2011 Look Back ++ 2012: Look Ahead

2011 Look Back: I learned that I'm actually rather sloooooow, despite my naive beliefs to the contrary when comparying myself to other lap swimmers. :cane: I learned that my stroke technique was off and I had no EVF, my kick is weak and I relied to much on gliding. Ohh.. also I need to build up some more strength! I also learned that I do really want to be faster and I gained motivation to start working more seriously on my swimming. :banana: 2012 Look Ahead: I aim to get regular swims in each week, as well as dryland training and not allow myself to take a couple months off of working out! :bed: I plan on kicking faster and incorporating my kick smoothly into my stroke, getting faster at breaststroke, IM, and freestyle and to get my freestyle 50yd time to 30 seconds or less. Thanks to Masters Swimming and everyone on the forums that help to keep me inspired, motivated and working hard! Cheers and Happy New Year! :drink: -J

2011: Look Back What did you accomplish in 2011? What were some of your best swims? In Meets In Practice What were your goals? How'd your results compare with your goals What did you learn in 2011? What else should you ask and answer? PB in the 50 free and fly. Learned that my progression has flattened. Gains will be more difficult. Learned that video feedback is crucial. I discovered flaws in my freestyle. 2012: Look Ahead What would you like to accomplish in 2011? What are your goals? What are your plans? How are you going to train? What events are you going to race? What meets do you plan to go to? What would you like to learn in 2012? What else should you ask and answer? goal is to meet national yard cuts in 50 free, 50 fly, 100 IM and 100 free. Plan to do it by dropping 20 lbs. Swimdaily, I started swimming 7 years ago at age 40. It's a great new challenge in life and I love it.

2011 Accomplishments: PB's in 100 breaststroke, 50 fly, and 100 IM. (Best swims for year) Swam on three Top 10 LCM relays Got my breaststroke stroke count down from 15 to 10 on a :20, 25yd from a push off, and from 12-12 strokes to 10-10 strokes on a :43, 50yd from a push off. Improved my breaststroke turns and pullouts Improved my backstroke and got it down from :23 to :20 from a push off. FLOG'd 380+ miles for the year; my original GTD goal was 275 (which I thought was appropriate, given my 262 miles in 2010). 2011 Goals: Achieved goals included above, but didn't make NQT in 100 breaststroke, which was one of my goals. What did I learn? I have a weak kick and especially need to improve it in backstroke and fly! :censor: That my body CAN handle swimming 380 miles in a year; even after the major shoulder surgery I had. :bliss: Training for the 200 breaststroke :censor: and I'm trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. My race times prove that I am definitely a sprinter! 2012 Goals: Keep having FUN! If it's not fun, don't do it. Fortunately, almost everything swimming related was fun this year. GTD goal = 400 miles Make NQT for SCY 100 breaststroke = 1:29.06 Make NQT for SCY 50 free and/or PB = :31.03 (PB is :33.29; NQT is a bit of a stretch) Swim a PB in 100IM: Need to hit 1:27.48 Swim a PB in 50 bk: Need to hit :44.12 Swim a PB in 50 fly: Need to hit :41.30 Break :40 in 50 breaststroke (PB is :38.90, but hit it in September 2010 and only hit :40.55 this year.) Swim Max. 8 individual events at Auburn, Feb. 11-12 Compete at SCY Nationals Compete at Athens LCM meet and hopefully get our relay team back together to beat our own state record and Top 10 ranking/time. Compete at Dixie Zones Compete at Senior Games Compete in PTC Pentathlon Compete in St. Nick's Throw in some other developmental meets in between Training and meet focus: Continue swimming 6x wk; T-Th in coached program Continue weights 2-3x wk Training priorities: 50 & 100 breaststroke, followed by 50 free and 100IM Work on kick strength/speed! Continue working on stroke technique in all four strokes So, Ande, how about you? :D

I joined masters in 2011 after about a 40 year break from organized swimming. This has been a huge positive in my life. No matter how much I have on my mind when I wake up, I feel great and peaceful after our morning 2500-3000 yd workouts. Actually I try to schedule difficult meetings right after swim. In addition to being a lot slower than I was overall, I discovered that my kick, which had been what I did best, had really deteriorated. Flip turns once were automatic, but, unlike riding a bicycle, it seems that I have to learn how to do them again. My goal for 2012 is to go under 30s in the 50, which I believe is a NQT for me. I know I can do this with a little more from the kick and turning the turn into a positive instead of a negative. So the plan is to work on the turn and SDK, getting some help from our coaches, do a lot of kick sprints, and start a little lifting. I'll do the 50 and 100 free and the 50 fly in meets. I never could do those "distance" events longer than 100 and I'm not gonna start now. Best to all....Tom

