A Day in the Life: Blythe Murray, Day 5

SEATTLE, Washington, November 18. THE final installment of Blythe Murray's "A Day in the Life" series is here. The University of Washington senior takes a look at her Friday workout and how she and a few teammates got to relax as the weekend started.

Friday, November 17, Day 5
Finally Friday.

One of the best parts of getting to the pool early for afternoon practice is listening to all the speculation of what practice will be like. Everyone knew it was going to be tough, we just weren't sure about the specifics. Some of the girls thought maybe it would be a "skills and drills" practice (wishful thinking). Others were guessing sets like 10 x 400 IMs or a 5000 for time. Knowing our coaches it was likely to be one of the latter.

Our afternoon practice was this:

Warm up
500
2 x 300
3 x 100 IM

9 x 100 pull on 1:15
1-3 breathe 3,5,7 by 100
4-6 snorkel
7-9 breathe 3,5,7

1 x 150 on 1:50
2 x 100 on 1:10
1 x 50 scull on 1min
3times

350 on 4mins
3 x 50 on :40 non-free
2 x 250 on 2:50
3 x 50 on :40 non-free
3 x 150 on 1:40
3 x 50 on :40 non-free
4 x 50 on :35
3 x 50 on :40 non-free

8 x 100 on 2:00 all out

We followed our swim practice with a great workout of spinning. Sweat was pouring off everyone as usual and we passed around an ice bag and put ice on our heads to cool off. To cap off a good week of training some of the girls and I went out to dinner and then saw "Happy Feet." The penguins were so adorable, and it was a great way to end the long day/week.

I hope those of you that followed this blog have enjoyed it. I know writing it has really made me take a closer look at swimming and reminded me why I love this sport. I encourage everyone who is thinking about swimming in college to try it regardless of the division. You don't have to be the fastest or the most talented to succeed in our sport. You do need a good attitude, a quasi-decent work ethic, a desire to have fun, and an open mind. Swimming is constantly evolving and coaches are finding new ways to be faster. Keeping an open mind to new ideas is a big part of becoming a better swimmer.

Sometimes I wish that I had another year at UW. With our new coaches and new training, I know our team will only get better with time. So as cliché as this sounds, appreciate every moment you get to swim because before you know it you will be having your last home meet, your last practice, and your last championship. And then all you will have are memories. Make them great.

Have a great season everyone.

Go Dawgs!

Blythe Murray

P.S. Many thanks to that guy up in AK who helped me proofread all this.

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