M.K.'s Road To Redemption... Keep at it.

"Go as far as you can see; when you get there you'll be able to see farther."

-  Thomas Carlyle

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

(7:30-8:45 PM - I left a little early)

1.)  Warmup:

1,000 Continuous Swim

     500 Every 4th 25 drill fly

     500 Every 4th 25 back

2.)

9 x 100 (1:35)

     3 Times:

          75 I.M., 25 Kick w/out a board

          2 x 75 Free, 25 Kick w/out a board

3.)

8 Times:

     3 x 50 (:50) Descend

     1 x 100 (1:30) FAST (Evens = Stroke or I.M., Odds = Free)

          *Did #'s 2 & 8 I.M. holding about 1:12, #'s 4 & 6 Back holding about 1:13.

          *Held :59-1:03 on the Free ones.

100 Easy

Daily Total:  4,000 Yards

Redemption Total:  29,100 Yards

M.K.'s Road To Redemption... (After a short hiatus)

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

(7:30-9:00 PM)

*Back at it after some time off due to: really nice weather that I just couldn't pass up enjoying, working late, and starting a new assignment that requires me to wake up at 4 AM...

1.)  Warmup:

1,000 Continuous Swim

     150 swim, 100 drill (4 Times)

2.)

12 x 75 (1:25)

     first 6:          25 kick, 50 stroke

     second 6:     25 kick, 50 free

3.)

4 Times:

                    3 x 100 (1:25) strong     *Held 1:01's to 1:09's

                    2 x 75 (1:25) easy

4.)

8 x 100 (2:00)

   4 Times:

          50 kick, 25 fly, 25 back

          50 kick, 25 breast, 25 free

5.)

6 x 50 (1:00)

     25 fast, 25 easy

100 Easy

Daily Total:  4,900 yards

Redemption Total:  25,100 yards

M.K.'s Road To Redemption... Crackin' 20 g's

Monday, March 17, 2009

(7:30-8:30 PM)

*I was late because of work, so I missed some of the workout.  Here's what I made it for:

1.)  Warmup:

500 Swim

2.)

3 Times:

                    4 x 75 (1:10) descend (descended to :48)

                    4 x 25 (:30) 10 second sprints

*Held :48's on the last 75's of each set.

3.)

Continuous Swim:

2 x 100 I.M. Drill

4.)

3 Times:

2 x 50 (:45) Freestyle swim

2 x 25 (:30) Back down, Breast back

100 Easy

Daily Total:  2,450 yards

Redemption Total:  20,200 yards

M.K.'s Road To Redemption...

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

(7:30-9:00 PM)

1.)  Warmup (Continuous Swim):

500 Swim

300 Stroke Drill

4 x 50 Build

2.)

9 x 100 (1:55)

          50 kick

          25 fly/back/breast (repeat 3X)

          25 free

3.)

3 Times:

                    3 x 150  (2:05) strong

                    3 x 50  (:55) hypoxic - 5 breaths at most per 50

Easy 100

4.)

3 Times:

                    3 x 50 (:50) fly/free, back/free, breast/free

                    1 x 100 I.M.  (1:40)

5.)

6 x 50 (:50)

first 3 - first 25 fast stroke (back), 2nd 25 easy

last 3 - first 25 fast free, 2nd 25 easy

100 easy

Daily Total:  4,950 yards

Redemption Total:  17,750 yards

"I think I learned how to kick..."

M.K.'s Road To Redemption...

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

(7:30-9:00 PM)

1.)  Warmup (Continuous Swim):

600 Swim (150 swim, 50 drill stroke)

400 Swim (75 swim, 25 kick no board)

2.)

9 x 100 (1:35)

     -3 perfect technique

     -3 build

     -3 descend

3.)

3 x 200 (2:50) Free

3 x 200 (1:40) I.M.

2 x 200 (2:50) Free

2 x 100 (1:40) I.M.

1 x 200 (2:50) Free

1 x 100 (1:40) I.M.

100 easy

*Held 2:28ish on the 200's and 1:22ish on the 100's.

4.)

8 x 125 (2:00)

     -75 kick on back

     -50 swim (I.M. order --> #1 fly, #2 back etc.)

5.)

