Sunday May 27th - Pink Flamingo

So this is the gayest thing ever, but I love it. Pink Flamingo I believe was started back in the day with a bunch of gay men and women doing a drag relay of some sort. Then synchronized swimming came into the mix. Then music was added, and it became a big comedic perfomance with dancing and acting, and swimming, with each team trying to be campy and funny as much as they want. Some routines are serious, some are funny, some suck, some don't! Each year, the host city/team provides a THEME to what the event should revolve around.

In 2003, the Long Beach Grunions entered it for the first time at IGLA. From what I heard, we were not that good. In 2004, we were better, but still on the bottom of the totem pole! Then we decided it was time to step it up. In 2005 we were runner-up with a hilarious rendition of Ho White and the Seven Grunions. I personally still didn't have the guts to perform, but I wasn't needed. The theme was Reflections, and they used the whole mirror mirror deal. In 2006 I was asked to participate along with some other strong swimmers along with on deck performers. We did a song and dance as pirates and mer-men. It was hilarious and good, but alas we were runner-up again. Hey not bad.

This year, the theme was La Vie en Rose. Since we were in Paris, we started with a Pink Panther type theme in trenchcoats. Once we removed them, we revealed us wearing tu-tus. Oh boy was it gay. But the crowd loved us. After weeks and weeks of practicing, we finished our routine to a roaring standing ovation. This had got to be our year I thought. Guess what? RUNNER UP AGAIN!! LOL.

Hey, all I can say is that to get 2nd three years in a row is a great accomplishment. I was bummed, but more for some of my teammates who I wanted to share the glory with. They aren't the fastest swimmers, so winning medals isn't really attainable for them most of the time. This I thought, would be their chance to show what the Grunions are all about.

Oh well. We'll get them next year. I had so much fun, I have to do it again.

When the video is posted, I will figure out how to post it on here for anyone to enjoy.

Here is a picture of our winning Grunions in Paris. We were 3rd overall in the points, but WINNERS in the MEDIUM TEAM DIVISION!! GO GRUNIONS!!

Sunday May 27th, 4th and Final Day of IGLA Paris

Today was a busy day. I have three scheduled swim events PLUS the Pink Flamingo Performance. I went into the day really excited actually for all my races. The 200 fly I have been looking forward to, the 400 free because my free has been on at this meet, and the medley relay because its something different (I'll be doing the 50 fly) and its short and fun. Then of course there's the "Pink Flamingo" performance. This year we have 10 of us in the Grunion performance, and it looks good. I have explained earlier what this is all about, so review my past blogs for reference.

200 Fly - Warm up was not a good sign. For the first time in awhile, my fly didn't feel well. I am not sure if it was because of my great swims last night, or possibly this being the 4th day of the meet and me being tired, or the jet lag of Europe just taking its toll on me. I got in for a second warm up before my race in hopes of getting some kinks out. I was just pooped. Wiped out. Tired. Luckily though, the competition wasn't incredibly deep so I still had a good chance of winning even if I was off a little bit.

My goal was to take the first 50, even the first 100 as easy and smooth as possible. The ideal splits would be :32, :36, :36, :36. My 50 split was 31.57. It felt easy, but I think I took it out too fast. As I was coming back down for the 100, I started to feel tired. "What was going on here?", I thought. Uh oh. I hit the 100 mark at 1:07.33. That means :35.76. Too fast I would realize later on. Especially since my body was feeling the previous swims. The next 50 was a struggle and I knew the final 50 wasn't going to be pretty. Luckily, by the 100 mark I was 5 seconds ahead of someone already and 7 seconds ahead of the next person (Drew). By the 150, I had hit the wall at 1:44.48. That's a :37.15. Yup. Not looking good. My last 200 fly I did one month earlier had more steam at the end. This time around, I had zilch. The swimmer 5 seconds behind me was now 15 seconds behindme at the 150, and he was in 2nd. At least I had the gold in the bag, unless something crazy was going to happen to me. I must say that it sure felt like it. I pushed off for that final 50 and my arms were like lead. How was I going to get back to that wall? I really need to learn how to swim more with my hips like everyone says. Bla bla bla. As I survived the second to last 25, I pushed off and saw no one is sight. Ok, the win is mine. But where is that great final 25? It sure as hell wasn't in my race. I became THE MOTH. My arms became heavier and heavier with each stroke I took to the wall. I truthfully thought it would have been faster to kick with no strokes. If only I could. Some how, SOME HOW, I made it to the wall. 2:26.21. My final 50 was a pathetic 41.73. The time, was decent. The main goal was under 2:30, then 2:25, and if I was on, as close to 2:20 as possible. I won the event in my age group by over 18 seconds (almost the entire pool length), so that was rewarding enough to forget that final 50 of mine. Next year I need to get a better swim in me.

