Christmas Training Camp Day 3 & 4

Back with another quick post today about my training from yesterday and today.

Day 3 OFF swimming and dryland for recovery 

Day 4 AM Swim 2 hours

500 easy

5 minutes technical into cameras (2 free 2 breast)

4 x 150 free on 2:15

4 x 100 kick on 1:50

4 x 100 free on 1:10

5 x 10 second sprints on 30

Dive relaxed 25 for time (Free 11.0)

Dive 75 for time (Free 11.2, 24.7, 38.1)

4 Rounds

5 x 50 + 1 x 50 from a push followed by a relaxed 50

Round 1 Back on 1:00 (33s & 1 34) Push time 29.1

Round 2 Breast pull on 45 (34-36) Push time 28.1

Round 3 Free on 40 (28-32) Push time 26.3

Round 4 Free on 3 breaths rest (28-31) Dive 50 instead of push 11.4 24.3

25 breast from dive 12.8

4 x 25 push/dive (15.3 BR 13.2 BR 12.2 Free 12.9 BR)

3 short relays (1 4x50 free, 1 Fly, 1 Medley)

Total Yards: 3,700

Day 4 AM Dryland on my own 1 hour 15 minutes of weight work in the gym

It has been a tough few days of training and was noticeable by many this morning. But at the end of the workout we knew we put forth our best effort and gave it our all. I always remind myself or others when the workouts get tough and you feel tired to keep going and pushing the limits because come February when it’s rest time for major meets all that hard work put in over this training break will have been worth it. If you don’t train like the team over the break, then you won’t have anything to rest off of. You will simply be resting off of rest and that will likely have a negative effect on your results. The team now has 2 days off for Christmas and will return to #TheSprintHouse on Sunday morning with another awesome workout. 
Merry Christmas everyone!

Christmas Training Camp Day 1 & 2

Christmas Break Training

Returning to the good old blog after a long break because of school and swimming commitments. Over my break from school I’ll be posting workout logs from my training camp at W Ross. After 2 days and 6 workouts I am enjoying a well deserved day off for recovery. The group is back in action with a single swim tomorrow morning before taking a couple days off for the Christmas holiday. Christmas training camp or March break training are critical to development for the long course season as well serve as preparation for meets in February. The whole point of a training camp whether away in the tropics or at home in the winter mess (well it’s really warm this year, but it still gets dark early and lack of daylight…) is to focus on training. You train in the morning, re fuel by eating LOTS and preparing for another awesome workout in the evening. I like to think of the training sessions as prelims in the morning and finals in the evening. As you can tell I take the training similar to a meet.

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Day 1 AM 2 hours

Activation on your own (do what needs to be done in order for fast swimming!)

50 easy swim

6 minutes of choice (equalled 450 yards)

5 minutes of technical swimming (pick a couple things and focus on them)

4 x 200 free on 3:00 (work the last 50)

50 easy

4 x 150 kick on 3:00

50 easy

4 x 100 free on 1:10 (make the pace – think negative splitting)

50 easy

2 x 50 from a push in groups (rotation today)

1.     25.6

2.     25.6

Excellent seeing the exact same time for both 50s!

50 easy

Max of 16 x 50 on 15 seconds rest holding 200 race pace! Stroke FREE Goal time 27-28

28 28 29 29 29 29 sit out 27 28 29 sit out 27 28 29 sit out 27 27

Completed 13 50s sat 3 out since I didn’t make the pace

3 rounds

Vertical kick 2 min 10 up/10 down

1-minute fast sculling in siting position

100 swim 10+ meters fast off the wall (working same V kick in under H2O dolphin kick)

25 easy to shallow end

2 x 25 push dive (12.0 P, 10.4 D)

2 x 75 dive (1 free, 1 breast)

Free: 11.5 24.8 38.2

Breast: 13.9 30.5 50.0

Total yards: 3,775

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Day 1 PM 1.5 hours

400 easy

10 x 50 negative split on 50 (held 30s for 9 and the last one was 29)

Tether set up (2 free)

4 x 10 second sprints

Build 75 from a dive

25 free: 10.7

50 free 11.6 24.5

75 free 11.5 24.9 38.2

300 relaxed recovery swim

3 rounds of 4 x 75 on 1:00 + a broken 100 on 3 breaths rest @ 90% effort

Round 1 Free (47, 49, 49, 48) Broken 100 12, 14, 14, 14 (50 easy)

Round 2 Back (52, 52, 53, 54) Broken 100 15, 16, 16, 15 (50 easy)