2011 Look-Back Last January, I timidly started to learn to swim, having had only 2 weeks of lessons at the age of 6. I found that I loved being able to work at a sport that demanded so much technical precision, and that swimming was a perfect match for my temperament and my body type. After blowing a disc in my back in June, I decided to stop pretending that I liked to run and bike, and I instead upped my swimming from 3x/week to 6x/wk. The added time paid off. I'm not "fast" but I'm "faster" than I was, and getting faster. I've been bugged by the idea that I hear that an adult who begins to swim will always be identifiable as an "adult onset" swimmer. I am doing my best to keep my adult onset status a secret, and I am now getting comments from swimmers that don't know me, asking "did you swim in high school?" :bliss: Why, no I didn't, but I'm so glad to confuse you!:) I also learned the other three strokes, with varying degrees of stamina at the present time. I'm finding that fly and dolphin kicking REALLY have had good crossover applications to freestyle. I love fly--just wish I could swim more than one pool length consecutively. I'm finding the love for breaststroke. Backstroke, to be honest, feels like a long drawn out drowning, but I'm sure that will improve as well. 2012 Look-ahead Lower my 100 m freestyle time to under 2 min. I think I'm getting close. I hope by the year end that my time is WAY under 2 min. Make flip turns SOP. More consecutive lengths of fly. I dunno--is 100 m attainable in one year? "Even out" my ability/technique in the non-freestyle strokes so that I can do (not race) an IM in a dignified manner. Meaning no EMT's on standby. I have a plan to swim in an open water swim relay race in fall 2012. Have team pretty much in place, a good group of swimmers that are faster than me and in it for the fun, because if I'm swimmin' it, we ain't winnin' it! As spring comes, I'll start doing open water work again.

