Off — Work/Holiday
Early AM work instead of swim, and decided to rest in the afternoon.
Off — Post Travel/Meet Rest Day
Pre-Meet Loosen
Sub-Threshold
Swim w. Tom
Pace/Aerobic Mondays
Unintentional Lift Day
Pullups Single Arm DB Row Straight Arm Pulldown Face Pulls
Posting this two days later. Meant to swim, but pool was closed. Very sore, dumb of me. Definitely not part of the race week plan. Otherwise, great lift.
16 x 50 on :50 @ 400p
Last time I did the 400 SCM free, I held a lot of 30 lows. So mostly just familiarizing myself with that pace, but we'll see what happens in the actual race. Would love to actually hold some sub 30s if possible.
125/100/75 Classic Set
Kept it under control vs. normally would push the pace as I progressed. Kinda tired today, but defaulted to a classic Thursday 'blue' set.
Alt. Blast with Aerobic
Suited++ Efforts w. Tom
Felt pretty solid.... Thought it would be harder than it was.
Aerobic with hints of 200p
Some light Blue/200 pace work surrounded by mixed aerobic, Pink to White-ish efforts. Still trying to keep volume near 4k, but not completely lose touch with certain race paces. Nothing ground breaking, but setting me up for the week.
Sunday - light aerobic
18 x 75 on :60
Good old slightly sub-threshold work. Building back some training endurance.
Minor Variaton of Bowman Set
This is a minor variation of Bob Bowman's 2x Practice and Pancakes set. I intended to descend the rounds starting about 1000 pace to 500 to 200, but ultimately lacked some speed today. The workout ended up primarily being aerobic to threshold work. 50 inverval +5s each round. Times are denoted as low, mids, highs and / denotes rounds.
Recovery-ish Day
Just trying to keep some volume going. Alternating days these next few weeks of aerobic, threshold/speed.
Threshold Tuesdays w. Tom
Feels good to get back to some good aerobic/threshold work tbh. Felt like I got away from that too much before Nationals. Maybe it was all in my head though too.
Post-Nationals Aerobic
I felt better than I thought I would, but still having some right "shoulder" issues. Also, trying to start the habit of an extra set each day instead of just leaving after the main set.
USMS Nationals
Overall improvement from last year times wise and 1 year older. Best event was my worst swim. 21.4 and 19.8 relay splits were probably the highlight.
Travel Day Swim
Mostly float with a sanity push 25 near the end @ 10.11 not bad.
Slight Rest Day?
General warmup, some aerobic, touch of speed at the end. Not sure...
Final "Aerobic Threshold" Day
Not sure I loved this workout. I've been feeling terrible at this type of work lately. Maybe lost some fitness, not sure?
Final 200p Work (Suited, SCM)
Forced to do meters today, but obviously have been trying to dial in my SCY paces. Over did the first couple on "Rd 1", but got a little better by final 3. Masters WR 35-39 is 1:48.0 in SCM. So thats about 3 x 27.5 plus a 25 or so on the first 50.
Light Work
Light-ish LCM
Not overdoing LCM. Pool was set up this way, but would have preferred SCY.
4 x 50, 4 x 25 suited
Low on time due to pool constraints. Set copied from 2019 with some changes. No dive for first effort of each "broken" swim, and kind of slower while not going to the feet.
Zone 0 with fins
Threshold Tuesdays with Tom
Eh, not sure. Not feeling great, not feeling bad lately.
Week 5 of 5, Day A (Upper Body)
- - - Saved elsehwere - - -
Final upper body session of Nationals prep.
100 Speed
Still struggling to produce good 100 pace.
Light Saturday Swim
8 x 50 on 3:00 @ 100 BES (Suited)
No legs left at the end.
Week 4 of 5, Day B (Lower Body)
Misc. Dynamic Warm Up (Spin, etc..) A1: Trap Bar Deadlift - 4 x 3 @ 195, 215, 215, 215 A2: Squat Jump - 4 x 2 B1: BSS - 3 x 5/leg @ BW B2: Plyo Jump w. Lunge: 3 x 2 ea C1: Single leg RDL - 3 x 5/leg @ 50 lbs C2: Pogo Jumps: 3 x 10
Last "heavy" lift for now.
Moderate 200p
- 200p without killing myself - still have a mild cold - all over the place pace wise unfortunately
Recovery day
Day 2.5 of having a cold.
Red Efforts
Questioning my fitness, but might have a cold.
Speed and Power again
Cord session, not sure I'm doing enough work but whatever.