4 x 50 (:45) easy

Daily Total:  5,000 yards

Redemption Total:  12,800 yards

Epilogue:

     Well, it only took me 24 years, 10 months, and 3 days to be able to utter the words "I think I learned how to kick."  I guess that makes sense seeing as how I didn't "learn how to swim" til my last collegiate race.  But, as I love to say, better late than never, right??

     What an amazing feeling!!!  Kicking along in the 8 x 125's it just clicked.  It was one of the weirdest and coolest experiences I've ever had in a pool.  Hopefully I'm not getting too excited over nothing (entirely possible), but I really think I might have actually learned how to kick tonite.  I'll try to explain, but it probably won't make any sense.

     My theory is this:  For some reason I've always kicked using my whole leg.  It's hard to explain, but imagine lying on your back on land and making the kicking motion by basically keeping your entire leg straight.  I have no idea why I did this for so long.  The only explanation I can think of is that it somehow got ingrained as a habit from my freshmen year of high school when we did dryland training in the gym and did that exercise (we called it 'backstroke kick') as an ab/leg exercise...

     When Bettly, Poppa B, and I went swimming over NESCAC weekend at the legendary Westminster pool, Bettly tried in vain to give me some kicking advice, as I'm sure he's done tens if not hundreds of times before.  He said, quite simply, "Kick from your knee and keep your ankles loose."  Such a simple thought.  However, I could never grasp this...  Until tonite!  The key for me is in the "kick from your knee" portion of the advice.  Instead of using your entire leg, you generate your kick entirely from your knee.  Revolutionary!!!  I think I've struck gold.

     I was seriously on cloud nine as I finished up practice.  I swam along kicking up a storm, which anyone who has ever swum with me knows is not standard operating procedure for me.  Great stuff.  Or, as we used to say at Tuftensis, "It's a GREAT DAMN DAY!!!"

Live it, love it, chop it.

Epilogue Part II:

     I almost forgot, another little gem of practice came after the 9 x 100's, when our Coach Patrick made everyone listen up for an announcement, which went something like this:  "Okay everyone, listen up...  I have to tell you guys this...  There have been a lot of muggings lately in the areas outside the pool between here and 2nd Avenue.  This is what happens in a recession.  It's like, 'Welcome back to the '80's!!'  So with that in mind, be very careful and try to stick to main streets and stay alert."  Wow.  Good thing I don't have much to get mugged for...

M.K.'s Road To Redemption...

Monday, March 9, 2009

(7:30-8:30 PM)

1.)  Warmup (Continuous Swim):

200 swim

200 drill

200 kick

200 swim

2.)

Continuous:

5 x 100 (1:25) Build

4 x 25 (:30) kick

4 x 100 (1:25) Descend 1-4

4 x 25 (:30) fly

3 x 100 (1:25) distance per stroke

4 x 25 (:30) back

2 x 100 (1:25) fast

4 x 25 (:30) breast

100 easy

3.)

4 times:

                    25 kick (:30)

                    50 swim (:50)

                    25 no breath (:30)

Daily Total:  3,100 yards

Redemption Total:  7,800 yards

The Most Terrifying Item of the Day

OK, so ever since 1984 and the original release of "The Terminator," we've all known that we're all eventually doomed to be p'owned like noobs by machines.  But this story really confirms it:

Holy crap!!!

Anyway, when skynet becomes self-aware, I call dibs on being John Connor.

A Really Weird (and sad) News Story

Riding on the train to work today I was perusing the Metro newspaper, mainly because it's free and distracts me for the 10 minutes I'm on the 6 line, and I came across a news story that was pretty messed up.  It's really sad, but also really interesting.

Ex-Wrestler Body Slams Fellow Senior Citizen

Basically, retired pro-Wrestler Verne Gagne is believed to have bodyslammed a 97-year-old fellow nursing home patient, which eventually resulted in the man's death.  The body slam broke the other man's hip, and he died three weeks after the incident.

Verne Gagne suffers from Alzheimer's disease, and it's believed that he has lost most of his short-term memory, while his recollection of events long ago remains vivid.  Authorities speculate that he was experiencing a flashback to his wrestling days, but it's almost impossible to verify.

The widow of the man who died as a result says she doesn't blame Mr. Gagne for her husband's death and believes he had no idea what he was doing.

