July/Aug Newsletter 2009
www.emeraldaquatics.net

Coach's Comments - "Ask the Coach"
 
Why do we take a team break?  And what should I, as a swimmer, do during the break?
    Each season we take a team break.  This allows for the athletes to get a physical and mental break as well as the coaches to get a physical and mental break.  Breaks are important in the training cycle as it allows for the body to fully recover from the seasons training as well as the mind to get ready for the next season.  This keeps things fresh and gets an athlete ready to go and focus for the season ahead.
      The kids should not be doing any swim workouts during this time.  Use it for family vacations, camps, camping, playing and relaxing before the next season and school starts. 
    Masters often continue working out depending on their triathlon or workout schedules.  I recommend taking an intensity break during this time if you continue swimming.  Cross training is a great way to keep in shape and get a nice break from your regular swim training.  Go hiking, biking, walking, running or play basketball, tennis or other group/team sports!  Stay active but remember it’s important for an athlete to get some rest every year.


Kids Krazyness
Tour de Emerald is here again!  Monday, AUG 3 - Wed AUG 12.  This points competition will be taking place during the afternoon workouts at Echo Hollow only.  Details will be explained by your coach.  Awards received at the award ceremony!

Big Kahuna - Aug 7-9, Coos Bay at Mingus Park.  This is our all team end of season meet.  This is a short course pool that goes all out with the hawaiian theme= decorations, crazy hat relay, live music on Saturday night and more!   Our team goes out to a bay on Saturday afternoon after the meet to play and relax.  Camping and hotels available.

End of Season Award Ceremony, Fri, AUG 14, at Echo Hollow, during regular practice time (4:30-6:20pm).  Kids - bring your suit for some games at the end.  Parents - come with a dish to share and your hands to clap for your swimmer!

Lake Swim Race, Sun, AUG 16 at Dorena Lake.  It’s our event.  Kids and adults wanting to race this check with your coach to see if you’re ready!  It’s a fun day.  We also need volunteers.  See later in the newsletter.


Masters Moments
Mini Meet- Sat, Aug 1, 8-10am, Amazon pool.  This will be instead of practice that day.  Last time we had about 12 people!  Super fun.  Challege your friends and lane mates to some races....try to beat your time from the last one....get experience going fast in a LOW pressure (or no pressure!!!) situation. 

Lake swims: Wed 6am and Sat 8am - those are LEAVE times.  Make sure to be on time.  Wed is a mix it up day, switching around which lake.  Sat is always at Dorena.

Lake Swim Race, Sun, AUG 16 at Dorena Lake.  It’s our event.  Plan on swimming or helping out!  Contact Steve Johnson for more details!
Open water race on Sat, Aug 22 in downtown Portland!  Google Portland Triathlon for more details.  There is a money prize and pro swimmers coming.  Not gonna swim?  It would be fun to go watch too!

Cottage Grove is having ga triathlon for beginners and experienced racers alike.  Check it out!  Sat, AUG 15.  Entry forms are also on the Cottage Grove Aqua Lion web site. Contact Mike Dirksen for more details.   mdirksen@lane.k12.or.us

Team get together!  At Coach Dan’s house.  It’s a pizza party!  Sat, AUG 15, 6pm.  Be there or be square.  I know I’m going to enjoy pizza from Dan’s homemade, wood burning, pizza oven!  Please RSVP by Thur, AUG 13 to Dan : dan@danschmitt.com or 541-221-8867





Event - Dorena Lake Swim, Sun, AUG 16
This is our team’s event - we’re putting it on!
Entry forms can be found online for masters on the Oregon Masters Swimming website.  Kids please contact Steve Johnson our meet director (stevejohnson.survey@gmail.com).
Events include a 12 and under 500.
18 and under 1500.
18 and over masters 1500.
Open 1000 equipment race (flippers, paddles)
Open 500 kick (bring your board!).

