Sunday Summary

I took it easy Friday, but Saturday was a huge day. Randy and I met at the pond with the plans to swim about five-miles without a feeding. We were just starting lap six when a fish collided with my right hand. I felt the fin go into the flesh of my right hand below the thumb. The pain was immediate and excruciating, and the hand would not move for probably twenty-minutes. It was not too easy to swim out with one arm and a paralyzed hand. The swim was over for me. Randy finished lap six and got out. I made 3.9 miles before I tapped out due to fish fin submission. The pain lasted about an hour and then faded rapidly.

I went home, bathed, doctored and soaked the hand and napped. After some good college football, I got up and went for a run. My legs were seriously tired, but I kept shuffling aiming for eight or more miles. I got in 8.5 and although the pace was embarrassingly slow, I threw in some T pace intervals and even just a bit of speed work.

For the week, I swam 13,145 meters, ran 23,94 miles, and lifted weights both upper and lower body.

Good Food Weekend Possible

My wife took a couple of vacation days and she and her mom went to Nashville to see Penny's brother. I am sitting home, hanging out with the animals and realizing that I have an opportunity to go a whole week now without eating out. Penny and I always go out on Friday and we also eat out for Sunday lunch. I have become convinced that every single time you eat out, you gain weight no matter what you order. With the chance to stay out of restaurants, I should lose some weight.

Another advantage is the house is very quiet and I have had a chance to work on the presentation I have to make for my Humanities Teacher of the Year award. I am actually looking forward to this as I have chose as my topic, "The Confluence of Avocation and Vocation." In short, I will detail my play and how it affects my pay. Life is good.

As far as training goes, I don't have to worry about getting home before the wife gets antsy. Randy wants to swim the pond Saturday, and I want to do a long run. Now I have time to do both.

Today I did

Squat 12 X 30
Squat 10 X 40
Immediately ran 4.03 miles and walked .59 miles
Squat 6 X 50
Squat 6 X 55

I went to Twin Rivers and did a simple 2,300 straight.

Training and Next Year's Birthday Swim

I didn't get to the pool Monday because I really needed to get some yard work done, and as usual I lifted weights between sessions of yard mowing. It works well for me. I also managed 2.75 miles of shuffling. I don't feel too much pressure to pile on the distance right now since I am tapering down for the Suck which is now less than two weeks away.

Tuesday I did an M-pace run of 6.4 miles. Most of the run was an easy shuffle, but I inserted two .66 intervals @ 9:16 and 9:17 respectfully. My perception of late is that I need to work my lower back more so I did Dead Lifts of 8 X 120, 7 X 125, and 7 X 125 after the run. At DSU, I did a total of 5,000 yards which translates  into 4,570 meters.

Wednesday, I only did a 2.25 mile shuffle and seven box jumps before walking to work for my film class. I was just too tired to swim. The plan is to bust out a pretty good one Thursday.

Despite all the trash talking I've been doing on Facebook, Randy wants to train together Saturday. I suppose we will go to the pond. Last year we did a 4.95 mile swim at Chicot the Saturday before our epic race. I hope he doesn't want to go too far. At this point, we are either in shape or not. I have the endurance to swim about as long as I want to right now; however, I'm not overly confidant about my pacing ability. I should be fittest of my life for the water, but my pool times haven't been spectacular of late. That could have something to do with my main competition, Randy and Margarete, being absent. Outside of the Oaks day, I haven't seen Randy at the pool in months, although we have trained some together in the open water. I don't know where Margarete has been but she pushes me to swim hard when she is in the pool.

Anyway, believe it or not, I am ready to slow my swimming down some. After the Suck, I plan to swim primarily at DSU through the rest of the year. Beginning in January, I will start slowly ramping the distance back up for my next birthday swim. I don't remember if I've written on this blog of my latest thoughts on that or not. Now, I am thinking of going back to Chicot. I had been contemplating  Ross Barnett until Wilson Carroll told me about two bad encounters he had in the water with an alligator at Old Trace Park. That is where I was planning to start my swim. I ain't no gator boy. As of now the plan is for at least a 16-mile swim on June 1 of 2013. I may up that number depending on how training goes after January 1.

Sunday Summary

Took a nice nap with Luvie today. For the week, I dropped from 30,000 meters to 17,344 meters of swimming. Running I got in 23.2 miles. I got some lower body weight work in but no upper body work. I need at least one more big upper body weight session before the Suck and I plan to drop the yardage to around 14,000 or maybe 15,000. I hope to hit around 25 miles running. For the year, I have swum 719,328.27 meters for 447 miles. Running, I've logged 454.86 miles.