Alzheimer's disease scares me for many obvious reasons, but this kind of just adds to the list...  I'm actually kind of surprised that you don't hear more often about people with the disease causing more harm to others, but I guess it's probably because, as the article states, "Most Alzheimer's victims are old and frail, and when they lash out they do not usually cause much harm."

In any case, it's a very, very sad story, but is really interesting.  I hope both families involved recover and never have to go through something like this again.

M.K.'s Road To Redemption hits a couple speed bumps... (March 4-5, 2009)

Unfortunately, M.K.'s Road To Redemption has slowed a little in the past couple days, due to some extenuating circumstances.  By extenuating circumstances I mean that I've felt like garbage since I woke up on Wednesday morning.  So, as a result, I didn't swim on Wednesday nite.  And, even if I had wanted to or felt up to swimming today (Thursday), I wouldn't have been able to because I didn't get off work til 7:00 PM anyway.  So that was out of the question.

Let's all just keep our fingers crossed for a triumphant return to glory tomorrow...  Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose.

The Best Item of the Day

This one comes courtesy of Mr. Adam Chu (RIP his blog):

Hilarious Picture Telephone Website

I think the best one is "Unsuspecting bird is about to get tentacle raped." hahahhaahhaa

Live it, love it, chop it.

Happy Thursday everyone.

I want one!!!

Many thanks to the Tilozoid for this little gem:

Awesome Dolphin Swim Fin Thingy

How sweet would it be to swim with one of those.  Granted, my kick sucks donkey balls, so it probably wouldn't matter anyway, but still...  

I think the coolest part is when they talk about "hydrotouring," which is essentially 'swim-camping.'  Swimming tens of miles each day with a little waterproof backpack containing a GPS, satellite phone, and a little food and water for a few nights--I mean, how flippin' sick does that sound?!?!?  I think that would be sooooo cool.  I guess I'll just file that under things to do when not gainfully employed or something...  Right next to hiking the Appalachian Trail...  Someday, someday...

***Just in case you're wondering why there's a random picture of me posted here from freshmen year trying to imitate the mini-shark vacuum cleaner, it's because I wanted to show everyone what would happen if you wear this new dolphin fin contraption and then slowly morph into some sort of marine animal...like a shark.  (Note how my hair is spiked into a shark fin....Brilliant call on that one Adam and Deeg..)

M.K.'s Road To Redemption Begins...

It all started on Tuesday, March 3, 2009...

1.)

Warmup:

400 (every 4th lap fly drill)

300 (every 4th lap back)

200 (every 4th lap breast)

100 Build

2.)

Extended Warmup:

8x100 (1:55) 50 kick, 50 distance-per-stroke

3.)

4 times:

                    2 x 150 (2:15) free

                    2 x 100(1:45) I.M.

1st time - Easy

2nd time - build each 150, each 25 of each 100

3rd time - 2nd 150 and 2nd 100 fast

4th time - all fast

4.)

4 times:

                    2 x 50 (1:10) kick

                    2 x 50 (:50) swim with overkick

5.)

100 easy

Total:  4,700 yards

My National Television Debut!!!

Ladies and gents, boys and girls, children of all ages...

I know we all never thought we could top a day like Mikechop-pendance day, but incredibly, we have somehow managed to accomplish the unthinkable...

For anyone who lives in a cave, Late Night With Jimmy Fallon (those are supposed to be the colors of the NBC peacock...) premiered on the National Broadcasting Corporation this past Monday, March 2 to the best ratings in that timeslot for 3 years!!!!

Click here to watch it on hulu!!!  FYI, my cameo is right around 13:10, since I'm sure that's all anyone would be interested in watching.

You all know what that means, right???

It means millions upon millions of people saw my Network TV Debut!!!!!  I rocked the screen to countless millions of drooling mikechop fans as I guided down the first ever contestant of the prestigious "Lick it for 10" competition!!!  If that doesn't leave you saying, "WOW!", then I am ashamed to say I know you...

Plus, in the infamous words of B-Monga:  "Brotha! Totally tore up that walk last night! That dude would have gotten totally lost... Leadership of a legend!!!"

So there you have it folks.  If you ever need the leadership of a legend, just come to mikechop.blogspot.com!!!!