Week 4 of 5, Day A (Upper Body)
Mixed Warmup A1. Neutral Chin Up: 4 x 3 @ BW A2. Pushups (Some Plyo): 4 x 3 B1. DB Row: 3 x 6 @ 50, 65, 65 B2. Dynamic OVHD Stretch C1. Face Pull: 3 x 10 @ 70, 70, 70 C2. Pogo Hops: 3 x 10-15
Cut down the intensity just a tad today from last week.
2026 Metro Masters SCY Champs
100 Free @ 45.7
- Out in 21.8, back in 23.8 - Cold turkey, no warmup or warm down - Happy to be out under 22 though for first time in a long time. - .01 faster than 2025 USMS Nationals
3450 light work
Went back a few days later and already forgot what I did, but I know it wasnt anything great.
Suited 100p
Pivoted the set after having to move from SCY to SCM pool. Hard to compare against recent yards efforts, but 12 lows is not bad. Just need to do 12-20 straight without a suit now.
Week 3 of 5, Day B (Lower Body)
Misc. Dynamic Warm Up (Spin, etc..) A1: Trap Bar Deadlift - 4 x 3 @ 195, 215, 215, 215 A2: Squat Jump - 4 x 3 B1: BSS - 3 x 6/leg @ 20, 20, 20 lbs B2: Step-up x 3/leg @ 20 lbs, BW-> C1: Single leg RDL - 3 x 6/leg @ 50 lbs C2: Plyo Jump w. Lunge: 3 x 2 ea D1: KB Swing: 1 x 10 @ 30 lbs, no band D2: Pogo Jumps: 1 x 8-12
Trying not to over do it. Body does not handle weights as well anymore. Only a few weeks out from Nationals.
Some Blue effort work
I think I'm still carrying a lot of fatigue from Monday's lift, but otherwise decent times.
Not feeling great, but still doing something.
Light day
Lighter recovery day.
Speed-ish (Not Great)
Second week in a row I've struggled Monday mornings.
Week 3 of 5, Day A (Upper Body)
Mixed Warmup A1. Neutral Chin Up: 4 x 3 @ BW A2. Pushups (Some Plyo): 4 x 4 B1. DB Row: 3 x 6 @ 60, 70, 70 B2. Dynamic OVHD Stretch C: Tried some mixed overhead shoulder work, didn't like it. D1. Face Pull: 3 x 10 @ 60, 80, 80 D2. Pogo Hops: 3 x 10-15
Aerobic with Tom
Felt better than I thought but intended to just be some aerobic work anyway.
AGUA Masters Meet
50 Fly: 22.4 200 Free: 1:40.4
Testing out the 50 fly before Nationals, and planned on working through some pacing for the 200, but never really went for it. Ended up feeling more like a training session without any volume.
4/3/2/1 x 50 @ 200 Pace, Suited
- Repeat from 2/2019. Original had two rounds and the 200 was on a tighter 3:00 interval. - Suited up this time and did 1 x Round due to competition tomorrow and time constraints.
Week 2 of 5, Day B (Legs)
Misc. Dynamic Warm Up (Spin, etc..) A1: Trap Bar Deadlift - 4 x 3 @ 195, 205, 205, 195 A2: Squat Jump - 4 x 2 B1: BSS - 3 x 6/leg @ 10, 10, 15 lbs B2: BW Step-up (Fast) x 4/leg @ 15 lbs C1: Single leg RDL - 3 x 6/leg @ 60 lbs C2: Plyo Jump w. Lunge: 3 x 2 ea D1: KB Swing: 1 x 10 @ 30 lbs, no band D2: Pogo Jumps: 1 x 8-12
- Rushed through the end to get to the pool. - Tried to add some weight from last week without overdoing it. - Routine feels good enough for now.
4 x (125/100/75)
Starting to feel better these last few days. Start @ about Pink effort work my way to Blue. Probably overdid the pace though.
Speed + Aerobic
- Great feel for the water today. - Speed didn't necessarily match, but promising when I get better rest after a few more weeks of 100p or faster work.
Threshold with Tom
- Battling the shoulder/nerve issue a bit here. - Intervals a little generous compared to previous edition of this set I did in 2019.
Not Sure What This Was
Week 2 of 5, Day A
A1: Pull up 4 x 5-6 @ 10 assist, 5 assist A2: Pushup: 4 x 4 @ BW B1: Single Arm DB Row: 3 x 7 @ 50, 70, 70 B2: Dynamic Stretch w. Reach 3 x ~4 C1: Pallof PresS: 3 x 8 ea. side @ 40 C2: Scap pull-up holds: 3 x 10s. D1: Face pull - 2 x 10-12 @ 60 D2: Pogo Hops - 2 x 10
Light Swim @ AGUA
Probably didn't need to swim today at all.
