Date: December 8, 2012
Location: Greensburg, Pa.
Time: 25:07.20
Age Group Rank: 3 out of 6 (estimated based on previous year's results)
Saturday, December 8, 2012
AMYMSA 1650 Postal Swim
Race:
1650-yard mile swim
Date: December 8, 2012
Location: Greensburg, Pa.
Time: 25:07.20
Age Group Rank: 3 out of 6 (estimated based on previous year's results)
Our Master's Swim team and a few friends from another team met at our home
YMCA and did the mile swim event. Dan was in the lane
next to me and he seemed to be holding back in the beginning. But as expected,
he eventually started to move ahead and lapped me toward the very end. Good
swim, Dan! My time of 25:07.20 was more than 2.5 minutes faster than last year.
I am very pleased. This swim made my day.
Date: December 8, 2012
Location: Greensburg, Pa.
Time: 25:07.20
Age Group Rank: 3 out of 6 (estimated based on previous year's results)
Sunday, November 18, 2012
AMYMSA Swim Meet
Race:
Masters Swim Meet (scy)
Date: November 18, 2012
Location: Greensburg, Pa.
Celebrated the day with a swim meet at Greensburg YMCA. I started the meet by singing the national anthem. Lots of folks would be nervous about that, and I was. But I didn't figure I would embarrass myself any more than normal; I'm already walking around half nude in a skin-tight swimsuit! I swam in four events and had extraordinary success.
Event #1: 100-yard IM
Time: 1:16.00
Age Group Rank: 6 out of 6
In the 100-yard Individual Medley I swam it in 1:16.00, breaking my old personal best of 1:19.30. (Despite this, I was still the slowest swimmer in my gender-age group).
Event #2: 50-yard butterfly
Time: 34.00
Age Group Rank: 4 out of 5
In the 50-yard butterfly, I swam it in 34.00 seconds. This was about half a second slower than my personal best, but it felt really good.
Event #3: 25-yard freestyle
Time: 13.68
Age Group Rank: 4 out of 5
In the 25-yard freestyle, I swam it in 13.68 seconds, which beat my old best time of 13.72 seconds.
Event #4: 50-yard backstroke
Time: 36.77
Age Group Rank: 2 out of 3
Lastly, my backstroke has improved considerably--I swam the 50-yard backstroke in 36.77 seconds, which beat my old personal best by more than 4 seconds! Within the last month, my coach and I have been working on my backstroke and my IM turns, so I am so pleased to see big improvements.
Date: November 18, 2012
Location: Greensburg, Pa.
Celebrated the day with a swim meet at Greensburg YMCA. I started the meet by singing the national anthem. Lots of folks would be nervous about that, and I was. But I didn't figure I would embarrass myself any more than normal; I'm already walking around half nude in a skin-tight swimsuit! I swam in four events and had extraordinary success.
Event #1: 100-yard IM
Time: 1:16.00
Age Group Rank: 6 out of 6
In the 100-yard Individual Medley I swam it in 1:16.00, breaking my old personal best of 1:19.30. (Despite this, I was still the slowest swimmer in my gender-age group).
Event #2: 50-yard butterfly
Time: 34.00
Age Group Rank: 4 out of 5
In the 50-yard butterfly, I swam it in 34.00 seconds. This was about half a second slower than my personal best, but it felt really good.
Event #3: 25-yard freestyle
Time: 13.68
Age Group Rank: 4 out of 5
In the 25-yard freestyle, I swam it in 13.68 seconds, which beat my old best time of 13.72 seconds.
Event #4: 50-yard backstroke
Time: 36.77
Age Group Rank: 2 out of 3
Lastly, my backstroke has improved considerably--I swam the 50-yard backstroke in 36.77 seconds, which beat my old personal best by more than 4 seconds! Within the last month, my coach and I have been working on my backstroke and my IM turns, so I am so pleased to see big improvements.
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Gomer Davis Pumpkin Chase 5K
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.
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.
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.
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Pittsburgh Great Race 10K
Race:
10K run
Date: September 30, 2012
Location: Pittsburgh, Pa
Time: 52:19
Overall Rank: 2487 out of 8207
Age Group Rank: 236 out of 517
Results: http://results.active.com/events/city-of-pittsburgh-great-race-5k-10k/10k
This is a huge race with 8,172 particpants in the 10K and countless more in a concurrent 5K race. Due to the size of the event, we had to wait at the starting line for about an hour before the 9:30am starting time. The temperature was only 51 degrees. This made me very cold--shivering, in fact. The actual run was easy for about 3 miles. I wasn't even breathing hard. But after that, the race lost some of its fun. Despite some heavy breathing and painful calf muscles, I enjoyed the various bands that played for us along the route and the cheering spectators. It was raining some of the time, so those spectators were just as dedicated as the race participants. Well, almost.
