Upon getting back from an adventurous rendezvous spent at the crown jewels centered in the middle of the mighty Pacific, I was feeling healthy like a tiger in his prime, i.e., ready for some rigorous exercise.  With three weeks of prep time Ryan and I decided to sign up for the the Boise Y Swim Team’s Thanksgiving Invitational meet.  At the time we decided to do the meet I had pretty low expectations and was just excited about swimming something besides the open water mile (which I love).  We just signed up for Saturday and my two best events from college happened to be on the agenda.  The 200 backstroke and ,gulp, the 400 IM.  The 400 IM is the event that requires the most training and due diligence for a successful race.  You’ve got to have endurance, strength, speed, a strong kick, great turns and each of these in all four stroke disciplines.  I do like to do a lot of IM training but it is much less than it used to be.  But not only do you need to do the IM training, you need to do main sets that are focused on just butterfly, or backstroke, or breaststroke.  Training for the 400 IM is much like being a triathlete, there are a lot of variables and training can get complex in a hurry.  And it is a wonderful challenge, there is always something you can work on to make improvements. 

I swam 4 and maybe 5 times a week to get ready, rarely going longer than an hour or more than 3000 yards.  My backstroke was a bit of a worry starting out the training.  I just didn’t swim it much anymore unless it was part of an IM set.  Plus, my splits were way off what they used to be.  By the end of the three weeks, however, I had found a rhythm and improved my splits, giving me confidence that I could pull off an OK swim. 
I wanted to break 2:05 in the 200 yard Backstroke and be as close to 4:20 in the 400 IM. 

Back splits:

    Name                           Age       Team                             Finals       
===============================================================================
  1 EVERETT, KEVIN R          31 BOISE Y                        2:02.73 ZONE  
       28.82  1:00.29  1:32.77  2:02.73    

                               
  2 MCCAN, TRAVIS S           18 BOISE Y                        2:02.86 ZONE  
       28.90  1:00.37  1:32.23  2:02.86                                   

I saved up too much on that 3rd 50, but as rusty as I am for doing 200’s I was real happy with this swim.  With some more speed work I think I can break 2:00 pretty easy.

The 400 IM:

    Name                               Age          Team                             Finals       
===============================================================================
1 EVERETT, KEVIN R          31 BOISE Y                        4:27.39 ZONE  
       27.62    59.55  1:34.72  2:08.60  2:48.06  3:26.93  3:58.31  4:27.39
 
2 GRIFFEL, ETHAN E          15 IFY                                 4:28.08 ZONE  
       28.41  1:01.32  1:36.08  2:09.91  2:49.27  3:30.58  3:59.87  4:28.08
 
1 MCCAN, DOUG D             14 BOISE Y                        4:28.21 ZONE  
       28.01    59.88  1:36.83  2:12.49  2:49.36  3:26.92  3:58.99  4:28.21
 
3 MCCAN, TRAVIS S           18 BOISE Y                         4:34.19 ZONE  
       28.29  1:00.99  1:37.40  2:12.48  2:52.58  3:32.34  4:04.15  4:34.19
 
4 STRATTON, RYAN E          29 BOISE Y                        4:36.05 ZONE  
       29.33  1:01.65  1:38.50  2:15.33  2:52.69  3:31.43  4:05.34  4:36.05

I was hoping to be out a couple seconds faster in the fly, part of it was a poor dive, but it was mostly due to lack of speed work.  The back split was really bad, spent too much time recovering from a 100 fly that should not have been so taxing.  And the breast split…well, it’s slow but I can’t complain there.  All in all, it went pretty well for being so early (in the training season) and the quick 3 weeks to prepare.

The 400 IM was painful but I enjoyed it and it reminded me how much fun this event can be.  I am now eager to break 2:00 in the backstorke and get into the low teens in the IM thru some smart training.  All the while, this will help speed me up when it comes time for triathlon season.  And for me, it is a fun way to train.