

first water

Most certainly did not feel good in the pool today. As such, I worked on everything but freestyle.
da numbers:

• 400m easy free
• 3 x 200m IM (of sorts, not really)
• 200m pull w/ paddles
• 400m fly kick

total distance: 1600m

fist water

Kinda feeling faster, but I don't know.
da numbers:

• 400m easy free
• 6 x 100m free easy/hard @2:30
• these were hard, easy first 50 then screaming hard back
• coming in between 1:32 - 1:37
• 2 x 100m pull w/ paddles
• coming in just after 1:30 - that means I'm tired
• 400m fly kick

total distance: 1600m

first water

Long course never felt so good. I think I'm getting used to this 50m pool thing. And I'm sure that's a good thing because that's a man-sized chunk of water. Short course is going to feel like the kiddy pool. 200m intervals were on the agenda today, the longest distance I have yet incorporated in to sets in long course.
da numbers:

• 400m easy free
• 2 x 200m free @ 5:00
• coming in around 3:20
• I focused here on maintaining a fast pace, with long rests between.
• 200m pull w/ paddles
• came in at 3:15, a touch faster than regular free
• 300m fly kick
• 100m easy free

total distance: 1600m

first water

My legs have been cramping kinda bad lately. This happens in the pool during kick sets. Anyway, it's odd.
da numbers:

• 400m easy free
• 4 x 100m free @ 2:00
• coming in between 1:35-1:40, pretty slow
• 200m pull w/ paddles
• 100m fly kick
• 200m fly drill
• 300m fly kick

total distance: 1600m

lunch water

I had to be at work early so I swam at lunch time. And clearly my lunch break is for 2 hours. Today's focus was on freestyle sprints. And I'm working on my kick.
da numbers:

• 400m easy free
• 6 x 100m free fast/easy
• The first 50 was hard, barely able to get something back on the second 50. These sprints were killing me. They're good.
• 200m pull w/ paddles
• 400m kick
• My legs were cramping bad.
• 100m easy free

total distance: 1700m

first water

Swam with Bridget at Los Banos yesterday morning.
da numbers:

• 400m easy free
• 3 x 100m free @ 2:00
• took it easy, coming in around 1:35
• 3 x 100m free @ 1:45
• I kept up with Bridget for the first 100, maybe the second, but the third was gruesome.
• 6 x 50m fly drill
• My fly drills need work. Seriously.
• 300m kick
• 100m easy free

first water

Long course is still a new thing for me. I think I'll spend this week, again, getting used to the distance; maybe focusing not so much on time as just getting the routine done. Also, the Eye of the Tiger did not seem to be with me today. This may represent a lull in my psyche for swimming. It'll pass. Now does not feel like the time to push things.
da numbers:

• 400m easy free
• 3 x 200m free
• 2 x 200m pull w/ paddles
• 200m fly kick
• 100m easy free

total distance: 1700m

first water

I swam at Los Banos for my fourth time yesterday morning, and fourth day in a row. Bridget wasn't there. Thank God. I must have been spent from Wednesday's asskick-athon with Ms. Fish because Thursday morning sucked. Accordingly, things were done at a non-blistering pace.

• 400m free
• 4 x 100m @ 2:15
• Not fast. I struggled.
• 4 x 100m free w/ paddles
• Faster, but not fast.
• 200m kick

total distance: 1400m

first water

Swam with Bridget at Los Banos this morning. And she made it hurt. I don't think she understands why I suck so bad. I was struggling. STRUGGLING. Panting like a dog. Not that that's unusual. It was just especially bad this morning. Long course is killing me. Gotta be good though.

da numbers:

• 100m free
• 6 x 100m free @ 2:00
• coming in ~1:35
• 4 x 25m fly
• That's right, 25m fly. In a 50m pool. It was good though.
• 4 x 25m free
• 4 x 25m back
• 200m easy free
• 200m fly/breast kick
• My fly kick sucks. Bridget's doesn't.
• 100m fly drill
• 100m easy free

total distance: 1600m

first water

Los Banos in the morning. Not the same, smoking fast crowd as last night but most were still faster than patrons of the other local pools. Being around a better clientele is good for me, I think. This long course thing kills me. I dropped the distance way down and focused on 100s.

da numbers

• 2 x 100m free
• 6 x 100m free @ 2:30
• coming in around 1:30
• I was focused on speed here, but long course does see this reflected in my times. It's harder for me.
• 2:30 is a very slow set for me, but this pool is a whole other deal.
• 200m fly kick
• Again, long course is hard. Kick sets are especially hard.
• 3 x 100m pull w/ paddles
• coming in around 1:00
• This was faster than normal 100s. I focused on stretching my stroke out and felt very fast.
• 100m zipperswitch

evening water

I went to Los Banos Del Mar for the first time last night. It was good. And it's long course so it kills me. I wasn't doing sets for time, just swimming 100s for 1100 yd.

first water

Felt good this morning. Finally. This week has been alternating days of good and bad. IMs had me breathing like a maniac but I stayed loose and kept good form; good for me, anyway. Even butterfly is starting to feel good. Not so good that I can finish two lengths with 1-to-1 kick, but better than days past, maybe better than ever.
da numbers:

• 2 x 100yd free
• 2 x 100yd free/zipperswitch
• 100yd fly kick
• 16 x 50yd IM alternating laps @ 1:30
• first 3 sets of 4 x 50 IM, fly lap, was 2-to-1 kick
• last fly lap I died 10yd from the wall on the way back
• this whole set was hard, from beginning to end
• last 50 free was fast, right at 30 sec - shoulders felt loose, arms were catching quick
• 200yd fly kick
• 4 x 50yd fly/back alternating lengths @ 1:30
• 300yd breast/fly kick
• 400yd apnea drill w/ short fins

total distance: 2400yd

first water

Today was hard.
da numbers:

• 2 x 100yd free
• 10 x 100yd free @ 2:00
• coming in between 1:20 - 1:25
• 300yd fly kick
• 3 x 100yd IM @ 3:00
• coming in between 1:40 - 1:50
• 4 x 100yd pull w/ paddles @ 2:00
• coming in between 1:20 - 1:25
• 200yd apnea drill w/ short fins

first water

I know my workouts are getting long when I dread having to type it out.
da numbers:

• 2 x 100yd free
• 4 x 200yd free @ 4:00
• coming in between 2:47 - 2:55
• 300yd fly kick
• 3 x 100 IM @ 3:00
• coming in between 1:50 - 1:40
• 400yd pull w/ paddles
• 200dy fly kick
• 200yd apnea drill w/ short fins

total distance: 2400 yd

first water

Note to self: if you need to wake up at 6:00 AM to swim, go to bed before 2:00 AM. This morning totally sucked. I was mega-slow and generally felt like road kill. And this week's daily yardage is pegged at 2400 yd, so yeah, I'll be going to bed way after 2:00 every night.
da numbers:

• 2 x 100yd free
• 1000yd/20min pyramid set
• 400yd
• time to finish = ~6:10, not good
• 300yd @ 8:00
• time to finish = ~4:30, not good again
• 200yd @ 14:00
• time to finish = ~3:00, not good
• 100yd @ 18:00
• time to finish = ~1:18, way not good
• 300yd fly kick
• 6 x 100yd @ 3:00 fly/back alternating lengths
• coming in between 1:50 - 2:00
• 300yd fly kick
• 300yd apnea drill w/ short fins

first water

IM is hard. Finishing this morning's requisite yardage was hard. Not a super motivating day in the pool. But I did some butterfly for 100yd distances. Well, kinda. I pulled once for every 3 kicks and I paused between lengths. But no more one-arm stroke drills. That's good, I suppose. Closer to good anyways.

da numbers:

