Saturday, June 13, 2009

Saturday- June 13, 2009



So had the 4.5 Mile River Rat Race in Chattanooga this morning. It was in the TN river and I would say the water temp was about 76 maybe, very nice. Weather was perfect, partly cloudy and a little windy. 75 total participants between the 4.5 mile and 1.2 mile swim with about an even split between the distances.

So we started at a boat launch up river with us just standing at the end of the ramp and had a whistle start. I was in the front pack of about 10 or so swimmers, but in the back. The kids at the front were high school USS swimmers. I really felt horrible for the first 30 minutes. My stomach was a bit tight, breathing and stroke off and a few folks pasted me. About 1/2 into it we came around a bend and straight into a solid wind. The wind hitting the river with a swift current caused the river to feel more like an ocean for the next 20-25 minutes. It was really rough with no regular pattern to the waves. I mixed in a little backstroke and even some dolphin kicking under the waves. However this was the time to power through it and I actually caught a few people that had passed me earlier. I pushed the last 1/2 mile to the finish and passed a few folks as well. By the end I felt decent, your spirits tend to lift when you see the finish in sight.

My unofficial time was 1 hr 03 min and 10 sec I think. I'll post the official when they get posted on the net. I was first place in my age group (30-39) and I'm not sure where I was overall, maybe 10th or so? I think the winning time last year was 1:18 or so, so you can see how fast the current was this year. The overall winning time was 58:24 this year. We were actually so fast that we passed the 1.2 mile swim group before they started....the organizers did figure that the current would be THAT fast. Anyway, great event, great location, and I was asked by the organizer about helping out next year. This COULD turn into a really big event if they wanted it to.

Next up.....GA Games 5K in Lake Acworth July 12 I think.

Friday- June 12, 2009

I just got in Lake Allatoona where we have a little family cabin and swam about 30 minutes just to loosen up in preparation for tomorrow's River Rat Race in Chattanooga. I'll be up at 4:30am to ride up there with my brother. Start is about 7:30am and its a 4.5 mile swim. I'm expecting it to take 1:20-1:30.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Thursday- June 11, 2009

(3x)
1 x 200 @ 3:30, descend each round
4 x 50 Kick @ 1:15, descend 1-4
1 x 200 Pull (Buoy & Paddles) @ 3:30
4 x 50 Drill, IM order @ 1:00

3 x 200 with Snorkel & Paddles @ 3:15
-make each 50 faster

200 EZ
_____________________

3200 LCM
About 65 Minutes

-Descended down to 2:35 on last 200

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Wednesday- June 10, 2009

800 Swim (mix it up)
400 Kick
600 Pull
200 IM Drill

10 x 100 @ 1:45 w/ Snorkel
-Alternate 2 swim, 2 pull with paddles (no buoy)
-Work on head down, body roll and DPS

200 EZ
_______________________

3200 LCM
About 1 hour

-T minus 3 days until the 4.5 Mile OW swim

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Tuesday- June 9, 2009

Open Water Day:

Had to prepare a little for a phone interview tomorrow so I hit the lake late this afternoon. Did a few back and forth of the lake (about 600-800 yards is my guess each way). The first back and forth I just swam free stretching out (but not too much, I have to watch for boats as well, although its fairly quiet during the week). Then did another back and forth with just paddles.

Later we needed to pull out boat out of the water since it wouldn't start and stranded us last weekend. So with no one up there to tow us I pulled the boat with my brother in it by a rope and with my fins. It was only 12 minutes to get it over the boat ramp, but its heavy and about 500-600 yards away....you'll feel it in the hamstrings! I found the best technique was to loop the rope around my chest and do breast with freestyle kick with the fins.

So a little unconventional workout but it was nice. Will hit the pool tomorrow for about 3500 LCM just working on some technique and a few pace 100's probably in prep for the weekend.

Monday, June 8, 2009

Monday- June 8, 2009

200 Free, 50 Kick, 200 IM Drill, 50 Kick
4 x 50 @ 1:00 Descend 1-4

3 x 300 (50 Kick, 100 FR Fast, 50 Kick, 100 FR Fast) @ :20 rest
6 x 50 (25 Fly/25 FR) @ 1:00
3 x 300 (100 BR5 w/ buoy, 50 Back, 150 FR Fast) @ :20 rest
6 x 50 Kick Fast 1:20
3 x 300 (50 BR7, 50 Breast, 200 Fr Fast) @ :30 rest
6 x 50 (25 Underwater/25 EZ) @ 1:00

200 EZ
__________________

4500 LCM
About 90-95 minutes

-I was DEAD after the first set of 300's....too much sun this weekend! I just did the best I could which wasn't too fast
-I'll be tapering off the yardage and effort as the week progresses since I have the 4.5 OW swim this weekend in Chattanooga.