Round 3 Free (47, 48, 46, 47) Broken 100 11.7, 25.4, 39.8, 52:44 (50 easy)

2 x 25 Dive breast (12.6, 13.1)

Total yards: 2,900

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Day 1 PM Weights session on my own for 1 hour

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Day 2 AM 2 hours

400 easy

5 minutes of technical swimming into the cameras (2 free 2 breast swim ins)

Build 200

50 free 31

100 free 1:01

150 free 1:32

200 free 2:04

10 x 1:00 kick units (go to closest wall after the 1:00)

3 rounds of 6 x 10 second sprints + 4 turns with 10 M under water

Tether set ups and Tether Assist (2 free set ups and 1 free assist)

2 x Dive 65

#1 Free Splits (15 meter 6.3, 25 11.7, 50 25.4, 60 32.0)

#2 Free Splits (15 meter 6.3, 25 11.0, 50 24.9, 30.8)

16 x 50 on 1:00 back push last 15 M (recovery set)

Holding 35 – 36 for all 16

Total Yards: 3,225

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Day 2 PM 1.5 hours

550 free easy

5 minutes’ technical swim ins (2 free, 3 breast)

12 x 50 negative split 4 on 45 4 on 1:00 4 on 1:10

Tether set up (2 breast)

4 x 10 second sprints on 30

Build 75

25 free 10:9

50 free 11.8 24.5

75 free 11.8 25.5 38.8

100 easy

3 Rounds of 4 x 100 + 1 broken 100 on 3 breaths rest

Round 1 Free @ 1:10 (1:03, 1:05, 1:07, 1:09) Broken 1 (13, 13, 14, 14) 150 easy

Round 2 Back @ 1:20 (1:13, 1:15, 1:14, 1:16) Broken 1 (15, 14, 15, 15) 150 easy

Round 3 Free @ 1:10 (1:02, 1:05, 1:04, 1:04) Broken 1 (13, 15, 15, 14) 150 easy

Total Yards: 3,600

Day 2 PM Weights session on my own 1 hour 

Back in the water and weight room tomorrow!

The End of an Era

The 2015 Canadian Age Group Championships held at the University of Laval from July 29 – August 3 served as my final CAGC of my swimming career. The stop at Laval was the 7^th CAGC for me and was a bitter sweet moment diving into the final swim on Sunday morning for the 400 free. For me, this meet wasn’t about best times, finals, or medals, it was about getting in the water and attempting to race my best this season and finish out my age group career on a strong note. I would be lying not to say this last age groups was a bitter sweet moment for me as it was my last one as well to be able to say I swam 7 consecutive CAGC is something many swimmers cannot say.

This meet came with all sorts of challenges from swimming my first national level meet while in recovery from my many preventable injuries that occurred last season, to the things that make your mind wonder like being in an outside lane for every swim, or being the only athlete from your club at the meet, and a new competition pool that you’ve never swam in before seems like a new country or world to step into.

My results for this meet in my eyes were solid. Sure someone from the outside looking at the heat sheets and then proceeding to the result file could say “well he added nearly 9 seconds in the 200 back, that’s not a good swim at all” but when you look at the swim from a season stand point that 9 second add is the least of my worries. Outsiders can laugh and point fingers all they want at my performances, but I know better than anyone else what a good swim for me was. Let’s do everyone a favor and not be so quick to laugh or judge when you yourself didn’t swim so hot. Of course I would love to have gone life time bests and swam all my events in finals, but that was not realistic going into the meet. Heck I could care less about my placings at the meet as it’s just a number where I placed in my age group, the numbers that really count is where my times in this meet scored in my seasons best times.

One thing I was NOT ALLOWED to do at this meet was be upset or mad about my swims. For any swimmer this is the toughest thing to concur in the sport. If someone has a poor swim where they have added time, or didn’t make a final they should have will have that swim on their minds for days, even weeks – I even witnessed swimmers swimming life time best and being upset with themselves which I think is childish. Bottom line is if you swim a life time best you should be proud for the moment and let that new time sink in for a day or two, and then think of ways to get faster. Swimming at this meet I was not 100% in shape or in race ready form (this will come with time and when my body is in proper shape to do so). I know I could not have trained any harder nor done anything different to prepare for this meet. For me, going forward improvement is what it’s all about by getting faster and stronger over the next year by training smarter, continuing to own my technique, and increasing my volume in the pool as well the weight room. These two critical components of my training were modified most of the year and will continue to be different than anyone else in the pool/gym in order for me to stay injury free.