• 2 x 100yd free/zipperswitch
• 100yd fly kick alternating back/front
• 8 x 100yd IM strokes @ 3:00
• 4 x 100yd zipperswitch/free alternating lengths @ 2:30
• 300yd fly kick alternating back/front
• 400yd apnea drill w/ short fins

total distance: 2200yd

first water

Good times at the Carpenteria Community Pool. I don't know what it is about that pool exactly that makes me really like swimming there. My main set was 10 x 100yd on 1:50. This is faster than I've been going for a 1000yd set. A couple weeks ago, 10 x 100yd on 2:00 felt hard. Needless to say, 1:50 is harder. And it felt that way.

da numbers:

• 2 x 100yd free/zipperswitch
• 10 x 100yd @ 1:50
• coming in between 1:20 - 1:25
• This did not feel like a super fast pace.
• 4 x 100yd pull w/ paddles @ 2:00
• coming in between 1:25 - 1:30
• 300yd dolphin kick alternating back/front
• 300yd apnea drill w/ short fins

total distance: 2200yd

first water

I've learned to be more intuitive about my workouts. That's the nice thing about not being on a team. If there's something I don't want to do, I might choose not to do it. Like today. My ambitious objective was to crank out 4 x 400 yd on 8:00. That's a lot for me right now. Additionally, today was to be my first session of 2200 yd, in recent years that is. But soon after waking up I realized the Eye of the Tiger was not with me. So, I opted for the following routine instead. And it was kinda enjoyable. It wasn't brutally excruciating, anyways. There is a balance, after all, between training my cardio-vascular and muscular systems, and performing the competitive strokes with proper technique. If I'm struggling just to complete a set, and there's certainly times when that's valuable, I may not be able to maintain good form, which is important, I feel, this early in my return to the pool. Adjusting workout intensity intuitively allows me to balance these two objectives more effectively. There are two concepts I'm not willing to compromise, though: total daily distance, and daily focus. No matter how I feel, I will complete the prescribed distance of each day's routine. Today's requirement was for 2200 yd, for example. My own concept of focus varies like this: The first training day of the week is dedicated to longer freestyle sets, involving intervals as long as 400 yd. For the next two or three days I step down interval distances until I'm sprinting for 100 or 50 yd. The final weekly swimming session is focused on IM sets, bettering each of the remaining three competitive strokes.

da numbers:

• 2 x 100yd free/zipperswitch
• step sets, starting at 0:00
• 400yd
• time: ~5:55
• 300yd @ 8:00
• time: ~4:20
• 200yd @ 14:00
• time: ~2:50
• 100yd @ 19:00
• time: ~1:15
• should have left @ 18:00
• 2 x 200yd pull w/ paddles @ 5:00
• coming in between 3:45 - 3:55
• 300yd dolphin kick, alternating lengths on back/front
• 300yd apnea drill w/ short fins

total distance: 2200yd

first water

I've been doing IM sets with 50yd for each stroke. Today I increased that to 100yd. And it was hard. My strokes are coming together though. Butterfly is even kinda working. After the IM sets I did tons of dolphin kick yardage.

da numbers

• 2 x 100yd free/zipperswitch
• 100yd fly kick
• 8 x 100yd alternating IM strokes @ 3:00
• coming in under 2:00, usually around 1:45
• Fly was tiring. I cheated a bit and threw in some lengths of kick
  
• of note: my second 100yd free was 1:11
  
• 400yd fly kick
• started to feel a better kick
  
• 300yd fly kick w/ short fins
• by this time my legs were hammered
  
• 200yd apnea drill w/ short fins
  

first water

The GVAC pool is not especially fast. In fact, it may be the slowest pool I've ever swam in. Maybe this is because it's 3.5 deep the entire length, or because it's cold or the lanes are narrow. Whatever, it's slow and it sucks. And this morning's pool session was brutal.
da numbers:

• 2 x 100 yd free/zipperswitch
• 10 x 100 yd @ 2:00
• coming in between 1:30 - 1:35
• 2 x 200 yd @ 5:00
• coming in around 3:20
• 300 yd dolphin kick w/ short fins
• 100 yd apnea drill w/ short fins

This is my third consecutive day at 2000 yards.

first water

Didn't feel as good as yesterday. Felt a little tight and times weren't stellar. Lots of yards though.
da numbers:

• 2 x 100 yd free/zipperswitch
• 5 x 200 yd free @ 4:00
• coming in between 3:00 - 2:55
• 4 x 100 yd free easy/hard @ 2:00
• coming in between 1:20 - 1:25
• 300 yd dolphin kick w/ short fins
• 100 yd apnea drill w/ short fins

first water

Good yardage this morning. I'm back to "distance Mondays", my day of the week to crank out some longer-than-usual sets in the pool. For instance, today's focus was on a couple 400 yd freestyle intervals. And my times were not that dismal, coming in right under 6 minutes on my second go, putting my splits under 1:30 for 400 yd. Not bad for me at this stage. Today's routine totaled 2000 yd, my longest session since returning to the pool. And this has me thinking about adding 200 yd ever week for a few months, maybe getting up to 5000 yd days and breaking my old swim times, particularly the 500 yd in under 5 minutes. That's almost a competitive time and surely nothing to be ashamed of amongst the masters swim crowd.
da numbers:

• 2 x 100 free/zipperswitch
• 2 x 400 free @ 8:00
• 1st 400 time: 6:07
• 2nd 400 time: 5:57
• 3 x 200 pull w/ paddles @ 4:00
• steadily decreasing times, between 3:10 - 2:55
• 300 dolphin kick w/ short fins
• 100 apnea drill w/ short fins

first water

I was tired this morning, forgot my watch and almost just went home. But I went through my stretches, dunked, and worked on butterfly. Yardage was a little short today, 1200 yd, with the focus on fly and a few fast free 100s. Today produced my first lengths of real fly. No more stroke drills for me.

da numbers:

• 2 x 100 free/zipperswitch
• 6 x 100 free @ 2:00
• First 3 were purposely slow, coming in around 1:35. The last 3 100s were nearer all-out, coming in about 1:27.
• 8 x 25 fly drill
• 4 x 25 fly
• Fly felt surprisingly good, albeit exhausting.
• 100 apnea drill w/ short fins

first water

Maybe it's not me. Maybe the Carpinteria Community Pool is fast. I gotta say, the water feels thick. And my times are inexplicably quicker. Either that pool is fast or the GVAC pool is slow. I prefer to think GVAC is slow. Yesterday's IM set at Carpinteria was actually enjoyable.
da numbers:

• 2 x 100 free/zipperswitch
• 20 x 50 IM strokes @ 1:30
• Felt good, concentrated on stroke mechanics, especially for fly. It's time I graduate to full on butterfly and not the variation I've been doing.
• 3 x 100 pull w/ paddles @ 2:00
• coming in between 1:15 - 1:20
• 200 dolphin kick w/ short fins
• 100 apnea drill w/ short fins

first water

After yesterday's 200 yd times, I thought today's 100s would be a little faster. Perhaps this is why I swam the 500 and not sprints. With 200s at 2:50, 100s should be better than 1:35. That makes my splits in the 200 faster than a straight 100. Who knows, sets aren't races. And today's 10 x 100 @ 2:00 was not easy. In fact, that's about as hard as I've gone recently. 1,000 yd in 20 minutes is decent. Additionally, today's routine totaled 1,800 yd, a little longer than usual. Focus on relaxing. 100s sometimes make me tighten up.

da numbers:

• 2 x 100 free/zipperswitch
• 10 x 100 free @ 2:00
• coming in between 1:30 - 1:40
• 3 x 100 free w/ dolphin kick @ 4:00
• coming in around 2:40
• 100 free pull w/ paddles
• 100 dolphin kick w/ short fins
• 100 apnea drill w/ short fins
  

first water

Went to a new pool this morning - the Carpenteria Community Pool. It's pretty nice. No long course but a sweet little short course of about 12 lanes. The temps were warm, which I've grown fond of as I've "matured". I used to hate warm pools when I swam the 500. At 6:00 AM though, cold water is massively un-inspiring. My times during a 200 set were good, easily ten seconds quicker than on recent days.
da numbers:

