I probably waited too long to post this inquiry, but if anyone has advice on how to swim the 1650 when slightly (as opposed to deathly) sick and microbially-exhausted, please let me know soon! My heat is scheduled to start at 8:52 tomorrow morning.
Notes:
1) I did the hour swim three weeks ago, nice and easy pace, for a total of a less than spectacular 4825 yards, but I felt good, relaxed, and that great sense of "breathing really well" that periodically characterizes my distancy swimming, for reasons I have never quite figured out.
2) in the interlude between then and now, I got some kind of cold/malaise-virus, that left me extremely tired, prone to head rushes upon climbing a short set of stairs, and in a mood to do little more than nap on the couch with professional golf on the tv in the background. in the pool, I have really struggled.
3) the above malaise seems to be slowly receding, and since I already paid for tomorrow's 1650, I am going to go for it, but--and this is the reason for my emergency request for strategic advice--I don't want to A) HUMILIATE myself, or B) delay by several hours the expected timeline of the meet.
So, in this spirit, please tell me how to swim the 1650 tomorrow (medical fuddy duddies out there need not advise skipping the attempt, since cheapness is trumping infirmity in my psyche, and I can't get the $15 entry fee back.)
Thanks in advance!
Jim, Congratulations on a great swim when you take into consideration the condition of your health. That is all you can do is the best for that day.
I am glad you beat your nemesis, but upon reading that in your post I had to think to myself we all have our nemesis and in the same thought, we all must be someone else's nemesis too!
Rest and get healthy now.
Thanks, Donna. And I mean "nemesis" in its most affectionate sense, of course. I wonder if Michael Phelps has a nemesis? Probably an unborn kid practicing a six-beat kick even now in the placental pool somewhere...
Speaking of which, the person who won the entire 1650 meet today was a 14 year old boy who did 17:54 or thereabouts. Kind of cool to think of it.
Jim, congratulations on a great swim. Some of my best times were swum when sick/ish.
Donna, your mention of nemesis makes me think that would be a great forum topic. I'll start it.
Jim--wasn't this the fund-raising meet for the CMU swim team?
For the rest of you -- this is an annual fund-raiser for Carnegie-Mellon University's swim team. It is organized by a CMU (Carnegie-Tech in this man's case) alum. The meet is well run. While I haven't been able to swim in it--I have been a "counter" in the past.
Jim--how many people showed?
Excellent suggestion about the Finnish formula (for those of you who do not know what this is, it's a way of age-adjusting swimming times.)
The plug-in box only allows for 50, 100s, and 200s, so I plugged my 1650 time in for the 200--quite possibly the slowest 200 in history, but nonetheless...
It calculated that for a 19 year old (the youngest that the plug-in will caclulate) to do an equivalent swim to my 55-year-old effort, he would have to swim a:
17:20.04 (16:41.44) (The American formulation is the 17:20; the "Finnish formula is the 16:41). By either score, I trounced the 19 year old's time.
A 14 year old would have presumably had to swim even faster, given that he is just barely starting to deal with the burden of testosterone, which has afflicted and distracted me all my adult life!
BTW, this Finnish formula has proved to be a wonderful adjunct to nemesis nullification. If someone younger than you beats you, often the Finnish formula can be relied upon to rectify the situation. On the other hand, if someone older than you beats you, don't use the Finnish formula, but claim the elder's greater "experience under racing conditions" gave him an unfair advantage.
I am hoping to create a Finnish Formula With Sickness Factor Codicil added, too, and if I manage to design this correctly, I might never be beaten again in my life, at least not on paper!
PS who are you, phdude?
Speaking of which, the person who won the entire 1650 meet today was a 14 year old boy who did 17:54 or thereabouts. Kind of cool to think of it.
Nice swim, Jim!
By the way, if you use the Finnish Formula, I bet you smoked that 14 y/o :thhbbb::banana:
LOL that's so funny. i was going to swim this but had been so busy with research/school stuff that I lost track of the date and asked a member of the team on saturday when it was, and was told next week, so i was expecting that in a week. showed up at 1 for lap swim today and noticed everyone doing the mile.....argh! it would have been nice to meet someone from the forums. congrats on the swim though, i did it on my own for my time with the coach after everyone was done, and my healthy time was 10 seconds slower than your sick time :P
