On Sunday I decided to partake in a ‘Quadrathon’ swim meet. The meet consisted of a 500 free, 100 free, 200 free, and 50 free. You could do all 4 or just one or none 
We all decided to do all 4 events and let me tell you, 4 swim events in a row is REALLY TOUGH! I can’t even begin to comprehend how those world class swimmers can do mulyiple events at the Olympics. And if you’re Michael Phelps, you do at least a dozen events. SO AMAZING!
We all decided to do all 4 events and let me tell you, 4 swim events in a row is REALLY TOUGH! I can’t even begin to comprehend how those world class swimmers can do mulyiple events at the Olympics. And if you’re Michael Phelps, you do at least a dozen events. SO AMAZING!
Back to the swim meet…..I seeded myself with times that I thought I was capable of swimming. Of course this was not my goal race for the season, so I did a good solid several hours of training the day before. We all did, well just us triathletes! Some of the top swimmers at this meet were SERIOUS! I talked to a couple women who had been training 6 days a week in the pool for the season to begin with a bang at this meet! Wow, good for them. Everyone has different goals and aspirations and it’s cool to see and hear about them.
I was a little nervous about my first event, the 500. I knew it was going to hurt and all I wanted to do was hold 1.10s, race pace, but as soon as I dove in and looked at the woman next to me, I turned into a crazy sprinter! HA! I was in the last heat with the fastest women and they went out in 1.03-1.05. I did a 1.04 and thought I feel ok, SWEET! But by the 200 mark, I was thinking “oh s%#@” this is going to hurt really bad. I had friends cheering for me and I could see them telling me to pick up the pace. I tried so hard, but I was in serious deficit at this point and started ascending my splits. Oops. My last 100 went back down, but I ended up averaging 1.10s. Serious, oops!! I went 1.04s to 1.13s to end in 5.50 and first in my division. I was ok with this time, perfect for this time of year. The positive to this swim, is that this is a bit faster than the time I was doing last year and I was swimming 4 days a week for 75-90 minutes and now I’m only swimming 3 days a week for 55-60 mins. COOL!
Next up was the 100 free! This was by far the TOUGHEST event of the day for me. I am not a sprinter at all, although I have really fast turnover! My problem is my kick and push off the walls. I do not kick at all and I am not good off the wall. Even after the 500, I had some girls come up to me to tell me I could have taken off 10 seconds if I only kicked and stayed under past the flags. Thanks girls! The 100 was so hard since I was still tight and winded from the 500. I gave it all I had and came in at 1 minute high. Still good for me. Same time as last year when I was swimming lots. I placed 2nd in my division in this. I warmed down after the 100 alot more than after the 500 which probably helped my next 2 events.
The 200 free and 50 free felt way better than the 100 for sure! I had fun in the 200 and paced alot smarter than the 500. I came back on the last 50 to take 1st, holding 1.05 pace. The 50 is basically an ALL OUT sprint. Well, for me it looks so funny since I hit the water so hard in my regular swimming that this must have looked CRAZY!! I actually saw the video and it wasn’t as bad as I thought I finished off the meet with a 2nd place in the 50. This was such a fun meet. I am so stoked that my swimming is totally fine with alot less work. I am focusing more on the other sports as they need way more attention Cool times and such a great workout! I was exhausted….in a great way though!!
I finished off the meet with a 2nd place in the 50. This was such a fun meet. I am so stoked that my swimming is totally fine with alot less work. I am focusing more on the other sports as they need way more attention Cool times and such a great workout! I was exhausted….in a great way though!! Start of the 200, I’m in lane 2
24 Comment(s)
Anonymous said:
Very cool video, you rock!!
Marit Chrislock-Lauterbach said:
You are a rock star! Great job with the swim!! I’m SUPER impressed – fantastic job! That must have been hard – I can’t imagine swimming a 500 that fast, let alone topping it off with another 100, 50, and 200. OMG – WONDER WOMAN!
Laura said:
Awesome!!! I can’t imagine what it’s like to swim that fast. And it’s great you’re getting the same results with less time in the pool – what a great thing to find out! At least I would LOVE that!
Jennifer Harrison said:
Ok, I tried to post and it didn’t take!…..Ok, great video, got me excited! You look great. Nice times and very excellent for January indeed! I am looking forward to our big swim meet this Sunday- I am swimming the SAME things as you: 100, 200, 500, 50 (good god) and 4 relays..or whatever the max is…..I love swim meets…but at the end of the day I am a pure triathlete swimmer and, like you, my walls are not perfect nor my flip turns…and god forbid I actually kick!
) GOOD JOB!
Molly said:
Wow! Great job! I can’t even imagine swimming that fast – you are a rock star!
Charisa said:
Awesome! And I think any kind of “fast race” hurts
Great job – congrats!
Natalie said:
Wow, those times are crazy fast! How do you do it? You are such a stud! I love your video, you look so great!!
jessithompson said:
HOLY S&*T! I come from a non-swimmers background so people that swim like you definitely impress me. Way to rock it, lady! I WISH I could swim that fast… maybe with a friggin' shark chasing after me!
Jennifer Cunnane said:
I LOVE the video, you are really a fast swimmer! How long have you been “swimming”? All the gymnastics training had to help.
GoBigGreen said:
You did great, you did get to the flags!
I am more concerned with losing my goggles on the start:)
Wine was good. Always is but no matter how little i have that sort of thing SHOULD NOT be planned for a sunday night!
Lisa G said:
Wow that is awesome! Great job on all your events! Those are some smokin’ fast times!
BreeWee said:
Count me OUTTA that race!
Nice going
Shawn and Tracy said:
You are simply amazing! Maybe when I roll through town you can teach me some tricks
Tracy
Ordinarylife said:
Wow, well done!
Angela and David Kidd said:
Love the suit. It makes you look fast and then you backed it up. Great job!
Mel said:
Way to go e and looking hot while swimming so dang fast:)…cool vid!!
miss ya xox
Shan said:
Wow, E!!! That is totally awesome! We have some local swim meets here in SD, and I usually just go watch
. Way to rip it up out there!!!
BTW, I’ll be up there soon!! May or June probably…
~Robyn~ said:
You rock!! Great times. I haven’t swam in a meet since my senior year of high school…wonder what I could do now? Not get your times! That’s for sure!!
Benson said:
Dang, you’re fast. Well done.
Wait, were you wearing fins?
Beth said:
Congrats Eileen!! Oh man…coming back for those other races after the 500… UGH!! But you did awesome!! Glad to hear you had so much fun!!
Kim said:
Wow! Those are GREAT times for this time of year! Way to go! You should be really happy you could put in a solid effort and with less swimming time overall than last year. Improvement is a wonderful thing. You go!
Haley Cooper said:
Nice job E! I’m doing MORE swimming and NOT swimming a whole lot faster. In fact, I don’t ever aspire to swim THAT fast. But I’m glad that you do it so I can live a little vicariously through you. It must be fun! Just one short month before I’m Cali bound!
Damie said:
I love that you have video!!!!! that is cool- I knew you were fast, but dang girl…you are a swimmer!
Bruce Stewart said:
It amazes me how fast you can move through the water. Everything I do is super slow. Hopefully as the weather starts to warm up I will be able to go a little faster than I have been recently. BTW, how many handstand push-ups do you do each day?