This season has been one that I will remember for years to come. So many things happened this season with some good and some bad. The biggest and best highlight of this season was falling in love with the sport of swimming again after having a poor back half of last season and not enjoying the sport at all because of injuries and unprofessional people I know I made the change at the perfect time, the change that not only saved my swimming career but renewed my love for the sport again. The biggest lesson I learned this season is to NEVER give up and sometimes the bumpy road is the one that leads to the biggest successes, they may not come for a few years but I have set myself up for at least 5 more years of swimming through varsity and club swimming starting in May. This new chapter in my swimming career will be fresh and exciting and I can’t wait for it to begin in a few short weeks.

The end has come to my age group career, it has been a memorable time but I can’t wait to start my new chapter and career as a varsity athlete. Exciting and big things for my career will come over the next 5 years I know that for a fact. I will leave you with my results from my final CAGC, check them out below.

Results:

200 back 2:21.97 – 2:19.50 was my fastest time this year. Struggled on the 3^rd 50 of this race splitting a near 39 but was able to come back home in a 35 mid. If that 3^rd 50 was just a little faster a season best would have been achieved.

200 free 2:06.98 – 2:05.68 was my fastest time this year swum in finals at East Coast Champs. To put things into perspective I was 2:07.05 in the prelims at East Coast Champs and 2:06.13 in prelims at AGI in Etobicoke, this swim sits well on the season considering I wasn’t out as fast as I have been at prior meets.

400 free 4:31.35 – 4:31.05 was my fastest time this year swum in finals at East Coast Champs. My fastest prelims time going into this morning 400 free at CAGC was 4:34.45 swum at AGI in June. So looking at it from a prelims stand point I dropped over 3 seconds in my morning swim and equalled my finals time.

One thing I told my coach after the meet was over if I had another chance to swim these races in finals I am almost certain I would have dropped in each event. Looking at my swims through different perspectives allowed me to better cope and understand where I was at with my swim – this is something I have always done but it was especially important this season given the circumstances I was under. 

Injury Rehab - Case Study

Below is the injury case study written by my coach, Mike Finch, head coach of W Ross Macdonald Swim Club in Brantford. For someone that has been dealing with unnecessary injuries for over a year now it was a perfect time to share my story. Enjoy!

A Rehab Case Study by Mike Finch

Athlete:  Tyson MacDonald – 18

Note: I want to thank Tyson for allowing me to write this “case study”. Our hope is that other athletes facing the same situation will have a better idea of how to both avoid or manage a swimming injury. Tyson’s comments are included in blue.

Swimming injuries do not have to be an inevitable part of our sport.  Training and competing in constant pain is a path out of the sport rather than being a toughness “merit badge”. “Swim through it” (tendon, back and joint pain) at your own risk!

Background: Tyson joined WRMS in September of 2014.  During the 2014 LC season he trained and competed with an increasing amount of pain. His meet swimming was hard to watch; he was turning in very slow performances, and clearly in a great deal of pain after each swim.

Tyson’s rehab process has taken the majority of the 2014-15 season. It has been expensive to the Ontario Health Care System in terms of 2 MRIs and consultations with several specialists.  Many trips to Steve Hill at Kings Cross Physio in Brampton have also been  expensive for the family. It’s likely that Tyson’s injuries were completely preventable as they were almost certainly due to  over-training, poor stroke technique, muscle imbalance and a general weakness in his back.

Note: It’s important to note that Tyson has been meticulous in following all of the directions he has been given –  he has also been very patient which hasn’t been easy – he just wants to train and race! Its likely that many attempts at rehabbing a swimming injury fail based on a lack of patience and or focus on the part of the injured athlete..

MRIs:  The results of his first MRI were inconclusive so a second “Contrasting MRI” was ordered. The results appeared to indicate a Shoulder Joint Tear (Glenoid Labrum Tear) Surgery is often recommended in these cases.

Physio: Tyson’s physio has covered three major areas:

• Tendonitis Treatments: The initial priority was treatment of Tyson’s fairly advanced tendonitis.
  • Dryland:  Tyson was given a number of very basic exercises designed to begin building back stability and strength – the approach at Kings Cross is different as they do not start with all sorts of Rotator Cuff Exercises.
• Development and control of “holding muscles”:  Once the tendonitis was no longer a factor in terms of pain, the work at Kings Cross shifted to teaching Tyson how to hold his shoulder in a stabilized position.
  • Tyson was given a number of dry land exercises that gave him control of the muscle groups that hold his shoulder in a healthy position.
  • We moved Tyson into the clinic’s SwimEx (flume) starting with shoulder positioning against a current (out of the SwimEx), followed by the same shoulder positioning while swimming.
  • The outcome of this section of Physio was to give Tyson awareness and control over shoulder position as well as the muscular endurance required to hold his shoulder in position over increasing amounts of swimming volume.
• General Strength Development:  Tyson as always been an extremely focused and dedicated swimmer but he had some major strength deficits that certainly contributed to his injuries. He is currently heading into Kings Cross every 3 to 4 weeks for strength program updates.  We take technical video of each session at Kings Cross so that Tyson can go back to check exercise technique. Tyson continues to be completely focused on exactly following the exercise prescriptions from Kings Cross.

