Another "Endless Session" & Strength Training

OK, OK, It's not my intention to bore you with EVERY endless pool session I have, or go over every single swim specific training exercise, but I actually use these blogs to make personal notes and/or observations.  From time to time, I go back and read them to see where critical changes occurred, what led to the change, and how long it took to "click."  Also, as for the strength training, I like to look back and see exactly how much I was lifting, what I was lifting, twisting, pushing, or pulling to get stronger.

The endless swim this morning was fairly uneventful in terms of discovery.  Frank pretty much got me in and had me go.  For the first 30 minutes, he would increase the speed of the pool every 5 or 6 minutes until I was at 99 (max is 101).  When the machine automatically turned off after these first 30 minutes, I got a quick break before he had me swim 20 more at 99.  Overall, it was a good, long, semi-intense, swim.

Later that afternoon, I was back for my swim specific strength training.  The last time I went through the circuit, a fellow ONE teammate, Joee Reyes, was my partner in crime.  It looks as though Frank will be training us together, because he was back for more too.  This time, here is what we did 4x through:

• 100 jump rope skips
• 8lb medicine ball toss.  Had to make sure we used two hands and brought the ball behind our neck before throwing it as hard, and high, as we could against the wall.  We were to catch it, on the rebound, before it hit the ground. 15x
• 8lb medicine ball "baseball toss".  We started with one hand and threw the ball against the wall as hard as we could 15x.  We then switched to the other hand.  The throwing motion was a cross between pitching a baseball and pushing a shot put.
• 8lb medicine ball twist throws.  We had to stand perpendicular to the wall.  Our arms were straight out through the exercise.  We had to throw the ball against said wall using the core/abs to generate the power.  15x each side.

8lb medicine ball twists.  That's me in the back with the blue shoes.  Joee is in the foreground:

At this point, it was time for Joee to get into the endless pool while Frank continued my strength session with this routine:

• 20 minutes to get as many of the three stations done
• 100 jump rope skips
• 21 26lb kettle bell swings.  I would bend over, pick up the kettle bell with both hands and swing it above my head (locking my hips/core forward in the process).  I held it above my head for just a second before swinging it back down
• 90 sec wall sits.  I had to place my back against the wall and keep my knees bent at a 90 degree angle.

 During the wall sits, Frank was having a one way conversation with me to take my mind off of the discomfort.  One of the things I distinctly remember was when he said, "YOU are here on  Friday afternoon while many of the other athletes, that will be lining up next to you in May, are at happy hour"