Sunday, May 31, 2009

Sunday Morning

I passed on the Petaluma Swim Center this morning. There is long course on weekends till 1130. I went to Ridgway and swam easy.
500 choice
10x50 drill,
500 kick
500 ez
500 cruise@7:04
2500 yards

Saturday, May 30, 2009

Ridgway Saturday

I am so glad that I swim in Santa Rosa. There is a good group of adult swimmers that frequent the facilities inn Santa Rosa. The group this morning was small, but I really like the diversity and comraderie that comes with swimming with an impromptu gathering of swimming enthusiasts. I started swimming and there was Deb, Michael, and Todd Wilson, then Sarah J. and Paco C. joined in and we began. Then Morales joined us, for 500 yards. Paco swam for a short time too. John is swimming at Del Valle tomorrow, Paco is a cardiac case. The workout was like this.
Warm up250, most backstroke
6x100 lock
4x100 kick/swim
8x50 stroke 60 sec

4 times
3x75 back/breast/free on 1:30
2x50 ez
100ez
2800 yards

Friday, May 29, 2009

EZ Cruising

I dove into Finley this morning, it felt great, no adverse effects. I remember the last time I dove into Finley, it hurt. I was going to tell the p/therapist I was going to swim, but I did not. We have a routine now, it is woos, but necessary. I have not tweaked or jammed my arm for a few days. We will just let the medical community judge my malady, whether it be an acute problem or a problem brought on by use.

I swam 100 laps yesterday. It took about 40 minutes
2500 yards

Today
1000 choice
500 kick, on back with fins
1000 free, cruise good symmetrical front end
2500 yards

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

No Swim Day

I could barely get motivated in the morning, I passed on Finley and went to P/T at 0800. I have some soreness from the fall from the bike on Monday, but other than that, ok. I finally went to Ridgway and just swam. EZ,
2000 yards straight
250 kick with fins
10x25 kick with board, dolphin/free
done
I think that I can take a day off. 7 days in a row.
Oh yeah, I went to the Y before P/T. I rowed for 10 minutes, and the shoulder started to get sore the farther I would pull back. I did some pulling drills too, with no ill effect.

Monday, May 25, 2009

EZ Memorial Day Holiday Routine

That is right, and it is a nice way to swim once in a while, just relax, not too hard, just having a nice day. The sun was out, the pool was not crowded, I had a lane to myself, and I just swam.
500 swim
1000 kick/fins, 10
16x50 mostly 1 arm alternating flylaps breast kick
6x25 breast kick on back
10x25 sprint back on60
500 swim bilateral breathing
3250 yards ez

Men 100 Yards Butterfly (prelim 6) | 2008 USMS Short Course Nationals | Swimming Race Videos on Floswimming

Men 100 Yards Butterfly (prelim 6) | 2008 USMS Short Course Nationals | Swimming Race Videos on Floswimming
This is Erik Sterne(me) swimming the 100 fly at the 2008 USMS Nationals in Austin Texas at the Texas Swim Center.

Watch how long I take at the 75 turn, I could have set up a campsite I took so long.


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Sunday, May 24, 2009

Close to Good

I was looking forward to the swim effort this morning. Arriving at Ridgway early. I had a nice warm up of 750 before the group began. Mike C. had something in mind that had a bunch of 200's included.
3x200 kick/w fins
3x200 kick/swim swim 50's
50ez
2 times
2x200 free/pull
4x25 fly

2 times
2x200 back/IM
4x25 fly

There was a bit of pain during some fly strokes, at this time, about 4 hours later, there is a bit of crepitus.
3750yards

Saturday, May 23, 2009

This is Good

My shoulder started the day a bit sore at the injection site and the outer deltoid area. I went to Ridgway this morning to test the shoulder and it seems to have passed the test. I did some butterfly with no ill effects, other than being a bit out of shape for the stroke. I swam fairly hard with the workout group that was there this morning. The workout was put on the board by Jan, and I think the new swimmer, I am not sure of his name but it might be Alfonzo or Alberto, came up with it. It was a good workout, with some sprint work. As best that I can recollect, this is the workout that I did, which is somewhat modified.
6x50 choice
6x150 choice

3 times
100 sprint/50ez
2x50/50ez
4x25/50ez
I worked in some fly during this set

quick set on 40 seconds
8x50 hypoxic
about 3400 yards, back to it

Note: I do feel a bit of irritation in the typical area of the clavicle. I am to keep an eye on this.

