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Race Result
Race Report:
Patriot Sprints
I had a swimming summer. Knee surgery left me on crutches from July 1st - August 15th. Even after dumping the crutches running was not an option and bike fitness was going to take a while to get back. I took refuge in swimming. I like swimming, but after this summer I am in love with swimming once again.
To stay focused and give clarity to my training, I did the swim leg of a Chessie Man (Iron distance) relay and enjoyed almost every minute of it. After Chessie Man, my knee was not quite ready for full training load, so I needed something to carry me through 4 or 5 more weeks while the knee healed. I decided to try a Masters' swim meet. I had a nice distance base from the relay swim in September and 5 weeks to turn endurance into
speed. I swam AAU as a kid and was on a very good high school team. "Should be easy to get right back into competitive swimming" .... Or so I thought. A quick look at prior year's results told me that "fast" has a different meaning in masters' swimming than triathlons.
If I had to pick any swim meet to make my 25 year comeback, there could not be a better race than the Patriot Masters Sprint Classic. The longest events are the 200 yard free and 200 IM. The highlights of the day are 25 yard (non sanctioned) sprints. Swimmers can enter up to five sanctioned events and all the sprints they want. Since there have been significant rule changes to breast stroke and backstroke since I last took a stroke in anger (March 1983 – TN HS state meet) and I only had 5 weeks to train, I stuck to familiar Freestyle (25, 50, 100 and 200) and beloved Butterfly (25 and 50). I've often said that I'm not much of an endurance athlete - more of a sprinter – time to shut up or put up.
Note: swimming is muuuuuch cheaper than Triathlons. USMS license is about 25 and meet entry was about 25.
My goals were simple
- Complete all entered events.
- Do everything possible to avoid strait DFLs
- Learn as much as possible about masters swimming
GMU's first-class swimming facility has an 8-lanes with non-turbulent lane lines, overflow gutters and a color scoreboard. The 9-feet wide, all-deep-water lanes allow for some very fast swimming! The pool was configured in the 25-yard course by use of a movable bulkhead at the turn end of the pool. Lucky for me, a friendly person mentioned that flip turns on the bulkhead are not simple if you are used to a wall. I tried it out and sure enough, It was unsettling to discover something like this so close to race time. Next time, I'll be looking for a pool with the bulkheads to practice turns.
Meet was scheduled to start at 1000 and the pool was open for Warm ups at 900. I arrived around 915 - an hour before my first event (heat 4 of 100 free) was scheduled. There seemed to be so little to do. No tires to pump, no numbers to pin, no body marking. Just warm up and keep an eye on the heat sheet.
Event #1: 100y Free (10/12) 1:06.01 (32.52, 33.49): I was good and warm, but anxious and apprehensive just the same. Into the water, little shaky on turn 1, good turn 2 and good turn 3. I figured out I was not swimming hard enough on the last 25 and kicked it up a notch to the finish. The result was not what I was looking for (wanted to go sub 1:05) but from the splits, I just forgot that it was a sprint race and went out way too slow. At least I’ve broken my duck
Event #2: 200y Free (1st): 2:28:99. (34.58, 37.05, 38.98 38.38) this was the easiest one to think about scratching. To make matters worse I was the slowest seed in my heat by 15 seconds – I would be swimming on my own. I sucked it up and decided to focus on my goal of 2:30. I went out well enough, second 50 went well, but the third was disastrous. In fact I almost missed the bulkhead turn on the 3rd 50. The last 50 was OK, but my lack of specific training at this distance showed in the splits. I did not feel good during this one. I later learned that the few guys in my AG who had entered, scratched, so I actually took first, and last.
Event #3 - 50 fly (9/12): 31.43. Now we are talking. 50 yards is a nice distance. By the time it hurts, you’re out of the water. This time, when I lined up behind the timers, I felt adrenaline rush. I got a great start, surfaced midway down the pool, got on top of the stroke and stayed there. I was only hoping for sub-35 and smashed that. I had tasted blood just in time for the fastest events. Stroke needs a ton of work though.
Event #4 - 50 free (12/15) 28.28, It was all good getting on the blocks. Great start, OK turn (gotta work on those bulkhead turns) and gutted it home. I’m not unhappy to have finished so slow amongst a group of sprinters, there is plenty of opportunity to get faster.
Event #5 - 25 fly (7/9) 14:13. Wow, this was fun, but I can barely recall the 14 seconds in the water, except that I took two breathes when I only really needed one. It felt like I almost swam through the wall.
Event #6 - 25 free (7/9) 12.77. Now that I had the feel, this was the best event so far. Got a great start, nice underwater and hit it hard to the wall. Happy to go sub 13.
Observations
I met a lot of great folks at the meet. It was interesting to hear a swimmer's perspective on tris. They tend to be first out of the water but then watch the world go by on the bike.
If you want to buy one of those Blue Seventy tech suits for non-wetsuit legal swims, wait until January when they will no longer be legal for masters swimming. From what I saw e-bay will be flooded with them.
One day later I feel like I was hit by a bull (not a truck, a truck doesn’t back up and hit you again). Need massive work on core strength for the starts and all those underwater dolphin kicks.
The next big meet is the Tropical Splash (short course yards) on January 31, 2010. The timing is good to keep one honest in the pool. I hope to work the Fly well enough to improve in the 50 and complete the 100, maybe even the 200, but maybe not.
One final thought. In the last two weeks leading up to the meet, I took a couple noon time rides down at Haines Point. On two separate occasions, I put in a couple of strong 2 - 6 minute efforts while riding with the lunchtime goons. These efforts felt great except for some missing leg strength. I would not have expected as much of a cardiovascular cross training effect from the pool to the bike but it is definitely there.
Thanks for Reading
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