Busy Short Week

It felt like I tried to cram 5 days into 3. Of course the week started with a holiday, and I had to stay home with the boys on Friday. Turned out I didn't get 5 days crammed into 3, and ended up working from home much of the day Friday. Although is was a very busy work week, it was a pretty exciting week.

First, if you haven't been here before, I'm a father of a child with Autism and I'm competing in the 2012 US Masters Swimming Summer Nationals, and raising money for the Ozark Center For Autism. Go here for my intro blog.

On Tuesday, I received a Face Book message from an old team mate from Lincoln Northeast High School, Joe Woodschank. He had signed up for USMS Summer Nationals, and had registered with the MOVY Masters team, the same team I'm on, and he was eager to join us on some relays. It will be awesome to be rejoined with a team mate more than 22 years later. I'm really excited about that. Once a Rocket, always a Rocket.

The entry deadline for USMS Summer Nationals was Thursday, May 31. Thanks to many members of our MOVY Masters team having very close connections with USMS, we have early news on meet entries. MOVY Masters has registered 63 swimmers in the meet. That makes us the 2nd largest team, only behind the host team of Nebraska Masters. We have a very long list of talented swimmers, so we have a pretty good chance of winning this meet. Pretty exciting stuff! So I informed the guy putting together relays to put me in as many as he can. Anything to help the team!!

But, here is the most exciting part of my week. Some of you know I met my wife through masters swimming. We haven't had a chance to swim laps together for many years, maybe since before we had kids, which means 10+ years. Today we went to the pool at Healthridge Fitness and shared a lane together. It was wonderful to once again share what brought us together in the first place.

Training; I've managed to get through the busy week with out sacrificing my training. Wednesday and Friday I went to the gym and did workouts from Workout Trainer App by Skimble. Wednesday was Weights Circuit Program, Upper Body Pusher, and Core Abs & Stretches. That first one left me with sore legs for 3 days. Friday was Muscle Memory and Drill Sergeant Mom. Those were good workouts, and I struggled a bit, might have to try those again.

Thursday and Saturday were for swimming. Thursday was with the KC Blazers masters at Roeland Park Aquatic Center. This workout let me work on a lot of things, and I worked the 200 IMs pretty hard to get the blood flowing. The main set looks long and complicated, but is really simple once you get into it. You may have seen on Facebook I came up with a name for the set; long course mid distance IM progressive front loading mirrored tri-ladder set.

5/31/2012
Qty	Meters	Interval	Total Mtrs
1	300		300	Free	Swim	DPS
1	400		400	IM	SKDS
1	300		300	Free	Swim	Build
6	150	3:00	900	2 Fly, 2 Back, 2 Brst; 50Kick50Drill50Build
1	200		200	Easy
			0
1	50	1:00	50	Free	Swim
1	100	2:00	100	BrstFree	Swim
1	150	3:00	150	BackBrstFree	Swim
1	200	4:00	200	I.M.	Swim
1	200	4:00	200	I.M.	Swim
1	150	3:00	150	BackBrstFree	Swim
1	100	2:00	100	BrstFree	Swim
1	50	1:00	50	Free	Swim
1	50	1:00	50	Free	Swim
1	100	2:00	100	BrstFree	Swim
1	150	3:00	150	BackBrstFree	Swim
1	200	4:00	200	I.M.	Swim
			0
1	200		200	Cool Down
			0
			3800	Meters
			2.361211	Miles

 For the workout I did on Saturday, while sharing a lane with my wife, I borrowed a workout from Jeff Commings blog again. I did his workout from Sunday May 27. I did have to modify it a bit, since I didn't have bungee cords, and wasn't in a pool I could do starts in. I also had do reduce it to get it down to 60 minutes. It was good though, I inflicted some pain by building some lactic acid, and made sure I was still able to go fast at the end of it. Success!!

Swim Lessons for Kids with Autism!

Swimming is a very important, life saving skill. EVERYBODY needs to know how to swim. That may seem like too large of a to teach your child with Autism to swim. But I think it is even more important for children with special needs to have basic swimming skills.

