An Exciting Spring Ahead...Lots of Racing!

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

Off to Seattle for USA-S Winter Nationals!

Since returning to work at Golden Corral following my six-month sabbatical or as Coach Silver calls it...my "swimternity leave,"the time has flown by.  It is hard to believe that Thanksgiving is over and Christmas is just around the corner!  My Golden Corral family really made me feel appreciated when I returned to the office in August.  I immediately fell back into a routine, including final preparations for our annual convention, executive compensation planning, and initiating several different recruitment strategies.  The time I spent away from the office focusing on training was invaluable because I am still benefitting from intense strength training and the increased focus on my technique that was made possible because of the time off. 

During the Olympic year, we are fortunate that many meet organizers offer long course meets in the winter so that swimmers have more opportunities to qualify for Trials.  In non-Olympic years, winter meets are short course yards races and those times do not count for the Trials cuts. 

Earlier this month, Eric and I traveled to the University of Minnesota to race in the Arena Pro Series meet.  It had been over three months since I had a long course meet and I was anxious to see where I was in my training.  After three attempts in the 50 free, I was happy to get my time back down to 26.58 in a time trial.   It was a great experience.   In addition to having a good meet, we also got to watch Michael Phelps, Missy Franklin, Simone Manuel, Ryan Lochte, and Katie Ledecky race.   

I have worked hard keeping up my training schedule.  Istrength train 3 days a week and swim 4-5 times per week before and after work.  I try to get in 1-2 sprint resistance workouts each week to keep my speed work tuned up.  The most challenging part of my training is consistently eating healthy meals at lunch.  I have also found several great protein bars for snacks in the mornings and afternoons before practice.  Planning ahead is definitely the key to eating better while working full-time.   

On Sunday, Eric and I leave for Seattle to attend USA-S Winter Nationals in nearby Federal Way.  We are taking a few extra days to visit and explore the area and enjoy the incredible seafood.  As the clock starts to wind down on the opportunity to qualify for the Trials, many swimmers will be at the meet chasing their Trials cuts!  At this meet, I will focus on lengthening out my stroke and "swimming bigger" up front in my race as opposed to my fast turnover rate.  Another great opportunity to work on shaving more time off my in 50 free in pursuit of that 26.19! 

Taking an extra big breath before my no-breather 50 free in MN

The Journey Continues...Chasing 26.19

For the last official long course meet of the summer season, we headed to Geneva, OH, located on Lake Erie for the U.S. Masters Nationals Long Course Championship.  The Spire Institute provided a beautiful facility including a fast and deep Myrtha pool.  Although only a small group from North Carolina made the journey, we had a great time participating on relays with our teammates from all of North Carolina.  We even took home 4th place overall in the meet as a regional team with our small team presence.  

Although our NC women were aiming for two additional relay world records, we were faced with some struggles and missed both records.  Among the group, we had strained backs, bronchitis and asthma attacks.  Nevertheless, we persevered and were national champions in both our 200 Free and 200 Medley Relays.  It is always fun swimming together and cheering each other on.   

I swam the 50 free three times during the meet, including the individual race, relay lead off, and official 50 split in the 100 free (26.71, 26.53, and 26.59). Although I did not hit the Olympic Trials qualifying time of 26.19, I was encouraged with my progress this summer and excited to drop a little more time at this meet.  I am now only .34 hundredths of a second away!  

In addition to lowering my 50 free time a bit, I swam lifetime best times in the 100 back (1:08.81) and 50 back (31.38).  The 50 back time was also a new national record.  My 50 and 100 fly times were near best times with 28.41 and 1:05.75.  Masters Nationals is always so much fun because we compete as a state, rather than our local team.  We also get to meet and compete against swimmers from all over the country.  It's so motivating to talk with other swimmers about what brought them back to the sport.  The level of competition is always great, even in the 90+ age groups!    

I returned to work with past week at Golden Corral.  I'm so grateful that Golden Corral gave me the opportunity to train over the last six months.  I will continue the journey and look forward to working with my coaches and trainers into the fall and winter.  The qualifying period for the Olympic Trials continues through June 2016.  There are several long course meets this winter and spring going into the Olympic year, so I will continue to chase that 26.19!      

