A HALLOWEEN HAUNT

 Ashley settled in on Halloween eve to watch her favorite Halloween movie.  Ashley and her brother had spent the afternoon carving the family pumpkins.  She remembers how she made fun of her brother's  pumpkin with it's large circles for eyes. ] ]]

 She had told him that pumpkins were suppose to have scary faces not happy faces.  He was mad and told her that it was bad luck to make fun of pumpkins because they had been know to get revenge.

 The evening brought with it dark skies and thunderstorms as the weather was beginning to change.  Suddenly Helen sat upright on the sofa startled at the sudden noise coming from outside.  

She brushed it aside for the moment figuring it’s was the branches from the wind hitting the house when all of sudden there was a loud boom followed by a bright light and the house fell into total darkness.   Trembling as she approached the front door she observed that the whole neighborhood had been plunged into total darkness.

Ashley slowly cracked the door open to get a better look outside when she noticed that her pumpkin was gone from the porch, could the neighborhood kids have taken it as a Halloween prank.  As she

headed upstairs for bed the hair on her arms started to rise and she became overwhelmed by a intense creepy feeling .  As she ran up the stairs she started to shake uncontrollably.  Ashley slammed the door shut jumped into bed and pulled the covers up tight.  Morning will be here soon, or she hoped.

Later that night she awoke in a cold sweat,

trembling under the covers frozen with fear, from a light coming from outside although she could tell that the power was still off.  As she arose from the bed to peer out the window she screamed as she saw her brother's pumpkin coming up the sidewalk to the front door. 

 As it approaches the house things started falling off the shelves crashing to the floor below when all of a sudden the Jack-o Lantern started she speaking, "I see you, let us in." "One, two were coming for you."   She started to wonder if her imagination was playing tricks on her, or could this really be happening and was her brother's pumpkin possessed with some paranormal spirit.  

As she got back into bed she could not get rid of that image or the voice she heard.  And what did Jack mean by "us"?  Ashley fell asleep only to be woken a few hours later by voices that now seem to be coming from under bed and from downstairs.

Ashley needed to know what the noise was coming from downstairs so she arose from bed and went out into the hall and as she neared the top of the steps only to discover that the entire downstairs was full of water, pumpkins and sea turtles.

Before she could turn she found herself falling into the water, as she creeped crawled and floated to keep her head above water she noticed a shadowy figure appear.  This figure was shaking her and as she opened her eyes she recognized her mother who was telling her to wake up, your having a bad dream.  Ashley jumped from her bed darted down the steps and opened the front door and to her relief her pumpkin  was in its proper place.  She told her mom that she would never make fun of her brother again.  

HAPPY HALLOWEEN.  BE SAFE

Understanding your Race

 

It's Friday which means another week of training is about to end, but ask yourself, Did I accomplish anything this week?  Did I get better?  

Last weekend as I thought about the plan this week I thought about this, we the coaches sometimes just assume and expect you to be able to swim the mid distance events but do we really prepare you to swim them.  We talk about how you need to set yourself up for success, so you should expect the same from your coaches. 

This week the swimmers from the gold and prep group spent a lot of time working on our 200 free and 200 back events.  The Gold group also started to work through the 200 breast stroke event.  The senior Prep group spent time working through our IM events.  

We worked on some stroke drills at the beginning of each set and then proceeded to longer repeats of 100's and 200's with the goal of starting out as fast as possible and maintaining that tempo and effort as long as we could with the idea that if we could  feel and recognize a certain feeling of speed we would better understand the event.

At meets coaches take a lot of time trying to get your splits to each of you for the purpose of understanding how to better swim the event at your next meet.  As for the 200 free we talked about how important it was to be fast but you also have to find that easy speed that sets you up for a good race.  We talked about the mistake of backing off that second 50 only to have a slower 3rd 50.  

We talked about how it will change with your growth an experience down the road.  We put up on the white board of what coaches look for in the splits.  For you math genius the formula looks like this (x)+(x+1.7)+(x+1.6)+(x+1.5).It looked liked this for a swimmer who had a time of 27.5 in a 50 free. (29.5+31.2+31.1+31.0).  The big thing that should stand out to you is how close the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th 50 are.  A common mistake that swimmers make is that they go out to slow and think that they can put it all into that last 50 but the problem is while you may get as good time at a young age it will not work out at the next level.

As for the 200 backstroke we talked about how it is crucial to do these four things one, is a steady head position, 2 is to have good hip rotation to generate power in the arms , 3 is to develop great underwater's

and 4 is to incorporate the spin drill to help with your tempo.  We talked about having that soft kick for the first half of your race and when you have a 75 left start building that kick into a burst for the final 50 to get home.  if you focus on negative splitting this event you should be in good shape.