First, if you haven't been here before, I'm a father of a child with Autism and I'm competing in the 2012 US Masters Swimming Summer Nationals, and raising money for the Ozark Center For Autism. Go here for my intro blog.
One of my masters swimming team mates works at KU Med, which has been working on a solution to this problem. They are offering swim lessons to kids with Autism at a very affordable, darn near free, rate. Details below.

Training: I took advantage of the holiday weekend. I was back in the pool this morning, and the first swim after Memorial Day means the first swim in a 50 meter pool in a while. It went better than I thought, and was able to push it pretty good, and make it through the whole workout without completely bonking.

	Qty	Meters	Interval	Total Mtrs
	1	900		900	Odd 100s Free Swim Dcnd 1-5
				0	Even 100s Not free, Mixer
	12	50	1:00	600	Choice	Odds Kick, Evens Drill
4	1	150	3:00	600	Free	Pull
	1	100	2:00	400	I.M.	Swim
	4	50	1:00	800	Choice	Swim	Dcnd 1-4
	1	200		200	Easy
	3	100	2:00	300	I.M.	Swim	Dcnd 1-3
	1	200		200	Cool Down
				0
				4000	Meters
				2.485485	Miles

Now for the info on swim lessons!

Sensory Supported Swimming Program

Greetings!
We are excited announce an opportunity for learning how to swim! KUMC Occupational Therapy Education is partnering with
The children will be learning from swim instructors and therapists who have experience working with children with autism spectrum disorders. All swim lessons will be held at Kirmayer Fitness Center, located at the University of Kansas Medical Center.
Classes will begin in June and will be scheduled on an ongoing basis. Our goal for the program is to build the swimming capacity for children with autism.
Parents are NOT REQUIRED to swim with their child, but are encouraged to observe their children learn to swim. For more information please contact, Jennifer Tanquary at 913-588-7198 or email her at
Sincerely,
The Sensory Supported Swimming Team Autism Speaks to provide the Sensory Supported Swimming Program. We are looking for participants with an autism spectrum disorder between the ages of 4-18 with a true desire to learn to swim! Cost for families is $10 for 8 sessions. Individual and group lessons will be held Tuesdays and Thursdays at 9:30 and 10:30. jtanquary@kumc.edu We are excited and look forward to working with your children to create the best experience possible! .  

This workout was brought to you by...

In my experience in masters swimming, the swimmer is far more independent than an age group, high school, or collegiate swimmer. We grow up with coaches making all sorts of decisions for us. They write our workouts, pick our events for us, arrange our travel and meals on the road, plan our taper and make sure we are ready for every race. For a masters swimmer, most, and sometimes all of these things are left completely up to the athlete. It can work, just look at Olympic Gold Medalist Jason Lezak who has trained completely on his own for 6 years.

First, if you haven't been here before, I'm a father of a child with Autism and I'm competing in the 2012 US Masters Swimming Summer Nationals, and raising money for the Ozark Center For Autism. Go here for my intro blog.
I do still have a coach to write workouts. He does as good of a job as I can expect. Many of the workouts are geared towards types of swimmers that are not anything like me. But, they are still challenging to me, and I know going head to head with my team mates makes me better every workout. I can appreciate I don't get workouts tailored for me in this, or just about any masters group. Close to half the group are triathletes, and a good portion of the remaining in the group consider themselves distance freestylers. A person that is training for a 2.4 mile swim just to begin their race, needs very different training than someone that specializes in going really fast breast stroke for short distances like I do. So, 2 or 3 years ago, I began swimming on my own, at least once a week. This is where I work on my breast stroke drills, speed work, and big kick sets that I don't get with my masters group.

For quite some time, I went completely on my own. Just recently I started reaching out for help on writing my workouts. For this morning's workout, I went to a blog written by Jeff Commings. We are pretty similar types of swimmers in that our primary stroke is breast stroke, and we like the shorter distances. It's also worth noting, Jeff is quite a bit faster than I am, and will be competing in the U.S. Olympic Trials next month at the age of 38. Even at my lifetime best I fell short of qualifying for that meet, missing the 100 breast by less than 1/2 a second in 2000. The qualifying time was slower than it is now, and that was 12 years and 2 kids ago. So I have no illusions of keeping up with Jeff, and I'm quite thankful that in my next meet, he and I will be in different age groups. I do think copying his workouts will help me reach my own goals. Today I did the same workout Jeff did Wednesday. Go to Jeff's blog to see what it was. I was looking for some good quality fast swims and this workout gave it to me. The only adjustments were I couldn't go from a dive at Health Ridge. There are no starting blocks, and it's only 4' deep, so diving is a bad idea. But the pool is 25 meters, so I didn't have to adjust anything else. Getting my 75 times was tricky, I tried to sync the clocks, but only got them to with in 3 seconds of eachother. But, the 50 breast at the end, I pushed a 34 flat, which I am extremely happy with, considering how tired and sore I was in this workout.

