Blair Bish is Trying Something New to Get Race Ready

it somestimes goes straight to his butt, which helps keep his hips up.. haha.

Meet Carri Cook from TYR

In my last post I gushed about the TYR Avictor and now I want to gush a little more about the girl who let me give it a try.  Carri Cook covers a large part of the USA for TYR and hopefully after getting to know her a little in this interview you will want to seek her out to see what TYR can do for you and your team.

I Prayed to Odin. He Sent TYR to help.

The Norse God of Warriors knows how to make a suit.

It is July 15 and I am at the first day of the Mizzou Sectional. My only athlete who was scheduled to swim today had to scratch so I ended up being the only race for my team. I have hardly been able to fit in much swimming, only getting in four very short swims since June 24th.  I had absolutely no reason to expect to swim well, but lately I have the mindset to never back out. I have surprised myself enough times that it is always worth racing to see what may happen. I shaved legs today but left the hair on my face, chest, and belly, which is a pretty significant furry layer at this age. I may shave more for Futures in West Lafayette but I am not sure. 

After warm ups, I decided it was time to look into finding a deal on a tech suit. I caught the TYR rep on deck and told her about my AP-12's being stolen. I was hoping she had one to sell for cheap since they are rumored to be discontinued. We talked a little about potentially signing my team with TYR since we have never committed to a brand, and then she offered to let me try on the Avictor. HELL YEAH!

A Lesson on Intensity

One of the few difficulties I have run into with USRPT is that it seems to be very difficult for the average kid to have the mental will to do it correctly. To truly practice race pace there has to be a specific level of intensity involved, and many young swimmers are inclined to do as little hard work as they can get away with. The athletic mindset requires fighting human nature a little, and with a large team of kids who had grown up training in a way that allowed them to coast through a large percent of their time in the water, it seems almost as though many feel that they are doing enough by just showing up.  Sometimes it's like they think the comfort zone is an intentional training zone. Even worse, they can act as though a good day of training or racing is something that just randomly happens to them as though they are waiting their turn for the best time fairy and she just seems to like some kids more than others.

Dr Noakes, Spreading the Word on LCHF

Viking has made it pretty clear he is a Dr Noakes groupie over the course of writing the Manifesto and beyond.  I stumbled across a couple of videos of his that I thought were worth sharing with anyone who checks in at the Brief because they are considering the low-carb/high-fat lifestyle.  I had to at least make a few people pay attention, right?

Take a look and let me know what you think...  It was nice that he mentioned Cameron VanDerBurgh.  Now I am waiting for a world class distance swimmer to admit they do this, you know, because us breaststrokers are freaks and whatnot.

Enjoy!

Play the cards you are dealt

Lately, circumstances have been standing in the way of my training, and I am not sure it is going to get any better in the foreseeable future. The Viking Experiment just may come to an end if something doesn't change.

First, summer is just plain busy.  I was looking forward to the summer practice schedule getting into full swing because I knew that I could get more swims in but it didn’t work out that way.  I typically swim the warm up and one USRPT set with my team before getting out of the water to coach the rest of the practice.  The deal from day one though, was that if my swimming became perceived as a negative for my team I would stop.  After over a year of swimming with the kids I had my first parent complaint about it, so that part of my swimming comeback is officially over.  If I am going to keep training, I will have to fit it into the nooks and cranny’s between duties.  That is pretty darn hard for a teacher/HS coach/USA coach and administrator whose in-water groups tend to overlap for 12-15 hours straight every day.  I still hold fast to the rule that my swimming will not take away from my family time, so that leaves me very little options.  I plan to plug away the best I can, but I am not sure this is an obstacle I can overcome.  My swims have been reduced to usually less than twenty minutes each and have become fewer and further between. Also struggling to get more than five hours of sleep at night which certainly doesn't help.

