Late To Row

Feeling energetic this morning, I was off and riding to the pool. I dressed for an erg, upon arriving I noticed some crossfit people, then the leader. O my, I forgot about the delayed start this morning. I did not have any time to erg before the crossfit class started. I got on the erg for 4 minutes...
then I went to the short course pool and did IM training.
I actually did some breast, being careful. I must use extreme caution when swimming the breast stroke. I did not keep track of yards, time or distance this morning. Butterfly is coming nice.

Untitled?

There we are, I am back to regular appetite. My stomach took a few days off, psychosomatic illness or stomach illness, probably the latter. I stayed in the water and continued towards the new year on the C2 ergometer and I stayed steady on the old bike. speaking of old...

I have let the crossfit trainers that I will be regular at the C2 so I can go to San Diego January 28.

I spoke with the masters coach and told him that I am planning on joining a workout group in January. He is the 2011 USMS coach of the year. I am sure it will be helpful for me.

Today I rowed 30 minutes.
Last 10 minutes were 1 minute intervals, steady around 250 meters, 1 minute rest.
Swim 1500m
1000m free
200m back
300m fly training

Yesterday I was totally exhausted from riding to and from swim workout. In addition, I rode to Chinatown in the afternoon, and flatted..
Swim 1000m free
last 30 minutes freestyle training, leading to
many 50 frees
several Texas 25+

Thanks for swimming

Wait Here

New Year/season on the horizon. I am approaching the process of setting some goals and objectives. Some objectives include rowing more, obtaining more power to transfer to swimming, and swimming pain free. Goals will come soon, I do not have much to say yet as I am considering rowing CRASH-B Sprints in January/February.
YES. Goal #1 Swim USMS 1 Hour Postal Personal Record.
Goal #2 Swim 4000 yards in 1 Hour Postal

New Action Plan

I am going to approach the next stage in the life of a masters swimmer. As I have swam well this fall season, I concentrated on the distance freestyle. My distance freestyle swimming has now approached previous times I swam 3-5 years ago.

I tested well the last weekend in Long Beach. In previous weekend meets, I may have attempted one of the middle distance events, either the 1000 or the 800. I swam the 3 distance freestyle events.

I swam 1500 meters on Friday, and I swam the 100 free for fun later that afternoon. I came back on Saturday and swam a fairly good 400 meters free, as well as testing a 50 fly and 50 free.

I had been looking towards the 800 meters free on Sunday. I wish it would have been on Friday. I probably would not have placed as well as I did on Sunday(1) but I am wondering haw much faster I may have swam fresh. I even split, by .25 seconds, and even though I was pretty tired, as the 800 was my final event.

SPMA Regional Round Up

I would like to thank everyone involved in organizing and running the SPMA short course meters regional meet in Long Beach this weekend. This is a special meet for many masters swimmers including many from other LMSC's from across the nation.

I apparently stopped keeping close records of my training for the two weeks prior to this particular meet. During that break in logging training records, I had a very nice Thanksgiving in North California. Leading up to the 2 day rest of Thursday/Friday was normal, and the following week of taper/?ing/less training, actually went well leading to the meet. Last day of swimming was, of course, Wednesday, Tuesday, Monday, Sunday was the last erg and I swam at SCFY on Saturday.

See results for meet here.

Connect the Dots

November 14th, I did row.
15 minutes, over 3K
Swim too!
1000 easy yards
10 soft no breathers
2x 25breathe/25no breather

Tuesday, today 11/15
Ride to pool, sore ache from hip.

Swim 2500meters
42 minutes

Ride home for pr, 20 minutes

Where Are The ERGS

What, where are they hiding the Concept2 ergometers? I was ready to erg this morning before I swam, but NOOO, who hid, stole, or otherwise took the rowing machines from their spot? No erg, no good.

Swim hard.

I felt ill a couple times, as I did yesterday. Hard work, self coached.
I can feel improvement.

500 free
100 back
400 fly drills
10x50 fly, no times
100 free
8x Texas 25s, and more. good drills.

Ride to River

Swim
700 meters
300 meter swim 4:48
2x500 meter broken 50 @50sec and 5sec
200 meter warm down

I had to get out, I was getting grossed out by the filthiness of the pool. I hope they clean it soon.

I hope to not get grossed out too much this morning.

Ride to RBAC
Row
Swim?

Gosh, This Is Just A Workout Log

I know that,,
Where were you at 1111 on November 11, 2011? Numerologists would look at it thus, 11.11.11. I was in Pasadena having a cup of coffee, after I went to the Veterans Day Ceremonies in Memorial Park in Pasadena.. I rode the bike there. I swam earlier in the morning.

Swim at 0700

500 yards free

500 meters free lc

100 back
4x100m free 1:30 on 45 descending
10x50m 40s on 50
last 4 extra rest
100 warm down

I am curious as how I trained several years ago. Oh boy, I can look at my weblog. Blog.

Keeping Track

Yesterday was Tuesday. It was the 4th straight day of swimming.

Ride to Rose Bowl Aquatic Center, it was chilly.

Swim
2k good pace, 100 backstroke in middle
100 back
100 breast
200 fly
2x 50 fly/free

Ride home.

I am deciding if I should swim 5 days in a row.
I want to row.

Cool and Crisp

The ride to the pool was lovely.
500 meter free
100 back
4x100 free on 1:45
100 back
100 breast
200 fly drill
6x50 fly/free
100 warm down
looks like 1800 meters but was in the water 45 minutes

Nice ride home too.

Injury Caused By 5 LB Dumbbells

I am pretty sure that I isolated the shoulder incident of the past week, causing a dramatic cutback in the exercise load for the last three days. Included are 2 straight off days, complete rest.
November 6, today was back to normal.
Swim 2000 meters long course
Swim 500 yards easy play
I found 3 lb dumbbells after I used the 5 pounders. I did short sets with the 5 pound weights, then I felt much better using the 3's. The cable machine is too heavy to do rotator exercises. This is how I found out that the injury/strain was caused by too much weight for rotator movements.

November 5
Swim 2000 yards, only

Movember 4, off

November 3, off

November 2,
row 20 minutes
swim 1000 meters, pain in left deltoid, mid head

November 1, Tuesday, unknown

October 31, Monday,
warm tub
1000 yards

Halloween DOMS

Happy Halloween and I am full of DOMS, or it could be just the last part of the acronym, muscle soreness. I rode the bike to the Rose Bowl Game on Saturday. I waited until I was riding home to find that the batteries for the front light were dead. There were some very dark spots along the route home. I swam in the morning.
2500 yards,
free, including 5x 100
fly, including drill building to slow 200
2x broken 200 at 45

Sunday

Ride to row

6K 28:55

Swim 1K

Ride home

Ride to 6229 Beard St, twice

Hilly terrain, this is Highland Park, and riding an elevation gain, although slight, contributes to a higher level of energy.

Elevation estimate of Hermon/home is 500ft.
Rose Bowl Aquatic Center elevation is 781 feet.

Ease into Training

Although my base level of fitness is very high, I am now focusing on the objective of decreasing my distance freestyle time. Here we go.

Sunday 10/23
800 SC Meters UCLA Masters
12:05
Very happy

Monday 10/24
Row, easy swim

Tuesday 10/25
500m warm up
5x100m on 2 min
close to 1:30+
10x50 descend, mixed free
last@38

Wednesday
500m warm up
5x100m on`1:45 2 times
2x200m broken
warm down

Thursday
bike ride to Los Feliz to Colorado Blvd to home 2.5 hours
ergometer 20 minutes,

That is a rest day???

