Reporter Paul Tenorio is filing today's entry from the Good Counsel press box at a soccer game after forgetting to post earlier. (Photo by Paul Tenorio/The Washington Post)
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I have to apologize for the evening post. Frankly, I forgot to do one this afternoon amidst a few other assignments. Thankfully my coach, Jeff King, sent me an e-mail inquiring as to the whereabouts of an entry. So as I sit here in the press box for this No. 1 DeMatha vs. No. 6 Good Counsel boys’ soccer showdown, I’m gonna hit you with a quick entry.
This morning’s workout was somewhat as I anticipated it would be. By that I mean it was a longer swim than Monday and it pushed me a bit more, not just distance-wise but also mentally in continuing to prepare for my race.
The workout started with a 1650 broken down into sections:
500 swim
500 swim
5 100s swim descending
3 50s all out
All three of those different types of swims demand a different type of focus. For me, as I swim the 500 it’s all about trying to find a rhythm. I try to keep my breathing every three strokes so that I’m not just breathing to one side. I try to make sure I’m not too sloppy as I get tired when it comes to my stroke and my turns.
The five 100s descending presents that same challenge, you’re tired and you have to push yourself, but most importantly it’s about accountability. While looking at the clock and getting your time, you’re trying to get faster each time while maintaining a productive stroke.
By the time you get to the 50s, you’re gassed. But that’s the whole point. These 50s represent those final laps of a 100 race, or a 200 race, or whatever. You’re going to be tired, so learn how to push your body to get through the exhaustion and just go.
After that warm up, we repeated the set, dropping a 500, then again dropping another 500, then again dropping the final 500.
Each time it became more and more of a mental workout. In my head I realize that I’m coming up on a race. I realize that, too, must be in Jeff’s mind. So each of these workouts I try to focus on what this is doing to prepare me for the race.
At times when I was tired Jeff would call me out for doing something wrong — not kicking enough out of a turn, struggling on my start, breathing to just one side, letting my stroke turn into “The Claw” (which he called Rocky IV today…).
That he was drilling those things into me was not without reason. Tomorrow, I’m swimming a test set, four 50s on 10 minutes. Tons of rest and ton of opportunities to race and race well. With that in mind, here was his chance to correct some things now and to give me a whole day to think about it, to visualize what I did wrong and think about my race tomorrow and picture exactly how it’s going to go and to try to eliminate those mistakes in my mind and yet keep them in the forefront so that I don’t do it tomorrow.
Tomorrow will be my first time trying a test set and I’m excited about the challenge. Four races in less than an hour is not an EASY thing to do, though the distance and rest makes it seem like a vacation compared to a normal practice.
For me tomorrow is about the time, but it’s also about the execution, taking the lessons of this past week and applying it to a race. If I apply them right, and I execute perfectly, the time will be the direct result of the practices and the lessons Jeff gave me.
Hopefully I end up looking like a good student and I give the teacher a satisfying payoff.
Washington Post reporter Paul Tenorio will train with a swim club over the next few months and chronicle his journey as he attempts to transform from regular guy/sports reporter to competitive swimmer — everything from his waistline to his best times.
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