How to Be A Great Swim Parent

I find myself thinking about my mom a lot lately. She's currently battling cancer and I spent last weekend with her while she was undergoing chemotherapy. In my previous work as a college swim coach, I didn't have a lot of interaction with parents- besides some polite conversation when they showed up to cheer. In my current job as a club coach, I have a much closer interaction with parents.

When I look back at my upbringing, I won't say my parents were perfect, but on swimming they pretty much nailed it. My mom was leading the charge of course, she did the bulk of bringing me to meets and practices when I was young. So, I know there are plenty of articles out there telling parents what they should and shouldn't do, I'll just speak from my own life experience and give my opinion on how my mom was a great swimming parent.

The Michael Andrew Adidas Deal

http://swimswam.com/michael-andrew-signs-multi-year-partnership-with-adidas-swim/

I had been wondering for quite a while why no swim gear brands had signed Michael Andrew yet. Of course, he is young and nobody knows what the future holds, but in marketing one would assume that world class speed is not the only thing that matters. Ideally, if you want to sell swim suits you want your brand to be talked about and that is something Michael Andrew has in spades. Plus, his age makes him more marketable for youth.  As a matter of fact, if I were in the marketing department for these companies I would find some athletes living the dream in Masters swimming and sign them too, because if there is anything we can learn from triathlon it is that adult fitness is booming and we need to get creative to capitalize on that. (I mean, come on... If they sponsored me I could help them sell some serious suits to the older crowd, right?  Everyone at masters meets would want to wear Adidas and horned helmets if I were their mascot. Masters swimmers don't care what the fast 25 year-old wears; they care what the kind of fast for his age guy having more fun than everybody else wears.)

Perhaps the big brands were afraid of the vitriol associated with the flaming comment wars on all the swim sites, but that doesn't seem right to me.  I would think they would welcome it.  It gets their product noticed.

Motivation

One of the reasons I really like USRPT is because it gets straight to the point with each swimmer and asks the most important question "Are you motivated to improve your swimming?". A frequent criticism of the training is that it's the "same sets over and over again". Must be boring, right?

Wrong! In my three weeks of training I have never had more fun training for swimming. Far from boring, every set has my mind working at 100% capacity, as I try to improve my technique, hit my paces and manage the start times (and keep count). USRPT, and the question it begs, has brought quickly into focus for me what I want to accomplish and why I am motivated for it. In talking through motivation with my swimmers, I have cited Deci and Ryan's self determination theory which I find particularly strong in outlining motivation.

For Deci and Ryan, the highest point in the hierarchy of motivation is intrinsic motivation, which is defined as "the doing of an activity for its inherent satisfactions rather than for some separable consequences". I enjoy the challenge of coming to the pool and trying to work on my swimming, and although I do have a goal of how fast I want to swim, I hardly think about it. My focus is on what I can do each day to improve myself, and then whatever comes from that is a bonus.

Ok, on to the workouts:

Wednesday, June 3rd

The workout
3x100 Warmup
8x25m turns
30x25 Freestyle, Pace 15

How it went: By far the worst workout I have had to date. I was anxious after the nearly week long lay off necessitated by my trip to Bergen, Norway for a competition. I showed up at a time I don't typically swim, but one at which I figured would be relatively empty. Instead, the lap lanes were surrounded by loud schoolkids and there were probably 7-8 lap swimmers in each of the 50m lanes. Training in public swimming time can be a problem with this type of training- everyone around me is going much slower, and just swimming continuously. I finished my warmup fine and managed to negotiate my turns alright. When I started the set, I found it completely impossible to do it. On each of the 25s I attempted, I either swam right up on somebody and was unable to pass, or I got a fist in my back while resting for the next repetition. There was simply no room to do the practice, and no time to wait the situation out. I completed maybe 6x25, but without any idea what my pace or time was. I was frustrated and a bit anxious that my great work from last week would be squandered.