Article in LA Times today about a rower being recruited here in Socal.

Swim Meet!

No big deal, but it was kind of fun. I went to the UCLA SCM Masters Swim Meet today. It was a ery good time. It was well organized, UCLA Spieker Aquatic Center/Dirks Pool is a very nice facility. It has a very nice diving complex and the pool is very clean. the locker room is a very nice.
Theere was the swim equipment vendor and a food truck, Don Taco. they serve a Chinese/Mexican fusion type of cuisine. That was it for the chow.

It looked like there were about 150 swimmers entered. Ask an official, but I am fairly accurate. What time is it? I was 10 minutes off, or late at 1230. I was finished my events by 2:30 PM. Not bad, but I did scratch an event. It was necessary to do so, as it was 100 meter SC butterfly.

I did swim a very good 800 meter free. I surprised myself with a 12:05. No counter, but I did find a swimmer to pace with, she was in a middle lane. I like swimming mixed, men and women.

I will post images of the event.

Lucky Boy Burgers

Boy, I was NOT hungry after I ate a cheeseburger at Lucky Boy Burger, on Arroyo Seco Parkway in Pasadena. Wow, what a good hamburger. It was very big, with lots of fresh lettuce and tomatoes, and several pickles. The bun was very large, fresh and tasty. The beef patty was tasty too. I ate the whole hamburger and liked it very much..and I will go have another one soon. They have a pastrami burger too, and the burrito looked huge. It is said that they make a remarkable burrito.

My legs are whipped. I have been riding the bike. I rode to swim session and also rode to Occidental College to return my job application/resume. 10+miles rt. 10+miles to oxy.edu and looking at neighborhoods

Row 6K

Row 6K, that is a nice even erg. 3X 2K, as it is and can be broken into the various segments.

I was not sure of the idea of a 6K, or about 30 minutes on the Concept2, until I arrived at the Center. I felt good. Last erg was 7 days ago, I am thinking of the indoor rowing season. I will look to see if there are any on the schedule. There may be one nearby.

27:16 6K

I could not stay off the bike either. Only about 7 miles, maybe 5.. How far is it to Fair Oaks and Monterey? 2.5 miles plus San Pascual to see open house on Crescent Ave.

Toni Vega, the real estate agent, should call tomorrow around 1130.

The San Pascual Ave area is neat, I like it. Garvanza. It is a tip of LA near the borders of Pasadena and South Pasadena in the Arroyo Seco.

Rusty, Not Red

There was some soreness in either triceps as it took some swimming to get right. About 500 meters.
Ride to RBAC
Swim 2K
Ride home

Yesterday was a no swim day. I did ride the bike in the morning.

Ride 2+hours, 15 miles.

I rode a circumnavigation of the Mt. Washington area, starting here in Hermon and riding to Occidental College, touring the campus and checking in with HR and Athletic Facility.
Ride to Colorado Blvd for coffee at Sworks, and then to Glassell Park. Looked at neighborhood between ERB and FWY2. Eagle rock Blvd to Cypress Ave to Figueroa and home.

I tried to go to the Central Library in the afternoon, but I was too tired and forgot which way to go. I had dinner at Phillipe.

Done Did It

I like this place. I like to sleep well. No hurry to get to the pool this morning.
Bike Path open, normal ride, 28 minutes.
Normal 2k swim
Easy ride home, 23 minutes.

Done.

I would like to go to the beach to just hang. Car day, plan ahead. Oh, baseball starts in 20 minutes. no big. But it is really cool here inside. It is not so out the door and it may approach 90 at the beach later in the day. Rethinking, perhaps I will stay here and watch the first game.

This evening, The Verdugo Bar, located very close to Glassell Recreation Center, is hosting meet the brewer of Bear Republic from Healdsburg. I am sure he knows Two Rivers and I want to visit the bar. Perhaps the beach will wait till tomorrow, it is sure to be even yeckier(hotter, more humid, with poor air quality).

Keeping It Going

Swim
1500 metersLC free/back
500 yards fly drill/swim

Row
20 minutes
4200 meters, slow start(800-850meters) after swim,
back

Ride now.

Do Not Stop

Keep going.  Do not stop.  Continue.  Proceed.  Carry On. This is nice, I only wish the pool was a bit closer.  I rode the bike last Friday, 25 minutes.  It takes about 15 minutes to drive to the RBAC.  Additionally, I burn too much fuel.  It is 1 quart/$1of gas per trip, 1/2gallon, and $2 per workout.  Hmmm.

Is a routine needed?.  No routines allowed, remember.  Confusion rules the muscles.  Thinking I will ride 2 times per week, erg twice and swim 5-6 times, until further notice.  Just as always, 7-10 sessions per week.  Keep going.  Try running, again. 

Occasionally I was doing a jog to the Y before the move. But I could walk faster than that jog.  That probably was not productive.

Lately I Swim and Ride a Bicycle

I really need to make time to erg on the Concept2, I think that I can do with 2 ergs a week until further notice.

I swam Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. I erged twice, I think on Tuesday(or Wednesday) and for sure on Friday.

I also rode the bike to RBAC on Friday to erg for 20 minutes and I only swam 1k. I think the one way distance is 5+miles. I shall try the La Loma way soon. I saw a cyclist on the route this morning. I think he was coming from the RBAC. It is only 4.6 miles.

I swam well today.
2k, strong, with 200 back in the middle.

Approx. 500 fly drill mostly 1 arm.

CicLAvia was this day in LA..maybe 10+miles, I don't know. I was really tired after. Huge too!

Weekend Off

Very nice retirement/reunion Friday evening in SRafael. Very adult like. good food too. Extremely nice to see everyone. Congratulations to all my peers and brothers that made it. I hope to see everyone here soon. Enjoy the never ending 4 day.

Back into the pool this morning.
What a nice 1500LC
Then to the SC pool for some warmth.
Some warm up dolphin drills, one arms, modified Biondis. then 50, 100 and 200. 200 less than 4, more like 3.5. Just looking.

Nice spa time.

15 minute erg
2k @10min
1.2k last 5min
2min warm down

New Life in South California

Rose Bowl Aquatics is the Queen of Aquatic Centers. What a pleasure it is to swim here and call it my training pool. just swimming, but well. Good DPS this AM. Very relaxed too. Nice to see you.

I tried to update my profile yesterday. It was rejected. I was just updating my recent change of residency and my new training environment. I will try again, soon.

LIVE from LOS ANGELES!!!

Hello everyone, I am so happy to be blogging once again although my locale has changed, quite nicely, it must be said. I am situated in South California in the Northeast region of the great City of Los Angeles. This is a very exciting part of Los Angeles and greater South California. Not only are there areas of extreme transition, there are also many beautiful, established, tree lined neighborhoods with parks, schools, churches and shops. I am sure that the people all around are just as beautiful, nice and tree lined as the neighborhoods in which they live.

I am looking for permanent residency. I would like to be a bit closer to the aquatic facility. There are some properties around. No hurry.

There is an open house at 524 Coleman today. Very nice, 4 bedrooms, 489k. Right next to 520, which was a foreclosed property that sold for 219k that I noticed in August. It is being rehabbed right now.

I probably need a new agent. My present agent is due in 1 month, she was winding down her client list, and I have not heard from her since I moved here last week. I totally understand. I will send a gift to her for the baby boy.

Rose Bowl Aquatics is my new aquatics home. I am thrilled. Included in my monthly pass is use of the training equipment. Two(2) Concept2 ergometers. I prefer to spell and pronounce ergonometer.

