Training Camp Week 1 Summary

The first week of training camp is now complete.  Overall, it went quite well.  While we had more pool practices and did more mileage then I do on a regular basis I thought it went by quite quickly and my body was able to handle the extra demands placed on it.  I think the main reason I was able to physically and mentally get through last week was having adequate recovery.  Since being at training camp I have gotten way more sleep then I normally do, at least 8 hours every night plus a mandatory 1 hour quiet time in the afternoon which for me equates to another hour of sleep.  We have been training from 11am-1pm and 7:30-9pm so the meals have been a little bit screwy.  We eat our big dinner meal at 2pm and have a light lunch type meal at 9:30pm.  I think that this will actually help us going into China as finals most nights won't be over until after 9pm so we will be eating late there too and will already be in the habit of eating late.  We had Sunday off which I spent doing a little bit of shopping and had dinner down on the harbour front.  It was nice to have a day away from the pool and to think about and talk about something other than swimming.  When you spend 24/7 doing nothing but hanging out with swimmers and being at a pool, it can get to be a bit much so having a day away can really help to recharge your batteries.

So today is the first day of the second week of training and I am just about to head to the pool.  I hope to be able to keep the high quality training going as well as continue to get adequate rest.

CAN AM in Victoria

This past weekend was the CAN AM meet in Victoria.  There were swimmers from nine countries in attendance including Germany and Malaysia.  Overall it was a pretty successful meet for me.  I did a best time in both my 50m freestyle and 50m backstroke and all of my other swims were good in-season times so overall I am happy with the meet.  Now I am attending a training camp for the next two weeks in Victoria with the rest of the Paralympic team.  Today we had a recovery workout and I did a weight training session.  The rest of the training camp should be quite interesting.  We are training from 11am-1pm and 7:30-9:30pm.  Training later at night makes sense as we will be racing finals around 8pm at the Paralympics so it will get us ready for those late sessions.  Overall, the next few weeks should be fun but challenging.  

Provincials

Congratulations to all Provincials swimmers. I hope that everyone swam their best and are happy with their results. No matter what the results know that you gave it all you had that day and be happy simply to have been in the race. I remember my first provincials which were also in Thunder Bay back in 1993 before SWAD and able bodied provincials were integrated. It was a great experience. I can still picture the pool and remember the beautiful landscape around the city. The one thing I don't remember is how I swam. I don't remember the events I swam and I don't remember the times that I went. What I do remember is how much fun I had and how it fueled my desire to keep swimming so that I could compete at that meet again.

Have a fun and safe summer both in the pool and out!!

P.S Joe Barker is just pants pants pants.

Breathing

Today it's raining again and for some reason the rain makes me think of writing on this blog. This week training has been going pretty well and I have not had any real issues with my breathing. Over the past few weeks I have had several doctors appointments and tests to see if I have asthma (which my doctor unofficially diagnosed about a year and a bit ago), how bad it is and if it is effected by exercise. The answers so far are yes I have asthma and yes it is effected quite a bit by exercise. Having these official test results will be very important going into Beijing because they verify that I do have breathing issues and I need to be taking my inhalers. I am a little worried about the air quality in China and how it will affect my performance so I am going to take all the precautions I can such as having my puffers on me at all times and taking them whenever I feel the need and before my races, having a small air purifier for my bedroom, wearing a personal air purifier around my neck and I am even considering wearing a mask. It may seem like overkill but if I want to swim fast in China I need to be proactive regarding the air quality and my ability to breath.