Thursday, June 4th

The workout
3x100 Warmup
8x20m start and breakout
30x25 Freestyle, Pace 15

How it went: By the next day, I decided I just need to shake it off and go after the same practice again. I arrived in good time and with adequate space to do my training. I was able to do 20x25 at my new pace (15 sec), with 12 in a row to start, then 6 and 2 more before I felt my lactic acid spike and shut it down for the day. I felt really good that I hadn't given up on challenging myself despite the layoff. My main focus technically is getting my legs to keep a small amplitude and good frequency, because I am working on the same with my swimmers and it allows me a stable plane to rotate from.

Monday, June 8th

The workout
3x100 Warmup
8x15m breakout
30x25 Freestyle, Pace 15

How it went: As I wrote earlier, i have temporarily set breaststroke aside and I am focusing on freestyle. I have added 15 minutes of stretching to the end of every training, because I know I need to improve my flexibility before I can progress with my breaststroke technique. This workout went great! I made 28x25 on pace 15, with 22 in a row, then a break and 6 more before I felt my lactic acid spike again and decided to shut it down. I feel like if I give myself adequate rest and recovery I will be able to do 30x25 on the next go around, and then possible set my pace down to 14 already. However, I know that might not happen quite so fast so I am going to take improvement as it comes and just focus on each day on it's own.

Highs and Lows

Thank goodness I don't have to start this post with a longwinded introduction. Since writing my last post, I have been to the pool for three swims! I had to cram them in three days in a row, which I didn't feel was ideal, but I knew I was going away to coach in Bergen, Norway over the weekend and wouldn't be able to swim. It is one of the great paradoxes of coaching that you are constantly around a pool but it is hardly ever appropriate for you to be swimming in it.

Tuesday, May 26th:

The workout
3x100 Warmup
8x25m turns
30x25 Freestyle, Pace 16

How it went: Success! I managed to crank out 30x25 at my pace in this one, and damn it felt good. I made 18 in a row to start the set, then rested and did 8, then finished with four. It felt really good to build up to this. On the other hand, I know I am going to progress fast at the outset because I am so "untrained". One thing I noticed about a set where I swam so much continuous was how hot my body got- I was sweating for 15-20 minutes after getting out of the water.

Wednesday, May 27th

The workout:
3x100 warmup
8x20m breaststroke breakouts
30x25 breaststroke, pace 20

How it went: Man, breaststroke is hard. One observation I have is that when you are doing breaststroke your work to rest ratio can be a little off. You are naturally always going to be slower, so I set my time all the way up to :20 rest and pace :20. However, I still really struggled to get anything going. I was still only able to 14x25, with 8 in a row, then 4 and then 2. Everything felt hard- I got some lactic acid, I struggled to hold technique and my pace fell apart. I think that I may have to be really patient in breaststroke, and that also my flexibility is really holding me back at this point, so I need to correct that ASAP.

Thursday, May 28th

The workout:
3x100 warmup
8x15m freestyle finishes
30x25 Freestyle, Pace 16

How it went: 30 in a row! Damn did that feel good. After Tuesday, I told myself I would force the pace up when I made 30 in a row, and now I suppose I will have to. It was really good to get into a rhythm and keep firing. The biggest challenge I had was that I was training in a crowded lap lane, where everyone else just wanted to swim continuously at a much slower pace. Invariably I was swimming around someone, or getting rammed in the back while I was resting, and I had to screw with my rest intervals both up and down to make sure I had space to swim. I didn't let it stress me out- these are the conditions that I GET to train under and I cannot control other people in the lane.

Looking forward: I know that in about three weeks I will be headed to the European Games in Baku. Because of various logistical crazyness, I will be there thirteen days for a five day swim meet. Supposedly there will be a pool at the Athletes Village where we will stay, but already I am preparing myself that training conditions could be rough or non-existent. We shall see!

Viking's new routine is starting to flow...