I rode the clunker to RBA late yesterday afternoon, 31 mnutes/22minutes. A lot of room for improvement.

I emailed the masters coach at RBA. Chad Dureiux. Told him I am in town and was unattaching from Santa Rosa Masters(SRM).

I visited the closest YMCA this morning. It is the South Pasadena/San Marino Y. It is a bit closer to here, but it is small, smaller than Sonoma Family. There is a Concept2 and the pool opens at 0530. Rose Bowl Aquatics is great.

Can I Post From The IPad

Totally goofed up last entry

Whoops, I guess it doesn't matter that much, as long as I keep swimming and rowing. I ride the bike mostly for around town, sometimes I do a ride for exercise.

Time to Remember the Past Week Workouts

Last entry was July 11, so that was Monday. I have doing as much work on the house as humanly possible. today I laid the vinyl in the bath, tomorrow paint and reinstall a new low flow toilet and reset the lavatory. I will then get a new medicine chest and light, perhaps there is a unit with the light integrated into the cabinet.

Working back from today, Sunday at the Y I swam only.
1500 free
5x25 back/25 easy free
5x25texas/25 easy free

Saturday
swim for time 45 minutes
erg for time 15+ minutes last 2km@820+

Friday
swim

thursday
swim 40+ minutes
erg 20 minutes good pace
erg 20 minutes with talk with Darlene

Wednesday

swim at Ridgeway
55 minutes, good speed play with other swimmers

Tuesday
Totally forgot

Monday
Did some good riding, and swimmng

Sunday, Monday

Swim Sunday. shat did I do besides swim laps, oh yeah, I did a quick set, but not really very quick.
Backstroke alternating with freestyle.

Monday I was on the indoor rower, or ergometer. Was I at 3.3k at 15 minutes, I went hard for 20. I then rowed easy for another 20
40 minutes on the indoor rower, Concept2.

Next Post

I owe it to myself to post these darn workouts, events and issues concerning my health, athletic performance and well being. so what.

It looks like Wednesday. I set out to swim 1500 yards, and I did. Then I hung around the pool and did some easy Texas 25's, like around 8. I walked to an easy shoulder session in the afternoon.

Thursday I did not swim, erg or ride hard, although I did walk to Goat Coffee and rode and easy 5 miles later in the day.

Friday I was in Santa Cruz for the PMS 1500meter swim.
300 warm up
1500 meter swim 24:44.40 splits at 500-8:16 and 1000-16:33
final 500 at 8:11
200 warm down

Saturday
Row only
10 minute warm up 1965 meters
2km 7:59
2:03. 2:02. 1:59 1:55
12 minute cool down

Late/Lazy Entry

I scolded myself in the previous posting about logging the workout now. Well, this is what I did yesterday, and I think I was not feeling well. I didn't even trek to see fireworks last night. I think that a combination of environmental factors, the heat, and what I had consumed in the last 24 hours had something to do with my ill feeling. It is very hot today too.

I waited until 1230 to swim. I actually had less than 25 minutes.
1500 yards
final 500 was supposed to be at 7:30, but I got confused somewhere, or I am swimming really well.
I must have missed a 50, or 2.

Thursday, Friday Saturday, and Sunday

X Rays are negative, that is pretty much all the doctor was good at telling me. I am glad that I got to see a young male physical therapist Friday morning. He determined that the issue is not related to the possible diagnosis of an impingement syndrome as he did some serious palpating of the clavicle, including the a/c joint and the rotator cuff. There is no point tenderness anywhere along the clavicle. He continued to palpate the left anterior intercostal between ribs 2/3 or 3/4. After several minutes of manipulation, or rubbing, the soreness was dissipated. We agreed that this is where the pain and injury is located and he told me all I should know about the injury, the healing curve and he told me that I could just rub the pain away myself, which I have done several times. I am healing.
7/3 Sunday I swam with Vince at the Y. 30 minutes.
7/2 Saturday, I think I just swam.
7/1 Friday I erged good for 20 minutes, then swam for 30 minutes.
6/30 Thursday, I swam at Finley! I limited my swim to 30 minutes there too. I had an evening erg of 20 minutes.
Wrong. I swam at Finley on Friday, because I rode the bike and then rode to the p.t at Kaiser at 9AM

Reminder to self, log the workout daily please, see what happens, I forgot my place in line for a rest, and there could possibly be a focus issue.

Looking Back At the Logged Workouts

I did just analyze the past documenting of the workouts and I do need to back off. Too much, it appears. I just like to do it. It feels good to train with a goal in mind. I just need to rein myself in for the next couple of days. I will listen to the doctor as well. I don't listen to my body, do I? I think that is because I trained myself to run through pain, due to so much endurance training when I was young.

Shoulder/Pain

Yeah, I saw a doctor yesterday. Phooey, as I am now being treated for left shoulder impingement syndrome. GDI.
X-Rays of ribs and a full set of left shoulder shows only arthritis, no breakage or displacement.

I did not swim today.
I did an afternoon p.t session including 25 minutes on the Concept2 ergometer.

I swam only for 20 minutes on Sunday, as I went to the GAy PRide Parade in The City.

I did a 20 minute erg before swimming over 30 minutes on Monday.

Yesterday I swam over 30 minutes, but had to exit the swim because of the shoulder issue.

Training Day, What?!

My shoulder is sore. I made a doctor appointment, it is 4 days away. I hope the problem goes away. It is really irritated during interruptions in swimming, such as stopping during sets. I should say that what seems to be the chest muscle strain hurts during the pause. Now as I am sitting here, the whole shoulder, including the scapular region is affected.
I swam this morning. The pain dissipates while swimming with good form.

Well over an hour in the pool, practiced sets with flip turns.

10x50 kick hard to finish

10x texas 25s, with flip and extended several times, last 2 with hard kick into wall.

A bunch of reasonable laps, there were some other good swimmers this morning. Beverly, and another younger lady, very fit and skilled.

Left shoulder Issue

Darn, my left shoulder/ribcage is bothering me. While at recreation swim on Tuesday, I was surfacing from my last dive from the board when a person landed on me. I appeared to be okay. It was during adult time, so there were not many eyes on the pool as the guards were doing in service training. Two guards did see the near miss and approached me to ask if I was okay. I was, at the time.

I think my shoulder was irritated before the jump. Did the accident perpetuate the injury/issue? The pain occurs significantly upon inspiration in my 3-4 left intercostal region and the scapular region is irritated too.

The pain does not appear to be swimming related. I swam/practiced for almost an hour this morning. As I am sitting here, the shoulder aches. oh, oh. it is time to doctor up.

Update Today

The reason I keep this web log is so I can keep track of my workouts. I do so much that I can hurt myself if not monitored properly. Example, yesterday I went to the Y, rowed, and swam. Then I rode the bike to Home Depot, up the hill, for an errand. I also prepared the 4th corn planting. It is a 15 ft. row planted with 3 varieties, all in the same hole. There are berries all over the garden, I need to get the raspberries now...

Workouts going as far back as I can include
6/20 15min erg, 25min swim, 5mi bike, 5mi bike, 30min swim
6/19 Swim outside at Ridgeway
6/18 Swim in Sunnyvale
6/17 Erg in Mountain View
6/16 and so on, etc all the way back to May 16
Nothing out of the ordinary during the last month. I did do the Concept2 World Marathon/Half Marathon Erg Challenge, on like May 11. I logged it on the Concept2 site and am officially listed as 18th out of 20 for the 50-59. I worked into it, I erged under 2 hours, and recovery was pretty easy.
I am off to the indoor pool, the natatorium, at the Y. I am in need of some direction, so I need to post often in the next 3 weeks.