Lactate Tolerance w. Tom
- Carrying a lot of fatigue and soreness this week. - Unsuited... - Kinda caught between 100 BES and 200p but good work nonetheless. - Need to be wary and take care of my right shoulder fatigue.
Short Speed + 100p
- Re-introduction to 100p - Need to make 10 points feel regular. - 2016 era: 10.6s were common and easy to accumulate.
Week 1 of 5, Day B (Legs)
Misc. Dynamic Warm Up A1: Trap Bar Deadlift - 4 x 3 @ 145, 196, 195, 195 A2: Broad Jump - 4 x 3 B1: BSS - 3x5/leg @ BW, 10, 10 B2: BW Step-up (Fast) x5/leg C1: Single leg RDL - 3x6/leg @ 30, 30 30 C2: Plyo Jump w. Lunge: 3x3ea D1: KB Swing: 2x8 @ No Band, Band D2: Pogo Jumps: 2 x 10
Coach Claude
Rainbow-ish Threshold Work
- Absolutely cooked... - Tremendous collapse on last round - Right leg fully cramp entire round and side stitches. - Variation from a Wiffen Cal youtube workout. Can't even remember what I went due to fatigue.
Swimming
- Stretching, activation, core work before swim - Some speed mixed with aerobic back with fins.
Mixed 200p
24.mid to mid-high on the 50s at 200p. Chest still heavy, but at least 24s feel easier than this time last year.
Aerobic: 24 x 100
Fully intended on doing rounds of 75s with different equipment. Felt like 75s weren't enough to get the aerobic system going. Hit #6 and decided I would just keep going for a while vs. doing rounds.
Week 1 of 5, Day A
Spin Bike x 5min Dynamic Warmup A1. Neutral Chin Up: 4 x 5 @ 10, 8, 8, 8 A2. Pushups (Some Plyo): 4 x 5 B1. DB Row: 3 x 6 @ 50, 60, 60 B2. Lunge Stretch C1. Landmine Press: 3 x 8 @ 20 D1. Y Raised: 2 x 15
Coached by Chat GPT and Claude..... Did a variant of this in the lead up to Sr. Mets. Will modify with some things I know I respond to over the next 5 weeks, but just had to start today.
NE LMSC SCY Champs
Friday: 50 SCY Free @ 20.7 100 SCY Back @ 51.67 (Relay Leadoff) Saturday: 200 SCY Free @ 1:39.3 (47.6 split) 50r SCY Free @ 20.13 Sunday: 100 SCY Free @ 45.4
Pretty rough meet all around except for the 20.1 anchor leg. Think the cold I was carrying all week took a lot out of me. Early evening start times for my races wasn't great. Hard to decipher learnings from this meet. Didn't enjoy this one the last time I went either so I may never go back.
Pre-meet easy
Full loaf except warmup descend 50s. Still under the weather. Rough morning otherwise.
Basic aerobic
4/3/2/1 x 75 on 1:30
Suited++ for this. A little bit of arm fatigue but overall happy with the effort. Kept the legs running well for most of the set.
Speed-ish Work
Sore throat, elevated HR, and respiratory issues. Longer rests, and easy in between.
Mixed Lift
Dynamic Warmup - 3 x Superset: - KB RDL: 8 @ 30 lbs - KB Golbet: 8 @ 30 lbs - Assisted Neutral Grip Chin: 4 x 5 @ 12, 12, 12, 8 Push Up: 3 x 5 @ BW Straight Arm Pulldown: 3 x 8 @ 80 Single Arm Cable Row: 3 x 8 @ 40 - Mixed other stuff
I dont know, just doing things.
Chelsea Piers
Random 200p
- 11 mid to highs, 24 low to mids, 37.6/37.0 - Hofstra - Poor sleep - Decent speed, but bad feel.
Rest Day
Aerobic day.
White to Pink effort, maybe a little red on the last 300 back with fins.
10 x 100 on 2:00 with Tom (Suited)
I believe this was my best performance on this set ever, but not 100% sure. Sometimes I would drop a last one, fast one type effort, but instead this was just consistent effort throughout.
Some Speed Work
Forgot to bring other resistance equipment today. Felt terrible, but operating under the assumption the stimulus was enough for where I'm at as far as top end speed goes.
Upper Body, Misc.
