February 2017 - Frank Clark Meet and Increasing Yardage

I really stepped up my training in February. I was able to get at least 6 practices in per week, many of them I was able to get 4000 yards in. I also started increasing my yardage in preparation for my marathon swim in April. I started with 1 hr straight and worked my way up from there. I tried to do that once every 7-10 days or so with the main goal to test nutrition and also to make sure I could swim straight for longer periods of time. I know from my Ironman training, that liquid nutrition would be best for me, so I started with trying the BASE Hydro. The problem I encountered with that is that I don't like fake tasting fruit drinks and the lemon-lime flavor was really overpowering. I then tried watering it down, which was better than the full strength, but still wasn't enjoyable. I was glad I was able to figure out some of the things that didn't work in enough time to find something that would. In February, my long swims topped out at 2 hours (8500 yards).


I was also trying to prepare for the Frank Clark meet at the end of the month, so in practice I was working on a variety of things. I came to realize that breaststroke made my tendonitis flare up, so I backed off of that and started doing some rehab exercises. That seemed to work out alright. I used Training Peaks to plan out my workout schedule around my ever-crazy rotating work schedule. I think that really helped a lot. I followed the plan as best I could and didn't let myself slack off, even when I wanted to. I listened to my body and when I needed to back off on intensity I did, when I felt like I could push, I did. By the end of the month, I was well ahead of schedule with my yardage goal. I had built a pretty good buffer in case I got sick or something, and with the flu starting to go around I think that was a good thing. Here are my totals for February.

Annual total so far: 199,600 yards (113.41 mi)

The Frank Clark meet was my first meet since Nationals last year. I decided to buy a tech suit not only to help my times improve, but also because it provides more coverage for my longer swims to help with the amount of sunburn I'd get. I will tell you that putting on one of those suits is no joke. Thankfully Nancy suggested I try it on before the meet to make sure that I could get it on. I'm glad I did. I needed Chris' help getting it on, but I did get the right size, I think. Nancy had to help me get it over my shoulders the morning of the meet, but I still managed to get it on. We had a pretty good size group from RAM go to the meet. I was able to carpool with Doug, Laura, and Will. Amanda and Mark were also there and I met another RAM teammate, Rebecca. It was a really low-stress fun meet, though it ran a little slow at times. I had signed up for 5 events. The 1000 Free was first. The last time I swam this was at Nationals last year, and I had counted my laps wrong so my time was slower than it would have been. Point being, I had something to prove. I was seeded in the lane next to Mark, so I used him as a pacer, trying to stay with him as long as I could then try to prevent him from passing me at the end of the race. The plan worked pretty well. I PR'd my swim with a 12:15.72. More importantly, I split a 6:02 at the 500 mark, which bodes well for my open 500 Free at the Coastal Masters meet.

 

The rest of the races were all for fun or to try something different. I did the 200 IM, an event that I really dislike but wanted to get a time in for it. I did it in 2:36.97. Next was the 200 Free, another tough event. I'm still hoping I'll be able to get back below 2:10 someday, but it might take awhile. My time for that one was 2:14.66. Now, for as long as I've been swimming, I can't remember ever racing the 100 Back. That changed during the meet. I did it for what I believe to be the first time with a time of 1:15.60. Someday I'll learn how to do backstroke better. My last event was all for fun, the 50 breast. Just like with the 100 back, I didn't have any expectations for it. I put up a solid time though, 36.59. By the time the meet ended we were all pretty hungry so we grabbed some lunch before hitting the road. All in all it was a good day. The picture below is one Amanda took at the meet and shared on Instagram.

From left to right: Doug, Me, Rebecca, Mark, Amanda.