Rest Day Sunday, Back to the Pool Today

I missed the pool for 6 complete days. I think I am going to be okay. I swam with the hand in the flimsy painter glove with no success. I had a waterproof band aid on it too, nah. I was only in the water for 15-20 minutes. I erged too. 15 minutes of good pace to 3k, then another 15 minutes to 5.7k with a chat. Good.

Brilliant Idea

What if? I will try it, that is, make the www.swimmersyear.blogspot.com my homepage. I can link with my present www.yahoo.com homepage. Jeah.

The damn cut is still healing. I bleeped up when I swam on Monday. Perhaps it would not have make much of a difference. And hey, can I use this keyboard with my ipad? Gonna find out as soon as I log the morning workout on the Erg.
Stan got aboard soon after I did.
15minute warm up
2k test 8:10
10 minute warm down

Keeping Dry

I have stayed out of the water for several days due to the gash on my right hand. I got back on the Concept2 on Wednesday and it felt really good. no irritation from the 13.1 the day before. I got some good pulling and had a chat with a very young stroke survivor. I pulled for about 25 minutes, that was enough for a good warm down session. I am pleased with the quick recovery and there are no issues of back, shoulder or such.

I set up Cassandra's garden on Thursday. No swim, now erg.

Friday, again I stayed dry. I had a good 30 minute erg, building the whole pull from
5 800
10 1700
15 2700
20 3800
25 5100
30 6300
55 minute warm down

I will check the monitor this morning. Test 2k, anyone?

World Marathon, Half Marathon ERG Challenge

Wow, I was having flashbacks to the First Annual Paul Masson Marathon that I ran in the South Bay whenever. I did a great job today.
The log on the monitor broke the erg into 4k segments.
They were all very even, except for the last one, I really fell off. My lumbars were really bothering me while rowing, but I did it!
I think the first 10k was around 51 minutes.
My final time was 1h59:36.7

Quick ERg

10K Yesterday. Today at 1200 I did an evenly paced 4km and and easier 2 minute warm down. No water today as the gash on the right palm is healing very nicely. I am keeping it as dry as possible.

TAM 1650 Postal Results

Congratulations to all my friends at the greatest workout group in Petaluma, CA, the Jellies, who had a 100% participation in the Johanthan Steiner Memorial 1650 Postal at Tamalpais Aquatic Masters this season. DeaAnn Joslin is the undisputed leader of the group, she is a rock, and she rocks! I had the pleasure to join her workouts for the 2009 spring season and they are structured, explained well, and modified as necessary to each of her swimmers.

I lacerated/punctured,stabbed my right palm with a 4" sheetrock knife Friday evening. I was too 'happy' to be doing what I was doing, scraping paint remover, yech. #Ouch, I need to keep it dry as long as possible, so I stayed out of the pool yesterday and will not swim today either. I need to find a waterproof dressing. Jeah. So I am back to the ergometer this morning.

I took some time off after the shoulder issue last week. Monday was fail. Off Tuesday, I swam good on Wednesday, and Thursday. Friday I rowed 25 minutes and swam a warm down.

Saturday
10k
1. 16:
2. 15:38 31:38
3. 15:16 46:55

The splits are 3333, 6666, and 10000.

Monitor readings were reflective of even pace.

Stopping to Evaluate

It has been quite some time since I have had a malady concerning my physical activity. It is somewhat understandable that an issue comes up occasionally as I am very prone to working out every day, most days I do at least 2 disciplines either walking, riding, rowing, and/or swimming.

I noticed that there is an irritation in my left clavicle, yeah swimmers shoulder or something like that. Exactly like righty, but not as dramatic. This has caused concern. I noticed, appropriately enough, when I swam at Ridgeway on Sunday morning. It was cold!! 76F, maybe. The sun was shining, the sky was clear, there was no wind, and it was 'refreshing'. That is when I first had a concern.
I swam 2500 yards.

1. Did the colder water contribute in any way to the issue?
2. Is it possible that I may have an overuse issue from the sanding, scraping and painting?

I became more concerned yesterday when I visited the Y in the morning. I sat down at the erg, proceeded to warm up and I thought I was on my way because I have had no issues with either shoulder while rowing. I was trying to settle into a good pull but was slowing down. There was an issue, and it was not weakness from illness the day previous. The slowing was because the left shoulder was irritated. This was a good time to stop. 3800 meters. Start on #1 for 15 minutes, then switched to #2 for about 5 more minutes before departing to the pool for further evaluation. After warm up swimming, there was still an issue. Done for the day at that point. In addition to resting the affected shoulder, I have started a regimen of Celebrex, 100mg twice a day for reducing any inflammation and pain.

Dyspesia, aka Belly Ache

Yeah, I hear ya, quit your belly aching. But really, twice last night, just up, no heaving or squirts, tmi... but I still, at this late hour in the day, have a slight bellyache. I have only eaten a bowl of oats, with honey and a small dash of soymilk. I tried a half banana earlier this afternoon, I think it went down the wrong pipe and it caused a short bout of blotation. Now I am hungry. Thinking of eating, but my stomach does not like the idea.
I still did a 2k test set this morning. Slowest time since I have been doing them...8:16 or something
10 minute warm up
2k test @8:16
10 minute warm down

I swam down. It felt rough for the first 5-10 minutes. I did some backstroke as I adjusted into a more sedate, smoother swim. I did some opposite side breathing too. I am getting better at it. I just need to remember to do it as I am retraining the muscle memory for breathing, and that is not all. I am doing these to become more symmetrical with my whole freestyle stroke...

I got a new shirt today.

Focus, then Act

Taking 5, minutes, to remember what I did for a workout yesterday. I swam 2 days,then I erged yesterday so I can do the test 2k on Saturday. I am going to the pool right now but I really need to log yesterdays pull.
5 minute warm up
Pee
10x500m/1m rest, easy active recovery
500mwarm down
40 minutes
I think I need a new card? Do I? I would need to get a card reader,$30, really..;.plus the $6 card, now go and pay those property taxes, whoops!

I went to bed early, and as I was waking up this morning, I was thinking. I thought about forgetting to pay the property tax this month! G*DAMIT. $10%+$20 penalty, sh*cks! Pay up dummy. Swim first, I am already late, just like being a little pregnant...

So, I swam at the Y, although I did not count laps, I did do some counting. I counted s/p/l several times. I also counted strokes during Texas 25's. Very nice. I also did some left side breathing drills, just to work on balance and symetry. I also did a short set.
5x25 Texas style, swim back easy on 60 seconds, easy, count strokes, under 20, all
50 free, no breather, open turn

45+minutes, thank you

Bike/Swim/Bike, The Finley Route

I used to do it every morning, I would get on my bike and ride to Finley Swim Center. It is a 2.5 mile distance. I did it this morning so I could catch up on some outdoor swimming. I need a change of venue once in a while. As I used to have 5 pools to choose from at this time of the season, I used to change venues often. I have been very limited to pool choices as I no longer commute to San Rafael. I miss swimming at Terra Linda Recreation Center, next to SRFD Station 6, and I no longer go south to Petaluma Swim Center as it is about a $12 trip. No JCC either. Ridgeway does not like me very much. It is so easy to call the SCFYMCA my home pool these days, and it makes sense too, economics and the Concept2 rower(s).

