SBR "U" (Page 85)

I can knock out some solid kick sets with a kickboard, but I agree that the timing of my kick when swimming is off / weird.  I was actually surprised at how much I kick, as I don't feel like I kick much when I'm actually swimming.

I would be curious to see how a pull buoy affects where I ride in the water.  I am slower when I have a pull buoy (with or without paddles) than I am when I'm simply swimming.  I never thought I got a lot of benefit from wearing a wetsuit, but I might.  I do know that others tend to get a bigger benefit from a pull buoy or a wetsuit than I do.  For example: there was a guy who was a solid 1:55/100m swimmer without a wetsuit who wore it for his warm-up in the pool one day just to make sure it fit....and instantly was swimming right about a 1:40/100m pace -- he'd see solid gains with just a pull buoy as well, whereas I get slower with a pull buoy.  Also, I've noticed that people I'm consistently faster than in the pool can be nearly as fast as me when we both OWS in wetsuits, so I assume they're getting a solid benefit and I'm not seeing as much (this assumes we both swim similar lines, which I know can be a bad assumption...).

Thanks for the feedback, guys.  I'm going to share it with my masters coaches and see if they have any additional comments or any tips that will help me work on them.

Had a thought about the wetsuit possibly affecting your kick as well. The PB might be less propulsion, but also affect the timing in your rotation some. One of the guys at masters had a horrible time in pull sets as his stroke seemed kick dependent. He was an average kicker for the lane, but always slowed notably in pull sets. I don't know how to check, but wondered if the float of the wetsuit was triggering something similar for you.

I am definitely faster in the wetsuit versus not being in a wetsuit, but I don't gain as much of an advantage as some others do (maybe I can gain a few seconds per 100m, but certainly nowhere near 15s per 100m!). 

Pulling without paddles, I am definitely slower (at least 5s/100m); pulling with paddles, I'm about equal or maybe a little slower than just swimming.  I do think it has some to do with the lack of kick affecting my rotation and stability.

Nicole, curious if you've had much of any work where the emphasis of the main set was going blazing fast in shorter intervals? Not something with 8 x 25 alternating fast/ez as that's more like strides at the end of a run workout. I can't remember entire sets, but have had bunches of 75s, like so:

3 rounds of:

3 x 75

1. 1:05  2. 1:00 3. 0:55

Or broken pyramid sets. I forget how big, but was something like:

1 x 75!     1 x 50 ez

2 x 75!     1 x 50 ez

3 x 75!     1 x 50 ez

4 x 75!     1 x 50 ez

3 x 75!     1 x 50 ez

2 x 75!     1 x 50 ez

1 x 75!     1 x 50 ez

These were almost touch and go at a very fast pace. Think I was on 1:00 for it, maybe :55? Caused some serious hurt. The second half of this workout was repeating this with 50's in place of 75's, adjusting the leave (this half was actually worse).

A couple Bo sets are:

3 x (20 x 25) in on ~:18-:19, leaving :25 or :30.

Or similar style with 50 x 50.

Bo used :25 as he's in on like :15. I used :25 since I was :16-17, but on scy, I think you're scm.

I don't know for sure, and would ask someone who would. With all the 100's to 200's in the sets over the past few months, I wonder if you need to get in more faster swimming more regularly for a period of time.

Here's my race report from the National Championships over the weekend. Most fun and best learning experience of all the races I have done. 

My latest achievement is finally being able to sleep in my own bed with relatively little pain, after nearly five weeks

Oh, and figured out how to get the road bike with recessed dropouts on the trainer without ruining the frame.....Soon

Found the coolest race pic of me ever.  Turns out this guy was a bit of a bandit photographer, but I'll be happy to pay for this one.

http://martin-imaging.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/m2Imaging-Gravenhurst-2015-1430778.jpg

New avatar/profile picture right there.

I don't really get much say in what we do, since I'm part of a masters swim group.  In the past, we haven't done much in the way of speed work.  Every once in a while, one of the coaches will get on a speed work kick, but that only lasts a short period before we go back to doing 100's, 200's, 300's, etc. 

But here's the thing, if I'm "topped out" in terms of ability and making gains, I don't want to do something that I don't enjoy....and I don't enjoy speed work or stroke work.  If I were really convinced that doing those kinds of things would result in improvement, I would be willing to give it a shot.  But I do have some concerns that if I take the enjoyment out of it AND don't improve, I'll get frustrated and potentially go in the wrong direction (i.e. get worse).

Nicole, to answer your question in my RR, I ran to several of the breweries. Some are further out and I drove to those. I highly recommend downloading the app.

You have to complete 10 to get a free pint glass or you can go for 16 (which is all of them) for a pint glass and a bottle opener. The pint glasses are cool because there are made of silicone. 

What else are you doing in Oregon and where will you be? I have a ton of recommendations. Hot springs, hikes, bike rides etc. 

Awesome news!  

Wow, that's a great shot!  Someone that knows the kind of pic that people will pay for.

That's a very good shot!

Yeah, can make it tough if masters is the only place you can swim. They make the schedule. I think we had some more of that over the winter. Summer tends to be a bit longer sets. Coach reasoned it was more open water season. The first year the club hosted the state meet there was the fast work a few more times from Jan-March, and I think it showed. It's really intense while doing it, but also has that fast and smooth concept we've discussed here in running.

A good friend of mine is getting married in Silverton, OR on September 5th.  I fly in the day before, will be going to the rehearsal dinner that night, wedding the following night, and then have Sunday, Monday, and part of Tuesday to play.  My brother lives in Seattle and will be driving down to meet me (we were originally thinking Portland, but Bend might be a fun excursion).  I grew up in the PNW, so the area is not new to me, but I wasn't of drinking age, nor was I into endurance sports.  I won't be bringing my bike, but certainly up for some running!  Feel free to make suggestions

Well, both places have excellent beer and excellent running (PDX and Bend.) Bend is pretty out of the way, for both of you but I certainly wouldn't dissuade anyone from making the trip! Just let me know which place you decide and I can give you lots of running and beer ideas. 

Starting to get my legs back under me on the bike.  I went through a 4-5 week rough patch where I thought I just needed more rest, but it was actually the opposite.  I was losing fitness because I wasn't riding hard enough.  My performance management chart had me close to a season low in terms of fitness.  Sure, maybe one of those weeks I actually did need rest, but the others were just making excuses.  Made more of an effort to join some group rides that would push myself and sure enough I can start to see the fitness coming back.

Road race this weekend which I'm probably not ready for, but will do it anyway.  12 lap circuit of 3 miles each, with about 200 feet of climbing each lap.  One short but steep climb were most of the action will take place.  I've had success at this race before, but I've also usually been a lot more fit at this time of the year.  Hoping though that maybe I can continue to build and peak at the end of the month which is the last road race of the season.  Normally by the end of August I'm kind of in the "I'm done" mode so maybe this will work out better for that race.