Lately I have been finding a groove with my minimal modifications to the full USRPT method.  I don't really feel like I am breaking away from it at all, but I have tried a few hacks to make up for my lack of ability to consistently train.  For example, last week, my Friday workout time was hijacked by extra work duties, and this week I was only able to get in the water on Tuesday morning for 1000 yards and Friday for 1400 yards.  Seriously... 2400 yards of training over 8 days.  That is just something I had to accept from day one of this comeback adventure. I make the most of what I have and don't stress about the rest.

Here is where I try to make up for some of it, beyond my USRPT sets for 100 and 200 breast:

Once More Back Into The Fray

Relationships are the most important thing in life. That simple sentence explains exactly why I'm here, writing this blog. The nature of each relationship is quite different, and the ones that brought me here couldn't be more different. Today I'm starting up writing again with a simple goal: to document my own journey back to competitive swimming. Depending on how you count, there are at least four relationships that led me to this point, which I'll explain briefly.

The first is my wife, who has always been the one to gently (or not so gently) push me in the direction I need to go. In the past few years, my swimming has fallen by the wayside, put on the backburner of being a first time dad while trying to cope with being the head coach of a swim club in a (sort of) foreign country. As the two of us emerge from the dramatic shift of being parents, she's started to push me back to two things that make me happy: writing and swimming.

The second is my blogging mate, Shawn Klosterman, who has really inspired me to give it another go. Watching him crush it at Pro-Ams at 40 years old reminds me that my tender 31 years is far too young to give up on doing something awesome in this sport. Shawn and I have still never met in real life, yet his encouragement, guidance and motivation definitely brought me back.

The third is actually a group, the swimmers I coach. Recently I have shifted to training a USRPT (Ultra Short Race Pace Training) training program. Some swimmers are thriving! Others are struggling a bit with the change, but slowly finding their way. In my own comeback, I intend to train pure USRPT, and I want to show them how I handle the various challenges and problems I encounter along the way, hopefully it will help them to figure out things for themselves as well.

The last one is my daughter, who I'd like to set a good example for, and not give up my most important goals because "it's hard".

Without further ado, here's my workout blog:

Monday, May 18th- The First Attempt

The workout:
3x100 warmup
6x15m breakout
30x25, 100 freestyle pace (16 sec, determined from a few weeks prior recording a 1:03 relay split 100m free, SCM).

How it went: I completed 14x25. Initial thing I had to get over was my embarassment at the pace. I was never an amazing swimmer, still my old "personal best" would have me starting with a pace of 14 seconds, so 16 felt terribly slow. I am glad I started with 16s though, because after 8 I felt a wash of lactic acid and had to stop. I was able to complete four more in a row before getting the same feeling, and after that only two more.

Wednesday, May 20th- Breaststroke

The workout:
3x100 warmup
8x25m breaststroke turns
30x25, 100 breaststroke pace (19 sec, made up because I haven't swum 100 SCM breaststroke ever and haven't done 100y for over three years)

How it went: This was rough. I was only able to do 8x25. Overwhelmed with lactic acid after 4x25, then only able to squeeze off two in a row after following the additional rest protocol. I spent a lot of time thinking, and came up with two theories that I intend to test out. One is that 19 was too fast, and I will try 20 next time. The other is that I have never really done anything close to breastroke race pace capacity work in my whole swimmer career, so maybe this will be a slow way up. I am determined to work from wherever I am and work my way up. Also, my turns felt very uncomfortable and I need to start stretching again as my flexibility is bad!

Thursday, May 21st- Freestyle

The workout:
3x100 warmup
10x15m breakout
30x25, 100 pace freestyle (16 sec)

How it went: Progress! I was able to do 22x25. Again I was limited not by the pace but by lactic acid, but it came on much later this time. I swam 12x25, needed a break, then 6x25, a break, then 4x25. I felt encouraged by my progress, and could feel that I was in something resembling a rhythm. I am going to wait until I have a couple practices where I swim 30x25 on pace, and then hopefully set my pace up.