Indoor rowing is the latest fitness discipline that is gaining in popularity. It is by far the best form of full body workout, far superior to any of the triathlon disciplines, i.e. swimming, running and bicycling, and it makes all the other machines and apparatus and weights in the gym look like toys. The act of rowing builds not only strength, endurance, and power. It builds coordination of the nervous system that affect the overall synchronization of the muscles. This training gives the athlete the ability to move with great agility and smoothness.

So I rode to the pool, and I swam
2650 yards, just swim
I should have did a set or 2, but I did't.

Maybe take a look at long course this summer. I would like to go to Santa Cruz. I could swim 50/100/200/400/800/and1500. Six events. 55 turns. Open/flip? Hmm.

Row10K

Now if I could only remember the pacing and meters and stuff. Started out at 915 meters then to 3333 at 16:16. 30 minutes at 6300 and 6666 at 31:30. Then to 46:40 at 10K. Good pull with good pacing. I think I am in training for a half marathon. The marathon/half marathon challenge is May 1-15, as the new erg year begins. I will try to record my distance at the Concept2 website.

Update for Saturday, I did go and erg in the afternoon, 15 minutes/3000meters. I swam down too, cramping in the beginning but relaxing and easing into thoughtful swimming for about 15 minutes.

Un Timely Logging

Wow, the last input of workouts was Sunday and today is Saturday, so I will have to guess back.
Monday Row 1 hour
Tuesday Swim
Wednesday Row 1:40/:20 set with warm up and warm down total 35 minutes
Thursday Swim 2500 yards straight
Friday Row 30 minutes good last 10 minutes 2300 meters 5 minute warm down
Saturday, finally made it to today. It is 2k erg test day, but I gave myself the day off from the erg.
I did swim, in keeping with the recent pattern of alternating workouts from day to day.
2000 yards
5x50 broken at 25 sec
5x25 fast, hold form descend to 13, swim back
2500 yards

Friday Swim Saturday Test 2K

That is right, I swam 2500 yards on Friday and did not erg. I think I went for a walk in the afternoon.
Saturday was 2K test day.
10 minute warm up
1:58.5
1:59.5
2:00
1:59
7:58
I looked at my stroke rate/500m and it went from 30, 29, 28 to 27. Analyze please.

I need to increase my speed. I will try to concentrate on some sprint work. It appears that I am at a plateau at just under 8 minutes. It is time to #gorow.

Remembering Wednesday and Thursday Workouts

Wednesday
Row
Warm up, was that 5 minutes, yeah, I think so.
Custom List Row
1:40/rest :20, this is a 20 minute set workout with 5 reps before a 2 minute lull, then 4 reps. My goal is 500 meters/, that equals a 6:40 2K.
Swim down about 1000 yards

Thursday
Row 40+ minutes
20 minutes to 4k, then to 6300 at 30 minutes with a 10+ minute warm down, total about 8k
Swim about 20 minutes

Post It On The WeBLOG

I did not pass up the pool this morning. I was feeling yesterdays erg and it took several laps, about 40, to break through and get comfortable. Then I just swam through, about 45 minutes, or aroung 2500 yards. That is all folks.

Monday I did the 10K erg. It was the first time this year that I did a 10K and it felt good. I got some sweat going, and I am thinking that I will try for the 60 minute erg soon. I do not think that I have been to that plateau.

Saturday Test 2K

Friday I only swam as I thought about the test 2K for the next day.
I think this is the day I actually did a "set" after about a 30 minute swim.
10x50 free, descending.

Looking back in the log, it appears that I had swam 6 days in a row and it was a good day to bypass the swim after the test.

10 minute warm up to 1900 meters
2K Test
2:02
2:01
1:59
1:56
End 7:58
I think I will use the 1:40/:20r and the target will be 500 meters@1:40. That is 6:40 2K, wow..now, go row!!

1000 meter warm down

I am back in the pool today, Sunday. Yech, it is cloudy(the pool) and I think that it is hard to do any set work this morning. I am thinking about how to retire from retired competitive swimming and go for it in 2012. I age up for meters.
30+minutes mindful swimming.

Go Row.
15 minute erg
925m
2000m
3150m 5 minute warm down.

Ergometer Workout

I did stay off the ergometer yesterday. Most importantly, I stayed off the shovel in the garden. I swam at Finley yesterday morning, it was like I never left. The MWF Finley pod was happily swimming away, and I took my rightful place in lane 2, from the west. It was very nice. Fresh air, birds, sky, etc.. 30minutes+

10 minutes warm up
workout set from custom list
1:40/:20r
I thought we were doing a 10 reps, but it was 9 reps with a 2 minute rest after 5 reps, for a total workout time of 20 minutes
2 minutes@500+meters 1:55 at end of workout
3 minutes warm down

15 minute swim warm down

Take A Break, Sailor(Erger)

4 days in a row on the ergometer, I think it is rest day tomorrow. I hope I can do it. I know what, I will go to Finley Swim Center for the early morning session. I have not seen that 'pod' since I don't know when. They used to appear in the liner notes occasionally. I checked in with the Ridgway pod on Sunday, nothing new, maybe a new swimmer or two, but it looked boring as ever. Sarah J. said hi, and she asked if I was going to swim this weekend at Pleasanton. No. I asked her if the team was having dinner at Nancy and Chris's, her parents, on Saturday after the meet, as is the tradition. They are and I got an email to that fact this morning. I am still undecided as if I will go to join the team and time.
Saturday was already logged, and was Sunday's 30 minute pull.
Monday, I pulled than swam
Tuesday, today, I swam for about 30min and then I pulled for 30,
5min@900m
10min@2k
15min@3+k
workout rate intensity varies until
last 3 minutes @2min/500m
finish@1:55

Rest day tomorrow, can I do it?

Catching Up

I could not wait to get back on the erg after a quick road trip with Toby to Opening Day at Dodger Stadium. The following article will be about the road trip but this is a quick log of the workouts for the week of March27-April2.
27Mar-?
28Mar-?
29Mar-erg 30+min, swim 500 yards, sore mechanically
30-hike Pinnacles
31, Opening Day
1Apr-swim@USC McDonald Swim Stadium diving well, really warm

2Apr-Saturday Test 2K good even erg,
5 min warm up 900+meters
2:02
2:01
1:59
1:58
10 minute warm down
Good swim, time wise about 30 minutes

3April, Today
30 minutes erg
various paces, intensities, and techniques

10 X 500 Meters 1 Minute Active Recovery

This is a prescribed standard workout on the digital monitor on the Concept2 ergometer. It is actually set up for unlimited numbers of repetitions, thus the setting is 500m:1min rest. I used to have that log card but it walked away several months ago, so I am relying on what memory I have left to get me to the log here.

5 minute warm up 900+m

10x500/1 min active rest
I really don't recall what the average is, probably around 2:10, and last is 1:55-

3-5 minute warm down

Pull ups 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 total=15

Swim down 1000+yards

Swim Only

I was going to pull a fast one this morning, but I swam instead. I went to the Y with the thought in my mind to either do a circuit on the machines, lightly of course, or maybe do a fast superset with light dumbbells, but I could not pass up the pool. I did not even think of erging this morning, no whining, but my shoulders bother a bit today. I was a wreck yesterday afternoon with all the sanding Monday and Tuesday, along with digging and planting a row of beets and peas. I was pooped.
I did swim easy and smooth this morning, good dps, good body position, no flip turns and no short axis swimming. I enjoyed the swimming for about 40 minutes.

