Summer has started.. kind of!!

Renee & I at Mission San Fernando Rey de España

     I hope that everyone had a great three day weekend and enjoyed some grilling with family and friends. My fiancee and I went to the Mission San Fernando Rey de España, a Spanish built mission here in southern California. Renee and I enjoy visiting the missions and learning about the history of the mission and how life was then. 

     On Sunday we went to the nearby National Orange Show Festival to watch her daughter perform with her Japanese dance group. It was bright and hot, but the group did a great job even having to wear their heavy traditional kimonos.

     Tonight was our first swim practice of the week, as our pool was closed Monday for the holiday. With the hot weather we've had lately, I have to admit that jumping in the water was very refreshing! 

     Coach David seems to be in a sprint set mood, as tonight's workout was once again a collection of sets of 25s and 50s. In spite of feeling "blech" before I got in, I really did well with the 8 x 50 free w/fins sprint set. I really need to learn to kick more, as I felt so much faster with those fins. 

     One of my areas that I need to work on more is my kick. Fact is, I was never much of a kicker. All during age group and high school, most of my speed was in my shoulders. I would put on a pull buoy and I would gain so much speed because I wasn't have to deal with my legs dragging. As a result, I've gained a lot of strength in my shoulders. 

     The exception to this is breaststroke. I don't know what it is, but when I returned to swimming in 2011, I discovered that I had an aptitude for breaststroke. I had to work on a few things (like stroke rate), but once I got that figured out, I was really doing well. In fact, I've even had a few meets where my breaststroke times were faster than my freestyle times!

     Speaking of meets, I was planning on swimming in the Mission Viejo USMS LCM meet this coming Sunday, but since my school load is building up and none of my teammates are going to the meet, I've decided to forgo the meet and make the Yucaipa meet on June 29th my lone swim meet for the month. The Yucaipa meet is also a LCM meet.

     Back to last night's swim, by the end of practice at 8:30pm, I had accumulated 2,250 yds in the pool. That means that my USMS Go The Distance total is now at 46.02 miles. It should take me two or maybe three workouts and I will make that first milestone: 50 miles.

-- the UberClydesdale