G0al for 2008 - 2:19.99

My next event was the 400 free. I had to regroup my thoughts. That 200 fly took a lot out of me, so I new the reality of the situation was that I wasn't going to go as fantastic time as my other races. But nevertheless I was ready for some good racing and to possibly go under 4:30. Going into the meet I was aiming for around 4:27. In 2005 I went 4:34.81. In 2006 I went 4:33.70. So a 4:27 would be a big drop, but I was hopeful. I was thinking I would go 1:04. 1:08, 1:08, 1:05 and that would get me 4:27.

The race started out just as planned. 1:04.38. Although at the 100 mark, I felt the 200 fly, but kept on strong. Next 100, 1:08.92. Barely on pace. The third 100 hurt. Had I known I was to split a 1:10.29, I would have been upset. I must have let up too much. I need to work on that third 100. I did my best to hold on to my heat, as I had a race on my hands from some guy over in lane 5, 6 or 7. I knew he thought he was going to catch me, but I always have something left in the tank for that last 100. I came home not as fast as I would have liked, but still a 1:07.23. Actually as I type that, its not bad, but not the 1:05 I had hoped for. This event has a lot of improvement I can learn from. I finished in 4:30.82. I can't complain though, as its an almost 3 second drop, right after the 200 fly, on the final day of the competition. I definitely think 4:27 and possibly 4:25 can be in the near future.

Goal for 2008 - 4:26.99

4 X 50 medley relay. Competition looked strong. We had one team in our age group seeded ahead of us, and two right behind us, so there was no breathing room. We were also in lane 6 of the final heat, which meant we were seeded 4th overall. This was the final event of the meet. Nothing to be left behind. Plus this was my shortest event of the meet. Only a 50. YIPPEE!! Just down and back. How could you not love it? My relay team was Kurt Murdoch - backstroke, Ken Bixler - breaststroke, Brian Kremers (myself) - butterfly, and Drew Giacobe - freestyle. I entered us in a time of 1:58 which was a good time. I told Kurt I wanted him faster than his individual time of :29.82 and as close to :29.5 as he can go. I told Bixler to go under :33.0. I wanted to be as close to :28 as I could and I knew Drew would go as hard as he could depending on if he had a race on his hands.