Another workout planning lesson I learned this week: Tuesday night I planned my Wednesday morning workout on my Workout Trainer app on my phone. I picked out 3 workouts as I was dozing off, put them on my calendar before dropping my phone on the nightstand. The first workout, Wicked Weights, I was thinking 'Wow, that's a lot of push ups'. Then the next workout, Peripheral POWAH!, just as many push ups. And the last workout, Arms & Abs added even more. I probably would not have planned that if I wasn't dozing off. Before it was done, I had completed 260 push ups. Sore chest for 3 days!!

Have a great Memorial Day weekend. I think the best we can do to honor thos that died for what we have, is to enjoy the freedoms they gave us to the fullest!

May 22

Today is May 22, 2012. What does that mean. Well, if you are an obsessed swimming fan like me, you know today crews begin erection of two temporary pools at the Century Link Center in Omaha to be used for the U.S. Olympic Trials. But, you have probably noticed in the news, especially if you within 2 or 3 television markets of SW Missouri, it is an important one year anniversary, . May 22, 2011 brought the deadlyist single tornado in U.S. History to Joplin, MO.

First, if you haven't been here before, I'm a father of a child with Autism and I'm competing in the 2012 US Masters Swimming Summer Nationals, and raising money for the Ozark Center For Autism. Go here for my intro blog.

Rather than hash over all that happened that afternoon in Joplin, and everyday since, I'll tell you about I recall from that day. It was already going to be a memorable day. My oldest son Evan, 9 at the time, had just started swim team a few weeks before with the Tiger Sharks Swim Team in Olathe, KS. We soon learned the team was invited to partcipate in a Mutual of Omaha Breakout Swim Clinic. I thought it might be a good opportunity. Then my wife read of to me the names of who was running the clinic. It would be Rex Tulius, Dagney Knutson, and Brendan Hansen. That was all I needed to hear. Brendan Hansen is a two time Olympian, a former World Record Holder, and a bit of a breaststroke legend. Being a breaststroker myself, I couldn't wait to meet him.

The clinic was very impressive. I was really impressed at how good Rex, Dagney, and Brendan were with the kids. They first came out, one at a time, to give an inspirational talk about the sport of swimming, and what it means to them. They split the kids into three groups, and rotated them to work on a variety of swimming skills. Then a Q & A session, before giving every single kid a chance to race one of them. Before heading home, they stuck around for autographs and pictures for every kid that wanted one. As brief as that description was, it was a full 5 hours, a very full 5 hours. That was $50 well spent!

Here is  Rex, Dagney, and Brendan with Evan. And yes, that is the real deal around Evan's neck. An Olympic Gold Medal from Beijing 2008.

































It was a great day, and left Evan, and myself inspired. The Rezek family will be in Omaha the end of next month to cheer on these Rex, Dagney, and Brendan to make the 2012 U.S. Olympic team.

Now, I don't recall much else of what happened that day. I do recall keeping an eye on the weather, as we were warned of the potential of severe storms. I don't think we got anything in Olathe. But when my wife and I went to bed, we could see on the news a tornado had touched down in Joplin. It was pitch dark, so nobody was able to report the extent of the damage. But, they could see enough to know it was bad. They had no idea. The destruction was beyond imagination.

Included in that destruction was The Ozark Center for Autism. I'm raising funds to help them rebuild, and continue operations during the rebuilding process. The work this clinic is doing is helping make those suffering with Autism be more productive members of society, thus building a stronger community. If you want to help this community that has suffered so much, please go to my donation page.

