Don Fink and My First Masters Swim

Insanity:  doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.  -- Albert Einstein

OK, so Don Fink and my first masters swim are only tangentially related.  But they are related in part.  So here's the scoop...I skimmed Don Fink's Be IronFit over the weekend.  It's directed at normal folks trying to complete an IM distance race - but at least the first couple chapters on time management were actually pretty helpful even though I'm only shooting for a HIM.  Here are Don's 5 key principles:

1. Train in time, not miles.
2. Indoor training.
3. Lunchtime training.
4. Masters swimming sessions.
5. Early bird training.

When my training plan switches over from the half-mary plan after my March race, I'm going to transition to time training.  My HIM plan that picks up in April is also on a time, not miles, basis.  Indoor training I already do, so that's no drama.  The other three principles should help me a great deal to fit it all in and help with time management.

Lunchtime training - last Friday I went over and checked out the gym at work.  Believe it or not, in nearly 7 years of working here, I've never gone to the gym on site (except to get my cholesterol tested during a wellness event).  It's a gorgeous facility and I just need to get over my phobia of working out in front of people I know.  (Yes, I know folks that train at my Y, but that's different -- they only know me that way...at work, people know me professionally, and that usually doesn't involve lycra or spandex.  :o)

Early bird training -a few years ago, I was able to do a lot of early morning training.  I'm not as good at it now, but I think a lot of it is that I haven't kept at it consistently and so my bedtime hours are all over the map.  If I get a morning workout in consistently, then my bedtime hours should become more consistent as well -- making the morning workout easier, etc.  Plus, it gets hot here, starting as early as May.  Might as well start getting the body ready for morning now.

Masters swim - Masters swim doesn't mean you are a master swimmer.  It means that you are not a little kid and you want to swim.  At a Masters' session, there is a swim workout provided, including drills and swimming.  Also, at least at the real ones, there is a coach on deck to help with the workout and to help individually with form, etc.  

I went to my first Masters swim last night.  I had always been too nervous to go, because I'm a lousy swimmer.  So I just kept swimming by myself, which did not make me any less of a lousy swimmer -- just a lousy swimmer with greater endurance.  Insanity - doing the same thing over and over again... 

Anyway, I finally got over the nerves and went and really enjoyed it.  I was in the slow lane (where I belong - in fact, if there had been a slower lane, I probably belong there instead).  The workout included some swim sets and some drill sets.  The coach checked on me occasionally - I tried to keep up with the group and she made sure I understood what drills they were doing and that I knew that I could keep my own pace and/or sit out a drill or whatever as needed.  She also talked to me a little bit about my stroke - she said they can definitely work with me to make me faster -  YEAH!  But she also said my stroke wasn't terrible for someone who had never swum with a group or had stroke coaching!  (Maybe she was just being nice to me so I'll come back...although, if she said my stroke was hideous, I still would want to come back.)  I'm hoping to make it back again this Wednesday night - if I can squeeze in Masters 2x a week and then swim a session on my own, I really think I can nail this swimming thing.  

And to get back to Don Fink's principles - scheduling in Masters swimming and guaranteeing myself ~2 good swim workouts a week (at least) is definitely a solid way to make sure that portion of the tri gets trained for properly.  Good advice, Mr. Fink - good advice.