2007-04-01
Fast Twitch -- Start of Week 4
I'm back from the Arizona Masters state championships, and what a weekend.
This meet marked the end of stage one of my training for nationals, and I went to the meet extremely tired and sluggish. In fact, diving in for warmup Saturday morning, I thought I was going to fall asleep. Part of that had to do with the fact that I had to get up at 6:30 a.m.!
Here are the results from my Saturday swims:
50 fly: 24.41
200 back: 1:57.45
100 breast: 57.45
50 back: 25.37
I did the first three events back-to-back-to-back, and was surprised that I swam so well in the 100 breast (close to an in-season best). I had hoped to go 1:55 in the 200 back to get the top time in my age group, but grazing the lane ropes tends to throw things off. I also whacked my hand on the lane rope in the 50 back, which was actually good news because if I had swum straight, I would have probably gone under 25 seconds for the first time in-season.
Sunday:
100 IM: 52.86
100 free: 49.77
100 back: 53.08
50 free: 22.77 (10.9 timed at the 25)
Three out of four ain't bad. I need a lot of work on racing the 100 free. My goal for nationals is to go 47 seconds, and to do that, I need to be fast on the first 50. I had trouble getting my body into the race, which might have had a little to do with the 100 IM before it. But the biggest triumph of the day was that I swam a straight 100 back! I could have gone 59, and I would have been happy that at least I stayed in the middle of the lane.
My thoughts on the meet: Why did I swim so well? A lot of it had to do with the kick sets I did in the last three weeks. Of all the new things I worked on, adding the kick sets was the biggest addition.
Now, my shoulders are sore. Tomorrow's workout -- the start of week four -- will be mostly recovery. What I will work on in the next three weeks leading up to my next meet in northern California is the start of my races. It'll involve lots of starts and test sets from a dive, if I can find a coach to time me.
This meet marked the end of stage one of my training for nationals, and I went to the meet extremely tired and sluggish. In fact, diving in for warmup Saturday morning, I thought I was going to fall asleep. Part of that had to do with the fact that I had to get up at 6:30 a.m.!
Here are the results from my Saturday swims:
50 fly: 24.41
200 back: 1:57.45
100 breast: 57.45
50 back: 25.37
I did the first three events back-to-back-to-back, and was surprised that I swam so well in the 100 breast (close to an in-season best). I had hoped to go 1:55 in the 200 back to get the top time in my age group, but grazing the lane ropes tends to throw things off. I also whacked my hand on the lane rope in the 50 back, which was actually good news because if I had swum straight, I would have probably gone under 25 seconds for the first time in-season.
Sunday:
100 IM: 52.86
100 free: 49.77
100 back: 53.08
50 free: 22.77 (10.9 timed at the 25)
Three out of four ain't bad. I need a lot of work on racing the 100 free. My goal for nationals is to go 47 seconds, and to do that, I need to be fast on the first 50. I had trouble getting my body into the race, which might have had a little to do with the 100 IM before it. But the biggest triumph of the day was that I swam a straight 100 back! I could have gone 59, and I would have been happy that at least I stayed in the middle of the lane.
My thoughts on the meet: Why did I swim so well? A lot of it had to do with the kick sets I did in the last three weeks. Of all the new things I worked on, adding the kick sets was the biggest addition.
Now, my shoulders are sore. Tomorrow's workout -- the start of week four -- will be mostly recovery. What I will work on in the next three weeks leading up to my next meet in northern California is the start of my races. It'll involve lots of starts and test sets from a dive, if I can find a coach to time me.