Friday Workout

News from the shoulder side of things. My appointment with the shoulder doc, Dr. Eric Schmidt, was Friday, moved up from June 8. I brought him the CD of the MRI as well as the preliminary findings from the radiologist. He took a couple of quick images of my shoulder with his own device, is that a ct scan or xray machine in the exam room. He then explained to me what he sees as the problem, and it has very little to do with the findings on the MRI. I received a cortisone injection at the office, with the understanding that if the problem does not go away by the next time I see him, in three weeks, we will approach plan B, which will be arthroscopic surgery.

I also went to PT after I swam at Finley. I swam without any problem, even if I did swim easy for 2000 yards. I then put the fins on and kicked for another 500 yards. I am going to Ridgway this morning to swim with the gang. I am testing my shoulder today. It still feels like there is a twinge, but I have not done anything to really stress the shoulder, yet.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Finley in the Morning

I arrived in the pool a bit after 0700, and did a dumb lap swimmer trick. First thing, I dove in and immediately felt the familiar soreness in the right shoulder, ouch. It only took about 100 yards to swim it off. Once I did that, I had a fair swim of 2000 yards, at about 50% effort, watching my form, hand and arm placement and trying to swim symmetrical. The right hand has a much better 'wave', searching for still water to hold. It was a very encouraging day at the pool. I did 500 yards of assorted kicking, with and without fins, with and without a board. I look forward to swimming tomorrow, before pt.

I have finished posting all the floswimming videos of Santa Rosa Masters swims. See the blog and your favorite Santa Rosa Masters swimmers at the USMS Nationals at Clovis.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

I Went Swimming

But first I went to Spine and Sport, the physical therapy outfit. I had an 0800, and we went over the problem. I showed up with the preliminary MRI findings, and told Pat that I am going to see the shoulder doc. I got a call from the worker comp adjuster, Elena, and she told me that she has approved the referral to Doctor Eric Schmidt and that she was going to call his office and tell them. I hope to hear from them soon.

Yeah, I got back in the pool today. I swam an easy 1000, then kicked on my back with fins for 500. Then another 250 swim, and then I did a little test on the wing. I tried some easy wind sprints,25 frees on 30, progressing to 16 at #8 then,on my easy lap back to the other side, I felt it, the pinch in the clavicle region, yeah that one. I did about 250 breast easy then got out.

I shall try the same routine tomorrow in the early morning, at 0600 at Finley. I am a bit out of shape. 9 full days out of the pool, away from the gym, no walking, or other aerobic exercise either.

The last I heard, the Blueseventy nero swimskin was not given the approval for competition. FINA came out with the list of approved swimskins, and out of over 200 suits submitted for rating, only about 10 or so did not meet the standards that the governing body of swimming has recently adopted. We are all anticipating the backlash and disappointment that this ruling will cause.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

MRI

This is not good news. I have messed up my right shoulder with a SLAP tear and some other tears, tendonopathys, bursitis, and cysts. What a mess. Anyway it sounds like a mess. Especially the SLAP tear.

Monday, May 18, 2009

Check In

I am checking in to let us know that I am still here. I have decided to take the extra day or two away from the pool until I have had the MRI and we have evaluated it. The MRI is scheduled for 0645 and the appointment with the doctor is at 1130 tomorrow, Tuesday. Not much else.

I did see the NCS meet at Concord last Saturday. I was standing next to Coach Teri MxKeever and I introduced myself as a Santa Rosa Masters. She small talked with me about the Santa Rosa swimmers she was interested in watching swimming, including Molly and Maya. She did not mention Sophia. All three of them had a really great meet. See the results section for a link.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

More Highlights From Clovis

These were some of the more important swims of the meet. I especially like heat 13 of ladies 100 IM, Hermine in Lane 1 and DeaAnn in Lane 3. These wonderful swimmers are my coaches and friends, DeaAnn is the coach of the workout group at PHS, the group that I have been swimming with since January. She has also been a friend for over 20 years. Hermine in Lane 1 is the coach of the team that I am affiliated with, Santa Rosa Masters(Flower Power), yeah. She is also a close friend, and Cassandra is my girlfriend. I look forward to posting many more of the floswimming highlights of teammates, friends, and champions.

Women 50 Yards Freestyle (final 16) | 2009 USMS Short Course Nationals on Floswimming

Women 50 Yards Freestyle (final 16) | 2009 USMS Short Course Nationals on Floswimming

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Hermine swimming an outstanding 26.60 seconds, obliterating any old pr.

Women 50 Yards Freestyle (final 20) | 2009 USMS Short Course Nationals on Floswimming

Women 50 Yards Freestyle (final 20) | 2009 USMS Short Course Nationals on Floswimming

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This is Cassandra swimming a prl in 50 free.

