Tis the season...

Well....as things go at this time of year...its been a hectic blur the past few weeks.

December 3-12th I was not able to swim due to medical reasons....

December 13th: I only had enough time to get in a mile straight swim.

December 14th: Tried out my new Finis tempo trainer out and I swam 2500 yards increasing the tempo each 500 alternating free and back every 500.  I really enjoyed the Tempo trainer.

December 16th: Swam 2000 yards, first 1000 warm up, then 10 x 100 free with tempo trainer set to 90.

December 21st: Swam 2000 yards, first 1000 warm up with free and back, 10 x 100 IM, then 5 minutes of vertical kick.

I traveled out of state for Christmas and as it usually goes, I've eaten way too many sweets and I've been way too lazy.  And although I had every intention of swimming while I was at my parents house...it appears that although I brought home all my other swim gear, I forgot my swim suit.  So, tomorrow I'm going to see if I can luck out and find a store here that sells suits, but if that fails, I brought my cross country skis and this will be a week of cross training.

Merry Christmas...and next week its time to get my workout schedule back to normal, but until then...I'm enjoying time home with my family!

Kick, kick, kick (accidentally published out of order-swim from 11-26-12))

Well this comes as no surprise to anyone who has seen me swim before.....particularly my parents who have watched from the beginning)...I don't kick much.  I've been told this throughout my swimming career, but I've rested in the reply "I'm a distance swimmer, I don't need to kick."

Well, at USMS High Performance Camp this year, one of the main critiques of my stroke was my lack of kick (even for a distance swimmer).  And Coach is encouraging me to add more kick sets (particularly vertical kick sets) in order to reach my goal of completing my swim in 2013 without the ole wetsuit.

So, we are officially starting the training today. I don't have a date selected yet, but it will be sometime in August.  So at approximately 9 months out, my goals this week are to swim 4 times this week for an hour and a half each session, with 2 VASA training sessions, cut down on my candy consumption and start practicing eating "real" food before and during workout.

Today I got up at 4:30, hit the snooze for 10 minutes and was in the pool by 5:03.  My breakfast this morning was a banana, which was insufficient as I was hungry ten minutes into the workout.  Here's what I did:

1000 warm up
200 back stroke
8 x 100 kick @ 2:20 (every other "100" was a vertical kick for the entire interval)
5 x 100 IM @ 2:00
5 x 200 @ 3:30 with Finis Agility Paddles
200 IM, 100 scull Cool Down

Total: 3800 yards

The vertical kicks were hard, I tried to keep my hands above the water the whole time so as not to be "cheating."  I was in for about an hour and twenty minutes.  I felt pretty good in the water, I was focusing on 3/4 catch up and trying to shorten my breaths on freestyle.  I threw in IM today because I was feeling a bit stiff and other strokes usually help me feel more loosened up in the water.

Wishin I had time for a nap today!  :)

~Emily

Playing catch up!

Got a little behind!  Was in Billings Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of last week for a work conference.  Had the intent of swimming twice while away, however, I only got in one swim on Thursday morning. Here's what I did:

1000 warm up
4 x 200 kick with fins (there was no deep end at the pool so I was unable to do vertical kicks)
10 x 100 rotating gear (agility paddles, stroke maker paddles, "coconut" paddles, fulcrums and reg swim)
200 easy

Total 3000 yards

I woke up Friday with the intention of swimming, but my sinuses hurt so bad that I decided against it.

My sinus pain has turned into an ear infection...blah.

I did swim Sunday (with wax in my infected ear) and I did my favorite set:

100 free
400 reverse IM
1000 free w/ 1 min rest
2 x 500 swim w/30 sec rest (used paddles)
5 x 200 w/15 sec rest (did evens backstroke)
10 x 100 kick (every other was vertical kick)
400 cool down

Total: 4900 yards

I did not swim this morning, as my ear has worsened to the point where it hurts to open my mouth.  I will do VASA this evening though.

Happy Monday!

~Emily

I love my VASA Trainer

Yesterday I didn't swim, but I did a short (30 min) VASA workout.  The thing I love most about the VASA trainer is it doesn't take a long workout for you to feel it the next day....here's what I did on the VASA:

3 x 25 double arm pulls (no resistance) with 3 x 50 killer abs in between (no resistance)
3 x 30 double leg squats (VASA pushed up against wall) with one bungee cord with 3 x 12 rows in btwn.
3 x 15 single leg squats each leg (one bungee cord) with 3 x 50 killer abs in between (no resistance)

(It should be noted that little Mason puppy DOES NOT like the VASA trainer and barked at me nearly the whole time I was working out).

Then this morning I got up early (and sore) to get a swim in before heading to Billings for work.  I ate oatmeal before I swam and here's what I did today:

200 SKIPS (swim/kick/IM/pull/swim-drill)
16 x 50 alternate KOB/vertical kick @ 1:30
200 backstroke
3 x 500 @ 8:00 swim
250 cool down

Total: 3750 yards

I was in for about an hour and twenty minutes.  I like the kick sets alternating with vertical kick (they are making me pretty sore, but I like that).  I would have liked to do a few more 500s, but my time was limited this morning to get on the road.  I held right around 7 minutes on my 500s and was really trying to work on maintaining the 3/4s catch up even when I got tired.  I still think I maybe didn't eat enough before I swam as I was hungry after about the first 500.

Well....gotta get the car packed and hit the road-don't worry, I will pack my swimsuit and discover what Billings has to offer in swimming facilities!

~Emily

"My reputation follows me around...just makes me want to give 'em more to talk about..."

I'm baaaaaaaack!  The title of this post is lyrics from one of my favorite Miranda Lambert songs.

If any of you don't know, I took 2012 "off" from anything "crazy."  No super marathon swims in 2012.  That being said, I was not on the couch much.  I traveled to North Carolina twice for swimming.  I swam at the Masters Nationals at the Greensboro Aquatic Center (one of my all time favorite pools) in the spring and returned to the GAC in August for the Masters High Performance Camp.  I did a handful of short open water races and I got some local Age Group kiddos involved in open water swimming with a swim across the width of Flathead Lake at the end of the summer.

It was nice to have a "break" from super rigorous training, but lets be honest, I'm built to train hard and long swims are becoming my thing.

So I am proud to announce my swim for 2013 will be a 70 mile swim of Canyon Ferry Lake in Helena.  I will be completing a "loop" around the lake, which has 76 miles of shoreline.  It is my intent to complete this swim without a wetsuit, both for an added challenge AND to qualify for a record.

This swim will be a charity swim, as has been the case with each of my previous swims, however I have not yet selected the kiddo I will be swimming for (stay tuned, the selection should happen by the first of the year).

I had a lot of feedback from folks in 2011 encouraging my to start a 501(c)(3) in order to be eligible to obtain "matching donations" from companies that offer that for employees who donate to 501(c)(3)s.  I also hope to have this complete by the new year.  My foundation will be called The Enduring Waves Foundation.  I hope my efforts this year will surpass my previous fundraising efforts and with the help of my Board, I hope we are able to be organized enough in our fundraising efforts to raise funds for two families this year instead of just one.

I have also obtained a new coach to assist me in my training this year.  Coach Steven Munatones is my new coach and I am so excited to learn from his vast amount of experience with working with open water swimmers.

My training buddies are excited to get started!

So join me in my journey...it's sure to be a long one!

~Emily