The One-Minute Barrier is a Beast

Journal by Jeff Commings, Swimming World associate producer

PHOENIX, Arizona, August 26. SWIMMING World associate producer Jeff Commings, who will be the second oldest man to compete at the U.S. Olympic Trials next summer, is journaling his daily training regimen on his personal blog. We are reprinting those articles here:

Date: Friday, August 26, 2011
Time: 5:50 a.m.
Short Course Meters
304 days to Trials

I stayed in bed for six extra minutes this morning, which meant I didn't have enough time to do my customary 300 warmup.

3x(3×100 on 1:50) — #1: 75 swim/25 kick, #2: 50 swim/50 kick, #3: 25 swim/75 kick
Round 1: Freestyle, round 2: Backstroke, round 3: Breaststroke

4 rounds:
100 kick fast on 2:00 (descended breaststroke kick: 1:45, 1:42, 1:40, 1:38)
50 scull on 1:30
100 swim fast on 2:30 (descended freestyle: 1:04, 1:02, 1:01, 1:00)

8×50 free on 1:00, four breaths per 50

6×150 on 2:50: 100 back/50 breast (descended 1-3, 4-6: 2:05, 2:01, 1:57, 2:08, 2:00, 1:55)
Note: The top distance for this set was 200s, but I didn't feel like pushing myself on another freestyle set.

Total distance: 3200 meters

At the gym, 4:45 p.m.:
Five minutes shoulders warm up
Leg extensions: 15@95, 12@125, 10@150
Sitting bench press: 15@110, 12@135, 10@155
Standing cable pulls (standing bent at 90-degree angle, pulling two cables as if pulling butterfly): 15@15 (each arm), 12@25, 10@30
Hip abduction: 15@95, 12@115, 10@135
Hamstring curls: 15@80, 12@100, 10@120
Ten minutes abdominal work and stretching

I didn't feel much like a sprinter today. The water wasn't conducive for all-out sprinting (temp was about 81 degrees with air temp in the low- to mid-90s), and I didn't get much sleep last night. I had a weird dream about hiking through the woods with Mick Jagger (!!) and his singing was scaring all the wildlife.

We had a guest swimmer and guest coach today. The swimmer was Charlie Lydecker, who lives in Florida and has visited us a couple of times. Some of you may know him as the guy who challenged Ryan Lochte to a race in the 200-yard IM a couple of years ago for charity. Charlie got a 15-second head start, I believe, and yet Ryan caught him in the final strokes. He's about to turn 50, and you wouldn't know it. The guy cranked out some amazing 100 freestyles on the main set. I heard he held about 1:00 on all four of them. It was all I could do to make the final 100 on 1:00. I had hoped to go :59, just to break through that barrier and say I accomplished something today. I have no idea if I could have done it today, given that my legs were screaming at me on the fourth round.

Our guest coach was Derek Spires, who swims with us and coaches the evening workout. Mark had to take care of his kids this morning since his wife is in Portland, Ore., for a charity swim down the Columbia River. Derek likes to put the entire workout on the board, which Mark never does for the morning group. I suppose it was good and bad that we knew what was coming.

Though I blame the water temperature and lack of sleep for my sluggishness, I don't feel bad that I wasn't able to keep up with the top swimmers in the group today (Alan had no problem going under 1:00 on all four of his 100 freestyles). I made up for it with a great gym workout today. I felt pretty strong on each exercise. I like doing the cable pulls because it is the exercise in the gym that most simulates swimming. It's great work for every stroke, like the breaststroke pulldown, the butterfly and freestyle pull, and even that one stroke you take on your stomach on the backstroke turn.

Tomorrow is a rest day. I was thinking of doing 30 minutes on the elliptical trainer at the country club where I teach swimming lessons on the weekend, but I've done a lot of leg work this week. My legs will thank me if I just relax. I will probably get in the water for a little bit tomorrow, because I'll be teaching a high school student about breaststroke technique, and he learns best when he sees me demonstrating.

See you on Sunday!

Reprinted from Jeff's personal blog at commings.blogspot.com

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