Working Out – Wrapping up 2016

Working Out

2016 was not a good year for me. I did not have anywhere near the pool or running time that I had in 2015. 2017 is off to an even worse start (more like middle now…) Life transitions can be hard on your routine and a new living space and a new job have both wrecked my workout schedule. This has been compounded by me having difficulties in finding the motivation to workout consistently.

These are areas I’ve identified for improvement…

Anyway here is my working out broken down by month for 2016. Miles are for distance ran and yards are for how much I swam.

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Working Out – Wrapping up 2015

Working Out

I’ve been working out regularly since 2008 or ’09. It’s been a combination or mix of swimming, running, cycling, weightlifting, and workout videos. I didn’t start keeping track of my workouts though until last year. I know there are watches, apps, sensor bands, and more to help people keep track of healthy they are being. I don’t have any of those though. I kept track by planning out my runs on Google Maps and then writing down my workouts in my planner. Last year the majority of my working out took place in the pool or on the sidewalk. I didn’t get any cycling in; I hope to rectify that this year.

This low-tech, simple tracking method means that I know how many miles I ran but it doesn’t tell me how long it took and I don’t know exactly how much I swam. I do know that every swim workout was between 2600 and 3000 yards, so I averaged my workouts to 2800 yards. Not perfect but a good estimation.

I was hoping to run a half marathon in 2015 and began seriously training for a November run at the end of August. A vacation in October and a foot injury a week before race day meant that it didn’t happen. Hopefully this year!

With that here is what my workout totals looked like in 2015:

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I Swam Two Miles

I swam the yellow route

Two weekends ago I was up at Lake Berryessa with the rest of my Masters Swim Team, Davis Aquatic, putting on our annual mile swim event. I’ve swam the mile swim before and I had decided that before we moved away I should go full bore and do the two mile swim event. FYI this post contains pictures of me in a Speedo. Hot, I know.

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It’s me Swimming… and Critiquing

A note: If you don’t want to see men and women in speedos swim do not watch the above video.

I’ve been swimming with the Davis Aquatic Masters now for over a year. I’ve enjoyed the program, and the people in it. So much so that I now serve on the Board of Directors.

The above video is just one of the many things DAM is doing (besides putting on an open water swim every year, raising funds to fight cancer, and annual food drives) for its members and the community. Seeing your stroke is vital to improving it. Thankfully, according to the coach, mine isn’t too bad.

I’m the first person you see swim across there, D is the fourth, and then I’m the seventh. Once it switches to a heads-on view I’m again the first. I have a tendency to bring my arms to far over on my stroke extension. if you draw a line going from your shoulder straight out in front of you they’re not supposed to cross over. Mine occasionally do. I also have a tendency to ignore my kicking, defaulting to a single 1/1 stroke/kick ratio. The ideal is 4/6

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