• 2 x 100 free/zipperswitch
• 4 x 200 free @ 4:00
• coming in between 2:50 - 2:55
• 2 x 200 pull w/ paddles @ 4:00
• coming in ~ 3:10
• 200 dolphin kick drill w/ short fins
• 200 apnea drill w/ short fins

first water

Swam some IM at GVAC this morning. IM's are tough, man. I try to stay relaxed as I get tired, resist tightening up, which is good for my stroke but hammers my lungs. I'm just panting like a dog during sets. Gotta be good for me, I suppose.

da numbers:

• 2 x 100m free/zipperswitch
• 16 x 50m alternating IM strokes @ 1:30
• tons of rest between 50's - I'm never coming in after 1:00
• 50m free's had me coming in between :30 - :35
• all strokes felt better today
• 200m free /w paddles
• 200m dolphin kick w/ short fins
• 200m apnea drill w/ short fins

first water

As I'm still not over my cold, swimming this week has not been stellar. I took all last week off - no climbing, no swimming, no anything not conducive to recovery. And I can't take it any more. My symptoms now are confined to my head and sinuses but I can't stand not training for another week. I won't do it. Anyways, worked on my stroke a bunch this morning. Counting strokes is harder than one would think.

da numbers:

• 2 x 100m free/zipperswitch
• 12 x 50m free @ 1:00
  
• coming in around :40
• This was not fast. I was trying to count strokes here and get that number reduced in an effort to stretch out my stride. As I said, counting is difficult, nearing impossible today. I was around 20 - 25 strokes per length.
• 4 x 100m free w/ paddles @ 2:00
• coming in around 1:40
• 300m dolphin kick w/ short fins
• 100m apnea drill w/ short fins
  

first water

today's swimming routine:

• 200m free/zipperswitch
• 5 x 100m free @ 2:00
• coming in between 1:30 - 1:35
  
• 5 x 100m free/zipperswitch alternating 25m @ 2:30
• 100m free w/ dolphin kick
• 100m pull w/ paddles
• 200m kick drill w/ short fins
  

first water

Went super easy today, lots of stroke drill stuff, working on form. I was feeling run down from training earlier this week, I think. Which is what I wanted.

da numbers:

• 2 x 100m free
• 10 x 100m alternating 50's stroke drill (zipperswitch or free w/ dolphin kick) & freestyle @ 3:00
• 4 x 50m zipperswitch w/ dolphin kick
• 200m apnea drill w/ short fins
  

first water

Today was an easy pool session, IM sets mostly, and at a slow pace. This worked out because I could tell I was a little flat to begin with.

da numbers:

• 200m free/zipperswitch/dolphin drill
• 20 x 50m alternating IM strokes @ 1:30
• 4 x 50m free w/ dolphin kick drill
• 200m dynamic apnea drill w/ short fins
  

first water never felt so good

It's been a while since pushing back the inside of that envelope felt good in a pool. This morning's session was both punishing and smooth. This has got to be the first time in years I felt that groove where a smooth stroke lives, letting me autopilot through a nearly respectable set: 10 x 100m on the 2:00, coming in between 1:27 - 1:32. To start chipping those 100m interval times away, below two minutes, will be good. To get those down to 1:35 will be better.

da numbers:

• 200m free/zipperswitch
• 10 x 100m free @ 2:00
• 8 x 50m zipperswitch & free w/ dolphin kick drills
  

first water

Monday swim sessions are brutal. This is my long day. Long, anyways, for me. 400m is about all I can will myself to attempt. Sets of distances longer than this would probably cause my form to fall apart or me to pass out. And honestly, I probably could pass out. Even 400m without a lifeguard to watch me is pushing it. After turns I am eye-bulging gasping for air, starting at about 250m.

da numbers:

• 200m free/zipperswitch
• 400m free
• came in at 6:25 - this is :25 quicker than last week, though "quick" might not be the right word
  
• 200m free
• came in at 3:08
• 50m zipperswitch
• 200m free
• came in at 3:03
• 100m free
• came in at 1:27
• 50m zipperswitch
• 100m free
• came in at 1:22
• 2 x 50m free drill with dolphin kick
• 2 x 50m zipperswitch with dolphin kick
• 100m dolphin kick w/ short fins
  

I wasn't paying attention to rest intervals so much. My focus was to get decent times logged for these distances while keeping a comfortable pace between sets. This has generally been my plan for days that involve longer distance sets.

lifting doesn't feel so good anymore

Now that I'm lifting weights once a week and swimming almost daily my joints don't feel super good after a session with the weights. For instance, I'm sore today. I lifted last night with Marcela at the Shed. She has great form on the bench, by the way. But the once a week thing is just enough to make me sore, rather than accomplish anything significant, I think, in the strength department. This may call for a drastic overhaul of my weight training strategy. Recently, sets every two minutes was all the rage. Looking forward, it may make more sense to slow down the pace of my sessions but increase weight. I'm just saying, it's something for me to think about.

da numbers:

• bench press
• 1 x 12 @ 155 lbs on 2:00, feet up
  
• 1 x 12 @ 165 lbs on 2:00, feet up
  
• 1 x 6 @ 185 lbs on 2:00, feet down
  
• 1 x 12 @ 165 lbs on 2:00, feet down
  
• I went heavy on the third set, mostly to mix things up, and to psych up for a big fourth set.
• I like this feet up/down transition. Feet up for light weights and warm ups. If an upcoming set is a concern, put feet down. I think it's good to train this mental switch - when feet are down it's business time.
  
• There was more than 2:00 minutes before the next exercise, maybe more like 5:00.
  
• incline bench press
• 1 x 12 @ 115 lbs on 2:00
• 1 x 12 @ 125 lbs on 2:00
• 1 x 6 @ 145 lbs on 2:00
• 1 x 12 @ 125 lbs on 2:00
• There was more than 2:00 minutes before the next exercise, maybe more like 5:00. 
  
• behind-the-neck press
• 1 x 12 @ 65 lbs on 2:00
• 1 x 12 @ 85 lbs on 2:00
• 1 x 3 @ 105 lbs on 3:00
• 1 x 10 @ 85 lbs on 2:00
• Slowed down a little here, had "technical difficulties".
• arms super set - standing BB triceps extensions & biceps curls with the french curl bar
• extensions - 1 x 12 @ 45 lbs
• curls - 1 x 8 @ 60 lbs
• extensions - 1 x 12 @ 65 lbs
• curls - 1 x 10 @ 70 lbs
• extensions - 1 x 12 @ 65 lbs
• curls - 1 x 10 @ 80 lbs
• extensions - 1 x 12 @ 65 lbs
• curls - 1 x 10 @ 80 lbs 
• Just tried to keep moving here, didn't pay attention to timing these sets.

Finished things up with some abdominal work and restorative shoulder exercises.

first water

IM-athon. Did a bunch of IM stuff today in an effort to mix it up. IM stuff hammers my breathing. I was panting like a dog after a couple cycles. And it came to my attention my butterfly form needs some work. There's definately a rythm to the fly and I definately don't have it.

da numbers:

• 200m free/zipperswitch
• 20 x 50m alternating IM @ 1:30
• 200m fly drill
• 200m short fin kick
  

first water

Swam again this morning. I had big plans for my 100m times today, only to massively disappoint myself. Maybe I didn't mention this in writing but I've been entertaining the idea of my birthday challenge involving a 300m freestyle under 3 minutes. Needless to say, that does not look like an option any time soon.

da numbers:

• 200m free/zipperswitch
• 3 x 100m free @ 1:45
• coming in between 1:20 - 1:40
• This set killed me. 1:45 is smoking fast for me right now.
  