Essay here! Can't help it, I'm a writer. I tried to make it so there's no big blocks, just easily digested bits. 2011 in Review I began the year with 27.53, 58.93, 2:18.98, and 6:08.85 times in the 50, 100, 200, and 500 freestyle events, respectively. Last January, I dropped over a second in the 50 to bring that time down to 26.35. That was the last swim of a terribly disappointing meet for me, personally, but where I didn't give up and I kept on going, fighting the battle, fighting for every inch of ground so I could find victory sooner another day. That day came sooner than I thought when I finished the meet with that awesome 50 free. It was all the more surprising because I had been sick the week before and just two weeks before I had been out of the water for a week because of Christmas. That same month, I brought my in-season time in the 500 down to 6:19. The October before, it had been at 6:30. In February, I dropped the time down to 6:11- passing my taper PB of 6:08.85 from April '10 seemed quite imminent. At the same meet in February, I took a chunk out of my 200 time by dropping over 6.5 seconds to go 2:12.44. I also took a small nibble out of my 100 free time, just thirty milliseconds faster than what I started the year with. After a great start to the year, the month of March heralded the beginning of what was to me, well, a long march. I would have no meets until May, and just tons and tons of training before then. That April, most of the team began a taper that I would not be sharing, but I did experience the first half of the taper and I swam like never before. The end result was that despite the fact that I was once again sick the week before my May LCM meet, I had huge expectations. Disaster struck, my wax wings melted, and I slouched away from the meet, clearly still on the tail-end of being ill. What followed was two entire weeks out of the water, with very little sleep, while I crammed for my finals. One Friday in the middle of May, after my finals were over, I returned to the pool for a long-course practice. We did a set of 10x100s from a dive. I will never forget that feeling like I was flailing in water. It was the worst I felt in the water since, well, my very first day swimming for exercise in November three years ago. My target taper meet was but two months away! Before July was a period in my swimming that I've come to refer as my own "Invasion of Russia in Winter." Have you ever tried to invade Russia in the winter? Napoleon tried. He wasn't very successful. On the all-time top ten list of the most futile endeavors ever, invading Russia in the winter just might be at the very top. But it was something I had to do anyway- get back in shape and be ready for peak performance within two months after three of the most mentally and physically debilitating weeks of my life. Sometimes you just gotta invade Russia in winter. Between May and July's meets, I went to three LCM meets, including a Masters meet, and I did successively worse in each of them. I did get meet a fellow forumite at the Santa Clara Grand Prix, however- Ahelee Sue Osborn. She got me to enter my first Masters meet, where I shared with her my desire to get under 2:00 in the 200 free SCY in July. I had absolutely no positive indicators heading into July's target taper meet. Even my taper, which started a week and a half out, felt like it was the opposite of the truncated taper I half-participated in the April before- instead of swimming faster than ever before, I felt horrible and sluggish all the time. The Friday before the weekend of the meet, I was shaved down and I finally got to take solace in some good signs, like how I did the last 25 from a dive faster than the fastest person on the team. I remember how nervous I felt before my first race at that July meet. What if things just didn't work out? Apparently, nerves are perfectly fine before a race. They even help. The event was a 100 yard butterfly. My PB was 1:10.67, set in February. At two LCM meets during my Invasion of Russia, my 100 fly swims had been absolutely dreadful, closer to a converted 1:20 scy time than 1:10. Finally, the buzzer rang, I dove in, and touched the wall in 1:04.2, 6.5 seconds under the old PB. My 100 fly was even faster than a 1:05 freestyle time from the last July! The rest of the meet was I had been waiting for all year, all season. I took my 100 back time down to 1:08.6, a 5.5 second drop from February. My 100 *** came down four seconds to 1:20.20, which would keep pace with my very first 100 free race ever three years ago where I went 1:19.92. I took off 16 seconds in the 200 back. And in the freestyle, my three goals at the beginning of the season as I presented them to my coach had been to go under 25 in the 50, under a minute in the 100, and a 5:30 something in the 500. I accomplished the 100 free goal in December, and had made demonstrable steps towards the other two. I dropped 5.5 seconds going 53.13 in the 100 free. For that race, I also wore my Speedo LZR Elite Jammer for the first time. I wore it for just my freestyle events. The 200 free was my first event on the morning of the second day of the meet. My nerves had returned in full force, but I swam it in 1:59.75, breaking under 2 minutes and fulfilling the desire I had expressed to Ahelee a month before. For the 500 free, I bullseyed my goal with a 5:32 time, a 36 second drop from the old PB. And in the 50, I accomplished my third and last standing goal by going 24.58 and snapping off two seconds. That weekend, I celebrated my 23rd birthday with my family, including my parents and my brother who had come to watch me swim. My mom even counted my 500, providing her with some great conversation material. Thanks, mom! I know I've only reviewed half of the year, but if I went on to December, the story would get anti-climactic so I'll stop now. Plus, I think this post has gone on long 'nuff! :D Some things I learned -Keep going, fight the battle! Keep your nerve (or regain your nerve)! Last January, I probably had high expectations for a meet that was coming off just a week and a half of training punctured by three days of the flu. But my two meets before that one had been my best ever and I was determined to keep the ball rolling. Even though all six of my swims before that 50 free felt horrible, I finally put up a great race and dropped a lot of time for how far I had come in such a short event. -Don't put yourself in situations where you have to Invade Russia in the Winter. Take it as advice from me: never be out of the pool for two weeks with very little sleep. Especially two months before your taper meet! -If you are in a situation, god forbid, where you have to Invade Russia in the Winter, don't quail away from it. Do what's necessary. -Grab opportunities. I went to a long-distance meet in January that I could've just ignored. There I chose to swim the mile without any guarantee that I'd go faster than my taper/shave PB from April of the year before. I ended up going faster in-season! Nice little surprise. -Make the Decision. When you're in the middle of an arduous set, you can choose whether it will be good or bad, whether it will be a breakthrough or a drag. You'll either step up to the challenge or back down. You'll be courageous or chicken****. That's all I can recall for now. I'll do 2012 later.

2011 totally changed my expectations.I always considered the 100 M BR my best event ,but that I was versatile enough to swim the 50 and 200 BR well. I had been very happy with 2:52s in the 200 LCM BR for several years, being quite proud of myself for not slowing down.I thought if I swam a perfect race I could break 2:52,maybe even swim a 2:51.5. I went 2:50.44 at Auburn.Suddenly the 200 BR is my best event(at least that was my best swim) and I am re-evaluating my limits.It also has caused my to ask "what is my goal now that I have exceeded my goal." 2012 will have the answer to that question. I plan to work harder,get my head position better,get stronger ,get more streamlined and have another breakthrough. And, that, King Frog, was my favorite race of the year to watch: http://youtu.be/Sb0qr4BTMl0 :cheerleader: Good luck with your 2012 goals!