Kurt led off with a smoking :29.65, typing his best Grunion time EVER, which was swum back in 2003 in SF. He put us in 2nd place, just a speck behind first. Ken then dove in and I never saw his stroke have such a fast turnover. As I got up on the blocks for my leg, my heart began to race. Holy shit!! We are in the lead now!! Not only ahead of our age group competitors, but EVERYONE. The adrenaline was fantastic. Scary but great. Ken came in and split :32.90. He was on FIRE. Now it was up to me. I dove in, in the lead, determined to do my best to hold on. This distance swimmer doing a 50 sprint of fly. NICE!. My arms never spun so fast in all my years as I powered through the water. I was going to fast, I didn't have time to breath much. Normally I am such a breather, but this time around I didn't need it. I only took one breath the first 25. BAM! I think the wall, turned and bolted off the wall. "Faster, faster", I thought. I wondered if this crazy fast stroke of mine was really productive or was I really not swimming that fast. Two years ago I had split a :28.78, but in a 100 fly in a relay split last December I went out in a :29.34, so I knew I was going to be a low :28. I breathed one or two more times and then powered myself into the wall to give Drew the "torch" to bring it home. I turned around and saw I had maintained our lead and actually extended it. My split you ask? :27.7!!! Ya that's what I am talking about. I got out and cheered Drew home as he brought it home in a fast :26.36. Not his fastest, but definitely a satisfying time for him based on his training. We won the heat, won the age group gold medal and won the OVERALL event, with the fastest time. The four of us were elated. We all swam fantastic, feeding off each other's swims one by one. This is what is great about swimming. Relays. The one chance you get to swim like a team. To enjoy a race with 3 other members of your team that train just as hard for the same goal. I wouldn't say its far better than an individual win, but instead on a completely different level. By far, this was my favorite race of the meet, and the most fun! To top it off, the entire Grunion squad was going crazy during the entire race, cheering us on. To turn to them and see them going crazy for us just topped it off. What a great way to end the meet. All of us were on cloud 9. Grunions came up to us afterwards congratulating one by one, saying how fun and great of a race that was for them to watch. All I could was, "You should have been in my shoes...it was AWESOME!".

Goal for relay split 2008 - :27.30

Final medal tally - 4 golds, 4 silvers, ALL PERSONAL MASTERS SWIMMING BEST TIMES!

Saturday May 26th, Day 3 - IGLA in Paris

Today I was able to go at my own speed and get to the pool without rushing. There were a bunch of events today, but I was swimming in the final two events, 4X100 free relay and 800 free. In order to give me as much rest as I could, I entered my normal time for the 800 free to get me into at least the second to last heat, or possibly the last heat. Sure enough, I ended up being in lane 1 of the final heat. Is that good or bad? Do I have the confidence to swim with the big boys yet or do I still prefer to sandbag and win my earlier heats?

4 X 100 free relay. Same relay team as the 4X200 relay except for substituting Ken for Kurt. Kurt has been training well and said he was ready to be on a fast sprint relay, so here's his chance. It was between him and Ken for our relay and I chose Kurt. Drew led off the race with a swift :58.6. its just two seconds off what he does when he is in great shape, but since his primary focus this year is triathlon training, his sprinting has taken a backseat. I think he was happy with that lead-off time. Next up was Kurt. Earlier Ken Bixler had split 1:00.3. Kurt eneded up splitting :59.32. So it looks like it was a smart choice. Next was me. Two years ago I split a fast :56.80, going out in a 26.7, and last year at the end of a busy day I ended up splitting :58.49, going out in a :27.19. Since my freestyle seemed to be doing well in this meet, I was hoping for under 56 seconds. As I dove in, the excited got a little too much for me and I think I took that first 25 out to hard. I turned at 26.8. At the 75, I pushed off the wall and my legs felt like jello. I did everything I could to hang on and give Viking everything I had. My final split was 56.28. Not under 56, but still a good split to be happy with. Viking dove in and brought it home for us. We had a little bet between the two of us. He was given a 0.5 second handicap. With my split, he had to swim faster than a 56.78. Instead he ended up going 57.88. HA!! LOL.

Goal for relay split in 2008 - :55.50.

The next event was the 800 free. Based on my split from the 1500, I new that I had a good swim in me. Last year I had just missed Vikings 30-34 team record by less than 1 tenth of a second, going 9:29.49. I had already gotten his record in the 1500 two days ago by over 20 seconds, so it was pretty certain I'd take this one too. BGS had gone 9:20 last year, so my goal was under 9:20 this year. Nice friendly rivalry, huh? :-)

Being in the last heat I think helped. It made me stay with some of the faster boys. I was right next to Andre Nussbaumer from Switzerland who was in the next age group up. Earlier he had gone 17:52 so if I stayed with him, I knew I'd have a good swim. He must have been annoyed with me staying right at his feet the entire race. I went out in 1:06.55. I followed it up with with the next six 100s right around 1:10 low. My final 100 I came home in 1:08.2, to finish in 9:16.72. YA BABY!! Best event so far. I was stoked. I guess this means I should try and swim in the final heats from now on whenever possible.