• 200m zipperswitch
• 3 x 100m free @ 2:00
• This is a doable pace for more than 3 intervals.
• 300m IM drill
• 300m short fin kick
  

first water

Swam some longer sets today, felt like good training.

da numbers:

• 200m free/zipperswitch
• 400m free
• came in at 6:50
• 50m zipperswitch drill
• 300m free
• came in at 5:00
• 50m zipperswitch drill
• 200m free
• came in at 3:15
• 50m zipperswitch
• 100m free
• came in at 1:25
• 250m short fin kick

These times are not good. But I did want this to be my first bench mark at distances between 200m and 400m. There is clearly some work to be done, but eventually I will want to have 100m splits under 1:00 for 300m, 400m and 500m distances. I really don't think that's too much to ask.

luxury does not equal rad

Bridget got me in to the Coral Casino yesterday. I can't tell if it's trying to be a gym or spa or pool or what. But I can say it accomplishes none of these well. The "weight room" was friggin' laughable, which I would have laughed at had I not been so pissed mid-workout that they would even call it such. To mention just a few annoyances: the dumbbells stop at 75 lbs, there are no barbell weights, the machines are insane, half the space is for treadmills, at least one trainer has a pony tail (and he's a dude) and everyone there at the time was super not inspiring. On the plus side, I was so bitter the staff treated me like family because I behaved exactly like a rich Montecito prick. It's like they don't know what to do if you ask. Responses were much better when I demanded beligerantly. And after 3 seconds with the "guy" at the front desk I was happy to oblige. There's one more thing cool about the Coral, I guess - flat panel TVs in the locker room. Not to mention the locker rooms are marbled out. Rad. But oddly, I felt myself longing for the parade of old dudes strolling around with their junk all everywhere talking way loud about baseball and inane things. Next stop, the pool. The pool's really nice. 50m. Actually, 50m plus one foot, I'm told. That way they never get asked to host a swim meet. What? Assholes? No! So, I cranked out some apnea 50's with the long fins. I'm getting better at those. Something else I would not have expected from the Coral, a nugget index of 0. I'm not sold on the place.

first water

Was not feeling the eye of the tiger this morning. But I dragged myself to the pool, focusing once again on my pitiful stroke technique. Lots of zipperswitch, freestyle, IM drills and fin work. I'm starting to realize my years in the weight room have not done me any favors in the pool. It's been an effort to stretch out my stroke. I'm statically stretching tons and concentrating a bunch on good mechanics. And things maybe are starting to come together I feel. Today I was focused on relaxing my movements, not something I practiced with the weights, and getting a good stretch at the top of my latissimus, just below and behind my shoulder, at the end of my freestyle catch after my leading hand enters the water. Some points for me to remember regarding freestyle:

• extend to air - stretch out your entire body to get a breath at the surface
• elbows high in recovery phase - roll to the side, elbow bent at 90 degrees
• break elbow catch - elbow stays level with the shoulder during the catch phase, sets up to pull with hand and whole forearm surface, utilizing the latissimus to pull - do not lead with the elbow, do not tuck it in
• butt high - roll hips back

today's numbers:

• 200m free
• 6 x 100m zipperswitch/free @ 3:00, alternating zipperswitch drills and free stroke every 25m
• coming in between 1:55 - 2:05
• 8 x 50m IM drill @ 1:30, alternating the IM strokes
• coming in between :35 - :55
• 400m short fin kick drill
  

first water

Morning swim, again. I've been focusing on stroke mechanics a lot. If not for my hospital incident I would be more focused on increasing yardage. But I feel now like my limiting factor is my lungs. And they're just going to take time to heal. In the meantime, maybe as long as a year, it seems appropriate that I emphasize not solely on stamina, for which I'm handicapped, but instead on form, flexibility, speed and strength. And, honestly, I'm not bummed to do stroke drills for the next few months. The way my lungs are now makes any substantial endurance training painful and frustrating. Having been away from serious endurance efforts for as long as I have (years) makes me tend to approach epic swim sessions with less than a vengeance. I'd rather ease in to it anyways. Make it a habit before you make it a passion.

da numbers

• 200m free
• 6 x 100m zipperswitch/freestyle @ 3:00, alternating 25's
• coming in between 1:55 - 2:05
• 200m IM
• came in at 3:55
• 4 x 50m IM @ 1:30, 50m of each IM stroke
• coming in between 1:05 - :35
• 400m short fin kick drills

I've been stretching a bunch, today included, before morning swims - seems to help.

first water

Swam early at GVAC this morning before work. Focused today on stroke technique, alternating zipperswitch drills and crawl, and threw in some IMs.

da numbers:

• 200m free
• 4 x 200m zipperswitch/free alternating 100's @ 6:00
• coming in between 4:05 - 4:20
  
• 2 x 200m IM @ 6:00
• coming in around 4:15
• 300m short fin kick drills

Did a little more yardage today than normal. Total, this session was 1700m, 1200m for the bulk of my work sets. Up until now I was doing 1600m and 1000m, respectively.

Sunday swim

Micah and I got in the UCSB long course pool Sunday for some dynamic apnea. Not tons of noteworthy stuff was done except 50m no-breathers with the long fins. I did a ton of those, kicking on the surface to slow down my heart while staying warm between underwater lengths. Slow lengths with breathing is way better than sitting around to catch my breath while getting cold.

finned apnea lengths at UCSB

Friday I decided to hit the UCSB pool in the evening for some freediving work. Long course 50m lengths with the long fins proved too much on the 2:30, of which maybe 1 length in 30 minutes was no breath. So, I slowed it down to 3:00 - 4:00 minute rest. Then I did a few no breath, not super comfortably, and left. That much rest makes me cold. Probably some mellow lengths on the surface during rest intervals is a good idea.

first iron

Was a little tired from a bunch of training this week, as is typical of Fridays, but got myself in to the gym for a good session with the weights. Today's focus: arms and abdominals. da numbers:

• DB bench press
• 3 x 12 @ 65 lbs on 2:00
• DB flys
• 3 x 12 @ 25 on 2:00
• DB seated shoulder press
• 3 x12 @ 35 on 2:00
• preacher curls
• 1 x 12 @ 65 (assuming the french curl bar is 25 lbs) on 2:00
• 2 x 12 @ 75 on 2:00
• triceps cable press down
• 1 x 12 @ 45 on 2:00
• 2 x 12 @ 55 on 2:00
• incline seated DB curls
• 3 x 12 @ 30 on 2:00
• reverse crunches
• 3 x 12 on 2:00

Finished with some shoulder cuff restorative exercises.

first water

Had a good session in the GVAC pool this morning. After warming up I got in to some alternating zipperswitch and crawl 100s. Zipperswitch is great - the second 50 of each 100, when I went to regular freestyle, felt smooth and stretched out. da numbers:

• 2 x 100m free
• 10 x 100m alternating zipperswitch drill 1st 50, freestyle 2nd 50
• 100 breast
• 100 fly drill
• 200 short fin kick

first water

This morning came pretty early. Yesterday's swimming & lifting combination smoked me I guess. Things felt better once I hit the water though. My times were slow mostly because I'm trying to get my crawl technique dialed in. And because I suck. da numbers:

• 100 free
• 5 x 100m free @ 3:00
• These 100s had me coming in around 1:30. Slow, focused on my kick.
• 10 x 50m free @ 2:00
• I was coming in between :30 - :35. Again, slow.
• 300 kick - free, breast, fly alternating
• 200 kick w/ short fins

late iron

Lifted late afternoon yesterday, opting to swim before work. So, by the time 5:30 PM came around I was not a raging bundle of energy. But things came together, as they usually do, once I started pushing the weights around. This turned out to be a good session, and a good fitness day.

da numbers:

• bench press
• 3 x 12 @ 155 lbs on 2:00, feet up
• incline bench press
• 3 x 10 @ 135 on 2:00
• behind-the-neck shoulder press
• 3 x 9 @ 85 on 2:00
• standing BB triceps extensions
• 1 x 12 @ 35 on 2:00
• 1 x 12 @ 45 on 2:00
• 1 x 12 @ 55 on 2:00
• 1 x 12 @ 65 on 2:00
• standing BB biceps curls
• 1 x 12 @ 35 on 2:00
• 1 x 12 @ 45 on 2:00
• 1 x 12 @ 55 on 2:00
• 1 x 12 @ 75 on 2:00
• 1 x 12 @ 85 on 2:00
• dips
• 3 x 20 

first water

Swam at GVAC this morning. It was good. Pool's not great but they have a jacuzzi outside. I'm trying to work out a few things with my freestyle technique. For one, I'd like to synchronize my pull with my kick - easier said than done, apparently. I think step one will be to build a better kick. da numbers:

• 100 free
• 20 x 50m free @ 1:30
• I was coming in around :35 - not fast but that wasn't the point, the idea was to focus on my freestyle technique
• 300 free kick
• 200 short fin kick

swimming be good

Something I've always liked about swimming is how much better I feel the instant I hit the water. I know no matter how tired, bored, cranky, etc. I am things will get better as soon as I get in. That's true for lakes, rivers, oceans and pools. For example, yesterday I had to go in to work at 3:30 AM, had expected to get up at 5:30 to swim, instead worked until 10:00 AM then met Micah at the UCSB drink at 11:30 AM. Circumstances were not inspiring me - I was tired and grumpy. But I had spent the previous evening pumping myself up for a morning pool workout, a short day at the office, followed by more pool where I'd do some fin and apnea work. Plans changed so that I could either pool it up in a less than optimal state or pout at home. As soon as I hit the water I felt great and had a rad workout. the numbers:

• 200 free
• 3 x 200 free @ 5:00
• coming in around 2:55
• 4 x 100 @ 2:30
• coming in around 1:20
• 200 fly drill
• 200 kick
• 200 kick w/ short fins

The 200s and 100s were brutal. By the time I got to kick drills my legs were cramping bad - both legs, quads, hams and calves. Best workout yet. Micah did the same sets with me, also felt brutalized.

first water

Fred Hatfield would be proud. Well, that's probably saying too much. But morning workouts are my thing now. Today I swam in the UCSB short course. It's the kiddy pool, sure, but I'm working hard (seriously) and feel my day at the big boy pool is close. Sundays are the exception. The fish that show up for mid-week morning swims are fast. They don't show up at 11:00 on Sunday. That's when I do long course work. My day is coming though. Today saw my 100m times around 1:15. I'm not going to say that's not bad. But it's not horrendous. The super motivating thing about the UCSB pool is there's always a population of strong swimmers there, at least in the morning, and the two pools are about 30' apart. And most mornings there's a team taking up most of the long course lanes, which is good and bad. The good part is I get to see their work outs. The bad part is they make me feel like a wanker.

the numbers:

• 300m free
• 10 x 100m free @ 3:00
• OK, 3:00 is a lot of rest. My focus here though, is to be fast. I believe fast sets promote good technique. When learning (or re-learning) strokes, or developing technique in general, I believe a swimmer needs to feel fast water, and feel all the tiny adjustments that reduce drag and stretch out a stroke.
  
• 100m times here were between 1:15 - 1:20.
• 100m fly drill 
• 100m free kick
• 100m free/fly kick w/ short fins, alternating 

first iron

I got to the Shed this morning at 6:30 to commence operation 'Don't Puke' - don't know what was going on with me but trying not to yak took all my concentration. And this is odd because ordinarily I would love to be able to say I worked it so hard I hurled. When the time finally comes though, it doesn't feel so good. Nausea is not inspiring.

Tried something a little different. Sets on the 2:00, although a few intervals between exercises I pushed out to 3:00 because setting up seemed particularly involved today. For example, setting up for super sets, two bars with weight and adjusting the bench, takes some time. Anyways, the thinking was I would go through my key chest and shoulder lifts (bench, incline and shoulder press) fast before moving on to arms, for which today was the focus, then finish with abdominals. Yes, abdominals. And yes, I know that's my stomach. I hate abdominal exercises, never do them, but I've had it with my belly. It sticks out way far and looks funny. I'm pretty lean right now and in good condition for being me, you can even see stomach muscles, but it just sticks out. Maybe there's nothing that can be done but I thought I'd try. On the list of exercises I never do, abdominal stuff is at the top.

the numbers:

• bench press
• 1 x 12 @ 135 lbs on 2:00
  
• feet up
  
• 1 x 12 @ 155 on 2:00
• feet up
  
• 1 x 12 @ 175 on 2:00
• feet down
  
• felt good - this is kind of a chunk of change for me for sets on 2:00.
• incline bench
• 1 x 12 @ 95 on 2:00
• 1 x 12 @ 115 on 2:00
• 1 x 12 @ 135 on 2:00
• behind-the-neck shoulder press
• 1 x 12 @ 55 on 2:00
• 1 x 12 @ 75 on 2:00
• 1 x 9 @ 95 on 2:00
• arms super set - skull crushers w/ the bench bar & standing curls w/ the french curl bar
  
• skull crushers
• 1 x 12 @ 55 on 1:00
• curls
• 1 x 12 @ 50 (I think the bar is 10 lbs anyway) on 1:00
• skull crushers
• 1 x 12 @ 65 on 1:00
• curls
• 1 x 12 @ 50 on 1:00
• skull crushers
• 1 x 12 @ 65 on 1:00
• curls
• 1 x 12 @ 60 on 1:00
• skull crushers
• 1 x 12 @ 75 on 1:00
• curls
• 1 x 12 @ 60 on 1:00
• skull crushers
• 1 x 12 @ 75 on 1:00
• curls
• 1 x 12 @ 60 on 1:00
• dips
• 1 x 16 on 2:00
• 2 x 20 on 2:00
• reverse crunches
• 3 x 12 on 2:00
• I thought my stomach muscles might explode out of my body. A major cramp here felt imminent.
  
• hanging crunches
• 1 x 12 on 2:00
• 1 x 10 on 2:00
• 1 x 12 on 2:00
• Again, cramping imminent.
  

Sunday swim

I meant to do a real routine today, a 1000m with short fins, but opted to wuss out instead. I just was not feeling it. After a 300m warm up in the long course I started the 1000, only to bail out after 250m. Inspiring, I know. So instead of a workout I slowed things down, did some kick work with the long fins for 300 or 400m, eventually working up to no-breath 50s streamline. This was fun. 50s with the long fins are rad. Curious about my current long course pace I timed myself on a 100m free - 1:35. Improved.

first water

Rowdy Gaines appeared on my TV yesterday to talk about his gold medal performance in the 100m freestyle at the '84 Olympic Games. Rad. Though I won't be competing at Beijing this year I get psyched hearing about these Olympians, their training and competitive drive. And with that thought I went to the UCSB pool this morning. Rowdy would not have been impressed, though this is a substantial improvement for me. 200s on the 5 minute, my longest sets to date, had me coming in just over 3:00 and breathing like a football fan.

• warm up
• 2 x 100 free
• 5 x 200 free @ 5:00
• Coming in between 3:00 - 3:05.
• 8 x 25 free kick
• 8 x 25 fly kick w/ short fins, no breathe

Being in the water, especially first thing of the day, is ultra rad. Why I ever stopped swimming is beyond my comprehension.

first iron

While watching the U.S. women's gymnastics Olympic trials last night I realized I suck. Shawn Johnson, for comparison, does not suck. She's physically a specimen and a monstrous competitor. And if you just looked at her face you would think she is a sweet little high school girl. She is a predator posing as a house pet and she's rad. So, this morning I tried to be ferocious like Shawn. I don't know that I achieved ferociousness but I certainly was inspired.

