The Wild Week That Was & A Look Ahead.

THE WEEK IN REVIEW

Step 1 Start with a day off from school, add in a snow day with a postponed meet and a  day off from practice.

Step 2 Mix in a meet on the road at one of the top teams in the state and a few kids down with colds and flu.

Step 3 Finish it off with a little bleaching solution (Dale Eizenga could give you the exact chemical compounds and reactions) and all of the heightened senses  that go with it.

The result is one wild week. 

Thank you all for your help, communication, and encouragement.

With the conference meet just over three weeks away, guys need to stay focused on what we have to accomplish. I found the "article" below last season, and I think it has some useful hints about how an athlete's body should and shouldn't feel at this time of year. 

    

Fatigue: KNOW THYSELF  Goldsmith, Wayne

Feeling fatigued after training is normal, but excessive and constant fatigue is not. How do you know how much training you should do? How do you know when your body and mind are tired and need time to rest and recover? The answer can be found by evaluating several fatigue factors that, if monitored regularly, can help you stay healthy and train optimally.

There are some factors that are relatively simple to measure and can be excellent indicators of your level of fatigue:

* SLEEP. What is your quality of sleep? Do you fall asleep easily and wake up feeling refreshed, or do you toss and turn and wake up feeling even more tired than the day before? Swimmers who train hard sleep well. Swimmers who are in a state of excessive fatigue will often complain that they have difficulty falling and staying asleep.

* MUSCLE SORENESS. Do your muscles feel tired after training, or are they sore and aching for two to three days after a hard session? It is normal for muscles to be tired, but it's not normal for muscles to be sore, aching and tight for more than 24 hours.

* RESTING HEART RATE. As you become more fit, your resting heart rate gets lower. If your heart rate is elevated by 10 to 15 beats per minute for two to three consecutive days, it may be a sign that your body is not adapting to training (and life stresses).

* STRESS. Swimmers are people who-just like other people-are susceptible to all the stresses and strains of life. There is a strong relationship between life stress and fatigue levels.

* RECOVERY TECHNIQUES. There are several things you can do to help you deal with fatigue, such as eating well, re hydrating, getting plenty of quality sleep, having a massage or doing some non-weight-bearing cross training (e.g., mountain biking).

MEET SPLITS from Thursday's meet against EGR - This was one of those meets where the sense that I got as a coach in the midst of the meet - that we were lackluster and lethargic - did not play it self out that way as dramatically when looking at the final split sheet. Though we were off in a number of areas, we still had 13 Best Performances in this meet including some extremely nice 4 plus second drops by Seth VanAst and Jacob Bol in the 100 and great swims by all of our backstrokers (Parker, Levi, jacob, and Brandon).

Current Top Times - As you look at these remember that your first 50 of your 100 should be about 1 second slower than your best 50. One of the biggest mental hurdle to overcome is the fear of going out too fast. You have to go out fast in order to make those goal times.


THE WEEK AHEAD
This Week's Practice & Meet Notes and Special Events
Reminder: Times on the calendar for meets are the times that the athletes must be on deck or that the bus will be departing from the Aquatic Center.

• • Tuesday, Jan. 29th We have a home meet vs Holland. Athletes should be on deck by 5:15. Meet starts at 6:30.
  • Thursday, Jan. 31st We have an Away Meet @ Zeeland (Make up from the snow day) - Athletes should be on deck at the Zeeland West HS Pool by 5:20 (Northwest side of Zeeland West HS).
  • Friday, Feb 1 - Pizza and A Movie. This will either be at Coach's house or at the Koopman's. Athletes will get to the gathering via their normal practice carpool and parents should plan on being picked up around 9:15.

Further On Up the Road 
As we plan ahead just a few short weeks, we have to start looking at our Conference Championship Meet at Zeeland High School February 21-23.
Below is a schedule for that meet. 


Thursday, February 21: Diving Prelims
Diving warm-ups - 3:00pm
Stands Open - 3:30pm
Diving Preliminaries and Semi-Finals - 5:00pm

Friday, February 22nd : Swimming Prelims
Swimming warm-ups - 3:00pm
Stands Open - 3:30pm
Swimming Preliminaries and Semi-Finals - 5:00pm

Saturday, February 23rd : Swimming & Diving Finals
Warm-ups Begin - 10:00am
Stands Open - 10:30am
FINALS BEGIN (Swimming & Diving) - 12:00pm

As we get nearer to that meet I will be communicating specifics about training and the role of the parent in that training, special "gear" needed, possible changes in practice finish times, special meals (pasta meal) and other information to help our team finish with the best meet possible.