Race:
5K run
Date:
October 27, 2012
Location:
Wilmerding, Pa.
Time:
25:24
Overall Rank: 14 out of XX
Age Group Rank: 4 out of X
Results:
My goal today was to beat my time from last year. I solidly did so. Last year
I ran this in 27:37. Today I ran it in 25:24. How about that?! I also moved up
one position in the rankings--4th place in the men's 30-39 age group (last year
I was 5th). Congrats to my friend Dan who got a medal for placing 3rd in our age
group. A good time was had by all.
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Sunday, October 21, 2012
AMYMSA Swim Meet
Race:
Masters swim meet (scy)
Date: October 21, 2012
Location: Hollidaysburg, Pa
I competed in 4 events and I started strong but ended with some disappointment.
Event #1: 100-yard freestyle
Time: 1:07.80
Age Group Rank: 3 out of 3
My first event was the 100-yard freestyle. I swam this in 1:07.80, which is a new personal best (old record was 1:09). I swam next to a work colleague of mine who I didn't know was going to be there until I saw him. What fun it was to discover something new about somebody who you have worked with for a year. Neiether of us knew that the other person was a swimmer!
Event #2: 100-yard breaststroke
Time: 1:25.29
Age Group Rank: 1 out of 1
My second event was the 100-yard breaststroke and I finished in 1:25.29, which beat my old personal best of 1:27. The consesus of my friends is that my turns and pull-outs still need a lot of work; otherwise, my stroke is fast. I was in lane 6 today, so I was swimming with folks who were faster than I. So I pushed myself hard on this swim. My quads were burning afterward.
Event #3: 50-yard freestyle
Time: 30.45
Age Group Rank: 2 out of 2
My third event was the 50-yard freestyle. I swam this in 30.45 seconds. This is my second-fastest time ever, and I'm happy with it. I had almost no time to rest between this and the previous event and I was still a little out of breath as I mounted the starting block. I am sure that in a more rested state I could have taken this swim down to the sub-30 range. My quads were burning more at the end of this swim.
Event #4: 500-yard freestyle
Time: 7:27.35
Age Group Rank: 3 out of 3
My last event was more than 30 min later. It was the 500-yard freestyle. I finished in 7:27.35, which is just a fraction of a second faster than my previous best time, set in March 2012. So on the one hand I should be pleased that I had another top performance, but on the other hand, with a whole summer to improve, I am disappointed I did not chop 10 seconds off my previous time. Plus, I didn't beat Dan, who was in the adjacent lane (I didn't really expect to, but one can always hope). My strategy was to start with a fast pace, slow a bit in the middle, and then push again for the last 100 yards. Dan kept pace with me at the beginning but he moved slightly ahead with each pool length, and I lost my fight. I stopped pushing and slowed down for about 150 yards to catch my breath. Dan never slowed down. So when I got to the last 100 yards I knew he was uncatchable. I waited another 50 yards before pushing on the gas pedal and speeding into the wall. I wasn't too much out of breath at that point, which means I could have gone harder. I hate being out of breath. But I also hate knowing I didn't reach my potential.
Date: October 21, 2012
Location: Hollidaysburg, Pa
I competed in 4 events and I started strong but ended with some disappointment.
Event #1: 100-yard freestyle
Time: 1:07.80
Age Group Rank: 3 out of 3
My first event was the 100-yard freestyle. I swam this in 1:07.80, which is a new personal best (old record was 1:09). I swam next to a work colleague of mine who I didn't know was going to be there until I saw him. What fun it was to discover something new about somebody who you have worked with for a year. Neiether of us knew that the other person was a swimmer!
Event #2: 100-yard breaststroke
Time: 1:25.29
Age Group Rank: 1 out of 1
My second event was the 100-yard breaststroke and I finished in 1:25.29, which beat my old personal best of 1:27. The consesus of my friends is that my turns and pull-outs still need a lot of work; otherwise, my stroke is fast. I was in lane 6 today, so I was swimming with folks who were faster than I. So I pushed myself hard on this swim. My quads were burning afterward.
Event #3: 50-yard freestyle
Time: 30.45
Age Group Rank: 2 out of 2
My third event was the 50-yard freestyle. I swam this in 30.45 seconds. This is my second-fastest time ever, and I'm happy with it. I had almost no time to rest between this and the previous event and I was still a little out of breath as I mounted the starting block. I am sure that in a more rested state I could have taken this swim down to the sub-30 range. My quads were burning more at the end of this swim.
Event #4: 500-yard freestyle
Time: 7:27.35
Age Group Rank: 3 out of 3
My last event was more than 30 min later. It was the 500-yard freestyle. I finished in 7:27.35, which is just a fraction of a second faster than my previous best time, set in March 2012. So on the one hand I should be pleased that I had another top performance, but on the other hand, with a whole summer to improve, I am disappointed I did not chop 10 seconds off my previous time. Plus, I didn't beat Dan, who was in the adjacent lane (I didn't really expect to, but one can always hope). My strategy was to start with a fast pace, slow a bit in the middle, and then push again for the last 100 yards. Dan kept pace with me at the beginning but he moved slightly ahead with each pool length, and I lost my fight. I stopped pushing and slowed down for about 150 yards to catch my breath. Dan never slowed down. So when I got to the last 100 yards I knew he was uncatchable. I waited another 50 yards before pushing on the gas pedal and speeding into the wall. I wasn't too much out of breath at that point, which means I could have gone harder. I hate being out of breath. But I also hate knowing I didn't reach my potential.