2011 Look Back ++ 2012: Look Ahead Now is the perfect time to look back and look ahead 2011: Look Back What did you accomplish in 2011? Figured out I was more of a distance freestyler than a backstroker haha. Finished second in the league in the 200 freestyle :D What were some of your best swims? In Meets Apr 12, 2011 broke 1 minute for the first time in the 100 free Apr 15, 2011 best time in the 100 back 1:10.28 May 14, 2011 got my best time for the 200 free, jumped from 2:15.56 in prelims to 2:12.17 in finals to finish second in the league! In Practice The Stanford set every week during the high school season XD I don't know if you guys know what that is but it was pretty hard! What were your goals? Just to improve.. in the 2010 season we finished second in the league and I only put up 6th and 10th place in the league meet. I wanted to finish first as a team in the 2011 season. How'd your results compare with your goals I did improve! Finished 2nd and 5th in the league ^.^ What did you learn in 2011? If you kick fast and pull fast, you go fast. 2012: Look Ahead What would you like to accomplish in 2011? 2011 is my last year in high school swimming. Of course I want to move from my number 5 spot in the league to number one :D What are your goals? 200 Free - 1:55.45, would be a new school record 500 free - Around 5:30, good enough to win the league championship 100 Free - Under 55 seconds, good enough for the 4x100 relay 50 Free - Under 25.5 seconds, good enough for the 5x50 relay What are your plans? Focus more on less drag rather than what makes me faster. More technique work with sculling. How are you going to train? I will now train with addition to underwater video. It will help me see my flaws and drag. Improve my cadence, and stamina so I can actually help my team in the 4x50 relay after the 500. What events are you going to race? All freestyle up to 500 yards. What meets do you plan to go to? Well no big meets like you guys since I'm only in highschool XD. But my team is a 4A team and we will go up against 5A teams on duels (and win). And hopefully I will swim an individual event at state instead of just relays :D What would you like to learn in 2012? Proper freestyle technique, improve in cadence, improve in kick, improve in stamina, improvement in breathing less and needing less breathes, and improvement in being less nervous and having fun :banana: What else should you ask and answer? All I need is workouts, if you can give me em I'll do em :)

2011 Look Back ++ 2012: Look Ahead 2011: Look Back What did you accomplish in 2011? I finally did an OW marathon, swimming the Dart 10K in the UK. What were some of your best swims? I did manage to swim a sub 8:00 500 yard swim, which was a PR, especially since 14 years ago at the ripe age of 30 I swam the same distance in 9:33. What were your goals? How'd your results compare with your goals My goals included swimming 250 miles in the year, not take any time off from swimming except for illness or deployments, and complete the 10K. I managed all my goals, which feels great! What did you learn in 2011? I learned that the 10K distance is not impossible. As a matter of fact, I felt so good I could have swum longer. I already signed up for a 10-miler in October based on what I learned in 2011. 2012: Look Ahead What would you like to accomplish in 2012? Complete the 10-miler. Do another marathon, maybe 2. Join a masters team (there isn't one where I live now). What are your goals? 300 miles for the year; 10-miler in less than 5:10; How are you going to train? Add a dedicated 'long' day ("distance tolerance" whereby I swim a total of 8-10K along the lines of 10 x 800 with a 200 fast after each 800). Train according to Munatones' pyramid of OW success (highly recommended, btw). Really work on nutrition. Work with wife on kayak escorting and hand signals. Navigation for non-escorted swims (I suck at swimming straight). What events are you going to race? What meets do you plan to go to? Definitely Swim the Suck 10-miler; a 10K somewhere (Potomac?); Any other OW swims I can find/fit in. If I'm part of a masters team I'd like to do an actual swim meet, events tbd. What would you like to learn in 2012? To swim straight. (Yes, I know bilateral breathing is the answer. But try telling me that when I'm in race mode.) Why do you swim? Because it hurts less than running, and at least for marathon swimmers, my belly isn't a liability. ;)

Nice work, everyone. Your posts are inspiring. What did I accomplish in 2011? Swam my first open-water swim race. And my second, and third :) Completed the Fat Salmon 5K, which was my longest swim to date. Swam 2 miles in the cold waters of Puget Sound... once in July (58 degrees), and once in October (52 degrees). Not races, just awesome DIY events organized by the Western Washington Open Water Swimmers group. (you can find it on Facebook). Stuck with my new 2/3 freestyle breathing pattern and got my distance free times back up to where they were before switching. Also did a lot of sprinting while breathing on my left side. I am still faster breathing on my right, but my stroke is a lot more balanced than it was. Set personal best times in the 50 & 100 fly and 100 IM. Swam a whole lot of fly in practice, including distances up to 250 yds. Started a weight training program and stuck with it consistently. Swam all year without any swimming-related injuries. Goals for 2012 Continue to get stronger in the weight room. Do more kicking in practice and get kick times faster. Improve freestyle speed and speed endurance. Beat my 2011 Fat Salmon and pool mile times. The race I'm looking forward to most is the ITU triathlon in San Diego: http://sandiego.triathlon.org/ It's the first time that the series has been to the US since Washington, DC in 2009. And, it's the US Olympic team qualifier for the elites! Why do I swim? For health, stress relief, for the challenge, and the pure animal pleasure of being in the water.