Women 50 Yards Freestyle (final 17) | 2009 USMS Short Course Nationals on Floswimming

Women 50 Yards Freestyle (final 17) | 2009 USMS Short Course Nationals on Floswimming
DeaAnn Joslin
Lane 7, w/o technical suit

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Women 50 Yards Freestyle (final 11) | 2009 USMS Short Course Nationals on Floswimming

Women 50 Yards Freestyle (final 11) | 2009 USMS Short Course Nationals on Floswimming

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Deborah Swain swam for Sherm Chavoor in the 1960's. She recently found the masters swim program in Santa Rosa. She is one of my favorites..

Women 100 Yards Freestyle (final 15) | 2009 USMS Short Course Nationals on Floswimming

Women 100 Yards Freestyle (final 15) | 2009 USMS Short Course Nationals on Floswimming
Cassandra
Lane 2


Women 100 Yards Freestyle (final 12) | 2009 USMS Short Course Nationals on Floswimming

Women 100 Yards Freestyle (final 12) | 2009 USMS Short Course Nationals on Floswimming
Hermine, Lane 3
Leslie, Lane 8


Women 100 Yards Medley (final 13) | 2009 USMS Short Course Nationals on Floswimming

Women 100 Yards Medley (final 13) | 2009 USMS Short Course Nationals on Floswimming

This heat has DeaAnn in Lane 3 and Hermine in Lane 1. This is the championship heat. Hermine scratched this event due to whatever, she had ice on her lower back earlier in the day. She later had a great 100 free today.

Women 50 Yards Breaststroke (final 10) | 2009 USMS Short Course Nationals on Floswimming

Women 50 Yards Breaststroke (final 10) | 2009 USMS Short Course Nationals on Floswimming

DeaAnn winning national championship, by .02, I think that is about two fingernails length.


Floswimming at USMS Clovis Meet

Floswimming did an excellent job at the meet. I believe they got everyone in each and every heat/event. Thanks to Floswimming for their outstanding job. There is a direct link to floswimming USMS Nationals page in the results section.

Men 200 Yards Freestyle (final 11) | 2009 USMS Short Course Nationals on Floswimming

Men 200 Yards Freestyle (final 11) | 2009 USMS Short Course Nationals on Floswimming

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Men 50 Yards Butterfly (final 10) | 2009 USMS Short Course Nationals on Floswimming

Men 50 Yards Butterfly (final 10) | 2009 USMS Short Course Nationals on Floswimming

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Men 50 Yards Freestyle (final 16) | 2009 USMS Short Course Nationals on Floswimming

Men 50 Yards Freestyle (final 16) | 2009 USMS Short Course Nationals on Floswimming

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Men 100 Yards Freestyle (final 13) | 2009 USMS Short Course Nationals on Floswimming

Men 100 Yards Freestyle (final 13) | 2009 USMS Short Course Nationals on Floswimming

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Men 50 Yards Breaststroke (final 10) | 2009 USMS Short Course Nationals on Floswimming

Men 50 Yards Breaststroke (final 10) | 2009 USMS Short Course Nationals on Floswimming

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Monday, May 11, 2009

Update From Synergy

I visited Dr Gary Nichols this afternoon. He is going to order an MRI stat. I should have it this week and I am scheduled for a follow up visit next Tuesday. I hope nothing is found on the MRI, although if there is a problem that does show on the scan, we will go from there. Until then, I will be taking a full week off away from the pool. I think that rest will be the biggest factor in my recovery. I look forward to swimming again on next Monday. I guess that I am still a bit pumped from the weekend at Clovis North. Every community should have as nice of a facility as Clovis North Aquatics Complex. Great meet, perfect weather and swimming conditions. Lots of places to eat. Not many sights, but I think the main draw is swimming, not touring. It may have been a bit out of the way for the Easterners, but I think connections and stuff made it easy enough. Look at the results on the USMS website.

Post for the Post Nationals Blues

Whew, what a weekend. We missed a bunch of the folks from the East, I still think that a bunch of them went to the Y meet in Ft. Lauderdale in April. It was a real good meet anyway. I am really tired, fatigued in a way, spent emotionally, but not really. I really did not have that emotional experience this season. I think that I can attribute my under performance to a sub par season and of course the dramatic setback that occured on April 29, pulling the dummy along the floor and through the wall that we had breached. It didn't take much. I really backed off during the taper. I could not really give any %100 efforts during taper. I was tentative with any butterfly that I did swim, and from the first stroke of the first event of the meet, I knew that I was injured. I did scratch myself from the 100 fly on Saturday, hoping to salvage the rest of the meet, which I did. I swam my 50 and 100 free in the old style fastskin, and when I measured the suit next to the b70, I looks like the b70 is about a full inch wider at the leg opening.