Race Video:  Women's 200 Free Relay - 26.53 Lead Off Split

North Carolina women representing at Masters Nationals!

Three 50's in Chapel Hill

I am heading to my final long course meet this summer at U.S. Masters Nationals in Geneva, Ohio. Knowing I had Masters Nationals approaching, I decided to swim only the 50 free this past weekend in Chapel Hill.   I am familiar with the pool and it required no travel.  The meet was set up as prelims and finals, along with time trials.  It was an age group meet including 12 and under so I really stood out at 43.  During the race video at the end of this post, you can hear the announcer joking about our age difference.

I raced the 50 free three times on Saturday (prelims, finals and a late night time trial). The fastest of my three attempts was in the finals session with a time of 26.71.  Although this was a little slower than last weekend's time in Greensboro (26.57), it was good experience heading into this weekend  at Masters Nationals.  Since the meet was local, I had some friends from Golden Corral come to cheer me on.  They included Robin Lowe, Sue Carpenter and her husband, David, in addition to my mom and dad and Eric.

This week I focused on speed work, technique and continued rest to extend my taper.  Eric and I fly out to Cleveland tomorrow morning.  Although I've never been to this pool, I've heard it is an incredible, state-of-the-art indoor facility called the Spire Institute.  My individual events include the 50 and 100 fly, 50 and 100 back, and 50 and 100 free.  Our NC women are hoping to take down a few more relay world records, but we need to overcome a few injuries.  We bought these cute hot pink NC tank tops for our relay...North Carolina Strong!  

50 Free Race Video - 26.71 (Lane 4 - Blue Cap)

                                  NC Women tank top for U.S. Masters Nationals

Shaving Off More Time in Greensboro!

This past weekend, we headed from Raleigh to a very familiar pool in Greensboro for NC Sr. Champs with my MOR teammates.  With my taper just starting, I was anxious to race after backing off of weights and training.  The primary focus for this weekend was my 50 free.  During Saturday's prelims, I dropped a little over .3 seconds with a 26.57.  This was my fastest time in three years and just .38 of a second from the current Olympic Trials cut of 26.19.  For context, I swam 26.60 when I first qualified for the Olympic Trials at age 16 in 1988 and 26.32 when I qualified again in 2012. So, I still have some work to do!  

I finished finals later than night 3rd overall and was very consistent with 26.59.  During both races, my finish was not quite on as I finished too short in the morning and then too long at night. Definitely room for improvement there to hopefully drop more time during my next race.  It was a fun finals swim at night as several NC State girls I know were also in the final heat in addition to my fellow Masters swimmer, Kerry Lindauer (age 40).  

In the coming weeks, I will continue to work on my stroke rate and increase my efficiency.  The idea is to slow my rate down while increasing the power of my stroke. I've made some improvement, but need to focus on this more in practice so that it becomes second nature in races.  

To top off the weekend, my sister and brother-in-law made the trip from Suffolk, VA to see me swim.  We also celebrated Jimmy's birthday together, making the trip even more special!   

This weekend I plan to race just the 50 free at Tarheel States at the UNC pool in Chapel Hill on Saturday, Aug. 1. It's a great pool that I'm very familiar with and just down the road from Raleigh.   

50 Free Race Video - 26.57 (Lane 5 - Blue Cap)

Celebrating my brother-in-law, Jimmy's birthday!

Fun Times in Athens!

This past weekend, Eric and I headed to UGA along with my MOR teammates to compete in Sr. Sectionals in Athens.  It was a competitive meet with several collegiate teams and Olympians participating including Ryan Lochte.  The 50 free was held on the first day of the meet and I swam 26.87 to make the C finals at night, which tied my fastest time this year.  Although I was disappointed to swim slower that night at 27.22, I planned to time trial the event a few more times throughout the meet to make some adjustments to my race.  