Progression in the pool:

• September – November:  
  • Technical Analysis:  Underwater video revealed a number of technical errors that had very clearly contributed to his injuries. We knew what technical errors need correction but Tyson kept any swimming to an absolute minimum; initially well under 500 yards/day.
  • Technical Work: Regular use of our underwater video systems (used every minute of every practice) allowed Tyson to make the required technical changes.
  • Training: Almost 100% of Tyson’s early season training was done “hands back – snorkel kicking with and without fins” We swam, Tyson kicked. Absolutely no swim training until Tyson had made the required technical changes – and then – only as much pain free swimming as he could do…..we always stopped before he was experiencing any pain – it was a very conservative approach –
  •  

Tyson: “Watching my teammates swim and race personal best times in practice or in a meet was challenging, but kicking for many practices in the first couple of months of the season only improved my poor kicking and allowed me to discover new leg muscles that I did not know existed. I also gained the rewarding role of coaching my junior teammates at a couple early season meets as well taking meet video and giving immediate feedback on technique to my teammates.”

• December to April
  • Technical Work: Every practice – making sure that he was seeing the exact stroke pattern that would allow him to swim pain free. Backstroke and Breaststroke were added to the technical work. Always with an emphasis on shoulder positioning, swimming with a long neck…keeping the strokes long and relaxed.
  • Swim Training:  Swimming volume and intensity increased over the period – the over-riding rules were listen to your body and be conservative.
  • Kicking: Tyson was and is responsible for monitoring his training and moves to kicking as an intuitive switch from swimming. If he can’t hold his shoulders in position, a swim set is over…so he’s swimming with a high level of self-awareness.

Tyson: “Diving into my first meet near the end of November I knew I could not afford to anything ‘amazing’ or race to ‘aggressive’ – instead I dove in for an easy 50 free, still pulling an impressive time and felt easy, pain free, and relaxed. This was the exact expectation for my first race of the season.”

• May to Current:
  • Technical Work: Continues at every practice
  • Dryland: As prescribed by Kings Cross
  • Swim Training: The progression continues – increased volume and intensity – never any fly swimming – but increasing amounts of back and breast work with the majority of his swim training being freestyle based.
  • Kicking: As needed.
  • Meet Swimming: Tyson has been building out from 50s to 400M – he has absolutely no interest in continuing compete at 800 and 1500M. His times have improved at every competition….

Tyson: “Every time I dive into the water there is noticeable improvement, whether it is time, technique, under water, or faster reaction off the blocks. ‘Constant improvement’ is noticeable in my daily training and racing which helps to keep the confidence levels high and drive to continue to improve. Now that I have a few months of solid racing under my belt I am confident with my new technique in my strokes, being able to just race and not be concerned about my shoulder, and most importantly having ‘fun’ something many swimmers refuse to do.”

End Notes:

• Tyson has been able to train Pain Free since November – he has often experienced muscle soreness but absolutely no pain which would indicate injury onset.
• Tyson knows his limits – everything is improving but it’s at a manageable pace.
• Re. Tyson’s MRI Results:  Tyson clearly experienced some level of shoulder tear but Steve Hill’s advice was that if Tyson could race and train “pain free” surgery was probably not necessary. All of the time and effort needed to teach Tyson how to control his shoulder position has allowed him to avoid a surgical correction.
• We continue to feel that a majority of career ending or damaging injuries are completely preventable. Tyson’s injuries almost certainly resulted from poor technique, an inadequate dry land program, poor posture, over training and trying to continue racing through an existing injury.
  • Swimmers need a physical assessment each year the goal of which it to identify potential problem areas before they create an injury.
  • Proper Technique is easy to teach and easily maintained – but swimmers need to see what they are doing on a regular/daily basis.
  • Swimmers need to understand their limits – pushing into neural fatigue is a perfect way to “tough your way into an injury”.
  • Dry land programs need to focus on developing muscle balance and muscular endurance in “the holding muscle groups”
  • Racing injured makes absolutely no sense as it just leads to a longer or more serious injury!
  •  

Tyson: “Technical training, body awareness, and patients will all remain part of my training methods for the rest of my career to ensure my shoulder stays ‘healthy’ and no further damage is done. I know I’ll never swim an 800 or 1500 free again as well butterfly or I.M. and I am totally fine with that. This injury has allowed me to look outside the box and train in a new way that I thought would never work.”

