June 8 Practice Review

I mentioned in my previous post that I thought we would have a strong practice yesterday, and I was right.  Great job everyone!  Here is my last printed copy, which managed to make it through the rain:

A few points about the practice….

#1 -- The obvious difference between this practice and others you've seen is in the PRESENTATION, not the actual practice.  The times needed are in the face of the athlete.  The athlete simply has to have a goal, be able to read and/or hear instructions, and put some effort into the work.  Going 500 pace for 100s and 200 pace for 50s should be an "ALL DAY" type of thing for any finely-tuned athlete.

If you are an athlete, and you think, "I can't do those times"…that's ok.  What you can do is get closer to doing those times, and month by month chip away at it.  Keep the GOAL in mind, which is to become a TOP 8 JR National Finalist.  That's not easy!  So the training will not be easy.  It will probably be excruciating at times.  You have to get comfortable with your discomfort to get there.

#2 Notice the goals at the end of the warmup.  These paces are simply based off my experience…what I've seen from JR Nat "Top 8" - type swimmers who swim the 100-200-400-1500 Free, the 200-400 IM, and/or the 100-200 Back.  Breaststrokers who don't do much IM can probably add 3 seconds and it's the same type of range.

I noticed that in preparation to do the last 3 200s well, our lane leaders were f l o a t i n g through the first 3 200s of the warmup.  As a result, the body wasn't ready to go during 200s 7-8-9 (particularly on the first 2).  I want it to be easy to do these times!

Cole led the way with a 207, 205, 204.  Think about what it takes to start at 203 and get to 159.  The 203 is 59 for Free and 104 for Back, and the 159 is 57 for Free and 102 for Back.  WE CAN DO THIS, GUYS.  

So, here's a list of some other things I think we should do.  These two items should be "ALL DAY" easy for a prospective JR National "TOP 8" swimmer, in the Freestyle events (all of them, from a 100 to a 1500).

Guys should be able to swim :59 or better SCY / 1:08 or better LCM ALL DAY EVERY DAY

Girls should be able to swim 1:01 or better SCY / 1:10 or better LCM ALL DAY EVERY DAY

this type of goal is 'on the athlete'…coaches 'suggest', but athletes 'do'

All athletes should be able to push 3x50 (110) at the end of a 2000 warmup, and repeat 1 second under their 200 Pace, at a stroke count that correlates with their personal stroke count goal for pace swimming (athletes know what I'm talking about).  

I wouldn't ask for this every day, but even on a 'bad day' an athlete should be able to do this

Keep in mind, speed and practice performance -- like race performance -- is relative.  Particularly true for those who have been there, it's easy to see that the HS Region Championships we race in every year is a different meet than a Summer Junior National meet; it's the same idea with training performances.  Until you've seen people train fast -- or you simply BECOME THAT PERSON YOURSELF, it's hard to imagine how fast you can go -- and for how long. 

The mindset of "wearing people out" during practice and trying to "win the practice" (with all yardage counting toward the win) -- this is the way to our next great set of performances.