Coaching

January has hit, and we can all feel it! Every year this is a confusing time because I am supposed to feel motivated for the year ahead, and yet I am still completely exhausted from the holiday season. However, life must go on, and we have goals to hit. Back at it Today was the first day back in the water for my swimmers in the new year. I wanted to push them while still keeping in mind that we are all coming off of break.  We have some pretty big meets coming up in January, and this workout seemed to be perfect for what we needed.      * I am going to give time suggestions based on what I used for my swimmers, but feel free to adjust as needed. WARM UP:  200 freestyle 100 backstroke 100 breaststroke 4 x 25 Fly 4x 50 Kick (with board or on your back) 4 x 50 Pull (with or without paddles) LONG PYRAMID –  6 x 50 Choice stroke – Pace down/ sprint back with good finish -50 sec/ 1 min.- 5 x 100 Non Freestyle (any other stoke) – 1:40/1:50/2:00 – 2 x 200 Freestyle working on long strokes and good flips – 3:15/3:30/3:45 –  5 x 100 Non Freestyle (any other stoke) – 1:40/1:50/2:00 – 6 x 50 Choice stroke – Pace down/ sprint back with good finish -50 sec/ 1 min.- Cool Down 100 easy choice swim adjust to fit your needs! The best part of this workout is that it can easily be adjusted to meet your needs.  It would be pretty simply to throw in another 200 or a couple more 50s.  You may also want to add in a longer cool down (ours was short based on time and I was trying to keep it at 3000 exactly.)

During winter break we move our practices to 7am so we are able to get in and out early instead of having to go in the middle of the day. Occasionally we have swimmers traveling or committed to family, but otherwise everyone is expected to be there. I try to make these practices a little different than everyday practices while still getting in good yardage. Warm up – 400 swim Kick – 8 X 50s on your back leaving the wall every minute on the minute Pull – 400 (with or without paddles) Main Set – complete 8 Snakes… on the snake the swimmers will dive off the lane 1 block and swim down that lane, then cross under and go up the next. They will continue this for all 5 lanes completing 125 yards each time. At the end they hop out, do 10 squats, and then walk back to lane one and start again. After our main set I wanted to take the time to work on dives. We have several swimmers this year who are pretty new, and I wanted to go back and reteach some dive techniques (even for those who are not new).

The start of a new season is always exciting.  I coach the high school varsity swim team every winter for the last 10 years, and with practice just beginning comes all sorts of emotions.  Exhaustion, excitement, nerves, hope, ambition… and these are true for me as well as the athletes.  We come into the season hopeful, but yet not at all knowing what to expect. Making it work It all starts many weeks before we actually get in the water.  While we are busy picking out and ordering suits and caps, setting up meets, making up rosters, I am also spending my time figuring out the calendar of child coverage and how to make everything in my life balance while I add another plate.  I have to make sure my three children are being taken care of, get their homework done, have rides to their own practices, etc.  We also have to make sure my husband requests off work for the weekend where I am at a meet from sunup to sundown. This is a joint force between the two of us with some extra help from the grandparents.  There are days where the kids get to have fun with their grandparents, and other days where I am coaching with a toddler on my back, but we somehow always make it work. so worth it So why do I do it? All the scheduling and rushing to practice? It is all worth it when a swimmer finishes a race, realizes the won or beat their time, and my face is the first one they make eye contact with through blurry tears.  I even look forward to the dripping wet hugs after a time drop. Oftentimes the swimmer even let me nap on their blanket during down time at an all-day meet.  It is not always an easy thing to do especially with a full-time job and three kids, but they definitely make it worth it. one day at a time Transitions are hard! The most common are when we have to return to school from summer break, the start of a new sport or club season, a shift in jobs, a new home, or even a new baby. Those are life transitions that we know are going to be difficult. We prepare ourselves, we make plans, and we breathe through it. However, there are less noticeable ones that are sometimes just as hard. For example, when your daughter packs her own lunch for the first time, or the last time your baby makes you rock them to sleep. These transitions often go unnoticed until they’re gone. Therefore, no matter how busy life may get I want to try and breathe in all of those moments while they happen. Embrace them now, because you never know when a new transition is right around the corner. I will update again as the season progresses…