The following day, I participated in a time trial after the prelims session.  I stuck with my no breather race, but made some adjustments to my breakout in the start.  Additionally, I focused on "swimming bigger" to reduce my stroke rate slightly in order to sustain my speed at the finish.  My third attempt resulted in a time of 26.92.  

On Saturday morning, I swam the 100 fly.  I focused on taking the race out more controlled so that I could finish strong.  It worked and and I went a lifetime best time of 1:04.99.  I was encouraged now because I could see that my hard work was starting to pay off!  Following finals that night, I swam another 50 free time trial.  I really wanted to focus on my "swimming bigger" technique and not worry about the time.  Although I need to refine this new technique, my fourth attempt resulted in my fastest time of the weekend with 26.84.  

My final race in Athens before heading back home to Raleigh was 100 free.  Again, I wanted to take the race out more controlled and Coach Silver suggested that I breathe every third stroke the entire race in order to finish strong.  I went a 59.10, which was my fastest 100 free in several years and was further evidence that my training was starting to kick in.    

While we were in Athens, we also had the opportunity to see my former UGA swim team member and dear friend, Caroline.  Her son, Josh, also participated in the meet and we got to cheer for him during his races.  He is hoping to follow in his mother's example and swim for a top-tier college program. Eric and I also had lunch at Rafferty's, where we first met in 1993.  

Overall, I was encouraged with my progress after the meet.  Now, I am looking forward to building on this momentum with some rest and a strategic taper heading into Greensboro next week for Sr. Champs, followed by Tarheel States in Chapel Hill and then Cleveland in early August!  

Long-time UGA swimmer buds Caroline Horne and Erika

Ready for Fast Swimming in July!

Strength training four days a week, combined with lots of pool time was starting to wear me down as we headed to Sarasota for the Bumpy Jones meet last month, but I knew that this would pay off later in the season.  

Despite our record-breaking Masters relay performances with my NC Masters teammates, my body was tired and sore. The fatigue was apparent in Sarasota with my 27.46 in the 50 free, but I know that it is all just part of the process.

Four days after returning from Sarasota, Eric and I left for Houston with my MOR teammates to compete in the Woodlands Texas Senior Meet.  I hoped to drop my 50 free time, but knew it would be tough with so little time to rest and more travel.  

During prelims in Houston, I swam a bit faster than the prior weekend with a 27.38.  I continued to tweak my breathing pattern and decided to take one breath during prelims like I had done in my last couple of races.  While doing so, the coaches noticed my tempo slowed going into and coming out of taking the breath. The resulting inefficiency can be critical in races where hundredths of second count.  Although I was anxious about it, I decided not to breathe in finals.  It seemed to work since I finished in third place overall with a 27.20.  This race gave me confidence to return to my no breather 50, which I had used in the past.  I have swum several 50 free sprints in practice with no breath since then with good results.  After Houston, I was looking forward to getting back into my routine and catching up on my rest.

In addition to being able to train more, an added benefit of taking 6 months off from work is the ability to participate in more community activities.  On June 28 I participated in a fantastic swim clinic.  As most of you know, we recently lost our dear friend and fellow swimmer, Brian Goldman, to colon cancer.  In support of his Mudpuppies swim team and to support the continuing fight against cancer, a Swim Across America fundraiser and swim clinic was held to honor Brian.  I volunteered for the clinic along with Olympian Sue Walsh; UNC Swimming Head Coach Rich DeSelm; Duke Head Coach Dan Colella; NCSU Coach Gary Taylor; Olympian Charlie Houchin and open water champion Ashely Twichell.  We had so much fun with the kids and enjoyed sharing our knowledge with these young athletes.  

To view a news report about the event, click here.  If you are interested in making a donation to Swim Across America in honor of Brian, you may do so here.  

As part of our Raleigh Area Masters partnership with the City of Raleigh, our team volunteers to help with City swim meets.  Most of the swimmers are just starting in the sport and it is great to see their excitement.  My favorite is watching the 6 and under kids swimming to the 15-yard rope.  Most are very anxious and stop several times to grab onto the lane line, but the joy on their faces is priceless once they reach the finish line.  The parents are so incredibly supportive with their cheers of encouragement while taking pictures and video on their cell phones.  