A Rough Lesson on Electrolytes

Recently, G John Mullen had me on the Swimming Science Podcast.  I thought it went well, but during the recording I was forced to admit that my performance at Sectionals in early March was a big let-down.  I felt "off" all weekend and I couldn't really explain it.  I hadn't felt bad like that since switching to the LCHF diet, and with the way my training had been since December I was expecting to rock both breaststroke events.

After the meet I went to the doctor to chat about what might be wrong.  I was weak, a little achy, but nothing too strange... both of my kids had been sick so I thought I might just be fighting something... but then I started piecing together some clues that made me start down a new rabbit hole on the google.

USA Swimming Has Officially Entered the LCHF Fray

Yay!  A rebuttal fromUSA Swimming!  At least now I know that they are actually reading my stuff, eh?   

I am pretty sure they have been trying to pretend I don't exist since they turned down my application for the National Team Director position. 

Jill Castle is an MS, RDN, and has a website that promotes her two books on childhood nutrition, so I have to say she does have some skin in the game here.  I am not really making money on this stuff, but that is beside the point.  If she is so highly qualified, why is she making so many strong claims with no sources cited to back her up?

Read her article here at the USA Swimming website.

Her claims I can refute?:

“Both a low-fat diet supports and sustains cardiovascular health, and a high-carbohydrate diet is effective at fueling aerobic-based sports such as swimming.”

Films to Spread the Word About LCHF.

By now I assume your compulsion to believe everything you read on the internet has consumed you and you are ready to take the Viking's advice to drop the carbs...  but if you are like me, you have that one MAJOR obstacle:  well-meaning family and friends who want to prevent you from clogging your arteries with this crazy diet.  They try to shove bread down your gullet and sneak it into your snacks to prevent you from getting that dreaded "bread-deficiency disease" that they all assume must exist since, well...  I guess since Jesus was such a nice guy and gave people all that bread back in the day.

THE VIKING MANIFESTO Part 7: How Do I Get Started on the LCHF Diet?

THE VIKING MANIFESTO: Piecing Together a New Approach to Nutrition and Training for Swimmers from Scientific and Anecdotal Evidence.

Part 7:  How Do I Get Started on the LCHF Diet?

Mark’s Daily Apple just helped you lose the extra weight with one drawing.

If you are still following along with the Manifesto at this point, then you must at least be intrigued enough to want to know what the low-carb, high-fat diet would look like in real life.  You may not quite be ready to drop the traditional nutrition info recommended by USA Swimming in articles like this, and presentations like this, but you at least want to know how different this might really be.  I doubt anyone wants to take it as far as I have, which means going almost completely carnivorous, but if you read below you can see that it doesn’t have to be that extreme.    This cat lived to be age 39 on bacon, eggs, broccoli and coffee. It can’t be that hard, right?  

Bacon, eggs, broccoli and coffee.  This is key in my plot to break Jaring Timmerman’s records in the 100-104 age group.

The question is, do you have the nuggets to give this a try long enough to adapt and see if the low-carb, high-fat diet is really for you?

Ketones, Inflammation, and Some Thoughts on Cholestrol

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/02/150216131146.htm

The article linked above is kind of important.  One of the points I make repeatedly in my manifesto is that in regard to the ketogenic diet, we are still in uncharted territory as there are still a lot of questions that need to be answered and there is a lot of important science that still has not been done.  (Even worse, there is a lot of science that has been done that just hasn't hit the mainstream as well though, too.  Check this book out to see a collection of it.)

In a part of the manifesto I spoke briefly on reduced inflammation with the ketogenic diet, I think with regard specifically to more and healthier mitochondria, but I remember I also linked out to the /r/keto subreddit, stating that reduced inflammation is one of the most common side effects brought up by new dieters.  Browse /r/keto for a while and you will see it come up in so many different ways it is astounding.

The ketogenic diet is being studied as a new possibility for the treatment of many diseases, mostly inflammation based, all the way from acne to arthritis, bipolar disorder to Alzheimers, and diabetes to atherosclerosis.  The link above says that Yale University has discovered a direct link between Beta-Hydroxybuterate, one of the prevalent ketone bodies, and inhibition of one of the components of what they call the "inflammasome."  Please take time to read the article at the link above.

