Holiday Swim Achievements, 12-24-07 to 1-6-08

400 IM - went 4:56 (best was 5:05); placed 11th out of 45 gals 12 to 18; won heat 200 Fly - 2:16 (best was 2:19); placed 3rd out of 47 girls ages 12 to 18; 2nd in heat 1000 FR - 11:00.4 (never swam this event but entered myself w/ 11:40); not sure how I placed overall as I left before the final results were posted but I won my heat (was in heat 6 of 7); unfortunately got an ocular migraine right before this so I had to swim it conservatively Great swims!:cheerleader: I would love to swim that fast. You did a great job.

I don't think this is a huge achievement but I was really happy with my results today. Swam my first USA-S meet in 17 years. I was the only masters swimmer. Was tired from swimming with SR II for the past week, but I still hit my best times by a lot. Everyone was SO positive and encouraging. All the Senior gals had to swim these 3 events: 400 IM - went 4:56 (best was 5:05); placed 11th out of 45 gals 12 to 18; won heat 200 Fly - 2:16 (best was 2:19); placed 3rd out of 47 girls ages 12 to 18; 2nd in heat 1000 FR - 11:00.4 (never swam this event but entered myself w/ 11:40); not sure how I placed overall as I left before the final results were posted but I won my heat (was in heat 6 of 7); unfortunately got an ocular migraine right before this so I had to swim it conservatively Anyway, was lots of fun. Swimming with such fast competition lit a fire under by a** so to speak. I have a very special THANK YOU to my two coaches Maria and Beth for putting up with me and giving me SUPER tips and strategy. :bow::bow: And a special THANK YOU for my new swim buddies on the SR teams who encouraged me the whole way. Maybe 35 is the new 18. :lmao:

I wish I could say I'm swum out. I picked up the the really nasty stomach virus that's been going around NYC, so I've only been able to get to the pool once so far this week. That's not at all what I planned. :cry: (I'm over it now, though.)

Great swims!:cheerleader: I would love to swim that fast. You did a great job. Donna, That's awesome that you responded b/c you are my inspiration! Your time drops and meet line ups are incredible! And with your practicing with the age groupers, your work ethic is so impressive. :bow:THANK YOU for pulling me along with you. :bump: You inspired me to swim with the kids (on occasion - not all the time!) And dahhhhling, you look fabulous to boot! Hope to see you at Auburn?!

I have to remind myself sometimes I am 45 not 25 or 18, especially when I am beaten by two 11 year olds in practice. It is a very humbling experience. My next kids meet will be in mid January and I am really looking forward to it. I am going to try some events I don't normally do, 100 and 200 breaststroke. The only event I told the coach I would not do is the 200 Fly. No reason to subject the kids to my 3:19 200 Fly swim when I can do it with the masters and not be almost a minute behind everyone. I know you will enjoy doing a few more kids meets, it is really nice when they are close by and have a fair amount of rest between events. You didn't say if you did any relays with the kids. That can be fun too.

Swimming with the kids is a blast. I usually do one meet with the kids each year at Thanksgiving. This last one I was in the lane right next to my son who is 15 (I'm 55) for the 50 free. Lots of trash talking even though we both knew who would finish first. It was a race for 25, we came off the wall together, then he turned on the afterburners and all I saw were his bubbles. I still swam a (lifetime) personal best and finished about a second behind him. We were also in the same heat in the 100 free but on opposite sides of the pool (he beat me by about 3 sec). I'd never enter a distance race in one of these meets. The kids would be finished, showered and dressed before I finished. lol

I'm about swum out and the worst is yet to come this holiday season. Our team is doing a charity swim on NYD to benefit our Y. In prep, we've been putting in a ton of yardage the past two weeks, SCY and LCM. The goal on NYD is 8,000 SCY for 2008. Last year we raised $1K and did 7000 for 2007.

My team is doing a 100x100's on Sat Jan 5. They do it, or something like that, every year early in the new year. I've never done it before, but am thinking of doing it this next time. Some people were asking the coach how long it would take, and he was answering with vague terms. I asked, "How long would someone in my lane take?" He told me about 2-1/2 hours. Evidently they do different intervals, like 10 on 1:40, 10 on 1:30, 10 on 1:20, then going back again.

Kristina I am doing the Winter Classic here in Savannah, so is my 9 year old son. Mom and son in the same meet. In February I will be doing the Mt. Pleasant meet in SC the same weekend my son has a meet at our pool which his dad will cart him to in my absence. It was really humbling being beaten by 2 11 year olds at practice Friday night. It is a great challenge though and I love it. Coach used me to keep them on the correct interval and them to push me. Well it is time to go to practice.

400 IM - went 4:56 (best was 5:05); placed 11th out of 45 gals 12 to 18; won heat 200 Fly - 2:16 (best was 2:19); placed 3rd out of 47 girls ages 12 to 18; 2nd in heat 1000 FR - 11:00.4 : Great swims!! Who did you swim for? Dynamo? Swim Atlanta? I practice with a kids team who changes their schedule for the Christmas break so when I was able to go I got in good 2 hour practices. But, now all my family has gone home (Atlanta) so no baby sitters and my husband will be working on Monday. Which means no swimming for me on Monday :( I so wanted to end the year in the pool. But I am grateful for the multiple 2 hour practices I got in last week. On Wed I even swam for about 90 min, rinsed off and then did a spin class with my sister, brother-in-law and dad.