11/05/04 Woo City Workout

Whenever I visit my hometown of Wooster, OH, I get to workout at 5:15 am with a group of Masters swimmers, some of whom I've known for more than 4 decades. They usually want me to give them a workout, so I chose lots of 50s today -- so that everyone could stay on the same sendoff, and so that we'd have a chance to razz each other during the rest intervals.WARMUP: 400Your choice, on your own.DRILL SET: 2008 X 25 Freestyle, doing a different freestyle drill on each 25. (We took turns choosing the drill.)MAIN SET: 1200 + 100There's a pattern to this, but it's easier to write out all the 50s, rather than describe the pattern. The sendoff is variable, depending on whether you kick, pull, or swim. Most of the swim 50s were on 1:05. We did all the pulls with pull buoys. Boards are optional on the kicks.50 dolphin kick50 Fly pull50 Fly50 FL/BK50 BK/BR50 BR/FR50 FL/BK50 flutter kick on back50 Backstroke pull50 Back50 BK/BR50 BR/FR50 FL/BK50 BK/BR50 Breast kick50 Breast pull50 Breast50 BR/FR50 FL/BK50 BK/BR50 BR/FR50 flutter kick50 Free pull50 Free100 EZFIN SET: 400With fins.4 X 100 on approx. :30 RI Don't worry about time; focus on reducing strokes.Count strokes on your first 25 to get "N." On second 25, swim one less stroke (N-1). On third 25, swim at N-2. On fourth 25, swim at N-3. Swim this same minus-cycle pattern on all 4 X 100. 100 EZOne of the swimmers suggested we repeat the above 4 X 100, but with pull buoy instead of fins. This was just as tough as the fin set, but in a different way. In the fin set, you go to your legs and lungs to reduce the stroke count. In the pull-buoy set, you go to your arms to reduce count. 100 EZ.Total Yardage: 2700