Update on my training
This has been an odd season for training. Heck, my training has been off ever since last April when Alaina and I went to Puerto Rico. A combination of taking a break a few weeks before Nats in San Antonio last April, then being mentally burned out and barely swimming over the summer, then still being burned out in the fall, plus getting the chest tattoo and the requisite time out of the water for it to heal after each session, plus still dealing with the lingering after effects of burnout (for me those effects were total lack of motivation in the water, disinterest in getting up for AM practice, desire to just take it easy instead of pushing it in practice, and total lack of guilt for skipping practice for a week or more)...
The long and short of it is that I didn't start "training" training till February! Sure, I was swimming before then, but it was generally just a couple of times a week, if that, and I didn't really push it that hard in practice.
Anyways, since late last month I've been swimming regularly and am on track to get back to 6-8 practices per week starting next week, with this week being my first week of hitting all 5 weekday AM practices. I'm no longer dealing with burnout, I'm motivated in the water, and I'm pumped to be training again! I think I can realistically maintain this training velocity through Nats at the end of April.
On the plus side, with a few weeks of legit training under my belt, I'm pretty happy with my endurance in the water. Despite how much time I've been out of the water since last April, my endurance is tracking pretty closely to where I'd typically be at this point of the season. My speed, on the other hand...hasn't been great. That said, there have been flickers of actual speed here and there!
Yesterday we did a two person 500 backstroke relay, trading off by 50. I went :32, :33, :34, :34, and :34. Till yesterday, a :34 has been the fastest single 50 back I've hit in practice, so for me to have two that were faster than that, plus holding that pace for three consecutive 50s, all on less than :40r between 50s, is a great sign of progress being made in the right direction. Ideally, if I were to do that set again in mid/late April, I'd want to shave off :1-2 from each of those 50s, but for right now it's great.
My main set this morning was a long pull set. 300, 4x25 fast, 250, 4x25, 200, 4x25, 150, 4x25, 100, 4x25, 50, and 4x25. The 25s were all on :30, while the rest was just leaving on the next :30/:00, with the 300>50 being descend. I did paddles for the longer stuff, no paddles for the 25s. In my descend, I got the 100 down to a 1:11 and the 50 down to a :33. I'm pretty sure that 50 is just :1 off my best paddles pull time, and that 100 is right there, too! Given that I'd also done 5x200 pull before the main set and my shoulders and lats were tight and sore, I'm quite happy with those times.
All of that is to say that there are glimmers of speed and that my current training is pushing me in the right direction, by all indications. I wouldn't want to go to Nats this weekend, or at least I wouldn't want to go this weekend and set my typically high standards for my swims, but I'm quite happy with my training velocity and direction right now.
Potential event lineups for Nats
Ooh boy, this is a bit tricky. I'd gone into the fall thinking I'd train for the 100/200 free, 50/100 fly, and 100/200 back. On the other hand, I also really like the 100 and 200 IM, and after the 200 IM debacle in San Antonio, I kinda want to try to redeem myself in that event. On top of that, my breast has felt surprisingly decent in practice--my BR times haven't been there, of course, but the stroke itself has felt surprisingly decent, so the 100 BR is potentially on the table. The problem is that all that adds up to 9 events, and you can only swim a maximum of 6 events. Given that nearly 1300 swimmers have already signed up for the meet with a month left to go before the entry deadline, I'm guessing there's a pretty good chance that people will only be allowed to swim 5 events instead of the normal 6. The 100 free, 200 free, and 100 back are the only events that I'm definitely doing, with the other events all vying for the final 2 or 3 slots.
I've got 3 meets, possibly 4, between now and the entry deadline, so my goal is to get through most of those potential events and see how I comparatively stack up in each one. I came into this season not planning to do any breast, but if it turns out it's actually legit this season and is comparatively better than another stroke/event on the list, then I'll just suck it up and swim it at Nats.
My first meet in this sprint to Nats is this weekend, where I'm doing the 100 back and 100 breast. I hadn't planned on doing any breast at meets this season, but with the order of events at that meet and my breast feeling decent lately, it's the only one that works out besides the 100 back, and I'm not going to a meet to only swim one event, so 100 breast it is.
So, all that said, here are my potential lineups at Nats, depending on which events I decide to do. I'm keeping myself to no more than 2 events per day, so that also complicates things given the order of events at Nats. Day 3 is locked in, it's the event lineups for Day 1 and 2 that have several potential variations.
- Day 1 potential lineups
- Option 1: 200 IM, 100 free
- Option 2: 200 back, 100 free
- Option 3: 100 breast, 100 free
- Day 2 potential lineups
- Option 1: 100 fly, 100 IM
- Option 2: 100 fly, 50 back
- Option 3: 100 IM, 50 back
- Day 3 lineup
- 100 back, 200 free
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