UNDERSTANDING WHAT WE ARE DOING

 

Senior prep, we want to make sure we all understand what we were trying to accomplish today at practice.

After a good warmup wit some long mix swims, pulling and kicking we went I to our big set for the day.

It was basically an IM set with 4x100 IM followed by 4x50 fast free.  We went through 4 rounds of this with each round finishing with either 2x50 kick fast or 25’s  kick fast.

As you noticed and we talked about the intervals started fast were some of you had trouble making it or barely make it.  Each segment of the round we increased the interval by 5 seconds.  

The problem we were having is that we want to get

the same effort on the last round as we got on the first round.  The slower interval does not signal us to slow it down, it’s meant to give us a little more recovery time in order to keep the effort high.  It is important that we all understand that so we are working together to make each of us better.

If we can all get together we have a better chance of everything coming together when the time is right.

 What happened this week during practice?  Let’s take a look back with a quiz?  How focused were you?  Take a piece of paper and write out your answers and bring them in Monday and Tuesday.

• What is the difference for the need of air In a 50-100-200-500.
• What are some breathing patterns you can use?
• What is the purpose of our underwater dolphin kick?
• When do you know it's time to breakout?
• What is your pacing strategy for a 200 free?  Is it the same for all 200's?

We spent a lot of time this week on our underwater kicking going to the 10m mark, then the 12.5m, then to the 15m mark and finally trying to go for it.  The majority of you were very focused and stepped  outside of your comfort zone during this drill. Some of of us not so much.  We know it's challenging and it's human nature to go as far as what you are comfortable doing, but in athletics that will not help you down the road especially for age groupers.

What was the purpose of those short kick swim sets from the flags at the end of practice?  Do you really understand what we were trying to do during that set? We were trying to get used to getting to your fastest speed possible from the flags without the blocks or the walls, a feeling that will aid you in your races.  Make no mistake its about getting used to swimming really fast as quickly as possible.

Most age groupers equate best times as a measure of getting better.  The conversation that you have in your head goes like this, I had the best time in this event, so I am getting better.  What is coach talking about when he says things about my stroke, my underwater kicks, my walls or my pacing.  Let's start with a personal best time.  It's always a great feeling to touch the wall, look up and see your best time, a feeling of total accomplishment overcomes you as it should, but as we discussed last week sometimes you need to slow your roll. 

What age groupers fail to grasp is that the time does not tell you the whole story.  Sure it gives you the event, the heat, your lane, your time, and your place, a lot of information.  What it misses is the start, the underwater, the breakouts, the stroke, the pace, the finish and finally maybe the most important factor in the overall race YOUR EFFORT and YOUR HEART.  Age group swimmers bodies are for the most part are always growing, changing, and getting stronger and as a result best times come in bunches, but if you don't put the work in at practice and pay attention to the "little things" it will all change drastically as you get older.  Personal Best's are already hard to come by at the senior level, but it will make it that much tougher if you don't perfect all the little things today.

SATURDAY WORKOUT AT ST.JAMES

If nothing changes, nothing changes.  The feed back your coaches give you after your races are things to be aware of that you can take back to practice and work on as you go through your workouts.

The majority of age group coaches understand how important that time is in the moment, but the best coaches are looking down the road in order to help you be successful in your high school swimming when it really becomes more team and more fun.  

print a copy.  can you swim your way to the gold!

HOW DO I GET BETTER IN PRACTICE

 In order to reach your goals and see success at meets you first have to succeed in practice, and it involves more than just showing up each day. It all starts with how you look at practice.  Is it just about swimming as fast as you can and add up the yardage to satisfy your cravings.

You have to ask yourself this question, Am I getting the most out of the time I put into practice?

Many things go into having a successful practice and it all starts with the attitude walking in and being ready to go on time.  Excuses are the easy way out of doing what is right.  Starting on time each and every day is a good way to tell yourself that "I want to be better."  That first jump into the water and that first stroke are always the hardest but it's gonna happen so just do it.  Being late might not be a big thing to you, but what you are actually doing is being disrespectful to your teammates and your coaches.  I think and believe that most swimmers want to get better and succeed and most coaches believe that also but sometimes I also think they question it from watching your practice habits.

We have spent a lot of time early in the season to counting your strokes (DPS  distance per stroke) which is a valuable tool that you have not only to help you perfect your stroke but also to allow you to go faster in your races.

