ROCKING it baby!

• On: 02/07/2010 16:07:56

I was lucky enough to spend all day today in a pool.   I did the Annual Superbowl swim meet here that I have done for the last 6+ years.  This is one I choose to do because it is huge.  And, a friend of mine, Ashley Long’s dad, historically put this meet on.  And, it is full of triathletes!  The meet is so big that we started at 8am (7am warm up) and we ended after 2.30pm!  And, there is NO break.  It is the biggest meet in the State except for the State Championships.   I get to see a lot of old friends there and I love catching up with them all.  Our team won the event and it was great to see and race with all my Masters Swim teammates.

I swam almost the max number of races.  I swam 4 individual events and 4 relays!   Ouch.  By about 1pm, I was very cold and tired of swimming a bit, but I had to rally because the 200 free was the second to the last event.  And, in my opinion, the hardest event of the day for me.  It is kind of like the 800 on the track – you have to sprint the whole time but it stings more than the 400, which you can kind of fake!  Can’t fake the 200 in the pool.

Ok, today was a HUGE test for me.  And, a huge test of my swim training.  As I mentioned in previous posts, I have yanked my swimming back this year.  I really enjoy swimming and am passionate about swimming so I really wanted to see if “more is more” OR “less is less.”  To be honest with you….I thought this could go either way.  It would either be a complete mess or prove to be a VERY good thing. 

And let’s not forget my HUGE increase in TRX and Personal Training 2x /week….which has helped me tremendously. 

I even went as far as changing how I attacked this meet.  For one, I did NOT buy new goggles.  GASP!  Yes, I buy new goggles for EACH race I do.  That is my superstition.  Pink and clean and brand new.  This year, I said, “Jen, you are being silly, this is ONLY a swim meet.”   So, old goggles.  And, I did not think about this event leading up to it. I had my goals.  I visualized me swimming the 500 @ the pace I wanted.  I announced my goals to a few and that was it.  On Saturday night I did not think about racing or what I “had” to eat or not eat.  I even watched “Bridges of Madison County” last night with Jerome crying like a little girl until 10.15pm!  I just wanted to see what would happen.  Could I swim like I have in the past or be faster or slower? 

I even got up later.  Warm ups start at 7am.  500 mixed started at 8am and I was in one of the last heats, so I was closer to 9am.  (But you cannot warm up after 8am).  So, I walked in @ 7.30am and I think some of my teammates were like, “oh my, where were you?”   I WAS SLEEPING – trying to be a relaxed Jen.

I only warmed up 500 -600 yards and then a few starts and sprints (much less than I normally would do).  And,  I kept it totally easy.  I got out of the water…went to the bathroom and got ready for the 500.

I was seeded as the 2^nd fastest in my heat.  And, with only 2 heats left of the 500 (they go slowest to fastest and run it is TWO pools) – I was in the deep pool (deeper water is faster!) I was in the best lane – in lane 4.  NICE!  I told myself to work off the guy next to me as his seeded time was what I wanted to swim.  There was only 1 girl my heat – and she was in lane #1.  There were no girls in the last heat (um, these guys went 5 min or sub 5!).  So, I knew that if I beat this girl – that I would have the fastest 500 of the entire meet – ALL women…(it is based on Age group as you know, but I wanted to win OA)…

Let me just say I wore my TEAM USA speed suit from Vancouver TRI Worlds. They are shorts – like a tri suit – but of course a one piece.  But, I *GUESS* the real swimmers there were like, “OHMYGOD!”  One of the girls next to me in the 200 told me that the suit was intimidating!  Eeks.  SORRY!  I didn’t realize that swimmers use these suits too and it was like I was a “TEAM USA” swimmer.  HA- um, I am way too old and SLOW for that, my friends.  But, I was like, “NO!!! I am just a triathlete!!!!”  She said, “oh!”  Seriously, someone like me swimming my speed – did THEY really think otherwise?  Crack my shit up.  Let’s just say I definitely was NOT in the fastest heat of the 50y or 100y!!!  Plleeeezze.

Anyway….the 500 is way too short for me.  I knew I would have to suffer like a dog, but I felt good in the warm ups…and yesterday, I only ran 6 miles easy…so my legs were fresh.  I planned it that way.  NO way I was showing up to this big meet fried.  I got up on the blocks..I was nervous, but not obnoxiously nervous like I have in the past years.  I purposely “let it go” so I could see how I would race as a different Jenny.

