The past few months have been busy at Golden Corral while I have been rebuilding my training following eight weeks of dealing with a stubborn upper respiratory infection. It is now crunch time as I continue to try to qualify for the Olympic Trials. The Olympic Trials time standard must be met no later than June 20. Fortunately, there are several meets this spring that I am registered for and where I can qualify. I am excited to take advantage of these opportunities. My next long course meet is next weekend on April 2 at the Speedo Senior Sectional zone meet in Richmond, VA. Although this meet is out of our zone for North Carolina, I received permission to compete as an out-of-zone athlete, which means that I am only permitted to swim in prelims. Luckily, this pool is incredibly fast as it was used for the 2008 Olympic Trials!
I continue to tweak my training and find ways to adjust to generate the extra speed and power that I need. Our Raleigh Area Masters Swimming coaches, Jonathan, Sue and Steve have added additional sprint training to our RAM practices. Additionally, Coach Paul Silver is focusing me on "punching" my stroke up front. In order to simulate this in our strength training sessions, my trainers Wade Harris and Derek Armah implemented boxing and resistance movements for strength in the front of my stroke.
Recovery during my training is even more critical at age 44 si I can get the most out of both my strength training and time in the pool. I'm excited to implement a new recovery system with CryoNC, which is a 3-minute nitrogen vapor cold therapy designed to reduce inflammation that takes the place of ice baths! In between long course meets, North Carolina is hosting this year's U.S. Masters Swimming spring short course yards national championships in April located in Greensboro. More updates to follow on my progress.
3-minute cryotherapy session