GOAL FOR 2008 - 9:08

Medal tally for Day 3 - 1 gold, 1 silver:

Thursday May 24th - Day One of IGLA

Warm up felt good. First event is the 1500 free. I entered a slower time so that I could get as much rest as I can before the 400 IM. As I stated earlier, goal is 18:15 and I will be happy, but i want to get as close to 18:00 as possible. 1:12s put me at 18:00 and 1:13s put me at 18:15. I told Drew as long as I stayed around 1:13, don't worry about it.

I took the race out in 1:08 and then held 1:11s and 1:12s for the next 500. I hit the 800 mark around 9:31, which is great, since my best 800 from last year was 9:29. After 600 meters, I started feeling the pace and for the next 400 I held low 1:13s followed by two high 1:13s. My final 100 was 1:10 putting me at 18:02.57. I was elated but it was also just a little bittersweet since I was so close to breaking 18 minutes.

Goal for 2008: 17:45.

The next event was the 400 IM. My big goal was to get as close to 5 minutes as possible, but anything better than 5:07 will do. 2005 I went 5:13, 2006 I went 5:10. I took my first 100 fly out in 1:08.3, which surprisingly slower than last years 1:07.5. Pushing off the third wall I felt my right foot raise up a little bit and I thought I was DQed for sure. I even saw officials at my lane. Ugh. Great. What do I do? Do I give up? I thought about it for the entire backstroke leg but at the same time wondered why the timer kept on getting my splits. Last year's back split was 1:19.8, and this year I split 1:20.6. As I type this now, I wonder what is going on here? Was I not attacking the race? Am I not in as good of IM shape as last year? At the 1/2 way mark, I was 1.5 seconds behind me from last year. I think maybe I didn't attack the backstroke due to possibly thinking I was being DQed. Breaststroke - 3rd 100. Last year, 1:29.9. This year, 1:27.9. Wow. 2 seconds faster. Not sure how, but I think maybe two reasons might apply. First, I refocused which might have helped, and Second, maybe backing off might have left me with more gas in the tank. Last 100 - Freestyle - Last year, came home, in pain, in a 1:13.1. This year I anchored in 1:08.9. NICE! That is what I am talking about. Finishing time was 5:05.69. Almost a 5 second drop. Looks like my freestyle is on at this meet. Unknowingly, that means well for the 200 free split.

Goal for 2008 - 4:59.99.

4 X 200 free relay.

Going into the race, we knew we had the silver medal in the bag, and that the gold was pretty much out of reach. Viking was going first, then Ken, then Drew then me. Viking led off with a 2:13, not good for him normally, but good since he hasn't trained at all. Already we were far behind, but were battling a good race with DCAC next to us. They weren't in our age group, but a race is a race. Ken followed with a 2:10 low and Drew followed with 2:18 high. That put us just about 2 1/2 seconds behind DCAC. Viking joked that I had a race on my hands and not to give up. Not knowing how much I had left in the tank, I ended up taking it out slower that I probably should have. I just wanted to make sure I didn't die. At the 100 split, I was 1:03.83. Last year I was out in 1:03.13. Then I turned on the gas. I came back in 1:02.17. WOW!! I didn't expect to negative split by that much. That puts my split at 2:06.00 exactly. Nice! Its 1.5 second drop, and showing how much I had left in the tank probably meant I could have gone out in a 1:02 and back in a 1:02. I will attack it next year.

Goal for split for 2008 - 2:04 low.

Nice first day. Tomorrow I have the day off from swimming so I will just warm up, meet up with Viking and then head to a museum with Viking and Drew.