The hurdles that come at you in your races are the same hurdles that come at you every day in practice and they come in all kinds of shapes and sizes.  If you can face and clear those hurdles at practice, all you need to do at the meet is show up, trust yourself and race.  Take a moment now, grab your books and a pencil and spend 60 seconds and write down any hurdles you have.  Don't think just write quickly and I am sure there are 3 to 5 you can come up with off the top of your head.  I'm going to step away for 60 seconds and do the same as I do swim a minimum of 3-4 times a week and although I don't need to worry about races or times I do have hurdles to clear.

Okay time up here is my list; 

Maybe some of these match some of your hurdles, let’s take a closer look at how I clear my hurdles.

water cold- yes know it is but don't feel it just get in and put my head under it will pass

tired, don't feel like it,- for myself this tends to be the hardest but I always go to the feeling I'll have if I skip and that feeling is hard to shallow.

first 50 hurt- get through this one, tackle the next and that feeling moves from a bad hurt to a good hurt.  There is  a good hurt.

need air- this hurdles get's in my way while swimming.  I like to finish each lap with a long stroke into wall head down.  I just tell myself that I can breathe after I touch and if I breathe I get mad not a good feeling.

hungry- quick handful of almonds and some water takes care of that.  Always in my bag.

can do something else- yes but it will still be there when I'm done and I'll feel better.

The road to success can be long and challenging and that road starts at practice and comes at you with an endless list of To Do's such as; drink more water during workout, have a small pick me up snack in bag for after practice, improve my dolphin kicks, get in and out of my turns faster, give up less on hard sets, finish each repeat with fingers on wall, go out harder on the threshold sets, put together a dry land routine 2x a week (I'll have one for each of you next week) get in on time.  How you travel down that road has a lot to do with your success in this sport and later in life.

It's your swimming, own it!  It's your practice. own it!  The sky's the limit.

TIP FOR THE WEEK:  Stay hydrated and drink water during practice.

Why is it important for swimmers to remain hydrated?  Water is required by the body to function at a high level during practice.  Water is essential in the "transportation of red blood cells  (they contain a protein called hemoglobin which carry oxygen to the muscle tissue) throughout the body, as well as the formation of protein and glycogen.  All these functions are needed for the growth and recovery of muscles."

SLOW YOUR ROLL

 

During our practice on Friday we talked about how sometimes we need to slow it down a little and actually feel how are bodies are performing.  Okay I get it, you hear a lot  of work hard, go all out and yes that is important but it is also important to slow it down at times and focus on the execution of of what we are really doing.  Sometimes you need to slow your roll in order to move forward or you just might find yourself going in circles instead of moving forward.

Now on the flip side Saturday morning we threw in parts of a set that were to be swum ALL OUT but as we discussed a  lot of you were having trouble getting to that speed.  And why were we having trouble?  Could it be that you were getting in your own way, stumbling as you went along?

It all comes back to that mental side of this sport and the games that you are playing in your head, and the stumbling blocks you put in front of yourself that prevent you from moving forward.

Here is a good example that occurred on Saturday.  Upon seeing that IM set that we were doing one of the first things many of you asked was, How many rounds are we doing?  All you got from me was, YES.  You don't always need to know how many rounds or set we are doing, all you need is the set that is right in front of you and WORK that.  Sometimes we do more than I plan and sometimes we do less, it depends on the quality that you are giving me as you work through it.  Take care of what is in front of you and DO it Well, and then you can move onto the next things.  Stop making excuses and coming up with reasons why its okay not to perform your best.  That is what is easy to do.  It's creates a safe atmosphere that keeps you safe and away from the consequences of falling short.  Put yourself out there, you might be surprised that you have more than you thought you did.

You swim to win the race so prepare yourself to do exactly that.

EVENTS FOR UPCOMING MEETS

 

I have been getting a lot of questions on what to swim in the upcoming meets so let’s take a look.

First off everyone will not be able to swim in both meets due to sheer numbers. 

SWIM AND ROCK MEET at Oakmarr November 19-21.  This meet will be offered to our 3 time of week swimmers in the Junior Blue and all of the Junior Gold and the Senior Prep group.  This has always been a preliminary and finals meet and we will see how that shakes out as it gets closer.   We should all be thinking about swimming our very BEST EVENTS at this meet.  We will be suiting up for this meet.

MAKO GOBBLE MEET.  This meet will be for the rest of our groups or if you will not be available for swim and rock.  Swimmers in the Junior gold and Senior prep groups who are swimming at swim and rock should not participate in this meet.  If there is overwhelming desire to swim in this meet, I would like to see you only pick one day and enter events that you will not be swimming at Swim and Rock.  Think outside the box and try events and distances that are challenging and maybe even new.

