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It’s been a while since I’ve posted — I took the week off from the blog last week as it was one of the busiest of the year for me with the convergence of fall All-Mets, high school football playoffs, basketball previews, Redskins, Thanksgiving…and this year my grandmother’s 80th birthday (and ensuing bash in which 150 relatives/friends converged from around the country to celebrate).
And even though I wasn’t blogging, boy did the week wear me down — especially since I couldn’t take my normal power naps post-practice.
On Tuesday I had come into the workout and feeling sick and tired. And with so many things on my plate work-wise I was just out of it. I couldn’t focus at all and was having trouble putting in the work I wanted because when I was kicking or swimming I couldn’t tear my mind off of the work I had in front of me. It was the opposite of what I like to use swimming for, but I guess it’s natural to have that happen every now and again.
By Wednesday morning of last week I was starting to get sick and was exhausted. Thus, for only the second time since I started this project I ended up oversleeping and missing a training session. I was mad at myself for letting it happen, but honestly I needed the sleep very, very badly.
We had Thanksgiving off and I was in to practice the next day with leftover pies for another Thanksgiving tradition with Jeff’s group. Everyone brings leftover pie (it can’t be a new pie, at least one slice must be missing). I brought apple pie and ate pumpkin. I win.
Looking back to last week it’s been a long time since I’ve had more than five hours sleep and my body is taking a hit. I am definitely sicker now than I was on Wednesday and I felt like death when I woke up this morning for practice (after getting home late last night from Philadelphia).
The amazing thing is, though, as tired and sick as I felt I ended up feeling so strong in the pool. It was exactly the opposite of what I had anticipated.
I swam over in the shallow well of the pool while the rest of Jeff’s group tapered and readied for their respective meets. I don’t get that luxury. In addition, this week I’ll be given a lot more space by Jeff — who is focused on those swimmers who DO need to focus on Tom Dolan and Turkey Claus.
My set today broke down like this:
10 100 IMs (swim back/free, kick fly/breast)
Five 200s
Eight 100 IMs
Four 200s
Six 100 IMs
Two 200s
Four 100 IMs
One 200
I actually only got through about half of that, finishing up at the halfway point of the six 100 IMs…so yeah, exactly halfway through the workout.
Despite my worries that I’d feel as terrible this morning as I did on Friday, when I struggled to breathe and looked pretty sloppy, today I hopped in and felt a surge of energy. It was great…and unexpected. My backstroke felt the best it ever has, I was okay with the butterfly kick and for the most part my breathing was ok (I did struggle as far as how long I could hold it…I think I’d be pretty bad at breath control right now).
All in all I just tried to focus on working hard and perfecting everything Jeff has talked to me about — my focus was on staying long in the 200s and also on maximizing my speed and force off the walls.
I’m hoping to grab much more sleep today/tonight — though that may not come until tomorrow with a crazy good Monday Night Football game on tonight — and that way I can rock out some good workouts this week.
For now, I feel the stress dissipating just because I’ve finished the basketball previews and made all my first-team All-Met calls and now I can chill out a bit more and get back into the normal daily rhythm…and hopefully not lose focus in the pool anymore.
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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