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

I Shall Be Back

The Nationals are this weekend! How does it look? Did I do it right. My shoulder is questionable I will be taking an arsenal of preparations with me, and I will try not to stress out. Who knows, maybe I will find access to update on the weekend. I put the butterfly under a short stress test, but where I really fail is doing something as subconscious as a sudden movement or perhaps coughing or sneezing vigorously.
500 free warm up
300 kick with board, breast
about 30 minutes of test swimming

Events and Estimated Time
Friday
50 fly, 9:35
200 free, 10:20
200 Free Relay, 3:20
Saturday
50 free 10:55
100 fly, 3:10
200 medley relay, 4:00
Sunday
50 breast, 9:45
100 free, 12:50
200 mixed free relay, 2:55

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Regular Rest Day

Today is a regular rest day as I am at work on the second day of a two shift set. I schedule this second day of a work set as a rest day throughout the season. I injured the clavicle on last Wednesday, but it felt really good on Thursday until the last 25 free sprint when I really tweaked it. Friday at PHS was not bad. I swam the regular workout, even though the last sprints were only at 75%. Saturday I swam with the team at Ridgway and we only did about 1700 yards, although I did a 100 freestyle time trial at 90%. Sunday was another easy day, I did mostly kicking and wall work, turns and breakouts. I swam about 2000 yards Monday and did a few laps of butterfly, although only at a moderate pace. I was only seeing if the shoulder was going to be functional for fly on Friday. The shoulder seems to be healing and this morning it is good. I am looking forward to swimming tomorrow.

Monday, May 4, 2009

Monday Morning at PHS

I have been looking forward to today since yesterday. I can swim easy butterfly, with a bit of discomfort, but I think that with no swimming for 48 hours and if I do not have to do any dumb fireman tricks, I will be okay. I really felt the legs after the swim yesterday at Finley. I think it was all the treading water and kicking, but I feel okay today, although a bit tired.
400 swim choice, some easy fly
8x50 odds scull, even scull/swim
about 1000 free various pace, distances, some speed work, but not too hard
10x25 fly easy, just working the arm motion
5xstarts from block
about 2000 yards

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Safely Exercised

I went to Finley, I just could not stay away from the pool. I wore the b70, no problem and does it help with dps.
It went like this, very cautious, only a few strokes of 1 arm
500 easy swim
500 kick with fins
10x25 kick with board dolphin/flutteer
10x25 breast turns, tread water in middle of pool for start 1 min
10x35 free turns, tread water in middle of pool for start 1:30
1750 yards plus treading

Staying on Track

I need to take a sick day from swimming due to the impingement of the right corocoid process of the clavicle. I am still debating whether to go to Ridgway to do a quick kick set and acclimate to my b70, which I can not return, but will be able to get a $160 credit when the new generation of suits are deemed acceptable to wear. Is this a responsible gesture on the part of the Blueseventy? Have they had a feeling that adverse actions might be implemented in the next round of the technical competition swimsuit issues? It is an issue with all swimmers.
There are several questions that I need to ask myself and the swimming community.
Do I stay true to the pureness of the sport?
Will I be left behind at the blocks?
Am I compromising my ethical stance on the use of devices and equipment in swimming competition?
Does compression swim wear act as a prosthetic device?
It offers older swimmers much needed support in their lower back, hips, knees and other regions of their body, reducing pain and improving flexibility.
Perhaps this observation of the compression effect that all the technical suits offer is indeed to be tolerated in masters competition. The main controversy in my opinion is the buoyancy factors in the fabric/materials used in the manufacturing.

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Ridgway with the National Team

I iced the shoulder about 4 times yesterday after I swam. It felt a bit better this morning when I woke up, I still can not tolerate the full butterfly, I concentrated on Breaststroke today at practice with John, Warren, Paco, Dave, Leslie, Lesley, Michael, Mike C, Hermine, Deb, and Sarah and Don and Tim.
500 warm up choice
3x100 kick
3x100 kick/swim
3x100 choice on 1:45
8x25 on 40 choice
100 free time trial @ 80% 1:03
100 warm down
3xstart off block
5x breaststroke turn pull downs
200 misc ez
2000?

Friday, May 1, 2009

PHS

I was in the water shortly after 0515 and I swam the workout okay. I doctored up with 200mg of celebrex and I felt okay. I took it one stroke at a time and stayed away from butterfly, although I could do breaststroke and that was the stroke that I worked for stroke work. I did some one arm fly during the warm up and with breaststroke with dolphin kick.
500 warm up choice
15 minutes of treading water
75 swim
6x100, skds(swim, kick, drill, swim)
12x75, 3 sets of 4 reps, free, IM, stroke
1. slow, slow, slow
2. fast, slow, slow
3. fast, fast, slow
4. fast, fast, fast
12x25 sprints, slow, slow, fast
2300 yards + 15 minutes treading