Announcements
Congratulations to Mike Davidson (Whitecaps) and his team
on their completion of the Toyota/OUTLAST Kanata Urban Adventure Race on Sunday,
June 3rd. The race consisted of approximately 10K Canoe, 25K Mountain
Bike, and 10K Orienteering, completed in teams of three. There were special
tasks and riddles that had to be done / solved through out the day also
(portage, move hay bales, obstacle courses, answer riddles, go
through ponds / rivers with your bike over your head, etc.).
Wow! There were 36 teams and Mike's team finished 8th overall and 4th in
the Co-ed division. It took them around 6.5 hours to complete the
course. Mike reports that it was "totally fun and extremely
exhausting"! There are two more (even longer!) adventure races planned for
July and August, see
http://www.outlast.ca for
details.
Congratulations also to Josh Robert (son of
Renee [Earlybirds]), who finished second overall (behind a 19yr
old) and first in his age group (15-16yrs) in the Kids of Steel triathlon held
in Barrhaven on Sunday, June 3rd.
Please note that the last 8:30-9:30am workout of the session will
be held on Friday, June 22nd. From Monday, June 25th to Friday,
August 31st the (MWF) morning workout will be from 7:30-8:30am only. The
8:30-9:30am workouts will start again around mid-September.
For those who like to plan ahead, note that there will be a workout on
Saturday, June 30th, but no workout (morning or evening) on Monday,
July 2nd.
Skills Clinics
Early Birds:
Starts and turns clinics will continue for the next
week. These are optional and will be held during the last 15min of workout (i.e.
either 8:15-8:30am or 9:15-9:30am).
1. free and back open turns:
Monday, June 11th
2. free and back flip turns:
Wednesday, June 13th
3. IM turns: Friday, June
15th
4. racing starts: Monday, June
18th
I also promised an open water swimming
clinic. We'll do that (optionally) during one of the distance
freestyle sets. Please remind me if you are interested!
Whitecaps:
On Thursdays when the "A" group is in the deep end (for June, this will be
the 14th and 28th), we have the space to do stroke and turn/starts clinics for
the last 20min of workout (6:50-7:10pm). Please let me know if
there's a particular skill you'd like to work on.
Swimming Etiquette
Rule #3: When swimming in a
circle (up one side of the lane and down the other), move past the middle of the
lane before you do your turn.
It's important to practice good turns in workout,
which means pushing straight off the wall. If you do your turn on the
side of the lane you've been swimming on, you must either push off at an
angle (inefficient) or risk a head-on collision with the swimmer behind you
(dangerous!). This is especially important in public swim, as you may not
even realize that someone has jumped in and is swimming right behind you.
Thus, if you are resting (in workout or public swim), it's best to rest next to
the lane rope on the side of the lane that you just finished swimming on
[without hanging on the rope -- remember rule #2!] , so that those who
are swimming have the far side of the lane clear for their turns [thus
following rule #1 -- those swimming have the right of way!].
Ask the Coach
Dear Coach: What is a key
workout to do in preparation for long (10-15k) open water swim
races? Would sets of 5k repeats or training with paddles be
good? Marathon Swimmer in Training
Dear Marathon Swimmer: What a great
challenge! Keep in mind that a 10k swim race is comparable to a running
marathon (42k) as far as the length of time it takes to complete (2-8
hours). Thus a 15k swim race would be like 1.5 marathons! Your task
is to get fit enough to be confident of completing the race, without
overtraining. Similar to marathon training, you need to have a pretty good
training base and you do need to do some long swims.
For swimming, I would recommend that your average
weekly yardage be at least twice the distance you plan to race (i.e. 20k/week in
preparation for a 10k race). I suggest that you do one extra long workout
every 10 days to 2 weeks, where you build up to at least 3/4 of the total
distance (i.e. 7500m workout for a 10k race). Keep in mind that you need
to build up gradually. It's recommended that you increase your daily and
weekly total by no more than 10% per week! If you have never had shoulder
problems, a bit of training with paddles is ok, but don't do much more than
500m at a time. If you have any history of shoulder problems, do
not use paddles at all! For your long workout, do some
long swims, but vary the strokes a bit.
A sample 7500m workout is: 1000 warm up (mix up the
strokes and include drills/kick/pull); 3 x 1500 fs: 1 moderate, 1 build, 1 hard
with 1:00 rest in between (first 1500 could be pull); 200 ez non-fs; 5 x 100 ch
kick moderate with :10 rest; 500 bk (or br or IM) build; 500 ez long warm down
(mix swim/drill).
If you have not done many open water swims, or will be swimming in
conditions very different from a pool (e.g. very cold water, big waves, salt
water, night-time race, etc.) then you should do some open water training.
When training in open water, always swim with a buddy or have an accompanying
boat! The problem with open water training is that it's easy to get lazy
as you don't know exactly how far you're swimming or how fast (without a
measured pool and pace clock). Thus, I feel that working up to a one hour
swim in open water is adequate preparation for most conditions, unless you'll be
racing in very harsh conditions.
Best of luck, and keep up posted!!
Dear Coach: I would like to start a weights program
to improve my swimming speed. What would you recommend? Wanting
Weights
Dear W. Weights: As mentioned in the previous newsletter, technique
is the most important factor in the pool. For the large majority of
non-elite swimmers, you'll get more benefit from an hour spent on swimming
technique than from an hour spent in the weight room. Of course, doing
both is even better! Weight training is a great complement to your
swimming and as a weight-bearing activity also has other benefits (increased
overall strength, increased muscle mass, and stronger bones).
There are many different approaches to weight training. When
swimming, you perform many repetitive arm and leg motions, so doing sets
of one repetition at the highest weight you can lift will not transfer well
to swimming. Also, becoming an Arnie look-a-like is not a good idea, as
really big muscles interfere with flexibility and also weigh you down.
I'd recommend starting with a general weights program where you do 2-3 sets
of 10-15 reps of each exercise. While some muscles are used more than
others in swimming (e.g. abs, pecs, lats, triceps), it's important to also work
the opposing muscles to avoid imbalance and injury. If you have any
swimming injuries, avoid working those areas, but still work the opposing
muscles. For example, with my bad shoulders, I don't do any direct
pectoral exercises (such as bench press) but do lots of rotator cuff / upper
back exercises with light weights. The supervisor in the Carleton weight
room should be able to provide a handout and/or suggestions of a good routine to
follow, as well as answer any questions you have about specific exercises.
Last year Carleton offered a 6hr (3x2hr) weight training clinic for
swimmers in September, 2000 and January, 2001, for around $25. If
this is of interest to anyone let me know your availability and we'll see if it
can be set up again this fall.
Early Birds Notes
The second set of time trials is just one week
away! We'll continue focusing on your chosen events but will slightly ease
off the distance and intensity this week so that you're well rested for the time
trails.
Happy laps!
Lynn