LOOKING AHEAD AT IMX

Your IMX score is established after you have swum all the events required for. your age group during either the 2021 season (9/1/2020-8/31/21) or the current season (9/1/2021- 8/31/2022).  My understanding is that is you missed one of the required events during the 2020-21 season you must swim the entire list during this season.  You may get your score by going into the USA swimming data base and you should have a score for your best events.  Make score you use only the events from the list and you have the correct year.  Please plan the next 3 meets according so you do not miss a chance.  This meet is also where you swim all three days and all the events.  There will be no scratches no excuse. 

THE EVENTS

10 and under 200 free-100 back-100 breast-100 fly-and 200 IM

11/12- 500 free-(or400 free LCM)-100 back-100 breast-100 fly-and 200 IM

13-14 500 free (or 400 LCM) 200 back-200 breast-200 fly-200 IM- and 400 IM

Please put a lot of thought into the next few weeks as you are preparing for your meets.

MEET THOUGHTS

 

What a weekend but we all got through it and made it to Monday, some of us even answered that call for morning workout and yes I did take note of those who hit their snooze button at 4:15.

Your absence was duly noted with an asterisk in my book and on that note be careful what you say to the coaches first thing at the meet.  You may ask, Why?, but when the first thing out of your mouth is, I'm tired! two things are happening, One you are setting yourself up to fail or only have a so-so meet and the second is that you will not get much sympathy from coaches who have been on deck all day.  So be careful of the words you choose and if you have any doubt then go back to our book to the section on talking positivity to yourself.  "Set Yourself Up To Succeed!"

Let's get to some observations from the weekend.  First off, you all overall had a good meet for early in the season.  It's been a while since the majority of you raced in this type of environment and you all were outstanding.  Were there disappointments, of course there were☹️, great swims, yes but that's what being a swimmer and athlete is all about and you have to balance all the success and disappointment together and come out the other side as a better person and you can't get there if you don't participate.

Take this meet for what it was and that is a learning opportunity, chance to race and take what you learned from those races back to practice, work on your weak areas and improve for the next time out.  We talked with all three groups yesterday to some extent about the meet and what we gather is that we had a lot of best times, new events and new distances from a lot of you.  As I mentioned to all of you that although I glance at your final time because I know how important it is to each and every one of you, I pay attention to a lot of other things such as

• BodyLanguage- how you carry yourself when you first show up, as you prepare for your race, how you react to your performance.  It tells me a lot and where we are and what we need to do.
• Warm Up and Warm Down-  how you go through it and do you have to be told to do it.  I think I posted this a few years ago that at when I was at the Championship game with Clemson and Alabama as the players came off the field a lot of them would head to the stationary bikes to ride. Why? to keep there muscles loose and warm.  Swimming is different we know but if you get out of the pool and just sit down again it will take longer to loosen them up for that next race and that is why performance drops off as the meet goes on.
• Splits-  Why do coaches take  splits.  To help you understand how to race your 100's 200's and for some of you those 500's. They tell you if you went out to fast or if you died like a big dog coming home.  They tell you what part of your race you need to work on for the next time out.  This is why having a small log is a great piece of equipment to carry in your bags so that you have a reference.  How many of you forget or even dismiss the information from a coach as soon as you turn your back.  Be honest with yourself.  That log is forever is as important as anything in your equipment bag.
• Turns- oh yes those dreaded transitions at the walls.  how you approach and attack those walls and how you come out of those turns and perform your breakouts.
• Finishes- how you approach the walls in your finishes, Are you attacking? or are you hanging back and just waiting for the wall to come to you.  Hint the wall doesn't move you need to attack and get your hand on the wall and stop the clock.

After reviewing all of my notes from the weekend I have decided to add 5-10 minutes at each practice and work on the same thing for that entire week and we will call this our critical skills set.  This week as you have guessed it is our underwater's that we will focus on.  Not unexpectedly I saw a lot of notes next to your names about not only longer wall (which will come with practice, growth and will power) but more aggressive kicks from the core with what ever distance you have.

All and all I think we had a Great first outing and you should all be pleased.  Later this week we will discuss my thoughts on times.

Mike's Tip of the Week "Staying 

Warm"

You all make a lot of sacrifices and put in a lot of work to swim fast at meets.  Do your body and your muscles a favor and keep them covered up and warm as you are waiting to swim.  You are about to ask them to go hard and help you succeed, the least you can do if help them by staying warm. A lot of you said I"m warm but unless you know what your muscles are thinking, help them up by covering up.  They will be grateful.