Gun went off and my dive in was good – NOT like a true swimmer good, but not too bad for me.  I got out and my goal was to nail the turns.  I knew that if I held my own on the turns, I would hit my goal.   And, I needed to kick hard off the wall.   And, I had that deep deep desire to win.  My drive to win or be faster never leaves my head.

I plugged in my head – I was there.  I was not thinking of the other 8 or 9 events I still had to swim.  I was present.  And, I worked it. I decided to focus on being smooth in the water and NOT chopping up my stroke, which is easy to do when you are sprinting.  The guy in the lane next to me was just about ½ body length in front of me.  I was trying hard to draft off him – he was beating me out of the turns.  The other lanes – were behind.  I could feel the lactate acid build and accelerate through my body.  My body was pulsating getting rid of the lactate.  But, I quickly noticed that it DID NOT bog me down.  When you are tired, the lactate does not get out of your system as easily.  I was fresher.  I was faster and I was flushing the lactate of my body easier than normal.  And!  And, I was swimming easier.   Just what we all try to do – swim faster and more efficient.  I still was breathing every stroke as a pure long distance swimmer, but I was NOT breathing in and out of my turns, I was fighting for every second.  And, the win.

I could see the orange card and could hear the bell ringing – signaling our last 50…I put my head down, stopped breathing every stroke and brought it in as fast as I could.  I really do not have another gear…as most sprinters do, but I did my best and finished 2^nd behind the guy right next to me.  He went 4” faster than me!  Damn!  But, I was ok with that – the gal was a 25 + behind me…I did it!  I won but more importantly I was there to break 6.

I could have left and been happy but I had to re-group and move on thru the meet.  I swam faster in all my events today.  ALL of them.  And, seconds matter at these meets.

And, that led me to REALLY think.  Think about why am I swimming faster – I am older and in my opinion really out of peak swim shape.  On paper, I should NOT be swimming faster.  I have only been back in the water since mid-December since being off for 4+ weeks after my craptastic race at Clearwater.   And, I have only been swimming 3x/week.  That is NOT a lot for me.  And, I have been not as intense at practices – it is like I have taken a little “chill pill.”

Maybe it is age.  With age comes wisdom and experience.

NOW the real question is this:  IF I can swim as fast or faster on 40% less swimming – WHY IN THE HELL would I swim more?  This is the daily debate Jerome and I have.  And, instead of swimming more I have been running more- which, after how I felt last year running, is clearly what I needed for 2010.

Jerome grew up swimming and most people do not know this about Jerome but he swam on the US National team and was their best 50m Sprinter.  He is so powerful in that water.  And, over the years, Jerome has told me, “Swimming more than x times per week for me is a waste.”  Now, my counter to this is, “You may be able to swim a 55 min IM swim on NO TRAINING (swim training) but how do you feel on the bike and run?”  He said, “FINE.”  And, he was just fine…

But, my argument with Jerome is that he is a REAL swimmer.  I just play one in my other life.  I am a good swimmer, sure..but that is only because I swam 4-5 x /week for the last X years and ABSOLUTELY work my ass off in the pool.   Again, some weeks 25k.  BUT at what cost?  Slower running?  More fatigue I carry around with me?  At what point does the balance become off kilter?

And, this was truly a test for me.  And, one that kind of surprised me.  I swam faster ON much much less swimming.  I think once you get to the point of your swimming where you are swimming up to your potential (age-graded)…I think the more swims you do the more fatigue you accumulate --- and that leads to cumulative fatigue.  This state of fatigue is what most triathletes are used to.  They are used to ‘always feeling tired’…but, for some of us, I just proved that this is not the best case.  I just think the more swimming I do the more tired I am and the less fresh I am for my other key workouts in the bike and the run. 

And, I am finding this MUCH more pronounced the older I get.  I find that if I rest harder (I have always rested hard but…) I can do my “key” workouts of the week HARDER and just as fast as 5 years ago.  And, that is what it is all about, right?  If I can do LESS training and be faster – crap, isn’t that the golden ticket?  For me, it is.  I am finding that with less training I am just as fast as I have been.  My watts, my run paces, my swim times…all in check or faster than what I would expect – and with less training.

THAT, my friends, is a breakthrough finding.  Of course we all talk about “less is more” theory in training and in life…but honestly, WHO takes the gamble and cuts back on intensity or volume (I cut back on volume not intensity) and test things out?  Not many have the gall to do it.  This year I said:  why not?

I am here to tell you – LESS IS MORE.  And, if I can live other parts of my life fuller because of it – COUNT ME IN!  We always say it, but living it and doing it is totally different.