Sunday, October 7, 2012
AMYMSA Swim Meet
Race:
Masters swim meet (scy)
Date: October 7, 2012
Location: Edinboro, Pa
Second meet of the season is in the books, and I set three more personal records! After a 700-yard warmup, I did four events:
Event #1: 100-yard freestyle.
Time: 1:09.44
Age Group Rank: 2 out of 2
My personal best set last year was 1:09.28. I did not beat that time, but I was close: 1:09.44. The actual records submitted to the Masters organization read 1:06.85, but I believe that is an error. The timing strips were set up wrong for the first few events of the meet and the 1:06 time was someone else's time. The person who got my 1:09.44 time might not know that he actually got 1:06.85. Fortunately, it made no difference in the age-group rankings for either him or me. Apart from that issue, this swim of mine was OK but not stellar. I know I could have done better. I had three turns and none of them were close enough to the wall to provide much thrust. Had I done my turns better, my time would have been 1-2 seconds faster. Oh, and a fellow team member pointed out that I didn't attack the wall at the end; I coasted in and got out-touched by my nearest competitors.
Event #2: 50-yard freestyle.
Time: 29.66
Age Group Rank: 3 out of 3
My goal was to break 30 seconds, and I did! I was smiling for a good 30 min after this race was done, because I did it in 29.66 seconds. My old time was 30.4 seconds. In a race so short, this 0.74-second improvement is considerable. I had a great turn at the far wall to make up for the lousy ones in my last race.
Event #3: 50-yard breaststroke.
Time: 38.62
Age Group Rank: 2 out of 2
I have gone a year without improving my breaststroke times. But now I finally made progress. I swam this in 38.62 seconds, breaking my old record of 39.40. Again, a 0.78-second improvement is quite meaningful. I had a good dive, pull-out, and turn at the wall. I can't say that I was thinking about any other of my coach's pointers during the race; for example, I am pretty sure my head was up too high.
Event #4: 25-yard butterfly.
Time: 14.81
Age Group Rank: 1 out of 1
These short events are just pure fun and no one takes them very seriously because they are so short. In fact, I don't even breathe during a race like this. Anyway, because I did set another personal best, I'll make a big deal out of it. I swam this in 14.81 seconds, improving from my old record of 15.60. I may have shaved off some time due to a rather extended underwater series of dolphin kicks at the end of my dive.
Date: October 7, 2012
Location: Edinboro, Pa
Second meet of the season is in the books, and I set three more personal records! After a 700-yard warmup, I did four events:
Event #1: 100-yard freestyle.
Time: 1:09.44
Age Group Rank: 2 out of 2
My personal best set last year was 1:09.28. I did not beat that time, but I was close: 1:09.44. The actual records submitted to the Masters organization read 1:06.85, but I believe that is an error. The timing strips were set up wrong for the first few events of the meet and the 1:06 time was someone else's time. The person who got my 1:09.44 time might not know that he actually got 1:06.85. Fortunately, it made no difference in the age-group rankings for either him or me. Apart from that issue, this swim of mine was OK but not stellar. I know I could have done better. I had three turns and none of them were close enough to the wall to provide much thrust. Had I done my turns better, my time would have been 1-2 seconds faster. Oh, and a fellow team member pointed out that I didn't attack the wall at the end; I coasted in and got out-touched by my nearest competitors.
Event #2: 50-yard freestyle.
Time: 29.66
Age Group Rank: 3 out of 3
My goal was to break 30 seconds, and I did! I was smiling for a good 30 min after this race was done, because I did it in 29.66 seconds. My old time was 30.4 seconds. In a race so short, this 0.74-second improvement is considerable. I had a great turn at the far wall to make up for the lousy ones in my last race.
Event #3: 50-yard breaststroke.
Time: 38.62
Age Group Rank: 2 out of 2
I have gone a year without improving my breaststroke times. But now I finally made progress. I swam this in 38.62 seconds, breaking my old record of 39.40. Again, a 0.78-second improvement is quite meaningful. I had a good dive, pull-out, and turn at the wall. I can't say that I was thinking about any other of my coach's pointers during the race; for example, I am pretty sure my head was up too high.
Event #4: 25-yard butterfly.
Time: 14.81
Age Group Rank: 1 out of 1
These short events are just pure fun and no one takes them very seriously because they are so short. In fact, I don't even breathe during a race like this. Anyway, because I did set another personal best, I'll make a big deal out of it. I swam this in 14.81 seconds, improving from my old record of 15.60. I may have shaved off some time due to a rather extended underwater series of dolphin kicks at the end of my dive.
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