Conferences
Just to make this clear: currently, I am a zombie. My tea may kick in relatively soon, but all lack of coherency is due to zombiness.
Thursday night Sarah had an emotional breakdown over physics. I love my roommate, really I do, but the timing was rather inconvenient, and I felt like a bad person for trying to go to sleep instead of trying to calm her down. Anyway. Got to sleep around 12/12:30 instead of 11, as was planned. Woke up early Friday morning, decent bus ride down to F&M (though I forgot the posters, which makes me a Bad Sophomore Rep) good warmup etc. Jess let me listen to her ipod when I sat down next to her; 'Defying Gravity' from Wicked thus got stuck in my head and stayed there for much of the weekend. Twas a good thing to sing along to during my longer events. 500 free: 5.22 in the morning (7 seconds off what I've been doing much of the season); made it back for finals. Except I made it back as 9th, and the way it works is that 1-8 is finals, 9-16 is consols, and you can't move up if you're in consols. Annoying. Seeing as I won consols and beat out one of the girls in finals - with a 5.19. Anyway. Charlie (one of our assistant coaches) nicknamed me the queen of consols. yay?
also friday night - 200 free relay. split a 26 mid, which was pretty spiffy. I never ever sprint, so it was a new experience for this year, and a good time. I think our relay was 5th?
Saturday was my 200 day - I swam it in prelims in the morning, a 2.03 (going in with a 2.05). and then I made it back for consols again - 2.02.4 and swam it in the 800 free relay - 2.02.3. Only problem with the 800 free relay is counting the person in front of you and making sure that you know when you have to go. sure, it's 8 lengths, and not too hard to count to 8, but when you're screaming for the person in the water and trying not to freak out about swimming next, it's a lot to hang onto. Relay was 4th (almost on the medal stand!) but the time was spectacular.
Sunday. Well. Sue had told us that we could sleep in, so three of us girls met up for breakfast (there were strawberries! and pineapple!), and then went up to wait for the bus. WHICH NEVER CAME. Sue 'hadn't realized we'd need the bus', and so hadn't sent it. The only reason we got to the pool in time for the mile was a couple of Dickinson alums who heard us freaking out and offered us a ride. I got a 300 warmup.
To put that into perspective: for each race I swim, I generally swim at least a 1000 warmup, then some pace-work, just so I remember what it feels like to go fast, and then another 2-3 hundred of nice and easy swimming. So all in all, about 1500.
We got to the pool at 11:15. I had about enough time to squeeze into my suit-o-doom and freak out at Sue (there... may have been minor hysterics. This does not seem to be my week for keeping my cool.) and then hop in and warmup. Yes. So. a 300.
The mile is a 1650. Being generous? a 300 is less than a fifth. But I was really really angry, and had defying gravity running through my head, and... it worked out. 18.28 and change. A good time for me. (the split at the 1000 was a best time for the season) But still. I got to ream Sue out later, and she did apologize. Which is a big improvement... too often she just pretends that what went wrong didn't happen.
About 10 s longer than last year's was. But considering everything? Fine. I managed to place into the finals heat (they only ever make us swim the mile once - so all of the times are just ranked after you swim them, unlike the 500 or 200), and was up on the podium with my 7th place. Huzza.
400 free relay did really well... I can sprint (surprise surprise?) and went a 56.4, which I haven't done since Emmaus. So yay.
Swat women took 3rd overall, men took 2nd. Fantastic meet. My voice is shot, though I'm not speaking in mickey-mouse tones, so it's all good. Piles upon piles of work to do, but I have an extension on most of it. I should work on some hebrew. Meh. More tea, first.
(and I'm not just going to sleep, because in theory I'm fighting one of our jr boys later on. Hopefully this will turn out as it did last year, where he fell down a lot from alcohol + slippery floor)
Thursday night Sarah had an emotional breakdown over physics. I love my roommate, really I do, but the timing was rather inconvenient, and I felt like a bad person for trying to go to sleep instead of trying to calm her down. Anyway. Got to sleep around 12/12:30 instead of 11, as was planned. Woke up early Friday morning, decent bus ride down to F&M (though I forgot the posters, which makes me a Bad Sophomore Rep) good warmup etc. Jess let me listen to her ipod when I sat down next to her; 'Defying Gravity' from Wicked thus got stuck in my head and stayed there for much of the weekend. Twas a good thing to sing along to during my longer events. 500 free: 5.22 in the morning (7 seconds off what I've been doing much of the season); made it back for finals. Except I made it back as 9th, and the way it works is that 1-8 is finals, 9-16 is consols, and you can't move up if you're in consols. Annoying. Seeing as I won consols and beat out one of the girls in finals - with a 5.19. Anyway. Charlie (one of our assistant coaches) nicknamed me the queen of consols. yay?
also friday night - 200 free relay. split a 26 mid, which was pretty spiffy. I never ever sprint, so it was a new experience for this year, and a good time. I think our relay was 5th?
Saturday was my 200 day - I swam it in prelims in the morning, a 2.03 (going in with a 2.05). and then I made it back for consols again - 2.02.4 and swam it in the 800 free relay - 2.02.3. Only problem with the 800 free relay is counting the person in front of you and making sure that you know when you have to go. sure, it's 8 lengths, and not too hard to count to 8, but when you're screaming for the person in the water and trying not to freak out about swimming next, it's a lot to hang onto. Relay was 4th (almost on the medal stand!) but the time was spectacular.
Sunday. Well. Sue had told us that we could sleep in, so three of us girls met up for breakfast (there were strawberries! and pineapple!), and then went up to wait for the bus. WHICH NEVER CAME. Sue 'hadn't realized we'd need the bus', and so hadn't sent it. The only reason we got to the pool in time for the mile was a couple of Dickinson alums who heard us freaking out and offered us a ride. I got a 300 warmup.
To put that into perspective: for each race I swim, I generally swim at least a 1000 warmup, then some pace-work, just so I remember what it feels like to go fast, and then another 2-3 hundred of nice and easy swimming. So all in all, about 1500.
We got to the pool at 11:15. I had about enough time to squeeze into my suit-o-doom and freak out at Sue (there... may have been minor hysterics. This does not seem to be my week for keeping my cool.) and then hop in and warmup. Yes. So. a 300.
The mile is a 1650. Being generous? a 300 is less than a fifth. But I was really really angry, and had defying gravity running through my head, and... it worked out. 18.28 and change. A good time for me. (the split at the 1000 was a best time for the season) But still. I got to ream Sue out later, and she did apologize. Which is a big improvement... too often she just pretends that what went wrong didn't happen.
About 10 s longer than last year's was. But considering everything? Fine. I managed to place into the finals heat (they only ever make us swim the mile once - so all of the times are just ranked after you swim them, unlike the 500 or 200), and was up on the podium with my 7th place. Huzza.
400 free relay did really well... I can sprint (surprise surprise?) and went a 56.4, which I haven't done since Emmaus. So yay.
Swat women took 3rd overall, men took 2nd. Fantastic meet. My voice is shot, though I'm not speaking in mickey-mouse tones, so it's all good. Piles upon piles of work to do, but I have an extension on most of it. I should work on some hebrew. Meh. More tea, first.
(and I'm not just going to sleep, because in theory I'm fighting one of our jr boys later on. Hopefully this will turn out as it did last year, where he fell down a lot from alcohol + slippery floor)