Back to training.  Since taking off from work in February, my first training goal was to establish a strong base of strength and endurance with lots of time in the pool and weight training.  After four months of hard training, my focus is now on sprint and speed work.  This includes short resistance training with chutes, fast bursts of speed work, 25 and 50 sprints, and sprints with tubing. Recovery and fine-tuning technique are now key heading into a long stretch of meets in July and August.  

Eric and I head to our alma mater, The University of Georgia for Senior Sectionals next week on July 8 along with MOR.  This meet will be a prelim/final format and includes amazing competition from the southeast.  Two weeks later, we head to Greensboro for Senior Champs.  I’ll also race just the 50 free at Tar Heel States at UNC the following weekend before heading to Ohio for Masters Summer Nationals the first week of August.  The next month will be a whirlwind of meets and travel, but I’m excited to see how my hard work pays off.  

Have a wonderful and safe 4th of July!    

Pictured here with Swim Across America clinic participants. 

Fun in Sarasota and New World Records!

Masters Swimming allows us to return to the sport we enjoyed in our youth.  Eric and I, along with many of my Masters teammates travel all over the country enjoying the camaraderie of our fellow Masters swimmers who make up over 60,000 swimmers as part of U.S. Masters Swimming.  Upon returning to competition as a Masters swimmer, most of us find that our competitive spirit never died!  This competitive fire led me and and three fellow NC Masters teammates (Jen Stringer, Kerry Lindauer and Alicia Uhl) to get together in an attempt to break five FINA Masters relay world records in Sarasota in the 160-199 combined age group.  An interesting fact that we learned about our relay is that all four of us are only children.     

We headed to the Bumpy Jones Classic in Sarasota last Thursday.  Shortly after checking into our hotel, we quickly learned that this was the hot spot in Sarasota as the locals enjoyed the Tiki Bar and live music around the pool.  Lucky for us, our room was just a few steps away from the action!  In true Florida fashion, the weather was incredibly hot and steamy.  After warming up under the summer sun on Friday evening to prepare for our 800 free relay, a siren went off indicating that lightening was in the area.  Unfortunately, the Friday evening session was canceled due to storms and so the 800 free relay had to be rescheduled to early Sunday morning.  Since the four of us are all sprinters, we desperately wanted to have the longer relay behind us.  

By Saturday morning the stormy weather was gone and the hot Florida sun was starting to heat up. The first relay on Saturday was the 200 free relay.  We knew this was going to be a tough record to break and that we all needed quick starts.  Although we missed breaking the record by just .89 hundredths of a second, we swam fast and felt like we were positioned to take down the other records in our sights.  Our next relay was the 400 medley at the end of the Saturday session.  I led off backstroke, Kerry Lindauer on breaststroke, Alice Uhl on fly and Jen Stringer as our freestyle anchor.  Although I loved being outdoors and enjoy the sun, it is not your friend when doing backstroke because you are looking straight into the sun and it is disorienting.  As a result, I banged into the lane line several times during my swim.  By the end of my leg, I was happy to have Kerry to take over on breaststroke.  This time we succeeded!  When Jen hit the wall, we had broken the world record by over 5 seconds!

After a quick breakfast, we headed to the pool early on Sunday morning for a quick 30-minute warm up to get ready for the rescheduled 800 free relay.  As sprinters, we were all feeling a bit anxious about swimming 200 meters each.  I had convinced them it would be worth the extra pain at the chance to get a new record.  The Sarasota Masters created a fun environment during the meet playing upbeat music during the sessions.  Fellow Masters swimmer, Steve Robling and his wife, Melanie, led a coordinated dance to the music on the deck with pom poms to cheer us on along with Kerry's daughter, Sophia, Jen's husband, Sean, and my husband, Eric.  This made us all forget the pain of getting ready to swim an 800 free relay.  By the time Kerry hit the wall as our anchor, we had smashed the previous world record by 14 seconds!  