My pace was not as fast as my 5K personal record, but it is very, very good considering the distance and my poor training regimen these last few weeks. In fact, I ran faster than 54% of men in my age group. This is my first 10K race, though I did do a 10K run as part of a triathlon earlier in the summer.
Date: September 30, 2012
Location: Pittsburgh, Pa
Time: 52:19
Overall Rank: 2487 out of 8207
Age Group Rank: 236 out of 517
Results: http://results.active.com/events/city-of-pittsburgh-great-race-5k-10k/10k
This is a huge race with 8,172 particpants in the 10K and countless more in a concurrent 5K race. Due to the size of the event, we had to wait at the starting line for about an hour before the 9:30am starting time. The temperature was only 51 degrees. This made me very cold--shivering, in fact. The actual run was easy for about 3 miles. I wasn't even breathing hard. But after that, the race lost some of its fun. Despite some heavy breathing and painful calf muscles, I enjoyed the various bands that played for us along the route and the cheering spectators. It was raining some of the time, so those spectators were just as dedicated as the race participants. Well, almost.
My pace was not as fast as my 5K personal record, but it is very, very good considering the distance and my poor training regimen these last few weeks. In fact, I ran faster than 54% of men in my age group. This is my first 10K race, though I did do a 10K run as part of a triathlon earlier in the summer.
 |
| Pittsburgh Great Race 10K official certificate for finishing. |
Sunday, September 16, 2012
AMYMSA Swim Meet
Race:
Masters swim meet (scy)
Date: September 16, 2012
Location: Sewickley, Pa.
First swim meet of the season at Baierl Family YMCA:
Event #1: 200-yard freestyle relay
Time: 2:12.23
Age Group Rank: 1 out of 1
Great to have a new team member who appears to be one of the top 3 fastest people at the whole meet. I am not as fast as him, but my dive was awesome.
Event #2: 50-yard butterfly
Time: 33.53
Age Group Rank: 5 out of 7
I beat my personal best by >1 second, had a great dive and a great turn, and I only swallowed one mouthful of water (oops).
Event #3: 100-yard butterfly
Time: 1:21.78
Age Group Rank: 2 out of 2
I beat my personal best by almost 2 seconds despite having to pause at the midway point. I pulled myself together though, and finished the last 4 strokes without breathing.
Event #4: 200-yard freestyle
Time: 2:41.57
Age Group Rank: 5 out of 5
Arms still burning from the butterfly, I had a great dive and kept neck-to-neck with everyone in my heat for 125 yards. Then the guy next to me took off. This depressed me for 50 yards or so and then I went all-out at the end. I did not beat my personal best but it was a good swim and I'm happy.
Event #5: 25-yard breaststroke
Time: 17.16
Age Group Rank: 1 out of 3
No great expectations here since I knew I'd be tired. But I covered the distance in 17.16 seconds, beating my old time of 18.5.
Date: September 16, 2012
Location: Sewickley, Pa.
First swim meet of the season at Baierl Family YMCA:
Event #1: 200-yard freestyle relay
Time: 2:12.23
Age Group Rank: 1 out of 1
Great to have a new team member who appears to be one of the top 3 fastest people at the whole meet. I am not as fast as him, but my dive was awesome.
Event #2: 50-yard butterfly
Time: 33.53
Age Group Rank: 5 out of 7
I beat my personal best by >1 second, had a great dive and a great turn, and I only swallowed one mouthful of water (oops).
Event #3: 100-yard butterfly
Time: 1:21.78
Age Group Rank: 2 out of 2
I beat my personal best by almost 2 seconds despite having to pause at the midway point. I pulled myself together though, and finished the last 4 strokes without breathing.
Event #4: 200-yard freestyle
Time: 2:41.57
Age Group Rank: 5 out of 5
Arms still burning from the butterfly, I had a great dive and kept neck-to-neck with everyone in my heat for 125 yards. Then the guy next to me took off. This depressed me for 50 yards or so and then I went all-out at the end. I did not beat my personal best but it was a good swim and I'm happy.
Event #5: 25-yard breaststroke
Time: 17.16
Age Group Rank: 1 out of 3
No great expectations here since I knew I'd be tired. But I covered the distance in 17.16 seconds, beating my old time of 18.5.
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