The numbers:

• DB bench press
• 1 x 12 @ 65 lbs on 2:00
• 1 x 12 @ 70 on 2:00
• 1 x 12 @ 75 on 2:00
• cable flys
• 2 x 12 @ 40 on 2:00
• 1 x 12 @ 45 on 2:00
• seated DB shoulder press
• 1 x 12 @ 30 on 2:00
• 1 x 12 @ 35 on 2:00
• 1 x 12 @ 40 on 2:00
• later DB shoulder raises
• 2 x 12 @ 15 on 2:00
• 1 x 12 @ 20 on 2:00
• preacher curls
• 1 x 12 @ 65 (assuming 25 lb bar) on 2:00
• 1 x 12 @ 85 on 2:00
• 1 x 12 @ 75 on 2:00
• skull crushers
• 1 x 12 @ 75 (assuming 25 lb bar) on 2:00
• 1 x 12 @ 85 on 2:00
• 1 x 11 @ 85 on 2:00
  
• triceps cable press downs
• 2 x 10 @ 55 on 2:00
• 1 x 12 @ 40 on 2:00

Did some restorative shoulder cuff exercises at the end. And lots of stretching.

first water

Had a good swim this morning. I would have liked to get in a long course lane but in the interest of avoiding a confrontation I opted for the kiddie pool. My lungs feel a little stiff the past couple days, I guess from Sunday's swim session. Today felt much better than Sunday though. Short course times are much quicker and the workouts less intense, I feel. For example, Sunday's 10 x 100s had me coming in between 1:40 and 1:50. This morning's same set put my 100 times between 1:20 and 1:25. Sunday I couldn't even finish the set without fins for the last half. Today I did it all. And it was hard.

• 1 x 100 free
• 10 x 100 free @ 3:00
• 20 x 25 free kick

For the last kick sets I used short fins, streamline position and focused on reducing breaths. The last few lengths I wasn't breathing at all, felt rad.

first iron

I changed things up a bit today. Rather than 5 sets of an exercise I did 3 and did 7 instead of 4 separate exercises in a comparable amount of time. Again, on the 2:00.

• bench press
• 1 x 12 @ 155 lbs on 2:00
• 1 x 12 @ 165 on 2:00
• 1 x 9 @ 165 on 2:00
• Massive failure, had to throw the weight in to the "emergency stops", as I call them. Got to watch 165 lbs fly at my face though. Rad.
• incline bench press
  
• 2 x 10 @ 115 on 2:00
• 1 x 12 @ 115 on 2:00
• DB flys
• 3 x 12 @ 25 on 2:00
• Light weight, good stretch. I like finishing chest workouts with this exercise.
• behind-the-neck press
• 1 x 12 @ 65 on 2:00
• 1 x 12 @ 75 on 2:00
• 1 x 12 @ 65 on 2:00
• arms super set - standing overhead triceps extensions & standing biceps curls, both with french curl bar
• 0:00
• tri's - 1 x 12 @ 65 lbs (assuming a 25 lb bar) @ 0:00
• bi's - 1 x 12 @ 65 @ 1:00
• 2:00
• tri's - 1 x 12 @ 65 @ 2:00
• bi's - 1 x 12 @ 65 @ 3:00
• 4:00
• tri's - 1 x 12 @ 55 @ 4:00
• bi's - 1 x 12 @ 55 @ 5:00
• triceps cable press down w/ rope
• 1 x 12 @ 75 on 2:00
• 1 x 12 @ 80 on 2:00
• 1 x 12 @ 85 on 2:00
• incline seated DB curls
• 3 x 12 @ 25 on 2:00

Finished up with some shoulder & chest stretches and my rotator cuff exercises.

water, not first

I went swimming with Micah and Bridget today. It was, of course, rad. Got a late start, 1:00 PM, due in part to a late night, and it's Sunday. If you don't like chicks smoking you in the pool, don't take 10 years off and don't swim with Bridget. She's fast. I did, however, swim a mile today. That was a goal. And I swam long course, the 50m UCSB pool. 100s long course kicked my ass. I was struggling through the 10 x 100, STRU-GLED. Then Micah and I did some breath hold work in the 17ft dive tank. To my pleasant surprise I worked my feeble lungs up to 65 second static holds. Micah had a couple 2 minute dives. On what was maybe his first real attempt at static apnea this is awesome.
Here's the numbers:

• warm up
• 100 free
• 10 x 100 @ 3:00 free
• First 5 were hard, real hard. Breathing was labored, real labored. I was coming in between 1:40 and 1:50.
  
• Second 5 I used fins, shorty swim fins that is. These were fun and I think the extra speed is good training for form. I concentrated on stretching out my pull, smoothing out my streamline.
• 100 breast
• Got cramps in both quads. Had to stop halfway back.
• 4 x 100 dolphin kick drills

Today is for you, Bob. Though not undeniably heterosexual this is clearly an improvement.

first water

Day 2 of my new swimming routine. Or, I should say, my revived swimming routine. The UCSB pool was kinda crowded today. Odd because Tuesday morning it was almost empty. Maybe everyone's doing the Monday/Wednesday/Friday thing. Anyways, I felt a little better today. Probably I'll see improvements daily for the first couple of months. I should. I frickin' suck right now. For instance, here's what I did:

• 10 x 50 free @ 2:00
• 1 x 50 free kick w/ kickboard
• 1 x 50 breast kick w/ kickboard
• 1 x 50 breaststroke

That's a total 650 yards. Sad. And yes, that's 50s on the two minute. I remember doing 50 50s on the :50 in high school. If I could see me now. I'd kick my own ass. Whatever, I almost died this year. And I'm going to keep using that excuse for the rest of the year. Maybe longer. That's what you get to do when you almost die. Sort of like a reward to compensate for all the misery you endured. What? You didn't almost almost die this year? You better get out there and crank, dude. No excuses.

first iron

First iron at GVAC. Went fast, felt good, was sweating hard (unusual). Focused on really hitting my chest, shoulders and triceps. Looked for the pain, found it, sorta went through it. I always think I could have done better but today hurt good.

• dumbbell bench press
  
• 5 x 12 @ 65 lbs on the 2:00, feet up
  
• dumbbell flys
• 5 x 12 @ 25 on the 2:00, feet up
• dumbbell seated shoulder press
• 2 x 12 @ 30 on the 2:00
• 3 x 12 @ 35 on the 2:00
• cable press-downs
• 2 x 12 @ 40 on the 2:00
• 1 x 12 @ 55 on the 2:00
• 2 x 10 @ 55 on the 2:00
  

swimming is good stuff

I swam this morning. Loved it. Something about being in the water is rad. At the risk of sounding unmanly I feel I should have been born an otter or something. Something that swims around a lot like maybe a seal. Anyways, getting in and cranking out some laps felt really natural, like it hasn't been 10 years since I've done that. On the fitness end, however, things did not feel so smooth. One lap is about my limit. I did a 4 x 50 that killed me. Impressive, I know. This was at the UCSB pool. There's tons of space, like 12 long course lanes and 12 short course, with not a lot of people. The folks who show up at 6:30 AM are not sucky swimmers though. Unlike myself. There is no doubt I am leagues suckier than them which only adds to my frustration. In summary, swimming is great, I love it, I plan to do much more of it, probably incorporate it in to my training regimen, but I suck at it right now.

first iron at the Shed

Morning workouts at the Shed are extra fun. Just me and the weights. Hit chest, shoulders and triceps today. Felt OK.

• bench press
• 4 x 12 @ 155 lbs on the 2:00
• Fourth set was real hard.
• 1 x 6 @ 155 on the 2:00
• Yeah, that's how hard the fourth was. Total failure on the fifth set.
• behind-the-neck press
• 5 x 12 @ 65 on the 2:00
• 65 lbs sounds way light, I know. I was spent after benching, so this actually was an alright weight.
  
• skull crushers
• 1 x 12 @ 55 on the 2:00
• 1 x 12 @ 65 on the 2:00
• 2 x 12 @ 75 on the 2:00
• 1 x 10 @ 85 on the 2:00
• dips
• 1 x 14 on the 2:00

Going fast like this, on two minute splits, kills me. My triceps were spent. These recent routines are more focused on my arms, as this allows me to avoid the weight gain associated with lifting large muscle groups like my chest and back. Going fast and keeping the weights light also helps.

GVAC first iron

Ahhh, another Thursday, another shoulder routine.