Workout Log

I think I have finally adjusted to the time change from last week. I am even getting out the door and into the gym earlier. I am a bit shy in my compression gear, oh well.

5 minute warm up~800m

pit stop,

10x500m/1min active recovery 6500+meters, 500 splits ranging from mid teens to final 1:56

3 minutes warm down erg

Swim for fun~20 minutes swim play with tri guy in yellow cap

I heart USAT.

FINA, USASwimming Investigatiing Fran Crippen Fatality

According to reports, both FINA, the international governing body of swimming, and USA Swimming have been hard at work doing their own investigations into the swimming fatality of Fran Crippen. What needs to be investigated? We all know exactly what, where and who(m), and this fact is what ultimately brought the Open Water Swimming Safety Conference to reality. I emailed USMS before the tragedy in Dubai(or UAE, WTF)money, politics, no interest of the athlete or his/her safety rant over,,,calling for action after the Whiskeytown Lake Open Water Swims. Calm down. Oh yeah, rant on, FINA is about ready to implode. There does need to be more change within the internal structure of the governing body of world swimming. The issues are so bad that there is an international grassroots movement among some of the premier swim coaches in the world to break away from FINA and form the World Swimming Association, WSA as the governing body of swimming for the future.

There was nothing said about that issue at the conference. I think it is an issue for the open water community and that is perhaps an underlying issue that contributed to the importance of the conference. The conference origins are grassroots too; we as athletes, responsible event organizers, and aquatic professionals are being proactive to make our sport safer for all to enjoy. FINA has a history of making poor choices, see tech suit era, and I hope USA Swimming takes a hard look at their relationship.

Open Water Swimming Safety, Continued

I really appreciated the guests from USAT, the governing body of triathlon in the United States. I think that masters swimming is going to be communicating with USAT about this issue. There are many indications that this is going to happen. USAT, along with the International Triathlon Union, ITU, has a great administrative infrastructure, and they have got the job done. The sport is so well organized that triathlon was recognized by the IOC as an Olympic sport by the 2000 Olympics, well before open water swimming was accepted in 2008.

The Conference was well organized and expertly moderated by Steve Munatones, and attended by some of the most prominent people in the swimming world. I was proud and glad to be attending this groundbreaking and necessary event. I made sure to introduce myself to many people, and I had the pleasure of meeting a long time cyberfriend for the first time. http://engineer-merritt.blogspot.com/ is the first blog I remember following. She is the new race director of the annual Naples Island Swim in Long Beach California.

I would like to briefly bullet point my observations as to what the sport of open water swimming is going to put in place providing for a safe and fun environment:

• Safety Coordinator, independent from the race director and race referee, ultimately the representative from the EMS authority that has responsibility for life safety in the area. The head lifeguard, if the event is at guarded facility, would be an example of such an authority. He has that responsibility in his job description.
• Safety Standards, Guidelines and Education. Quality control. See USAT
  
• Safety Certification, of race officials, race directors, course marshalls, et al. See USAT
• Standardize Safety Action Plan, Follow Incident Action Plan of Local Authorities or other
  
• Course management guidelines/standards
• Education of participants to key elements of safe swimming during training, while participating in events, and all other times
• Risk Assessment
• Annual Conference
• United States Triathlon reached out to USMS, and will be meeting again soon! Jeah!
• revenue issues
• Standards/guidelines and other best practices must be taken into account. See USAT, USLA, YMCA, American Red Cross.
• Event monitoring/lifeguarding, professional/volunteer, open water certified
• Education and Certification and Emergency preparedness including a comprehensive risk assessment and incident action plan
• We will be working closely with USAT. See Jeah above

Steve just sent out a similar version of the above in a formal email to all who attended the conference. I will attempt to post it here. That worked. Here is his version, I believe we are on the same page.

On Sunday, there were dozens of suggestions, opinions, recommendations, experiences, requests, ideas and proposals shared among those from the open water swimming/triathlon/medical/military communities. Below is a summary draft of the key ten points discussed during the last session. If you feel important points or proposals should be added, please feel free to email me and I will provide a final summary report by Wednesday, March 23^rd for your reference.

1. Create and utilize an independent Safety Officer position that is separate from the Race Director with the responsibility to plan and execute the safety aspects of a race and the authority to postpone or cancel a race.

2. Establish educational and certification programs for key positions responsible for open water swimming events

3. Set and make uniform race safety standards and check lists

4. Create an online repository of information with shared documents and content

5. Collaborate across events, borders and organizations

6. Offer pre-race and regularly scheduled clinics to help elevate the awareness and increase the education of swimmers and coaches

7. Create a mindset and lifestyle of safety at all levels of open water swimming – training and racing, solo and mass participation, fitness and competitive

8. Establish, formalize and annually review risk assessment before races are approved or sanctioned.

9. Interact, incorporate and defer to the knowledge and experience of professional safety personnel (lifeguards, Coast Guard, Coast Guard Auxiliary, etc) in the pre-race planning and execution of safety before and during the race.

10. Establish standards and recommendations for athlete education for training and racing so athletes learn what is required themselves

Here we go! Thanks again, USA Triathlon.

Open Water

Fellow Swimmers and Triathletes
There was a groundbreaking meeting of the minds this weekend. The Open Water Safety Conference, sponsored by USMS and PMS, was huge. This was a grassroots meeting of some of the most important people in swimming, especially open water swimming. There was a huge amount of participation and brainstorming and I think that this conference has brought the first and most important piece of this safety issue is AWARENESS. We are all much more aware of the inherent safety issues that need to be addressed and qualified.

The 2 most important people outside the actual swimming community were B. Cris Brewster, Chief of USLA, and Liz Tucker, who is the administrator of the officials(race director) certification for USAT. Chief Ralph Goto and Luitenant Buchannan were also key guests with expert insight.

In short, I think that all sanctioned open water swims of less than 10km should be swum under USAT or ITA sanction.

With the tremendous unhappiness with the world governing body of swimming, I think it should be looked at. Open Water Swims under 10km should be sanctioned by triathlons governing bodies.

Swims over 10 km should be dealt with individually thus not placing unnecessary burden on Triathlon Inc. Thus they will still be sanctioned by their own governing bodies, such as English Channel Swimming Association, World Marathon Swimming, Catalina Channel Association, etc. Really, they are elite events, not really competitions except for a very few select people. They should be viewed as human events of special importance like mountain climbing.

It appears that triathlon has its act together. From its infancy in the late 1970's, it has grown hugely and is a recognized Olympic sport. This is because it has excellent organization, it obviously has tremendous support and swimming in open water is only a part of the event. The event organizers are certified, they undoubtedly have safety for the masses in the forefront of their action plans, and there are way more triathlons than open water swims. This means that there is accountability among race directors.

Open water swimming needs to look carefully at this idea. FINA is under attack! Becoming sanctioned by Triathlon may make the insurance issue become less of a factor. I think they have their bases covered and we should just break away and go to another sanctioning body. I am sure they will welcome us. We will still be swimming, and perhaps their will be more open water swims. Triathlons soon may have a swim only portion.

We just need USAT and ITA to buy into this proposal.

Fusion Cuisine, ala St. Patricks Day

Where is that tweet, or was it in a food blog or other source, but I heard that the traditional corned beef and cabbage served in mass quantities throughout the U.S. on St. Patrick's Day, actually has roots in New York's Lower East Side. There were many immigrants of European Jewish and Irish heritage, among other immigrant people. The story is that the Jews and the Irish brought together the idea of using the last of the stored winter veggies, the ones that lasted the longest were potatoes, carrots and cabbages. The corns are actually a term for the course grains of salt that were used to cure and preserve the beef, usually a brisket. Pastrami is also similar cured beef that is highly seasoned and delicious. I am getting ready to eat.

