Saturday, February 24, 2007

This was a Good Practice

I swore to myself for the next three or four months I’d only spend time on this blog writing ‘editorials’ such as my ‘Living in the Past’ post instead of frivolous posts merely recounting my day-to-day swimming experiences. But Friday’s practice was a milestone of sorts for me so I’m indulging myself. Our practice was 2,700 meters and started out with 4 x 400s @ 7:00 composed of a free swim, a kick, a pull, and an IM. I won’t speak for the rest of my teammates but I was a little shocked seeing that IM on the board. With my recent difficulties swimming in Lane Six, however, I felt obliged to prove I belonged so when the IM came around I set out to swim it instead of, say, taking the opening fly as a drill. I eased my way through fly, recovered on the back leg, and then simply kept swimming through the breast and free. By doing so I actually finished what was my first 400 IM ever as I quit swimming before swimming the event as a youth. And because I’ve only recently begun to swim the 100 fly with fins you could even say this was my first 100 fly as well. Two more pieces of noteworthy news came this same night. I always try to work in as many back rollover turns into practice as possible now and tonight for the first time I found myself able to stop water from coming up my nose in the turn. It is difficult to convey the deep pleasure this gives me, even if I can only do it for a couple of kicks. Progress and no choking burn – could life get any better? Secondly I finally talked to Coach about needing to get some race specific training for my 200 back and he’s going to incorporate some mid-practice timed drills for me. This goes way beyond what I was expecting, which was something more along the lines of timed runs before or after the workout; but obviously to get reasonably accurate times I need to be warmed up (precluding start of practice) and not too tired (precluding end of practice). I love Hyack coaching!

5 comments:

Isis said...

Progress and no choking burn? I see you're setting your benchmarks for a good life appropriately low.

Hey, when does tax season wrap up in Canada?

Hope you're well.

Scott said...

Well, as I specialize in U.S. taxes it means my tax season formally ends on June 15, the deadline for filing 1040s for non-residents and taxpayers living abroad. But by May taxes take a backseat to completing corporate returns with a December year end, they having an end of June filing deadline. Not only does tax season suck for swimming but it also is pretty miserable for skiing too! And here I am right smack in some of the best skiing in America.

Scott said...

Oh yea, I forgot to respond to your comment about setting my standards for a good life nice and low. Actually there's nothing more pleasurable than the absence of pain. I was getting tired of every time I did a back turn, in a best case scenario, of taking water down my nose and having to clear my throat before breathing again; or worse,in about a third of my turns I take water up my sinuses and choke on the water. Geez, no wonder I dread the 200 back - I have to do seven turns to finish it. If I can get past having to pray each and every time I go into the wall I'll not suffer I'm sure not only will I become a better backstroker but I'll enjoy swimming the crappy stroke more!

Joe said...

I, for one, like reading those so-called frivolous posts merely recounting your day-to-day swimming experiences. Keep 'em coming!

Isis said...

Here's to backstroke being a crappy stroke. And here's also to reduction in pain. I didn't mean to downplay that: swimming is supposed to be fun, after all. And I agree about the prospect of 7 turns being a deterrent for the 200 back. I worry, too, about whether I'll turn over too soon and end up doing an illegal turn.

Who wants to swim on your back anyway?