• DB bench press
• 1 x 12 @ 60 lbs on the 2:00
• 3 x 12 @ 65 on the 2:00
• 1 x 9 @ 65 on the 2:00
• failure
• DB flys
• 5 x 12 @ 25 on the 2:00
• seated DB shoulder press
  
• 1 x 12 @ 20 on the 2:00
• 1 x 12 @ 25 on the 2:00
• 2 x 12 @ 30 on the 2:00
  
• 1 x 12 @ 35 on the 2:00
• dips
• 5 x 12 @ 2:00
• super easy

This was the first day in a long time I've drastically changed my Thursday routine. And it went really well - Monday was barbell bench, today I benched with dumbbells. Same thing with shoulder press. DB flys were a little light so I focused on the stretch, real slow. Then finished with some dips. Which felt super strong, sets of 12 on the 2:00 was too easy. My chest was visibly way pumped, looked like tits. Rad.

GVAC first iron

I mixed things up a little today. Still did sets on the 2:00 but focused more on triceps lifts. Things went well, my tri's were spent.

• bench press
• 1 x 12 @ 135 lbs on the 2:00
• 2 x 12 @ 155 on the 2:00
• 1 x 9 @ 155 on the 2:00
• 1 x 8 @ 155 on the 2:00
• This got hard. Last 2 sets were to failure. 155 may be a good weight for next time though.
• behind-the-neck shoulder press
• 1 x 12 @ 65 lbs on the 2:00
• 1 x 12 @ 75 on the 2:00
• 1 x 9 @ 75 on the 2:00
• 2 x 12 @ 65 on the 2:00
• I must have been extra spent from benching. This was not a lot of weight but felt real hard. The last 2 sets I bumped down the weight and went slow. Good shoulder burn.
• skull crushers
• 1 x 12 @ 45 lbs on the 2:00 (assuming the french-curl bar is 25 lbs, I think it is)
• 1 x 12 @ 55 on the 2:00
• 3 x 12 @ 65 on the 2:00
• Easy. Went slow, really hit my tri's.
• cable press-downs w/ rope
• 5 x 12 @ 40 lbs on the 2:00
• Kinda easy. Really felt this in my tri's though.

I'm thinking a shift of focus from big lifts to arm workouts will positively affect my weight. That is, I will lose some. I weighed 183 lbs, dressed, this morning at the gym. That's not a size that's conducive to efficient climbing.

GVAC first iron

Felt alright. Lifted light chest and shoulders on the 2:00. Did 2 sets on bench but 5 on DB flys, which felt really good. Good stretch with a light weight.

• warm-up
• bench press
• 2 x 12 @ 135 lbs on the 2:00
• DB flys
• 1 x 12 @ 25 lbs on the 2:00
• 4 x 12 @ 30 on the 2:00
• pretty easy. Good stretch
• work sets
• behind-the-neck press
• 1 x 12 @ 45 on the 2:00
• 1 x 12 @ 65 on the 2:00
• 1 x 12 @ 85 on the 2:00
• 1 x 10 @ 85 on the 2:00
• 1 x 8 @ 85 on the 2:00
• too heavy, maybe.
• Arnold press
• 1 x 9 @ 30 on the 2:00
• 3 x 12 @ 25 on the 2:00
• 1 x 12 @ 30 on the 2:00
• should have stuck with 30 lbs
• front raises
• 5 x 12 @ 12.5 on the 2:00

first shed

Lifted chest this morning at the shed. Went fast - lifts on the 2:00 for 40 minutes. Included dips at the end this time.

• bench press
• 5 x 12 @ 145 lbs on the 2:00
  
• close-grip bench press
• 4 x 12 @ 125 on the 2:00
• 1 x 10 @ 125 on the 2:00
• failed the last 2 reps
  
• incline bench press
• 5 x 12 @ 105 on the 2:00
  
• dips
• 5 x 8 on the 2:00
• easy

The first 30 minutes were brutal, throughout bench, CG bench and incline. Couldn't concentrate comfortably on form cuz I was just trying to get through the thing. Good workout, I'm liking the timed intervals.

early shoulders at GVAC

Like Tuesday's chest routine, I started sets on the 2:00 today. Felt OK. Shoulder exercises take a little longer to find a rhythm, I believe.

• warm up
• bench
• 2 x 12 @ 135 lbs on the 2:00
• DB flys
• 2 x 12 @ 25 lbs on the 2:00
• good. Shoulders down and back, elbows up, pinkies up. Felt a goood chest stretch.
• behind-the-neck press
• 3 x 12 @ 65 lbs on the 2:00
• 1 x 10 @ 75 on the 2:00
• too heavy
• 1 x 12 @ 65 on the 2:00
• shoulders were spent
  
• Arnold presses
• 3 x 12 @ 20 on the 2:00
• 1 x 12 @ 25 on the 2:00
• 1 x 12 @ 30 on the 2:00
• could have gone heavier. Try 5 sets at 25 or 30 lbs next time.
• front raises
• 3 x 12 @ 10 on the 2:00
• 2 x 12 @ 15 on the 2:00
• important to find rhythm on this exercise.
  

early shedding

Lifted chest at the shed this morning. Went extra light and fast - sets on the 2:00, 5 sets each exercise, 12 rep sets. Even sets between exercises were on the 2:00.

• bench press
• 5 x 12 @ 135 lbs, on the 2:00
• really felt it in my chest
  
• close-grip bench press
• 1 x 8 @ 115
• too heavy, not recovered from bench
• 3 x 12 @ 95
• easy, got recovered
  
• 1 x 12 @ 105
• good weight. Do 5 sets of this next time.
• incline bench press
• 5 x 12 @ 95
• easy. Maybe do 105 next time.
  

GVAC first iron

Felt good. Went through this routine fast, and only did 3 exercises. Good little pump though. I'm a fan of going fast through light sets lately.

• warm up
• bench
• 1 x 12 w/ bar
• 2 x 12 @ 135 lbs
• DB flys
• 1 x 12 @ 30
• 2 x 10 @ 40
• this is kinda a lot of weight, but went fast and got a pump
• behind-the-neck shoulder press
• warm up
• 1 x 12 w/ bar
• 1 x 12 @ 65
• 1 x 12 @ 75
• work sets
• 2 x 12 @ 85
• intense. good pump

Finished the whole routine, including my rotator cuff exercises, in 45 minutes.

Tuesday morning on the rowing machine

Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Felt OK. I put shoes on after my warm-up because the foot straps were killing me. Too bad - almost anything that's done bare foot is rad. My lower back got a little sore halfway through but loosened up and felt good.

• date: 5/20/2008
• start: 7:45 AM
• duration: 10:43
• highest HR: 168
• Kcal: 110
• avg. HR: 138
• fan on level 4
  
• 28 SPM
• avg. 2:21.0 /500m
  

Sunday's run

Sunday, May 18, 2008
I tried to go easy this time but my heart rate was high. Didn't feel too bad - maybe it was the heat.

• date: 5/18/2008
• start: 3:51 PM
• highest HR: 184
• Kcal: 329
• duration: 23:16
• avg HR: 170
  

the best part of waking up...

Knowing I'm going to bench press gets me out of bed Monday mornings. Had I not been motivated by the bench I might still be in bed.

• bench press
• warm-up
• 1 x 12 w/ the bar
• 1 x 10 @ 135 lbs, feet up
• work sets
• 1 x 12 @ 155
• 2 x 10 @ 165
• close-grip bench
• 1 x 10 @ 145
• 1 x 12 @ 145
• incline bench
• 1 x 12 @ 115
• 1 x 12 @ 125
• dips
• 30

Did not feel good today. Starting with the flat bench, 165 is more than I've been doing on my light chest days but this felt not good. I could not find a rhythm. Nothing felt great after that. Concentrate on getting the lats involved.
This workout made me feel that I should change something. I still want to do these lifts on Monday but probably should mix up the pace. Try lifting on the 3 minute, for instance. Keep things going fast, be done with bench, close-grip and incline early then move on to a couple more chest/triceps lifts.
Finished with shoulder rehab exercises.

first iron at GVAC

This morning I went to the Goleta Valley Athletic Club to lift shoulders. Shoulders and GVAC are rad. Anyways, I started with some light chest lifts before getting it on with my shoulders. Felt alright.