Final tally - 1 gold, 2 silvers:

Monday 5/21 through Wednesday 5/23 - Enjoying Paris

We arrived in Paris on Monday morning to the luck of no rain. It was raining the last two days, but it was gone by the time we got there. Monday we checked into our hotel room at Les Jardin De Marais. From the outside it looked like nothing, but once you entered, there were at least 6 buildings and a cute courtyard. Here is a picture:

We also made sure to hit a local swimming pool so that we can keep on the taper train. After my quick workout, I was feeling really good, especially in the fly. I am excited for all my events, but especially the 200 fly, since its the first time I am swimming this event at an IGLA event.

Monday night we all went to dinner:


Tuesday we went to Versailles, which was incredible. Its really fun to travel with the swim team as we really consider each other one big family. I have been told that even other IGLA teams envy our closeness, which makes me feel good that I am a part of this and possibly a small part of the reason. Here is a picture of us walking towards the castle.


Wednesday was occupied by a lot of swimming preparation. Drew, myself, Andrea and Maureen spent the first half of the day together. We started off by heading down to register, only to find out they were not ready yet. So instead we went and had some coffee


and then bumped up our swim practice so that we can get that done and the register. Workout felt decent and I am excited for the meet to begin. Tomorrow is the 1500 free, 400 IM and the 4X200 free relay. I am doing all three events, which may be crazy, but hey, challenges are fun. My goal for the 1500 is to be under 18:15, and if I am doing good, under 18:00. For the 400 IM, my best time going in was 5:10.39 from Gay Games last year, but since I went 5:13 in December, the goal is to get as close to 5 minutes as possible. Then there is the 4X200 free relay. Two years ago I swam 2:08.90, and last year I anchored the relay in 2:07.50, so I am wanting 2:06 or better. Being that its the third event for me that day, I will give it my all, but know I may be tired.

Let the games begin!!

Not too much, just enough! Thursday 5/18/07

Taper..taper..taper. Gotta love tapering. Not much swimming. More energy. Its all good. I just saw the psych sheets for IGLA and there are some fast swimmers spread out throughout the events. Some french boys appear to be speedy, so winning a relay might be difficult. We will do out best though.

Here was last night's workout
LCM
500 w/u
2 X 200 KRLS
8 X 50s, descend 1-3,4-6,7-8
3 X 200s FAST. broken each 50 with 5 secs rest, then subtract times
200 cool down

The 50s descend were decent. I got down to 33s on the fast ones, but for me it was more hard, nothing all out.

For the first 200, I did fly. Yes I was crazy like that. The first 50 I was out strong. Rest 5 secs. 2nd 50 was still good. I cam in on 1:20 I think. With time subtracted, it was 1:15. The third 50 was tough and I had to break stroke. It was more of a recovery. Rested the 5 seconds and was off for the last 50. I made sure not to break stroke here and came in at 3:03. Subtract 10 seconds for leaving 2nd and the 15 seconds for rest put me at 2:38. That's 2:35 SCM and 2:16 SCY. Perfect. With more rest and competiton, I am looking for a good performance.

The 2nd 200 I recovered, as the fly took too much out of me.

The 3rd 200 I did free. Finished 2:44. Minus the 10 secs + 15, put me at 2:19. That's 2:15scm or 2:00 SCY. It was descent. Funny how just like that times begin to drop. I love it!

Damn Cold or Whatever You Are - Wednesday 5/16

Stupid stupid stupid. I'm sick. Been seen for almost a week now as it gets worse and worse. Today seems better but new symptons are appearing. First it was my throat. Then I was sneezing non stop. The sneezing has stopped and my throat is feeling better. But I am feeling weak and tired. I swam this morning and had zero, nada, nuttin, zilch. Let's hope I am better by tomorrow.

SCM
8 X 100s easy warm up on 1:40
200 (no clue what it was)
5 X 200s (50 swim/50/drill/50 swim/50 drill)

I got out after 2000 meters. I made sure I stayed in just to get some swimming in. 2000 was enough. I need to feel better. My 200s I did free, fly, back, breast and the last one free. My fly is still feeling solid and my backstroke is improving. Breast never is good in the AM.