TRAINING:
How is my training going? Well, it's crunch time! I only have a few weeks to get some good hard work in before I begin to taper for the USMS Summer Nationals. I have to make these next 3 weeks the best I've ever had. Every workout has to be solid. This morning I did my Workout Trainer app by Skimble. The workouts I chose today: I did Heavy Lifter twice, then Cut & Chiseled twice, and finally Fat Burner Deluxe. For a few minutes I thought I would puke, but I pulled through, so it was just about perfect. Tomorrow I'm in the pool. Every stroke counts!

Easy Friday, Again!

Wow, can't believe I haven't been here since Monday. It was a pretty busy week, although not so busy that I had to comprimise my training. For the 2nd week in a row, I took an easy Friday.

First, if you haven't been here before, I'm a father of a child with Autism and I'm competing in the 2012 US Masters Swimming Summer Nationals, and raising money for the Ozark Center For Autism. Go here for my intro blog.

Last weekend I had a swim meet on Saturday night, so I didn't want to work myself into the ground on Friday and not be able to go fast the next day. This week is kind of the same thing. There is a large healthcare software company in Kansas City called Cerner. They invited the company I work for,

Burns & McDonnell to a mini-meet at Cerner's fitness center, a little practice meet for the Kansas City Corporate Challenge. This would have been a pretty laid back deal, and I wouldn't do much to prepare for it. In fact last year I got there late, and got in and raced with out warm-up. I dove in dry for a 50 breast! (Don't ever, ever do that!!) This year, I got an email from one of their guys, Chris Musfeldt, who wanted a race or two to help him prepare for a meet he has coming up. He is a really good breaststroker, so I'm going to need my 'A game' to give him the challenge he needs. I'm really kind of excited about it.

Now, if you have never heard of the KC Corporate Challenge, go back to the above paragraph and click the link to check it out! It started over 30 years ago, and has gotten bigger and better every single year. This year there are 176 companies participating, will certainly be upwards of 10,000 participants. It is amazing for building team work, boosting moral, and more importantly, promoting health and fitness amongst employees. If you are in KC, encourage your employer to get involved. If not in KC, some other cities have started something similar. None are as big, or nearly as cool as KC, but it has to start somewhere!

Here is how my training has gone since Monday:

Tuesday; I had a really sore knee (probably from Monday's workout). My plan was to have a good swim workout, but not push my knee, and hope it loosens up. Mission accomplished!

5/15/2012
Qty	Meters	Interval	Total Mtrs
6	200		1200	Stroke	SKDS
6	150		900	50 Free Swim, 50 Stroke Kick, 50 Stroke Swim
1	200		200	Easy
12	125		1500	Odds are 25Free25Stroke25Free25Stroke25Free
			0	Evens are 25Stroke25Free25Stroke25Free25Stroke
1	200		200	Cool Down
			0
			4000	Meters
			2.485485	Miles

Wednesday: Time for another gym workout. My legs were still very sore from Monday's workout, especially my hamstrings. I found a couple of workouts in my Workout Trainer app that were easier on the legs, and really worked the upper body and core. I did Muscle Memory, and Ab Bootcamp. Great workouts. Chest, shoulders, back, abs, all were feeling it after that.

Thursday: A good I.M. workout. It started out slow, and stayed that way until the last swim, where I moved out of the "wall lane". Things seemed much easier, and faster when I moved towards the middle. Now I'm thinking that lane is worth about 5 seconds per hundred, and my bad workouts that I've had ever since they changed the pool format really weren't as bad as I thought.

5/17/2012
Qty	Meters	Interval	Total Mtrs
1	800		800	Warm Up
12	50	1:05	600	Stroke	Kick
			0	4 Fly, 4 Back, 4 Brst
3	200	3:20	600	I.M.	Swim	Tchnq
			0
8	75	1:30	600	Odds;FlyBackBrst
			0	Evens;BackBrstFree
6	100	1:50	600	I.M.	Swim	Dcnd 1-3
1	100		100	Easy
1	200		200	I.M.	Swim	For Time	2:47
1	200		200	Cool Down
			0
			3700	Meters
			2.299073	Miles

And then of course, like the blog title says, and easy swim this morning. Have a great weekend. If the races with Chris go well, I'll let you know how it turned out. If not, you might not hear about it!