• light chest
  
• bench press
• 2 x 12 @ 135 lbs
• DB flys
• 2 x 12 @ 30 lbs
• behind-the-neck press
• warm-up
  
• 1 x 12 @ 45
• 1 x 12 @ 65
• work sets
  
• 1 x 12 @ 85
• 1 x 10 @ 95
• Arnold press
• 1 x 12 @ 30
• 2 x 10 @ 40
• DB front raises
• 2 x 12 @ 10
• 2 x 12 @ 15
• skull crushers
• 1 x 12 @ 45
• 1 x 12 @ 65
  
• 1 x 12 @ 75

Finished up with my rotator cuff exercises.
I didn't go too all-out today - felt kinda stiff.

first iron

So, I got up at 5:30 this morning to lift at the shed. It, of course, was rad. First iron is always rad. You need to be pretty committed to be the first dude to handle the weights in the morning. Same old thing today - bench, close-grip bench, incline bench. And I finished with some dips. Felt strong, was psyched. These numbers are good for me.

• BB flat bench press
• warm-up
• 1 x 12 w/ the bar
• 1 x 12 @ 95 lbs
• 1 x 12 @ 135
• work sets
• 2 x 12 @ 155
• this last set was hard. got my lats involved. last rep, second set was epic. watch elbow position - keep them away from torso (I think)
  
• close-grip bench press
• 1 x 12 @ 135
• easy
• 1 x 12 @ 145
• good weight. last 2 or 3 reps were hard
• BB incline bench press
• 1 x 12 @ 105
• way easy
• 2 x 12 @ 135
• good weight. felt strong.
• dips
• 1 x 25
• good triceps burn
  

My right shoulder felt a little bad today - was popping during stretches, shoulder dislocations.
Kind of a lot of rest between sets. These weights were strong, good benchmarks.

row, row, row your machine

First rowing session in a while, maybe third ever. It was OK. Rowing gets hard. Kinda amazingly hard. My breathing was a little off, hard to find the right timing - stroke was too slow to match my breathing rate.

• date May 9, 2008
  
• start time: 2:06 PM
  
• duration 10:10
• highest HR: 168 bpm
• Kcal: 121
• avg. HR: 146 bpm
• fan on level 6
  
• 27 SPM
• avg. 2:21.2 /500M

first shoulder heavies in a few

It's been since before the hospital that I lifted heavy shoulders, maybe 3 months. Shoulders are my new favorite muscle group to lift.
Warmed up w/ stretches & shoulder dislocations (which are rad, by the way).
Lifted some light chest to warm-up then went to shoulders.

• warm-up
  
• barbell flat bench press
• 2 x 12 @ 135 lbs
• went slow, big pause at the bottom
• dumbbell flys
  
• 2 x 12 @ 25 lbs
• went slow, paused/bounced a bit at the bottom. good burn
• behind-the-neck press
• warm-up
• 1 x 12 @ 45 lbs
• 1 x 5 @ 65
• 1 x 5 @ 85
• work sets
  
• 1 x 5 @105
• good. paused a little at the bottom
• 1 x 5 @ 115
• good, heavy. didn't go for last rep. got my lats involved.
  
• concentrate on: hold shoulders down and back, keep torso under the bar, and position elbows forward of the bar
• DB front raises
• warm-up
• 1 x 5 @ 10
• 1 x 5 @ 15
• work sets
• 1 x 5 @ 20
• good.
• 1 x 5 @ 25
• Arnold press
• 2 x 12 @ 35
• easy, good burn. rested short between sets.
  

Today was for heavy shoulders. I wanted to go for 'way pumped' but made myself stop early.
There was some popping, moving around, of my shoulders - focus on pulling shoulders down & back, flexing the lats.
I should maybe start recording my rest time between lifts.

glad I'm not a runner

May 2, 2008 - Went kinda hard today. Temps were cool so I could push my lungs and heart a little more.

• date: 5/2/2008
• start time: 3:49 PM
• highest HR: 186
• Kcal: 325
• duration: 19:15
• avg. HR: 165
  

running's OK

April 30, 2008 - I'm not totally sick of running yet. It seems to help my poor lil' lungs :(

• date: 4/30/2008
• start time: 2:18 PM
• highest HR: 181
• Kcal: 337
• duration: 19:57
• avg. HR: 165
  

started running again

April 29, 2008 - This is my second or third run since the hospital. I'm probably not going to the Olympics this year. Here's what my new heart rate monitor had to say about it:

• date: 4/29/2008
• start time: 3:49 PM
• highest HR: 181
• Kcal: 388
  
• duration: 22:24
• avg. HR: 165
  

first heavy day in a while

This was my first heavy lifting day in a while. I was aiming for sets in the 5 rep range on flat, close-grip and incline bench presses. Between my hospitalization for pneumonia and today, this was my first heavy day in at least three months. Most definitely today's session will shock my body to do some growing. As I'm not trying to gain weight, I'm planning to go heavy once a month, with other days dedicated to sets in the 10 to 12 rep range.

• barbell flat bench press
• warm up
• 1 x 12 @ 45 lbs
• 1 x 5 @ 135 lbs
• 1 x 5 @ 155 lbs
• 1 x 5 @ 175 lbs
• work sets
• 1 x 5 @ 185 lbs
• clean, picked up the pace a bit
• 1 x 5 @ 195 lbs
• sorta difficult, paused after 3rd rep
• tried snapping at the bottom (needs work)
• concentrate on exploding
• keep hips down
• Felt alright on flat bench. I can tell there's work for me to do to get back to heavy weights.
• close-grip bench press
• warm up
• 1 x 5 @ 155 lbs
• work sets
• 1 x 5 @ 175 lbs
• get rid of pause near the top
• 1 x 5 @ 185 lbs
• get rid of pause, keep hips down
• Felt good. 185 sounds heavy if flat bench is at 195 but I felt strong with this weight.
• incline barbell bench press
• work sets
• 1 x 5 @ 155 lbs
• 1 x 5 @ 165 lbs

I need to develop a scale by which I can quantify how I feel during a set, maybe multiple metrics. The focus of my notes on a specific session's lifts should be to guide subsequent sessions - today's lessons should guide me tomorrow, not depress me by dwelling on recent mistakes.

stronger

I'm back on the classic flat/close-grip/incline bench press routine. Two main sets of each Mondays, shoulders Tuesday and light bench Thursdays. I've been doing this for a couple weeks with amazing results. My strength is coming back fast. Today I put up 155 for a set of 10 on flat bench, 135 for 12 close-grip and 115 for 2 sets of 12 on incline. There were some other sets in there but those are the noteworthy ones. Training is an intuitive thing for me now so I mostly put on what I feel like. My weight is 166 today with 9% fat. All exercises are stronger: dips, skull-crushers, pull-ups, curls... This pace of improvement can't continue forever. If it does I will certainly be a strong dude. Also, I've been taking SuperPump 250 before workouts, Purple Wrath during, and Green Magnitude towards the end/after. They make a difference. Either I will get stronger or my heart will explode.

back in the game

It's been a while. It's been almost 6 months since I've written about the bench. Sorry, bench press. I have no excuse. Well, I have one excuse: my seventeen day vacation to Cottage Hospital. From October through January I was benching light, trying to keep my strength while losing weight for climbing. Then I got pneumonia in February, went to the hospital and lost way too much weight. Now I'm 156 lbs and not so strong. Yesterday was my fourth day benching since getting released from the hospital. Things are not the same. The pulmonologist in charge of my treatment has allowed me to lift light so I've been doing sets of 20 twice a week on the barbell flat bench, close-grip and incline, some behind-the-neck shoulder presses and skull crushers. I've been increasing intensity fairly quickly, adding about 20 lbs each session, resulting yesterday in a set of 18 reps at 115 lbs on flat bench. I was going for 20 but failed at 18 reps making this the first set at which I went to failure and the first day I felt healthy enough to do so. Possibly it could be time to decrease reps and start building up weight. Rehabilitation is an intuitive thing, I believe. I'll have to feel this one out slowly but I'm impressed with the pace of recovery so far.