NCAA D1 Women Swimming Championships this weekend. I am looking forward to going to the Open Water Safety Conference in San Francisco this weekend sponsored by United States Masters Swimming and Pacific Masters Swimming. There are many outstanding speakers, guests and participants.

Log of workout

Erg 35 minutes total.

Start slow
5 min 800+meter
15 minutes to reach 4km total
Good row for last 10 minutes, last 2 minutes well over 500 meters
5 minute row down
No issues

1000 swim very easy until I felt better. Left shoulder irritation, dissipated after swim.

Open Water Safety Conference

Here is the link for the Open Water Safety Conference sponsored by United States Masters Swimming and Pacific Masters Swimming.

Sore

What is with the soreness today? Let me examine the previous workouts from the last several days.
3/10Thursday Travel day, scheduled no swim day. I swam the previous 5 days, typical lame workouts, but at USC, and I was thinking of returning to competition at the Caltech Sprint Pentathlon on Sunday, but I timed lane 6 and swam later that afternoon.
3/11 1500 swim, 6km erg
3/12 30 min erg including 2km test 8:03, swim down 1500
3/13 2500 swim only
3/14 1000 swim, 30 min erg. It took at least 15 minutes before I started to feel comfortable, but I did finish at 6.1km

I guess I could have a case of DOMS, Delayed Onset Of Muscle Soreness, but it does not appear to be the case. I only erged twice, maybe 3 times while at USC. Their ergs are crap. It is the only thing that I can think of except I may be experiencing some sort of weirdness with the time change.

I am looking forward to the USMS conference on the issue of Open Water Safety. There are many experts scheduled to speak on various issues, including various dangers, different open water environments, hazard prevention and monitoring of competitors. Experts include competitors, race directors, open water safety specialists, including representatives from the San Diego Lifeguard Service and Los Angeles County Fire, Lifeguard Division. I think there is also representation from the triathlon world. Cris Brewster, the President Emeritus of United States Lifesaving Association, will also be addressing the conference. I think the conference will be dedicated to Fran Crippen, and it is also an honor to see that Maddy Crippen, Frans mother and founder of the Fran Crippen Foundation, will be a guest. The conference is addressing all the issues that I spoke of in my emails to USMS after the tragedies at Whiskeytown Lake in September.
Steve Muntones, the race director of many open water swims and the ultimate authority of open water swimming has mentioned in his blog that there were 15 deaths in the open water swims last season. Too many unnecessary and perhaps preventable deaths in our sport we love. I am happy the issue is being discussed in this forum.

Catching Up with SoCal

Started swimming in SoCal on March 1. I arrived in Socal before noon, and I went to Santa Clarita Swim Center, somewhere. It is a fairly newer facility with a 50 meter pool, and a splash pool, I think I saw one.
I joined the Lyon Recreation Center at the University of Southern California on Wednesday. In addition to the McDonald Swim Center, which includes the 50 meter pool and a diving well facility, there is the recreation center. The ergs are garbage. They are dirty, broken and in need of serious maintenance! I only used them 2 or 3 times. But I did swim Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday.
I should have at USC on Wednesday too, but I went to Santa Monica Swim Center. There was a JC class in the fitness pool(50 meter) so we all swam in the splash pool, I was fairly unaware of the schedule and the pool closed at 0800 but I swam good. I swam outdoors 8 times in the past 2 weeks, and now I am back at the SCFY in Santa Rosa. All this talk about swimming makes me think about heading there right now. Have a great day.

Workout Log

This morning I got on the nice erg at SCFY.

10 Minute warm up.

It was really a 2K. I took a drink and then did a Saturday test. I probably missed 1 or 2 while on another scouting trip to SoCal. The ergs I have used while there are not very good, USC Lyon Recreation Center has the absolute worst Concept2 ergs. Awful. They told me there were 4 in the building, but 2 of them were inoperable(closeted), and the remaining 2 on the floor were in poor condition. They are unmaintained and in pieces. They are dirty too. I should Yelp them and give the USC Rec Center a poor review. The pools are okay, but there is a bunch of construction going on around the pools at this time and the locker room is poorly laid out. No wonder it is so cheap to be a member.

I happen to love Trojan Swimming, I heard there were 24 Olympians in the pool this AM. Ryan swam there too! Jeah. I was on the lookout for all my favorites, for example @swimhardy, @rebsoni, and others. I think I saw Jessica in the water, ha. She tweeted later that day that she had done her longest continuous swim during her workout that day.

Warm up completed

2K 2:08, 2:02, 1:57, 1:55,
8:03

1K warm down

Swim
500 yards free
700 yards back
9x50 free, 2 breath control, 1 easy, 3 times

Shout It Out, I Did 65 Flip Turns

Yes, and there was not much missing. Honestly, I think I will know by tomorrow if there is any negative effect on my back health. I swam the Jon Steiner Memorial Postal 1650 this morning. My time was exactly 1 minute 1 second slower than last years effort. This was more than a timed swim, it was a test. I am testing the level of discomfort in my lumbar region as I have avoided any and all tumble/flip/somersault turns of since May 2010. I had a CAT Scan done soon after I discontinued the somersault/flip turn and it was noted that there may still have been a minor fissure in the fused area. That was enough positive reinforcement to have kept me from the flip turn until today.
I had the opportunity to do a nice long warm up swim, my timer son, Joe, went back to sleep after I talked with him! I am sure you would have done the same thing if you had went to bed just an hour earlier. Party on, Garth. I got out of the water and called him, again, and he walked on to deck at 09:29.41.
It was a cool, crisp morning. The water was at least 82F and it was clear. All in all the conditions were beautiful. I felt really good, I am glad I did wait until this morning.

Last week I did a 2km test on the erg. I said that I should do a 2km test every Saturday. I will try to get to the Y, Sonoma County Family YMCA, today. I do not think there will be a test, maybe a quiz.

Shhh, I Did A Flip Turn

I don't feel too much after the morning session. I erged steady for 30+ minutes, pulled with other ergers, the quiet lady and Stan. It is kind of nice to erg with companionship. I kind of tag along, I let the other person set the pace and I row with them.
I want to say that it was fun following the CRASH-B Sprints World Championships from Boston University on Twitter yesterday. It looks like there were over a thousand competitors, in my age group, boomer 55+, lightweight division, there were like 14 rowers. I could have rowed to the top of the bottom third of the group. I am working on it, I hope to compete next year.

I did do a somersault turn this morning. It was beautiful, and it felt swell. I did some dolphin drills too. And a few easy laps of 1 arm. Okay.

I plan to swim at RBA next week. Maybe Glassell Park and/or Santa Monica too.

Test Set

I think that I will have a test set, erg 2K, every week. I will try to keep a consistency to the idea and since I did the test set yesterday, which was a Saturday, that sounds like a good day for doing it. in the past, when I have done similar self tests, either in the pool or on the erg, they have generally have been spontaneous in nature.
The local masters swimming coach has been hinting to me that she wants me to swim on a medley relay, breaststroke. She has some more work to do before getting me to commit to coming out of competitive retirement.
Saturday's erg workout consisted of
10 minute warm up.
2K test set
2:03.
1:58
1:53.
1:58
7:54 Final Time
The last 500m really felt like an effort. Good.
10 minute warm down

The erg session was followed by 20 minutes in the pool.