Bad Hair Robin and Long Run

I didn't even think about going to the pool today. My taper for the Suck has started, although I still got in a decent amount of yardage this week. I didn't do the DSU Tri because I just didn't want to get up, opting instead to sleep in and drink extra coffee on the back patio where I was joined by a robin for breakfast. Notice that she looks a little haggard. She was only four feet from me while one of our cats napped in a chair nearby. Poor thing was obviously hungry. The economy must be bad for birds as well as us.

When I finally drank the coffee pot dry, I hunted up my running shoes and went for what, by my present standards, is a long run. I got a lot of dirt under my shoes running river banks and turn rows. I only managed eight miles at an embarrassingly slow pace, but eight miles is the most I've done in years.

Thank you God. I had fun.

A Cat and a Movie

Like last week, instead of going to Masters at DSU, I stayed in town Thursday to run and swim at Twin Rivers. Before my run, I did a couple of sets of super light squats.

10 X 30
10 X 40

And then ran:

1.25 @ 10:49
1.51 @ 9:21
1.26 @ 10:56
Walk .54

And then more squats

6 X 50
5 X 55

At the pool I swam

1,300
400 back kick/swim by 50s with fins
10 X 100 @ 2:00
400 back kick/swim by 50s with fins
8 X 100 @ 1:58
400 back kick/swim by 50s with fins
6 X 100 @ 1:56
200 easy
Total: 5,100 meters

Friday morning I slept late and then watched some movies and documentaries in preparation for my Wednesday night film class. The dog, Jeff, and the cat, Luvie, really enjoyed hanging out with me and I them. Instead of going to the pond, as I usually do on Fridays, I went back to Twin Rivers. There I swam

1,500
500 back kick/swim with fins by 50s
100 easy
500 for time 8:25 (1:40)
500 back kick/swim with fins by 50s
300 for time 4:58 (1:39)
500 back kick/swim with fins by 50s
250 for  time 4:08 (1:38)
50 easy
500 back kick/swim with fins by 50s
200 for time 3:16 (1:38)
500 back kick/swim with fins by 50s
150 for time 2:26 (1:37)
500 back kick/swim with fins by 50s
100 for time 1:36
300 small paddles
Total: 6,500 meters
Water temp 77 degrees

I did no running and took my wife to Flatland Grill for dinner. We ate a nice steak and came home and lounged the rest of the night. I decided against doing the DSU Triathlon primarily because I just didn't want to get up early. I'd rather spend more time with Penny, my wife, and Luvie. He has been extremely loving of late and I always felt a need to try to satiate an affectionate tomcat.

Suck Drawing Near

After running the Oaks Saturday, I realize that what I have been calling T pace (tempo) was only M pace (marathon). I guess that's one reason a person should race now and then. It's OK because M pace is as fast as I need to run right now anyway. Monday, I shuffled an easy 2.7 in the rain. The temp was about 65 and at that it was no problem staying warm. Due to the rain, I did not, however, lift weights.

Tuesday I did a 6.3 miler with a one-mile M pace thrown in starting at 4.13. I feels good to open it up a little now and then. At that pace, my legs don't get beat up too bad and the fatigue level doesn't get too high. I went to DSU and we did

1,000 warm up
400 fins and paddles
2 X 200 fins @ 3:00
4 X 100 swim @ 2:00
8 X 50 @ 1:00
250 back kick with fins
16 X 25
300 small paddles
Total: 3,550 yards = 3,244.7 meters

Wednesday I did an easy 2.21 and then six box jumps. At Twin Rivers, I swam

1,000
11 X 100 @ 2:00
400 easy
Total: 2,500

The water wasn't too bad. I didn't measure it, but I guess low 70s. After the rain and the 40 degree nights, I expected worse which is really what I need seeing the Suck is here in just over two weeks now. The water there is cold and I am not putting on weight this year to deal with hypothermia. Last year, it took me two weeks to put on ten pounds and then forty five weeks to take it off. No joke. I will be interesting to see how I react. The temp is supposed to hit forty again tonight so I will swim outdoors tomorrow. By Friday, the catfish pond should be pretty cool.

Sunday Summary

I had a good week of training and it is now time to start tapering down for the Suck. I got in 21.17 miles of running, which makes three 20-milers in a row. Maybe after three and a half years, I'm about to get my running back. The 300 Oaks was fun and I ran a 52:28, about a minute slower than last year. Considering I ran everyday and swam a 10K the day before, I guess that wasn't too bad.