• Expectations for Tyson’s University Swimming
  • Tyson appears to be fully recovered – having corrected all of the issues that we think contributed to his injuries.
  • As long as Tyson continues to listen to his body he should remain un-injured over the course of his University and Summer swimming.
  • Tyson should get back to Personal best times in free events 50 – 400, and at all distances for Breast and Back.

Tyson:  “Working with WRMS, the many doctors/specialist, and most importantly Steve Hill has been a career saver! Without these people working together and being on the same page nothing gets accomplished. The key to coming back healthy from an injury and STAYING healthy is doing the little things daily, proper warm up/activation, following the training plan accordingly, let your coach know asap when something doesn’t feel right. The worst thing to do is rush back into training/racing and think lifetime bests will come. Instead baby steps and returning to reality are key in order to come back healthier and stronger.”

Hanging up my "Distance Suit"

With June starting and championship season on the heels of many swimmers across the country it's time to set the record straight. Of course many of you know I've been injured for over a year now with various shoulder issues that I'm still recovering from and doing daily therapy for. This is something I'll be doing for the rest of my swim career to ensure I'm sound and not doing anymore damage. It has been a long year, filled with many changes and ups and downs. A year ago I would have NEVER pictured myself in the situation I'm in and lets be real here no one would have predict this change, not even me. Here I am swimming in a new environment, with a new coach, with a different philosophy then most coaches in Ontario and Canada.

This season has been and continues to be a rebuild for me. Going from not being able to swim in September for several months one can't expect lifetime bests. Some people will likely look at the heat sheet and say "well he added 25 seconds to his 400 free" and as I say to those people thinking that 'who cares, and try going through an intense rehabilitation phase and continue to do so daily to ensure I can get better and continue to train. It was said by a couple different doctors I would never swim at the level I am today and even one went as fare as saying surgery would be my only option to fix all the damage caused from last seasons mess.

Many athletes receiving such difficult news would hang up the suit and say forget it, I'm done, it's not worth it anymore. Not this swimmer! Instead I took this head on and took the long road. Facing this uphill battle of kicking for weeks and weeks and building confidence each day to improve and knowing I was doing the right thing. Racing my first 50 free in Short Course meters in London in late November was the best thing for me as I was with the team and my confidence was building heading into Decembers Pointe Clare meet. At this meet I put in entire times that reflected where I was at during the meet and swam a handful of events plus relays with the intention of swimming stress free and if I needed to scratch I would. With swimmer and coach on the same page life in the pool was enjoyable, relaxing, and for once in a VERY long time FUN again, something the sport should have always been but sadly pointless politics and other peoples feelings, ego, and career were in the way of causing for the sport to turn into a hellish mess for anyone in a 50 meter radius.

By December I knew I wouldn't be swimming distance anytime soon. This had been my plan with my coach since September. I had mentioned I wanted to focus on my 200 free & 400 free, as well my sprint 50s 100s and backstroke. After Victoria trials in 2014 I guessed I had done everything I could in my 800 & 1500 free. And to this day my lifetime best is still from Victoria. It wasn't my last 1500 of my career as I swam one in June during Quebec Cup and added a lovely 2 and a half minutes to my best time. If that didn't send alarms and signals something was wrong then I don't know what would. So now that I'm not training for 800 & 1500 free I have been working hard on training for 400 and under races.

To set the record straight, NO I'm not a sprinter! I am a mid distance swimmer who is now specializing in the events ranging from 50 - 400 free and 50 - 200 back. Having previous distance training in my system I am able to go from a 50 to a 400 and be able to preform well all around those events which is helpful in terms of varsity swimming coming up in the fall.

This injury has been a blessing in a strange way. Thanks to peoples poor judgement and terrible listening/seeing skills I turned into an injured, angry swimmer, who didn't want to compete in the sport he once loved anymore. Luckily, I found a coach who understood and knew exactly what to do and when to do it. This rebuilding year has been a rewarding year and something I'll never forget.

So going forward you will see me swimming more and more short distance swims and 50s and 100s. My Regional event line up has nothing over 100 meters which is a huge change for me. I'm looking forward to new experiences and more seeing improvements in my shorter distance races.