We still need some volunteers!  Please contact Steve Johnson or Coach Gina if you can help with any of these!
- BOATS - we still need 4 kayak or canoe’s.
- BOATS - we still need 2 power boats to help with course set up, take down and policing course.
- REGISTRATION TABLE - talk with athletes checking in and signing up!
- 10 assorted volunteers to paddle the boats, help with set up, take down, parking, etc. 

End of Season Break and Fall Schedule
All team break - Aug 17 - Sept 7.  No practice or coaches all groups.
Masters interested in swimming will need to pay for lap swim.

Fall Schedule:  Starts Tue, SEPT 8 for all groups at Amazon.
Echo is closed for 1 month maintenance.

KIDS: Tue, SEPT 8 - Oct 10 all at Amazon
NOVICE: Tue/Thur/Fri 4:15-5:30pm
AGR 1: Tue/Thur/Fri  4:15-5:30pm
AGR 2: Tue/Thur/Fri 4 - 5:30pm
AGR 3: Mon - Fri 4-5:30pm
HS: Mon/Wed/Fri 4-5:30pm
SR: Mon - Fri 4-5:30pm, Sat 8-10am

Mon, OCT 11- Nov 6 at Echo
Novice: Tue/Thur/Fri 5-6:15pm
AGR 1: Tue/Thur/Fri 5-6:30pm
AGR 2: Tue/Thur/Fri 5-7pm
HS: Mon/Wed 4-6pm, Fri 5-7pm, Sat 8-10am
AGR 3 & SR: Mon/Wed 4-6pm, Tue/Thur/Fri 5-7pm, Sat 8-10am

MASTERS: Tue, SEPT 8 - Oct 31- all at Amazon
Mon - Fri 6-7:30am
Mon, Wed, Fri 11-12noon
Tue/Thur 5:30-7pm
Sat 8-10am

Education- skin protection and open water
Baby Wrinkles; Leather Faces
by Dr. Jim Miller

Welcome to summer! Recently, a U.S. Masters Swimming member who is in her 20s approached me with a question about her "baby wrinkles" from the years of swimming outside. What could she do before they got too bad? She did not want the leather face of the tanning disciples or her older colleagues of 40 (!) What caused them besides the sun? Well, the simple answer is, aside from genetic complexion, nothing caused them but exposure to the sun.

What creams or mixes will help her baby wrinkles? Skin lubrication with moisturizers daily or multiple times per day will help the skin to restore as much as it is capable of doing. The big problem is that each year's sun damage is layered over the damage of prior years - it is not a clean slate each year. The sun thins the skin and damages the elasticity of the skin, causing sagging and wrinkling. Unfortunately, the skin on our faces, which is the most exposed skin we have, is also the thinnest, so it is the most prone to damage. The message here is that your moisturizer needs to have a high level of sun block built in, throughout the year. I'll not get into the benefits of all the different rejuvenating creams with vitamin E, lanolin and everything else that has been tried. Studies are somewhat conflicting but one thing is clear: Nothing is as good as what you came with originally. Protect it! When applying sun block, remember ears, lips, nose, and wear a hat - full brim - not a ball cap with your ears hanging out.

This quickly takes me to the topic of SPF, or sun protection factor levels. What do they mean? As the SPF level goes up, the sun blocking protection goes up. However, the duration of protection does NOT go up. So, an SPF 14 and an SPF 25 both last the same length of time. Since we are all aquatic athletes, you should expect to have a lotion/cream/spray/gel to last about four hours. I know, there are ones that say they are good for ALL DAY PROTECTION. Really, does this make sense? Not hardly. The effects of swimming, toweling, sand, salt water, goggles up and down, fins/paddles on and off, time of day, and method of application all come into play here. Take home message: reapply at four hours whenever possible. For those of you who swim that open water 25K, there are some sun blocks that stick in place better than others. They are greasy and usually tough to apply, but worth the effort. What is the best block? This is actually an easy answer: zinc oxide. Remember the white stuff your mother put on your nose (or in the 70s green, pink, orange, blue)? That is it! However, there is now a clear version that works great and is available through your pharmacist. If applied correctly, it is close to being a complete block.