Although I only swam four times, I managed 30,128 meters and two 10Ks. Friday was at the pond and Saturday Randy and I swam 12,100 at Twin Rivers after running the Oaks. For the year I am at 701,983.47 meters (436.28 miles). My running is still behind the swimming at only 431.66 miles. But my numbers are up and my weight is down. Things are looking good for the Suck and maybe some good running this winter. The Swim the Suck is gong to be big this year, and I get to meet a couple of my heroes: Penny Palfry and Martin Strehl.

I have not yet decided how much training I'll do next week, but not over one 10K swimming, and if I do that, it will be the last one before my race. I do plan to do more sets of long course 100s @ 2:00 and below. Over the years, I have become convinced that those are the most productive sets one can do for building speed and strength in the water. They also are not bad for endurance when the rest intervals are short. I have the endurance to swim all day. Now, I need to focus on quality sets to give me the speed and the nerve to go out hard in a long swim and not fear dying.

Thursday through Saturday

Like last week, I stayed home instead of going to DSU to save time and energy for my Friday swim. I did an easy 2.12 mile shuffle and then went to Twin Rivers where I swam

1,200
10 X 100 @ 2:00
400 easy
8 X 100 @ 1:59
400 easy
Total: 3,800 meters

Friday I went to the pond and shuffled a super easy 1.5 between laps. I totaled 6.23 miles for my 16th 10K + of the year.

Randy towers above the crowd before the start of the Oaks.

Saturday was the 300 Oaks 10K and since it is in my hometown, I always try to run it. I was a little disappointed in my time which was 52:28. Last year I was about forty seconds faster. That time did, however, earn me 2nd place in my age group. Randy was about a minute ahead of me and he placed also. In addition to the 10K, we shuffled through the Fun Run giving us 7.2 miles of running for the day.

After the awards ceremony, Randy, Robin, and I went to Twin Rivers. Robin swam about an hour. Randy and I did 8 X 1500 (the eight was 1600) for 12,100 meters. So all in all it was a pretty heavy training day. This was my first time to run and swim a 10K in one day. For Randy, it was his third.

Wednesday

I did a gently 2.12 shuffle at lunch today since I had an English Department meeting in the afternoon. My legs were a little recovered from Tuesday's interval training, but not completely. After the meeting, I went to Twin Rivers and did

1,200
10 X 100 @ 2:00
400 easy
8 X 100 @ 1:59
400 easy
Total: 3,800 LCM

Tomorrow I plan on a pond swim, but no more eight and nine-milers. With the Suck just three weeks away, it is time to start a gently taper. The plan is for a 10K, and then Saturday after the 10K run, Randy and I plan a 10K in the pool. Those will be the last the 10Ks until October the 6th which will finish the open water season for me.

Monday through Wednesday

The goal this week is to get fresh for the 300 Oaks road race while maintaining some decent mileage and of course keeping my swim training up. Monday I did a gentle 2.65 miles as shuffling and a pretty big weight workout. Tuesday I hit 5.5 that was multi-paced but freestyled, not having the workout reprogrammed in the Garmin. It went as

1.25 @ 10:34
.25 @ 7:54
.25 @ 10:59
.25 @ 7:54
.27 @ 11:32
.25 @ 8:00
.25 @ 11:47
.25 @ 7:55
.27 @ 12:12
.15 @ 7:16
2.07 @ 11:40
Walk .57

At DSU I did

750 warmup
400 :20 r
300 :15 r
200 :10 r
100 hard
100 easy
400 fins and paddles :15 r
300 f and p :10 r
200 f and p :05r
100 hard
250 kick
400 as 50 kick/50 swim
400 (supposed to be 300) 25 back kick/75 swim
200 swim
500 easy
Total: 4,600 yards = 4,204 meters

Wednesday I did an easy 2.22 shuffle. I had planned to go to Twin Rivers and swim, but I was so tired I took a nap instead.

Sunday Summary

To all two of my readers, I want to apologize for my absence the last few days. Internet issues, which amounted to nothing more than a switch on my computer, have kept me offline since at least Tuesday. Duh!! I'd still be offline if not for my long suffering wife who tracked down the problem.

Wednesday I did another mild tempo run since the 300 Oaks 10K is next Saturday. I did

2.58 @ 10:50
.52 @ 9:32
.3 @ 12:39
.4 @ 9:30
.3 @ 13:00
.3 @ 9:56
1.04 @ 14:12
Walk 1.35

for a total of 5.43 run and 1.35 walk. I also went to Twin Rivers and did

1,800
300 back kick/swim with fins by 50s
6 X 50 @ 1:00 medium paddles
100 easy
Total 2,500 Long Course Meters

I work on Wednesday nights teaching a Film as Literature class. We watched American Beauty. Super film.

My biggest training swim to date.