Taper feeling Good! Monday 5/14/07

SCM -
This mornings workout had some great sprinting. Here it was:

400 swim - mix strokes
200 IM - all drills
6 X 100s on 1:30 (hold 1:20s)
3 mins rest
100 FAST
100 EZ
6 X 50s on :45 (hold :40s)
2 mins rest
50 FAST
100 EZ
10 X 75s breathing 4-3-2 by 25
50 easy
Total - 2,650 meters

Nice workout. Body took some time to warm up but my 100 fast was encouraging. 1:02.5. That's about a 55 or 56 yards. I was stoked. First 25 I used my arms, then the final 75, kick kick kick. I also went :28.2 on my 50 which was good.

Hung Over - Sunday May 13th

Could only swim about 7 or 800 meters then I need to eat and rest. I drank too much last night. Stupid shots. Ruined my day. LOL. PF practice followed swimming. I was so tired, I started messing up too much.

Hung Over - Sunday May 13th

Could only swim about 7 or 800 meters then I need to eat and rest. I drank too much last night. Stupid shots. Ruined my day. LOL. PF practice followed swimming. I was so tired, I started messing up too much.

Butterfly master! - Saturday 5/12

SCM Great workout. Here is what it was:

500 w/u
8 X 25s build

3 X 100s descend free
50 EZ
3 X 100s descend IM
50 EZ

5 X 50s kick

4 X 50s (Hard, EZ, Hard, EZ)
100 all out
4 X 50s (Hard, EZ, Hard, EZ)

400 pull
100 cool down
Total - 2,800 meters

I was happy with my 100 IM time and 100 fly time. I went 1:11 on both of them. That converts to about a 1:03 SCY which is great. ESPECIALLY since we have no lain laines and it was all wavy. The 100 IM felt great. I took the fly out smooth, worked the back. I turned slightly ahead of Kurt. He's one of the only people who catch me something doing back. My breast felt great as I kept my head down and hands together. The free I brought home. 1:11 for me. 1:14 for Kurt. Both of our times were great. I was hoping to do 1:14, so 1:11 was just added pleasure. The 100 fly was also good, as I only felt some pain the last 10 meters. It was wavey, so I understood why. But 1:11 for both are great.

Pink Flamingo In Water Practice - Friday - 5/14/07

Tonight we began our in water practice for Pink Flamingo. After 45 mins of learning the water routine, it was realized that it was too difficult for most to do. Therefore it was changed. Its easier, shorter, and that's that. Coming off of last years routine where we did a lot in water, Its a big difference. Should be fun.

Solid 400s - Thursday May 10th

The meters will gradually come down this week with the hopes of seeing some quality swims before I leave for Paris. Here was the workout:

LCM

500 w/u
4 X 100s descend on :20 rest
2 X ( 400 really hard followed by 100 easy)
2 X 100s KRLS
6 X 50s overkick
200 moderate
6 X 50s sprint first 15 meters
100 cool down
Total - 3,000 meters

The two 400s were solid. The point of the set was to take off on :00 and not stop until you reach :00 again. So with averaging 1:15s, you would do 400. But if on one of the 100s split you went 1:14, you'd end up doing a 500. I knew that wasn't going to happen though. So basically it became two 400s hard/fast. Last year around this time I think I was busting out 5:18s or 5:20s. One #1 I went 5:09 and on #2 I went 5:12. That is a good sign. Especially since I thought we were only doing one of them. On the 5:09, I went 1:14, 1:20, 1:20, 1:15. Solid time on #1. The rest of the workout was decent. I did the 50s sprint fly, and they felt good.

Make It Count - Wednesday 5/9/07

SCM

500 w/u
Main Set:
3 X (4 X 100s (25 stroke/75 free IM order) then 100 fly kick) = 1500 meters on 1:45
6 X ( 12 1/2 sprint, flip, sprint back, then 2 X 25s EZ) = 450 meters
Total - 2,450

So the workout wasn't too far, but the main set was good. I ended up descending the groups of 3. R1 I went around 1:25s for all of them. R2 - I went around 1:18s for the strokes and 1:14 for the free. R3 I went 1:12 for the fly, 1:14 for the back, 1:15 for the breast and 1:10 for the free. I'm not too sure how the times are since the set wasn't anything to compare to, but I worked it hard and that was all that matters. I'm getting a little nervous for IGLA and with the stitches in my finger, I am beginning to doubt myself in how well I can swim. I swam fantastic on 4/1 against Marc, but part of me feels like I am not that fast right now. I'm sure its only mental, but who knows. Maybe I need to go back and see what my times were going into that final week and compare.