So now that I have ruined that golden brown tan, is there anything else to worry about? What about freckles? Well, freckles are sun damage! Sure they are real cute when you are 3 years old with a full head of red hair. But, have you ever seen cute freckles on the face of a wispy, balding 50-year-old guy? Maybe, but what you are more likely to see in the future is biopsy sites from his medical practitioner. The message here is also simple: If you have a skin area that is changing in any way, have someone look at it. Change means that the cells are mutating and that is not a good thing. Do not wait. In this case, a dose of paranoia is a good thing. Don't trust anything on the skin that is in transition. If you are vigilant, you may be lucky enough to catch that innocent mole before it turns into one of several types of skin cancers.

Anything else? Of course: According to an overwhelming majority of health experts, tanning beds = BAD!

So back to the title of our article. Is there a link between baby wrinkles and leather face? Actually, they are the same thing - just different stages in a history of ongoing sun damage.

Dr. Jim Miller, MD is no stranger to U.S. Masters Swimming.  Dr. Miller served as U.S. Masters Swimming President from 2001-2005.  He has received the USMS Coach of the Year and the Ransom J. Arthur awards.  Dr. Miller is engrosed in the sports medicine community and has served as the Chair of the FINIA World Sports Medicine Congress amongst various other positions within the swimming sports medicine industry.

OPEN WATER
Using Open Water Workouts as your Core of Triathlon

In the world of triathlon, one looks for ways to strengthen and to go faster than they have with the same training, or an area that is new. If your plans are correct and you use progressive overload, zone intensities, and Borg’s Rate of Perceived Exertion, you will get to the point where your speed is respectable, and you will probably begin to place. However, to give you strength to endure all three sports during a race, your core strength has to be enhanced to the point where you will not falter.

In open water swimming, one’s conditioned body is still being subjected to the many variable sequences of what one goes through in the course of a triathlon. Self corrections are taking place constantly, and your body accommodates, using the various muscle groups to bring together the many aspects of correct form, speed, and sighting so the course will be taken and pushed behind, yet, with a higher element of strength.

With the straight line of a torpedo, rather than a slightly bent body or one swimming uphill, the athlete is still pulling in his abs, using his lats, deltoids (sp), tendons, ligaments, and just about every muscle part on his body … if he is doing it the right way.

The question, now, is how can we pull all the variable amounts together to give the athlete the necessary strength to hold up for all three sports, and how can you do this in open water or in a pool if open water is not available?

Most athletes look at open water as all inclusive. Swim open water, and you get the feel, and the distance, and you will make it to the end of the swim. And, that is true. However, there is more you can do with it than just those few areas.  Remember, you can build a tremendous amount of core strength when swimming and when swimming in open water.

There are several areas a coach needs to take into consideration when designing his workout for his clients. The current, water temperature, distance, depth, water conditions, wind conditions, and what marine life are in the surrounding areas, and taking the precautionary measures to coach the athletes.

Many of the form techniques and strength training techniques you use in a pool, you can use in open water. As a coach, use the current to start them off with a warm up of 75–150 yards. Swim against the current to start and they will be coming back with the current. Now you have a chance to observe their stroke and their fear level.

Use 3-5 skills and drills to help develop their form and their strength. This document is only to help show you how you can use open water for core development and strength for being stronger in the swim, the bike and run. Three drills I use, and I have been doing this for over seven years, consistently are the extended arm kick, six kick/three stroke, and the finger tip drag. There are a minimum of 30 - 40 I use, however, I mix them consistently, always with at least one of those three drills.

