Category: Swimming

Training Recap – July 27

Taaaper. Or at least a miniature one.

Swim night! My favorite. Got to write the workout for the group – here it is:

Warm Up 
250 Swim (bilateral breathing freestyle)
200 Drill / Free by lap (odds catch-up, evens swim; still bilateral breathing)
100 Kick (choice – board, no board, stomach or back)
50 Choice (down and back to get ready for main set)
Main Set
2x through the Main Set – take a minute or two between rounds
1×300 (swam as 4×75 continuous [no breaks], build each 75 to 80/85% speed and start over)
1×200 (hold race pace [your race pace for your distance])
1×100 (sprint laps 1 and 4; easy in the middle)
200 Warm Down
(2000 total)

This can easily be adjusted to be a longer workout. The main set is currently 1200 yards. Wanna hit 3k? Go 4 times through the main set – boom, 3200 yards.

I felt great tonight, which was a relief after not feeling awesome all weekend.

Training Recap – July 25

You may choose to ignore it, but there is life in the open water.

My training buddy and I were standing at water’s edge in San Francisco’s Aquatic Park today, when not 5 yards away, a harbor seal was scouting the beach.

I know what you’re thinking – you’re in San Francisco, wouldn’t that be a sea lion? Nope, nope, nope. I promise. It was absolutely a little harbor seal’s face staring back at us from the cold water.

Look at this little face. Super cute, don't necessarily want an "Arrested Development"-esque surprise.
Look at this little face. Super cute, don’t necessarily want an “Arrested Development”-esque surprise.

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Sandman Preview

I went to a classic theater in Oakland a few weeks ago to watch Jaws on the big screen. Great idea for an open water swimmer.

It was 2 days after I had registered for the Sandman Triathlon in Aptos, California (August 2).

And you know what was discovered the day before that? Fifteen great white shark pups hanging out around the Cement Ship – the focal point of the Sandman swim. You hear pups, and you may think, aw, cute, babies.

THESE BABIES ARE 7-8 FEET LONG.

Don’t get me wrong – I love sharks. What a truly awesome animal. But I don’t really want to swim through a herd of baby great whites during this triathlon.

What a glorious swim course. Just hope the natives aren't too territorial.
What a glorious swim course. Just hope the natives aren’t too territorial.

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Training Recap – July 12

Productive Sunday mornings feel great.

Did you get a good workout in today? I got to swim in Aquatic Park in San Francisco with an old teammate. He’s training for a Channel Crossing (as in, English Channel) – whoa. That’s a little long for me! And he’s training to follow real open water rules. As in no wet suit.

Fortunately, that means he’s training at a pace that I can keep up with.

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The Call of the Open Water

Oh my gawd it’s frisson* out here!

*Frisson – A moment of intense excitement; a shudder (don’t worry, I had to look it up)

How do you feel about open water swimming? It seems like it’s a really divisive topic – people hate it, people love it, people hate-love it…  Regardless of your feelings, “frisson” definitely captures the feeling of the open water.

My first open water experiences were brief, poorly planned excursions with my swim team in Santa Cruz. Hanging out on the beach, a coach would suggest we swim out to the buoy and back. I hated it. So cold! So scary! So not-what-I-wanted-to-be-doing-on-my-day-off!

This is about as close as I'll get without wearing a wetsuit.
This is about as close as I’ll get without wearing a wetsuit.

Continue reading “The Call of the Open Water”