This would explain a lot.

THE VIKING MANIFESTO Part 6: USRPT. Duh...

THE VIKING MANIFESTO: Piecing Together a New Approach to Nutrition and Training for Swimmers from Scientific and Anecdotal Evidence.

Part 6: USRPT.  Duh.

Okay guys, it's time to add one more thing to the list of topics to avoid when you are drunk:  the list is now religion, politics, nutrition, your friend's mom, and USRPT.  That’s right SwimSwam commenters, I know which of you loudmouth regulars is playing that game where you take a shot every time Braden mentions Michael Andrew’s name in an article.  If the SwimSwam comments section was a bar, I know which of you guys I would want to party with.

Yup, in case you haven't already pieced it together, the Viking does Ultra-Short Race Pace Training.  What other type of training could I fit in with only 20-30 minutes, two or three times a week to swim?  

Crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and don’t waste a lot of time training old-school when you could be doing USRPT.

THE VIKING MANIFESTO Part 5: Muscle Fiber Types, Recruitment and Specificity

THE VIKING MANIFESTO: Piecing Together a New Approach to Nutrition and Training for Swimmers from Scientific and Anecdotal Evidence.

Part 5: Muscle Fiber Types, Recruitment and Specificity.

At this point, I hope my arguments are interesting enough that you want to read more, but I understand if you feel like this guy. It's a lot to take in.

In the last chapter we focused on energy metabolism within the muscle, paying particular attention to the idea that mitochondrial density, the utilization aspect of the supply vs. utilization argument, is supremely important, and that the ketogenic diet may enhance this metabolic adaptation in athletes.  This would open the door for the LCHF diet making a difference in swimming no matter the race distance.  Today, we are still on the topic of metabolism, but we will also be looking more at the supply side, as well as looking into how it applies to the concept of specificity, which should be at the heart of any athletic training, especially for a sport as training and technique intensive as swimming.

THE VIKING MANIFESTO Part 4: LCHF and Energy Metabolism Within the Muscle

THE VIKING MANIFESTO: Piecing Together a New Approach to Nutrition and Training for Swimmers from Scientific and Anecdotal Evidence.

Part 4:  LCHF and Energy Metabolism Within the Muscle

In part 3 I explained that while VO2 max may be important, focusing training on raising anaerobic threshold to maintain longer durations at high intensities that are close to VO2 max would probably yield more applicable results. I then presented research that implies that a low carbohydrate, high fat diet can help improve this aspect of aerobic conditioning, even in already extremely fit athletes, by making fat a more available and faster burning fuel.  Now I intend to show that the implications for adaptation to the LCHF diet go beyond long-distance swimming at low intensity levels.  

To do this, I must start with some of the perceived limitations to the LCHF diet and why they might not be limitations at all.  

THE VIKING MANIFESTO Part 3: LCHF and Aerobic Capacity

THE VIKING MANIFESTO: Piecing Together a New Approach to Nutrition and Training for Swimmers from Scientific and Anecdotal Evidence.

Part 3:  LCHF and Aerobic Capacity

In part 1 I gave you a summary of some general nutrition advice that seems to contradict most of what we have been taught all our lives.  In part 2 I laid out some of the science of swim training in relation to the energy zone descriptions recommended by USA Swimming.  This time, it starts to become about how a low-carb, high-fat LCHF diet matters to you, the swimmer or swim coach.  

Yup, this is kind of what researching for my manifesto felt like.

When I first started burrowing down the rabbit hole on this topic I saw unbelievable pictures of overweight and obese people who said they had tried everything and this was the first thing that ever worked to help them lose weight and keep it off.  I saw a lot of posts from body-builders who claimed they could gain muscle and get lean by eating fat.  I saw a lot of pictures of bro's from the gym showing off their progress and heard lots of stories about how everyone else at the gym (as well as their doctors) thought they were idiots until the progress in body composition and lipid profiles were obvious. The anecdotal evidence was overwhelming, and the science they presented and dissected was fascinating.