Now, after the warm up, and the drill session, I assign each athlete a time to swim. I start everyone who has not done open water before a maximum of 30 minutes, and I do this in waist deep water so if they tire, they can stand up to take a break.  If you have them walk during this time, they are also working their legs for the kick and run since that is what they are using while walking in the water. For muscular distance, I assign 45 minutes of consistently swimming with no stopping, and for 1⁄2 or full Ironman, I assign 60 minutes. Once a week for a minimum of three straight weeks will give the athlete enough strength for it to show in the bike and run, too. However, the athletes who come every week are the ones who are winning, moving up in their age group categories and who are going to Nationals and Worlds, without exception.

Let’s look at a couple of drills during the swim portion. As a coach, you know that just to swim will only go so far in an athlete's development. So, assign to each of them speed drills and strength conditioning during their swim. An easy form of drills for speed and force, is to go against the current, and to do the following:

3 x 3’ @ Z4 w/ 30”-1’R
3 x 2’ @ Z4 w/ 30”-15”R
3 x 1’ @ Z4 w/ 15”

Or, let’s have some fun, and have a drill I call “buddy tag”:

Two athletes assigned to each other, while one is doing the drill, the other is in a recovering swim mode (in open water I do not have them stopping to rest):
5 x 1’ @ Z4 w/ 1’R

Once you reach the other one, which does help with sighting, you touch their leg, and that is the signal for the athlete in recovery to start another one minute swim at zone four. And, the one who just touched the other’s leg, now recovers.

So, now that you have a couple of drills for speed and force, let’s look at one for strength, speed, and power:

Using the tarzen method to swim with your head out of the water and when going around a buoy that is crowded. Use this method rather than the dog paddle method that newbies use (you can also go around wide swimming with your head down), here is another drill that my clients have enjoyed learning and using:

3 x 15y circles w/ tarzen method w/ 20y freestyle swim in between

With the variables involved in open water, current is the one I use consistently to gather additional strength. Resistance has always been a strong denominator in gathering strength, so let’s use it by dividing up the open water swim workout in this manner:

The total distance can be divided into four areas or lengths. Start in the middle of the swim, and swim against the current one quarter of way (doing the drills for extra strength and workout), turn around and swim back to the starting point, then continue to swim for the third portion, and then turn around and swim back to the starting point. However, you may want to use the zone intensities to help with other developmental portions of your planned workout.  i.e., Z4, Z2, Z3, Z2 

Now, how can you use all of these in a pool? Or, other methods that can help you simulate open water conditions?

One of the tried and true methods, is to swim the length of the pool, but do not touch the wall at all, and simply turn on your own, doing a flip turn with no push off, and continue. Good method, works every time. Another one is to swim circles in your lane. By the way, the dividers have “wave eaters” on them that dictate the amount of splash or waves that are being created in the pool.  So, let’s ask and see if we cannot take those out of the pool.

Are you good friends with the head lifeguard?  Ask him, or her, if you can take out of the pool two or more of the lane dividers and swim circles in a larger fashion. In the middle of the swimming, turn everyone around and swim the other way. Or, do figure eights in the pools to swim getting conditioned on both side of your body and developing the strength from within. If the pool has high walls, the waves will get to be pretty tough, and open water conditions will be closer to reality.

In a pool, you can also line everyone up in two rows with kickboards in their hands and everyone starts pushing the water inwards toward each other. This will make a big amount of splash, and then have someone swim down, take off their goggles in the middle, and put them back on, all the while the boards are causing a great deal of waves. Great idea I learned from Dave Scott, six-time winner of the Hawaiian Ironman.

Go practice, in a pool that originally was only being used to swim laps.

Or, swim in open water to gain the competitive edge of core development that will take your athletes to the next level, to the next podium, to greater speeds they never knew were in them.

Bill Floyd, living in Tampa, Florida, is a  USA Triathlon Certified Coach, Level II, USA Cycling Certified Coach, TEAM in Training National Certified Coach, Mentorship Program recipient, National Age Grouper, current and two time Masters Champion – Olympic distance, BFloydPres@aol.com  www.TriFloyd.com