Dynamic Warmup 5 min Spin Bike - Assisted Neutral Grip Chin: 4 x 5 @ 12, 8 -> Single Arm Cable Row: 3 x 8 @ 4 Face Pull: 3 x 8 @ 80 Push Up: 3 x 5 @ BW Dead Bugs: 3 x 8 ea side
... Still too much of an afterthought...
Sunday 🤷🏼♂️
AGUA Saturday Morning
There may have been some easy swimming mixed in that I forgot about. 200 float was somewhere in there. Mostly did just strong threshold effort throughout main set. ~1:57s, 1:25s, 56-57s. Last round I may have actually hit near 200p on the 50s.
6 x 75 + 50 with suit
- Suited... - Not bad... - Kept letting legs drop out unfortunately during 75s.
Lower Body, Short
Dynamic Warm-up (Shortened) Mixed Glute Bridges Back Extension - 3 x 10 @ BW Superset w. 30 lb KB: 3x— - KB Goblet Squat x 8 - RDL x 10 3x— Squat Jumps x 3 Pogo Hops x 8
- Week 2 in a row of doing the bare essentials - Need to actual program something for real and migrate to Thursday.
Rest + Sleep
Off day aerobic
- Easier day of the week for me - Alternating light speed with some aerobic, non-free
Swim w. Tom
- Wasn't looking like my best swim for Rds. 1 and 2. - Pretty happy with 1:15 at the end, but wished I was closer on other rounds. - Rds. 3 and 4 went out strong and maintained... more my type of effort vs. Rd. 2 I tried to build my legs which is not how I swim things.
Max speed + power v1
Cautiously adding in some resisted speed work and sprints on Monday. Looking to finish every Monday with underwater work as well.
W1 D1: Upper Body
Mixed Dynamic Warm-up CG Lat Pulldown: 3 x 8 @ 125 Single-arm Cable Row: 3 x 8ea @ 40 Straight Arm Pulldown: 2 x 8 @ 80 DB Shoulder Press: 2 x 10 @ 10 Push Ups: 2 x 5
Still figuring out what to do on lift days. I feel better generally when I focus on bodyweight work and prehab style training. But I think long-term doing actual weights will be better for my top end speed. Super low reps, sets, and weights just to play it safe.
Teaching a Clinic
4/3/2/1 x 100s on 1:10 w. Tom
- Was expecting better on the first few rounds, but couldn't find the best average really. - Happy with 48.9 from a push, felt great on the first 50.
50s @ 100 BES
Continuing to focus and emphasize 100 pace/speed work. Main set was intended to be 8 x 50, but 💩
General aeobic
A few days since doing just classic aerobic freestyle work. Shoulder managed okay, but not back to normal yet.
Lower body focus
Spin Bike - 5 min. 3x— RDL - 10 reps @ 30 lb. KB Goblet Squat - 8 reps @ 30 lb. KB BSS — 3 x 8 reps @ BW Back Extension - 3 x 15 reps @ BW Assisted Chin Ups - 3 x 5 @ lvl 14 assist
Introducing gym work again, trying to avoid serious DOMS. No plan or thought beforehand.
Snow Day/Bad Sleep
Mixed day
Good speed during warmup, bad feel in water.
Snow Day
Mixed float SCM/SCY
Felt great in water except for shoulder fatigue. Just did some general mix work mostly with fins to save the arm.
AGUA Masters
Idk, kinda shot.
100 speed
Was planning on touching 200 pace work, but think I need to increase the frequency of sub 200 speed work this next training block. So I changed from planned 50s to 25s.
15 x 100s with Tom
Light gym before, shoulder half alive. Should be 54 or better on all fresh.
Back with fins
Been doing a large portion of my aerobic work back with fins to save arm for focused free work on other days. Tried to be disciplined on kick counts.
50's on :40
Long day on the computer before the swim Arm was hurting about 16-18 in Should have broken up the set more. Shoulder pre-hab before session + a few strides in hallway.
Aerobic type stuff
Swim with Tom. Just getting back into things after Senior Mets. Never would have written this set myself after my shoulder type problems last month+, but happy to have done it and handled it well. Need to be able to physically complete this volume of work regularly.
2026 Senior Mets
The 200 free which has been my main focus felt absolutely terrible. In the prelims, I tried to find some cruise/easy speed but never got into any sort of rhythym. Really poor from a technical perspective, but all good. Came back for finals, and body wasn't really used to two sessions. Bad week of sleep and recovery didn't help. Went out a little harder, but still couldnt find the right balance with how much legs to bring into it throughout. 500 Free went much better and I was closer to my potential there. I should probably still fine tune the walls and kick throughout that 150-450 range, but all good. Overall, not bad.