Interesting Stats at Complete Nutrition

A couple of my athletes have been stopping by a place called Complete Nutrition lately, which seems to be a place that focuses on supplements and meal replacement products for the bodybuilding crowd.  Both of these athletes are beyond high school age and it is nice to see them taking an interest in nutrition.  They have been asking me a lot of questions and bringing up things they are learning as they read up on it.

I got curious about visiting the store because one of those swimmers has been checking in there to get detailed stats on his body composition.  He was actually able to tell me how much his body fat percentage had improved and exactly what his lean mass is.

THE VIKING MANIFESTO Part 2: Energy Systems and Swim Training 101

THE VIKING MANIFESTO: Piecing Together a New Approach to Nutrition and Training for Swimmers from Scientific and Anecdotal Evidence.

Part 2:  Energy Systems and Swim Training 101

Butter up that bacon and listen good… Viking is here to teach ya a little about fuel.

This post covers the three energy systems that contribute to the different intensities of athletic movement and how those relate to swim training.  I feel that while most coaches probably have a pretty good grasp on this topic, not all readers are coaches, and it never hurts to have a refresher.  Hopefully this helps us all to follow some of the ideas I am trying to get across throughout this multi-part series. Please understand that this is a simplified rundown on the complex science behind energy systems and training zones.  If you want more detail on the info I am summarizing here, there is more in-depth information available at the links throughout the article below. Much of the info here is cut, pasted and paraphrased from the links throughout the article.

THE VIKING MANIFESTO Part 1: The New Science of Healthy Eating

THE VIKING MANIFESTO: Piecing Together a New Approach to Nutrition and Training for Swimmers from Scientific and Anecdotal Evidence.

Part 1:  The New Science of Healthy Eating

Nutrition can often be like politics and religion. People tend to dig their heels in and stand up for their long held beliefs even in the face of evidence to the contrary. Sometimes they don’t even know how they first formed those beliefs. Unfortunately in America, when it comes to nutrition, much of our base knowledge stems from advertising.  

Feel free to add nutrition to the list of things you shouldn't talk about when you're drunk. I am not drunk right now but you might think I am when you hear me out. I came here to tell you that the standard nutrition advice you have heard all your life might just be completely wrong. The 60-70% carbohydrate, low-fat ideal is something that I have hardly heard anyone question in my thirty years of swimming, so I am taking it on with a few posts at SwimSwam along with more at the blog I share with Chris DeSantis, The Swim Brief.  A lot of what I will have to say here will be speculation based on things I have read, but all I can ask is that you follow along and form your own opinion as we go. I understand that I am not a world-class swimmer and I would qualify as merely a mediocre high school and club coach at best so it is hard to consider me any kind of an expert.  I also understand that I am not a nutritionist, and I am aware that many of the links I will direct you to are blogs and such, but if you follow them you will find all the science you need.  I can also direct you to more if you have questions.  This has become a passion of mine, as it was the launching pad for an unexpected and surprisingly successful comeback to swimming in my forties that would not have happened if I had never changed my relationship with food. I hope you can keep an open mind and follow me as I present the other side of the story regarding advances in the science of training and nutrition.

Sneaking in a Workout, Ended Up with a Flashback

Yesterday I took my high school girls to a meet and had a chance to sneak in a workout during the diving warm-up.  It was simple and short, of course, but no different than my normal.

My 200 breast USRPT target doesn't quite match my best time right now.  Notice, when I started this training I was at 2:12.3 for my best come-back race time, which translates to a 33.0 target.  I decided to leave my target there even after I improved since I had not mastered it yet by completing 20 repeats with no fails.