Next up was the 200 medley relay.  We each swam the same strokes as in our 400 medley relay the day before and we knew that this was going to be the toughest record yet.  We knew we had to have aggressive exchanges and great swims in order to break this particular record.  Unfortunately,  missed it by only .09 hundredths of a second.  

Our last relay was the 400 free.  This relay started just 10 minutes after we all had just competed individually in the 50 free.  Although we were still breathing hard, we were ready to tackle our fifth relay.  We were next to the Sarasota men's relay and they really pushed us during the race. Kerry anchored the relay again and touched first ahead of the Sarasota men.  And with her strong finish, we celebrated breaking our 3rd relay world record by 11 seconds.  

It was an incredible weekend shared with these amazing women.  We had so much fun and are so appreciative of the outpouring of support from our friends, family and the swimming community. A special thanks to Eric and Sean for capturing the weekend on film.  

Next up for me is focusing on dropping more time in my 50 free.  Eric and I leave this Thursday for a USA-S meet in Houston with Coach Silver's Marlins of Raleigh.  This meet will be a prelim/final format....and it will be indoors.  

Below are two articles published about this past weekend's meet.     

SwimSwam Magazine Article

Swimming World Magazine Article

Our group hug says it all!  (photo captured by Eric Braun)

Sarasota Bound for Bumpy Jones Classic!

After several weeks of hard training, the next few days will be about resting and tuning up for the Bumpy Jones Classic long course meet in Sarasota, Florida.  I am looking forward to competing with my fellow North Carolina Masters Swimming teammates!  In addition to enjoying the Florida sunshine at this fast outdoor pool, our NC women are attempting five FINA Masters World relay records during the three-day meet including the 200, 400 and 800 free relays and 200 and 400 medley relays in the 160-199 age group.  Masters relay age groups are a combination of the four swimmers' ages.

We are grateful to the meet director for arranging for the meet to be USA Swimming observed. This means that our times will count for both FINA Masters Swimming and USA Swimming.  In addition to our relays, I am swimming the 50 free, 50 fly and 100 fly.  This meet will be a great opportunity to gauge my training progress toward qualifying for the 2016 Olympic Trials since my last race in Chapel Hill four weeks ago.  In addition to cutting back a bit in the pool this coming week, I have several sessions scheduled with The Sport of Massage to prep my body for racing.   

Below are the current relay world records that Jen Stringer, Kerry Lindauer, Alicia Uhl and I will be chasing this weekend.  I will be sure to post updates and pictures from this fun weekend!

FINA Masters current long course meters world records

Training Hard & A Special Weekend!

What a week!  I started a new training technique to enhance my power and speed. Derek Armah, who works with Wade Harris at Raleigh Personal Training, introduced me to the Vertimax Raptor.  It is a resistance-based machine used by track, basketball and football players to increase quickness, agility and endurance.  

Exercises with the Vertimax include vertical jumps, broad jumps, box jumps and lunges.  We also use it to simulate swim strokes and kicks for added resistance. It is an amazing workout over the course of an hour! We decided to add an extra workout and go to 4 per week (2 Vertimax sessions and 2 strength training sessions).  

On Thursday, Eric and I headed to The University of Virginia for the weekend to attend my nephew’s graduation.  We were so excited to be part of the celebration and proud of his accomplishment!  We were fortunate to have beautiful weather and enjoyed some amazing meals with family and friends.  Thanks to Coach Silver's connection with UVA Head Coach Augie Bush, I was able to practice at the UVA pool on Friday morning.  Although most of the UVA team was competing in Charlotte last weekend at the Arena Pro Series meet, Assistant Coach Cory Chitwood trained me along with another UVA swimmer.  Coach Chitwood provided a couple of good pointers on my start, so I was glad I made the time to get a swim in during the trip.

In addition to the graduation festivities, a few other happenings made the weekend special.  My Mom’s birthday was on Friday and Eric and I celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary on Saturday.  We even found time to cheer on American Pharoah to victory in the Preakness.   Can’t wait to see if he will become the first horse since 1978 to win the Triple Crown!  

Brooks's UVA Graduation Weekend - May 2015    Eric Braun, Macy Mears, Brooks Mears, and Erika Braun