Thursday I did an easy 2.15 mile shufffle and because I was so tired, I went to Twin Rivers instead of driving to DSU. I did

2,000
200 kick with fins
10 X 100 @ 2:00
200 back kick/swim by 50s with fins
Total: 4,000 meters

Friday I was all alone at the pond. I swam, by laps, 9.3 miles. The fish are becoming very aggressive.

Saturday I decided on another multi-paced run to tune myself up for the Oaks. I did it sort of free style, lapping my Garmin manually and running by feel. I did

1.3 @ 10:45
.13 @ 7:43
.63 @ 10:54
.12 @ 7:50
.7 @ 11:21
2.31 @ 8:53 (20:30 of tempo pace)
.43 @ 11:53
393 feet @ 8:48 (going up Tallahatchie Bridge)
1.33 @ 11:31
Walk .16
Total: 7.01 run/.16 walk

That afternoon, I walked another 1.1 miles while working in the yard and did a monster weight session for my swimming and swim support muscles.

For the week, I ran 22.39 miles. walked 5.61 miles, and swam 26,307 meters for my second consecutive 20/20 week. I am coming along nicely for the Suck, but I am just now really starting to run a bit. I'm just not sure how it will go at the Oaks. I am a little lighter and a little fitter than last year but just a little.

Monday and Tuesday

Since I had to take my mom to the doctor Tuesday, I moved my tempo run to Monday. I did

2.55 @ 10:47
.5 @ 9:19
.25 @ 11:29
.4 @ 9:21
1.5 @ 12:02
Walk 1.02

for 5.2 miles of running and 1.02 of walking. I got another .7 miles of walking in mowing the back yard. I also lifted weights while mowing the yard. That has become my habit, to do a circuit of weights, followed by some mowing, then back to the weights. It works well for me, and I am sure  it helps my swimming. When I missed two straight weeks of lifting a while back, my swimming suffered.

After work and before Mom's appointment, I did a 2.6 mile shuffle. I didn't have time to get to my daughter's but at DSU I did

1,000 warm up
400 as 50 kick (no fins)/50 swim
8 X 50 as 4 50 fast/50 easy; 4 50 easy/50 fast
12 X 100 @ 2:30
300 pull with paddles
20 X 50
1,000 small paddles
Total: 5,300 scys = 4,844.2 meters

Sunday Summary

For the first time in a long, long time, I got in twenty-miles of running this week. It always seemed to me that twenty-miles was were I started coming around, getting in shape, building a base. I do not plan to up my mileage over a tenth of a mile or two for several weeks to come. I am just as happy as a dead pig in the sunshine to be able to run that much after a little over three and one half years of injury issues.

I also got in 26, 547 meters of swimming and a long swim of 8.17 miles. Like the twenty-miles of running, 20,000 metes of swimming was always my endurance threshold. Swimming that much, I can knock off some real mileage if the occasion arises. To get my double twenty, twenty-miles of running and 20,000 + metes of swimming in one week, established a first for me. I hope it's not the last.

I did no biking but did get in one good weightlifting session. For the year I have

Run: 388.8 miles
Swum: 645,547.57 meters  = 401.2 miles
I am 150,201 meters ahead of last year's swimming and 1.48 miles of running behind last year.

With the Oaks coming up, I hope to get in another twenty-miles of running and a long swim of over 8.5.

Alone at the Pond

Thursday I shuffled 7.35 miles in Isaac. After a nap at my daughter's, I went to Masters and got in 4,800 SCY. The main set was 4 X 800 done as

1 and 3 = 25 hard/ 25 easy with fins
2 and 4 = 50 dolphin kick on back/ 50 swim with fins
It was a lot more difficult than it sounds. After the cool down, I usually do extra swimming. After the cool down, I got out and went home.

My wife was off work Friday so I did a little 2.15 shuffle and then we went to Jackson. Saturday morning, I got up and went to the pond. I don't know where Randy was because he didn't answer my text from Friday. He may have gone to Florida as he had planned before Isaac came along. His plan was to go somewhere about an hour east of Pensacola to some spring fed body of water for some cold water training in preparation for the Suck. He could have stayed home.

I didn't take the temperature but I suspect it was in the 70s. If we swim outdoors from now until then (Oct 6), we will be acclimated. With the lengthening and cooling nights, the water temp is steadily easing its way downward. I swam 8.17 miles. My pace was pretty slow, but it was eight-miles, I was alone, and it was very choppy. The chop, from the nine to fifteen mile per hour winds, makes a real difference. I took a little 2.15 mile run, and left needing a nap.

The Suck is exactly five weeks away. With a two-week taper, that leaves three weeks of cramming in all the swimming I can. I hope to get at least one swim a little longer than this one, and I need some long course speed work.