Thinking of Christmas

Even though I have a big meet coming up this weekend, I'm already thinking about Christmas. Shutterfly has some GREAT deals on their Holiday cards this year! They have a HUGE selection too! I've used them the past several years, and their cards are wonderful!! Look at the card my Mom and I just made for her to send out this year!! Time is getting away from us, so hurry on over to Shutterfly and design your card!

Funky Christmas Wishes Christmas 5x7 folded card

Make a statement with Shutterfly Christmas photo cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

Hysterical

If you need a good laugh, read this article!! Maybe if our team did this, we could run some folks off and have more practice lanes!!

Swimnetwork - A Retired Swimmer's Workout - Mike Gustafson, Senior Analyst Commentary Blog Article

United Way Spooktacular 5K

Last Saturday's race was one of the best ever for me. The weather, even though it started chilly, was perfect race weather! I felt good before, during, and after the run. The finish line seemed to come up quickly, and I didn't feel winded at the end! I ended up with a personal best for the day, 36 minutes!! I was so proud! I feel that I'm definitely ready for the Boro Dash, which is a 4 mile race, on Thanksgiving Day! Here are some race day shots!

Starting Line


Finish Line








Post Race Sillies!

RIP- Fran Crippen

This is such a tragic loss in the swimming world. Crippen was one of THE best open water swimmers! Condolences to his family, friends, and teammates.

Swimnetwork - Swimming Mourns the Loss of Fran Crippen - USA Swimming Article

I've Got Work to Do!!!

Well, this morning's practice went really well. I'm having less and less trouble with my back, which is encouraging. The workout sets went really well. Then, the ugly truth was seen. It was our first timing session of the season. We only timed today in what we plan to swim for the November meet. I've decided to swim the 100 back and the 50 back. I timed my 100 first. I actually swam my 50 split in the 100 faster!! My 100 time ended up being 1:51.3. Not too bad for never having competed back, but bad for qualifying for Nationals. For Nationals, I need at least a 1:14.03. I need to trim 37 secs off of my time! I did only start from the wall, though. When I do my real start, I'm sure some time will come off. I think, I can't remember exactly, my time for the 50 was :51.8. That was BAD, but it was at the end of practice and I was tired and a little anxious. We'll see how much time I can drop between this week and the first of the month. I'm going to be doing a lot of speed training between now and then. I just don't want to embarrass myself at the meet!!

Inspiration

I was back in the pool all week this week. The first two days, I suffered from really stiff back muscles. So, I kept the yardage low and swam slow. Yesterday, I was back at practice. I got there about 30 minutes early, and put an easy 1000 in to get warmed up. I completed the workout with a couple of substitutions just fine. I ended up with over 2500. I found that the longer I worked, the looser my back muscles became. My back feels great today! I'm glad that I'm finally to the other side of this. Now, hopefully, I can work on training for our first meet, which is November 21st. I plan on swimming the 100 and 50 back.

I got the link for this video this morning. It's just the inspiration I needed for my training.

Swim Club Anyone? Swimnetwork - Keep Yourself Fit

This is a really great article that promotes swimming for college goers. It really helps to promote college swim clubs!!

Swimnetwork - Keep Yourself Fit - Bob Schaller, Ph.D., Senior Writer Commentary Blog Article