I'm working on the 12 Days of Christmas challenge that Charlotte Brynn in Stowe, Vermont has dreamt up: Pick any 12 days in December and start on day 1 with 1,000 yards or meters. The next day do 2,000. On the third day do 3,000 and so on, increasing the distance each day by an additional 1,000 yards or meters until you get to 12,000 on the 12 day of the challenge. I just did day 5, and I'm already dragging. One week to go!
We also have a tradition here of doing 100 x 100 the day after Thanksgiving and on New Year's Eve. Got me wondering about what other special events and challenges other swimmers have during the holiday season. Got a fun workout with reindeer games? Or a special polar plunge event? Or some set workout you do every year like the 100 x 100 that you do with your team just for fun or as a fundraiser? If so, let me know! I'm interested to hear how other swimmers around the country ring in the New year and celebrate this festive season in swimming style.
I don't have any "tradition", but last Dec. 24th I did this workout with some friends.
Note the "12" theme. I remember my arms being very tired the following day.
I forget where I got the idea for this workout. Apologies to its originator.
600 wu,
12 lengths choice + 1 deck pullout,
11 lengths choice + 2 deck pullouts,
10 lengths choice + 3 deck pullouts,
9 lengths choice + 4 deck pullouts,
-50 bk for time-
8 lengths choice + 5 deck pullouts,
7 lengths choice + 6 deck pullouts,
6 lengths choice + 7 deck pullouts,
5 lengths choice + 8 deck pullouts,
-200 IM for time-
4 lengths choice + 9 deck pullouts,
3 lengths choice + 10 deck pullouts,
2 lengths choice + 11 deck pullouts,
1 lengths choice + 12 deck pullouts,
-4x25/:45 IMO best add-up-
400IM.
100 ez.
If you are looking for yardage around the 100 X 100 you can get in 9,100 by doing 25’s for the whole 12 days song.
1-25 bilateral
2-25’s every 5; 1-25 bilateral
3 25’s every 7; 2-25’s every 5; 1-25 bilateral
4 25’s every 9…
5 25’s build…
6 25’s fast…
7 25’s choice…
8 25’s IM order…
9 25’s drill…
10 25’s pull…
11 25’s kick…
12 25’s fly…
Long Beach Swim Masters. You never hear of this group, they are big on Open Water, but they have heavy duty workouts in the pool.
12/20/13 - First Masters Workout in the new Belmont Out Door (above ground) Pool. The Belmont Pool is the official pool for this group.
12/21/13 - 47th Annual Scout the Route. 5:45 am - swim around Treasure Island. If you have done the Naples Island Swim (3 mile), then you would know that the 1 mile is the one around Treasure Island. The one that goes through the canals.
12/23/13 - The Night Before, the Night Before Open Water Swim. 6:00 pm begins at approximately at the Start of the Naples Island Swim, goes to the 2nd Street Bridge, and back.
12/24/13 - Belmont (above ground) Pool - 100 x 100. Begin swimming at 6:30 am
Long Beach Swim Masters have some very accomplished swimmers in their group. They have a new website. Check it out at: swimlongbeach.com
my holiday tradition is to not do any stupid holiday tradition sets. (and some that werent even on a holiday)
did enough as a kid..i'm good for the rest of my life.
i still have one burnt into my memory that i may never forget:
10x100 warmup on 1:30
on 1:20 base
1000 , 2000 , 3000 , 2000 , 1000
300wd
a nice little lcm workout.
We did something similar last night -
Whole session 3125m (it was meant to be 3000m but I changed a couple of bits around)
12 lengths of front crawl
11 singles fly kick
10 50s free pull
9 singles fly swim
8 50s backstroke
7 singles *** drill
6 half length form sprints (drift to 25)
5 hundreds IM 2500
4 doggy paddle
3 50s build
2 singles fly
and 200 metre swim down
Quite a tough challenge - our top lane did it in ~65 minutes, metres.
We let the lanes manage their own rest and didn't give too much instruction otherwise (to fit the song!)
12/24/13 - Belmont (above ground) Pool - 100 x 100. Begin swimming at 6:30 am
icing and ibuprofin on the finish.
12/25/13 off - too sore
12/26/13 off - ditto
12/27/13 off - see sports rehab
28th - 30th off and rehab
31st see orthpedist for that end of year insurance claim and why those shoulder hurt so much
5.68 miles is not something you just jump in a do
bill, i wish the safest and best swims for all.
really enjoy all of the info you print about the pools
robertsrobson and this thread of folks, you saved my bacon this morning, thanks! Our coach was sick this morning and asked a couple of us to fill in. I'd written down the 12 day countdown, tweaked it slightly, and stuffed it in my bag. It was funny how people said it looked easy on paper, but in actuality it was a tough! Thanks for the great ideas, all! Tomorrow if he's sick again, we have a backup plan of doing some warmup for 20-ish mins, then play around with fun relays. It'll be a good way to end the month on the last day before the pool closes.
We have a December kind of pagan ritual. We add one 25 butterfly to the end of each practice for each day, from December 1st until the Winter Solstice on the 21st. It starts off feeling pretty easy but if you swim 5-6 days a week by the time you get to 18x25s fly followed the next day by 19x25s etc. it takes its toll. But at the end we can celebrate accomplishing some tough swimming and look forward to longer days again. And IMHO for old folks it is way more sensible than 100x100s.
i think it was '81 when we did the marathon swim-a-thon (tm)
1hr swim
1hr rest
repeat 6 times for 12hrs total.
i averaged 5k each hr for a total of 30,000 that day.
