For the State Games

Early Wednesday morning greeted the Plate City crew with 53 degrees. Yeah, it was nice like that. It was light legs and deadlift day. We worked hard, even Vicki. We squatted, did deadlifts, and finished up with a circuit of swim cords, Skierg, and swim cords. That one had us huffing like old men who had done too much. Well, OK, one of us was an old man, but even the young folks were breathing really hard. This should pay dividends in the pool.

Wednesday is also my long day at school. So by the time I had taught four straight classes and done my office time, I was one tired puppy. Nevertheless, I went out for a shuffle as soon as I got home and ran 3.27 miles. 

Tyler pushed the time of our swim back to 7:00 p.m. I had a doozy dialed up. On paper it looked like this:

800

700 first and last 100 fast

600 middle 200 fast

500 first, third, and fifth 100 fast

400 easy

300 middle 100 fast

200 paddles

150 back

50 for me 25 breast/25 free; for Tyler 50 for time

total: 3,700 yards = 3,381 meters

In the water, our practice felt like death. Not really, but it was a tough one. I liked it. I have not talked to Tyler about it yet, but I hope he liked it too because I want to make small adjustments to it and repeat it from time to time, maybe once every two weeks. As I told him in the pool, "This one is not for quadrathon. This one is for the State Games."

Tyler swam his last 50 for time. I recorded him at 30.1. The last time he swam for time, it was 30.24. The thing is, not only is that a sizable improvement, he did it after 3,650 yards of tough swimming, AND my thumb slipped when I tried to stop the watch. He swam faster by a tenth, two tenths, three tenths, I don't know how much. Also, that was from a push off the wall, not a dive start.

I did notice something. He flipped at :13 and finished in :30. We need to work on 50 race endurance. The word for that is stamina, but that word no longer mean anything. So I use the term race-pace endurance. We will do that in three ways: 1. Absolute endurance. That never hurts. 2. 25s. We will work on both ends of the 50. 3. 75s. We are going to swim 75s all out to build endurance over the last 25 of a sprint. 4. 50s. The most we have swum in one practice is 15. We need to get that to 20 and then up.

I thought you said three ways. You listed four.

Correct, thanks for noticing. I was just seeing if you were really paying attention.  

So it was another big training day on all three fronts. Quadrathon is coming. The Senior Olympics is coming. The State Games are coming. Viking is coming. Jesus is coming. He really is, and if you do not know Him, talk to Him today. He really is approachable. Ask Him to forgive your sins. He will. The Bible says He is "mighty to save." (Zephaniah 3:17)