The Big Swim(Cal/Stanford)men was swam at Spieker at 1300. Came down to the final 400 free relay. Nathan Adrian caught Stanford swimmer at 50 but could not hold on at finish. It was a cold and rainy day, but the fans packed it in.

Library Additions

The indoor rowing scene is expanding. There are several books now available that are expounding on the value of the ergometer as a tool for lifelong fitness. Although there are several manufacturers of indoor rowing machines, also known by the more scientific term, ergometer, and as I sometimes refer as an ergonometer. The machine that has become the industry standard, and is used widely worldwide, is the Concept2. Virtually all rowers use the Concept2 as a training aid and indoor rowing has in itself become a sporting activity, with competition from the local levels to internationally recognized championships and standards.

I recently acquired two new books specific to the indoor rowing enthusiast. They are both similar in the content as neither goes into technical aspects of rowing, and they encourage everyone to enjoy their new activity.

Row Daily, Breathe Deeper, Live Better, A Guide to Moderate Exercise by D.P. Ordway
2008
www.iuniverse.com

Indoor Rowing, Perfection in Exercise by Jay Nithus 2009

I also added another scientific manual from HK(Human Kinetics), www.humankinetics.com
Lactate Threshold Training, 2001

Logging yesterdays erg workout was 10x500/min rest, interval training @90%
This was erged at the noon hour. I swam in the AM.

Today erg was a constant 30+minute variable finished with 7km
Swim down 25 minutes

Posting Results and Update

I had a really good erg at the GSIRC last weekend at the Sacramento State Aquatic Center. Results are posted here. It is located at the top of Nimbus Dam, which impounds Lake Natomas. It is a rather nice facility and has hosted many rowing competitions, including the 2010 NCAA National Championships.
There was a check in table and I did make weight, and although there was no awards given in the lightweight veterans division, I feel pretty good being a lightweight, ha.

There were 3 boat bays and a loft in the main boathouse. The first bay was basically staging and for officials. The mid bay had about 20 ergometers for warming up(see image). The next bay was set up for viewing on the monitors and a video display of the race. The actual race/competition/heats were in the loft. Everything is computerized, so my ergometer had my name on the screen and I was ready to erg. I was warmed up, but I still got upstairs about 5 minutes later than I should have been. I did get to set the drag to my proper adjustment, which was just under 110, about 108.
I performed like an advanced novice. The championship CRASH-B Sprint standard is 2 kilometers or 2000 meters. It is easy and practical to break the distance into 4 500 meter segments. My advanced novice performance included taking the first 500 at championship qualifying speed, then realizing that I could not hold that effort and backing off to a more realistic speed, as I recall that should have been slowed to a 1:55 500. The wheels then became wobbly in the next 500 as I tried to regain composure for the final 500. I think that I fell behind to a 2:16 for the third 500 which put me at 6 minutes approximately or so. I held form and pace for the final 500 at 1:55 and finished with official 7:54.
QT for this year's CRASH-B Sprints at Boston University on February 20 for my age division as a lightweight is 6:53.
Wow, I have some work ahead of me.

Oh, and I am still swimming too.

I recently replanted strawberries. Sets were on SALE at Harmony so I picked up set of Albion and a set of Quinalt.

There are 3 new apple trees and 3 new blueberry bushes that have taken up residence too.

Swimming and Rowing Indoors

The Sonoma County Family YMCA is a nice community center featuring activities for all ages. Their aquatics programs, along with the many fitness classes and activities make the Y a very nice experience. A common complaint among more skilled swimmers is that the water temperature is a bit warm. This is true and there are several reasons that many aquatics facilities do keep the water warmer. The warmer water temperature allows bathers to stay active in the water for a longer time. There are various physiological reasons besides. I know that if a skilled swimmer is not acclimated to the conditions present, whether it be colder or warmer, turbulent or murky, problems may occur.

I am extremely happy that USMS and PMS have scheduled a conference on the pressing issue of safety in the open water arena. There appears to be quite a line up of speakers and I will be in attendance. Mark your calendar, March 18-20 in San Francisco.

The indoor regatta, also known as the Golden State Indoor Rowing Championships, is next Saturday, February 5. I am excited as this will be the first competition outside of Masters swim meets in almost 20 years. I think I did my final triathlon, the Santa Cruz Sentinel Triathlon, in 1992. Finished my triathlon career on a high note. I went under 2:20, like 2:16, just missing the hour mark on the bike leg be 3 minutes. Like 20 minutes for the swim, 1 hour 3 minutes on the bike and 42 minutes for the run. I like to see that in print. Like 3:02.26, my best marathon.

I am thinking of the next swim. It will be in SPMA territory.

There Are No Sick Days

Rest days are important. I believe they must be scheduled into a training program, and just as important, your athlete in your body may tell you to take a step away from the program and give in to a healing day of rest and recovery. I am telling myself this because I may have pushed it a bit this past week, beyond the normal expectations of my body.

I have a specific kink in the right lumbar which may be contributing to the numbness in the right foot.

There is a developing issue in my right shoulder that I hope will be remedied. There is pinpoint pain in the deltoid with associated issues traversing to the right clavicle and into the right biceps. I seem to remember a similar pain issue in 2009 which prompted an arthroscopic procedure in Summer 2009. This pain issue has prompted me to take a restful, healing day away from physical training.

I am having some painful joint issues. There is sharp pain in my wrist knobs, and epicondylitis is starting to bother my elbows. I started to swim a flatter breast stroke recently, but that may be contributing to both the back and elbow issues. I have stopped attempting to swim breast stroke, again.

The C2 rowers were very busy yesterday, so I did a pre row swim of short duration.
1000 swim easy
Several aggressive laps of free, watch technique, etc.

30 minutes of variable erging. It took 10 minutes to row the right lumbar loose, did some chatting with Jules(Julian), did some intervals, no set workout.

Erging Across The Indoor Pond

I have some DOMS today. Delayed Onset of Muscle Soreness from the back to back sessions on the C2. Perhaps I should get another log card and a card reader this time. I should look for interesting indoor rowing gear at the SacState Indoor Regatta on February 5. Qualifying times are posted for the opportunity to compete at the Crash-B worlds in Boston later next month. I understand there are 4 round trip tickets for winners of divisions as long as they meet the qualifying time. Times for my age group is just under 7 minutes for both light and heavy cats.
I will be happy with a very good row(7:30-45). My PR for 2K is 8:04, several years ago. I self tested about 2 months ago, spontaneously, at 8:30 and will test again this week.

I am still swimming too. Today I did a recovery swim, recovering from the erg sets of the past 2 days.
1000 swim, slow and not too neat either,,,
10X75wacky IM straight
Several 25 free, build

I have decided that I should no longer attempt the breast stroke as I am noticing deficits in my right lumbar as well as possibly irritating the epicondyles of both elbows.

Crash B Sprints

What is it you may ask?

Apparently, Crash B Sprints are the standard of indoor rowing, also known as erging amongst indoor rowing enthusiasts. 2000 Meters on the Concept2 indoor rowing machine, also known as an ergometer. The root of the word, erg, refers to energy.

I believe the competitions are known as indoor rowing regattas. I will enter the Golden State Indoor Rowing Championships planned for early February.

There is the goal where I need to focus my training. I did look at the Concept2 for the basic training and rowing tips and whatever advice there is available and I receive tweets from the rowing community which are helpful.

I may also visit Florida in April. The Y Masters Nationals in Fort Lauderdale is the same weekend of the Pacific Masters Champs.