-8x75 warm up, mixing in speedplay.
-50's on 50 at 200 breast USRPT target (33.08) out to third fail.  My score was 8+2+2.  (My previous best is 11-4-2.)
-150 easy...

Since I didn't do my best score I decided to try to redeem it by doing a fast 200 breast from a push.  My best in a practice so far was 2:21, which I had done once.  Before that I had done a couple of 2:24's after target sets and I was hoping to take a shot at that 2:21 again.

Well, when I got to the 75, who did I see?  My old college coach from Missouri State, Jack Steck, standing at the end of the lane watching. He had showed up to officiate the high school meet.  He had his shoulders shrugged and a hand on his chin as though he was about to get on my case for something... so of course I dug deep.  I ended up hitting a 2:17.

It hurt like hell, but it was a great feeling having Jack watching me as though he was calculating how many points I was about to score.  It certainly added something to the workout.

Not sure I could handle that every day though. USRPT is mentally tough enough without Jack breathing down my neck. I felt like I was gonna die when I hit that wall!

Dammit, Klosterman!  You're swimming like you just got your ass bit by a Saluki!

VO2MAXimizer Pre-Kickstarter Campaign!

A few weeks ago I posted about a device I have started using, and I am excited to announce that it is going to make it's first big marketing push.  If you like VO2MAXimizer on facebook and check in at their website you will be able to follow along and see the actually using the device and showing off their results! I use this device and swear by it.  Remember, if you decide to purchase one, choose the Viking in the drop down menu at checkout to let them know I sent you.

PRESS RELEASE

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LIKE AND SHARE!

Pre Kickstarter Sale Coming 2/23/15. Only 15 Units available at $200.00 off retail (even less than our early bird kick-starter pledge requirement).

The VO2MAXimizer is a new to the world product that produces guaranteed results that no other product can deliver!!! This product will change competitive sports!!!

Our beta users have all reported results including
1.) New personal best performances in each beta user's respective sport
2.) Measurable physiological changes including significant improvements in VO2 Max, Lactate Threshold, Pulse Rate, Blood Pressure, as well as 20% increase in Oxygen Carrying Red Blood Cells.

!!!BE SURE TO SUBSCRIBE TO OUR PAGE TO WITNESS THE VO2MAXIMIZER IN ACTION!!!!

Over the next 5 weeks we'll be doing REAL TIME tests of the VO2MAXimizer and posting the progress videos and photos directly to Facebook Every Monday starting tomorrow. If you have doubts or are curious as to what you might be able to expect, stay tuned!!

www.VO2MAXimizer.com

A Pretty Awesome Morning Workout

I guess this will officially be my first training log post.  This morning was a pretty standard workout for me, but certainly outlines the way I have been making progress in my training.  Here's what I did with my team:

-10x75 on 1:30 easy free and breast drills, but mixing in speed-play to wake up the sprint.
-30x25 on 30 breaststroke in USRPT format.
-3 min. rest
-100 fast breaststroke from push.

My team went ahead and did another set after that, which was USRPT format for the 200 fly, but I don't plan to ever race that so I was done with my entire practice in about 30 minutes.

The "Viking Method" Experiment

Viking has been wanting to write quite a bit lately but have struggled to find the time.  I have been working pretty hard on a write up for SwimSwam about nutrition and training to be posted soon, since I opened my big fat mouth and tried to act like I am smarter than the nutritionist who posted some nutrition tips there. I decided that a great way to tie into that would be to supplement it with a series of smaller posts here. The first thing that will help with that is to describe my swimming comeback so that readers have some kind of reference to understand some of the the points I am making in case they want more info.  I hope that starting a little bit of a training log will add some depth to it without getting annoying. Once in a while I might just post a link or a video that anyone following along might want to see.  Sometimes it might just be a random thought, since finding time to write with the hours I work is nearly impossible. I would not post any of it if I did not think it was interesting and relevant.  I think that anyone who is curious about making themselves a better swimmer and has a mind open to new ideas might like following along with my little experimental adventure.