The aftermath

Had a great meet yesterday!

The meet was off to a very slow start--10 minutes before the meet began, they discovered the bulkhead was set in the wrong position...and that the starter left the starting equipment at home, so he had to go back and get it...and they didn't print enough heat sheets for everyone...

So, the meet finally kicked off an hour and a half late.

In order, I swam the 50 fly, 100 back, 100 fly, and 50 back.  I had about an hour and twenty minute break between the 100 back and 100 fly.

50 fly: My entered time was a short course meters conversion of my time at the last meet, which was a short course yards meet.  I was entered as a 32.70 and went a 31.28.  That converts to right around a 28.00 in yards, I think.  I had a terrrrrrible start--blanked out at the beep and froze for split second, then pretty much just fell off the block.  Not my best start ever.  And I was a bit less than half a pull too far from the wall at the turn, so it ended up a longer turn than I'd have liked.  If I'd nailed the start and turn, I might have been able to hit around a 30.2.  Still, not half bad at all!  That's my goal (at least, that time converted to SCY) for the next meet, in January!

100 back: Relatively decent start (back starts have never been my strong suit), but my turns at the 25 and 75 (the bulkhead end of the pool) were long.  Entered as a 1.17.99 and went a 1.14.97.  That would convert to a 1.07.17 in SCY.  Still QUITE a bit off my old time, but substantially better than my time at the last meet.  My splits for the two 50s were only 4 seconds apart, so my pacing was pretty good.  However, I still gotta get my overall backstroke speed up, since I should be a good deal faster.

100 fly: I messed this one up pretty badly.  I had almost an hour and a half between the 100 back and this one, but didn't think to warm up beforehand, so my shoulders and back were pretty tight by the time I dove in.  Anyways, I took the first 50 out in waaaaay too slow of a pace (more like a steady 200 fly pace rather than 100 fly sprint pace) and then my lats and back tightened up pretty badly when I tried to sprint the second 50 to correct for the first lackadaisical 50.  Needless to say, it was not my most stellar 100 fly I've swum... :-)  On the plus side, I had a pretty good start and nailed all my turns, although I glided into the finish.  My splits were 7 seconds apart, so my pacing wasn't very good.  Took it out about two and a half seconds slower than I should have and then locked up.  I think this is the first time I've swum a 100 fly without doing drill as a Masters swimmer.  I did a 1:16.69, which translates to around a 1:08.7 SCY.  Not terribly shabby for a first swim, but definitely gives me a goal to improve upon!  In addition, with how tight my lats were for this swim, I think I'm going to have to dive back into my pullup/chinup/pushup routine, which I've neglected since the spring.  Those exercises will bulk up my lats and the fronts of my shoulders, so that should help out a bit.

50 back: This was only 12 minutes after the 100 fly and I had a pretty significant lactic acid buildup by this point, due to not being able to warm down as much as I'd have liked.  Decent start (didn't have any issues with slipping on the pads in either back start this time, as opposed to the last meet), but went a bit deep.  Good turn, but misjudged the finish, so I glided a bit.  Went a 35.29, which was faster than my entered time of 35.39, but it was only about half a second faster than the first 50 in my 100 back.  Not as fast as it could have been, but better than last time.

Takeaways:  My backstroke still needs work.  I'm getting my pacing down a bit better, but my overall speed needs work--I'm further off my old speed in backstroke than I am in fly or free.  We used to get filmed with an underwater camera from time to time back in highschool, so I know how my backstroke looked back then.  We've got and underwater filming session this coming Saturday at practice, so I'll compare my backstroke now to how it had been, to see if my stroke is the culprit, or if I just am not a backstroker anymore.  My 50 fly was pretty darn good, turn and start aside.  Since we rarely do more than a 50 or 75 of fly at a time in practice, I'll have to figure out how to get in more endurance work on fly, since my 100 wasn't all that hot.  On a side note, either my Aquablade jammers stretched out (in length) since the last time I wore them, or my thighs have shrunk in length.  I don't remember having to adjust the length of them that much when I used to wear them in highschool.

Overall, I had a blast at the meet!

Edit: I just looked up the USMS National Qualifying Times.  The meet is in late April (after my birthday), so I'll be aging up then and swimming in the 25-29 age group (if I make any cuts, of course). Per the cuts for that age group, going by my converted times from this meet, I'm 3.49 seconds off in the 50 back, 5.64 seconds off the 100 back, 9.6 seconds off the 100 fly, and 1.25 seconds off the 50 fly. 
If I were to go by the 18-24 age group cuts, I'd be 2.59 seconds off the 50 back, 4.05 seconds off the 100 back, 8.41 seconds off the 100 fly, and 1.01 seconds off the 50 fly.

Of these times, I think the fly times are the most achievable.  Should be able to get the 50 fly, and if I can get my pacing for the 100 fly down, should be able to get that too.  The jury's out on my backstroke.

If my understanding of the rules is correct, if I make a Nationals cut, I can swim up to three events I don't have a cut for, in addition to whatever I have a cut in.