Tonight Amber is coming over to take out my stitches. Now my finger is just sore and it looks like a nasty paper cut, so that will all be good.

Minor Tapering Begins - Monday 5/7/06

SCM
600 w/u
8 X 50s descend 1-4, 5-8 on 1:00
8 X 25s strong on :40 ( I did fly)
4 X 100s hard - go 50, rest 10, go 25, rest 5. Then subtract 15 seconds
600 pull
3 X 50s - 2 breaths down, 1 back.

I think I am missing something here. The 50s descend were decent. I went :50, :45., :37, :33 and then :45, :37, :34, :31. The 25s strong felt good as I am finally able to do fly with my pinky. The 100s hard were ok. I did them IM and ended up going 1:30s on all of them and then 1:25 on the last one. For the 1:30s minus the 15 sec and then converting, becomes about 1:07s and the 1:25 becomes 1:03. Those times are ok.

Busy Sunday - Sunday May 6th

Today was and is a busy day. Workout was followed by shopping for groceries, followed up 2 1/2 hours of pink flamingo dance practice followed by a wine/cheese party for everyone going to Paris. The party sounds fun, but for me it was a lot of work since I was coordinating it. I'm not complaining, but it just wore me out!!

SCM
500 w/u
16 X 75s on 1:15
8 X 50s kick
6 X 50s under/over
400 pull
12 X 25s sprint
200 cool down
Total 3,300 meters

I felt better in the water. We did a lot of strokes, so workout was more difficult. The 75s I broke out into groups of 4. Round 1 I did IM. Round 2 I did Back. Round 3 I did IM and Round 4 I did Free. It was good having Kurt next to me to keep me going. Just the slightest backing off would have opened the door for him to pass me. It helps a lot working sprint IM with Kurt because we are basically dead even. I get a slight lead in fly and he catches right back up in back, sometimes getting slightly ahead of me. Then our breast is about equal and our frees are close too. If anything I get only 1 or 2 seconds on him. But that is with working really hard. I also did the 12 X 25s sprint strong, doing 3 of each stroke.

Back to the Basics - Saturday May 5th

SCM
500 w/u
8 X 50s extended warm up
5 X 200s moderate on 3:00
100 EZ kick
8 X 50s sprint
500 pull
8 X 25 sprint
200 cool down
Total - 3,300 meters

Good workout to get back into. I used the extended warm up to get going. The 200s felt good. I took the first 2 easy and came in around 2:37/2:38 (2:20SCY). The next two I went 2:34s (2:18) and the final one I went 2:31 (2:15). Those times aren't anything special, but I never really pushed them too hard so I think that is good. I am pretty tired so I think my times will come down well in Paris. The 50s and 25 sprints were fun and felt good. I wasn't ready for fly yet with my stitches.

Temporarily out of commission

Yes its been awhile since my last blog. It started off that I just didn't have the time to blog, then got even busier,then last week I injured my right pinky. As I was pushing down the trash, a tin can came up and sliced open my finger. I had to get a few stitches which really pissed me off since IGLA is coming up fast. This happened on Sunday 4/27. I took Monday and Tuesday off, but decided I would wrap up my hand tight and do some kicking on Wednesday. By Thursday I was good to swim, as long as I work a rubber glove. This helped me not lose the feel of the water too much.

Also, it was my birthday on May 2nd, so yea! I got a super cool digital camera from Drew that we will be using in Europe. A few friends joined us for dinner at PF Changs. Good times, even though my day was real crappy at work. But I have moved on, so you all will to!