Christmas Town

My Geekiness on Display

Quick Tip - Eating Healthy

If you want to eat healthy, never go to the grocery store hungry or you risk leaving with a cart full of soda, cookies and chips. Trust me, I know this from experience.

If you absolutely must go shopping on an empty stomach, make sure you take a detailed list along to keep you focused and no, you don't need anything at the checkout except maybe a gossip mag or two.

If you have any questions please ask in the comment section below and remember this is only an opinion. When making any changes to your diet you are doing so at your own risk and should have prior approval from your physician!

7 Habits of Highly Effective Athletes

1)  Perfect Practice Makes Perfect - Gregg Troy, my college swim coach from the University of Florida, said "perfect practice makes perfect" what felt like at least a dozen times every single workout. At first, I brushed it off as just another catch phrase from the ole swim coach but at some point I began to read between the lines … if you just go through the motions at practice everyday then you will just go through the motions at the big show. Do everything as perfectly as you can day in and day out and you will be at the top of your game come time to compete. It’s that simple.

2)  Keep it Simple - Don't make things more complicated than they are. Most of what we deal with in life, including sports, is actually fairly simple if you slow down or, better yet, stop and think about it.

3)  Find Balance - Too much of one thing can make anyone go crazy. Finding the right balance between your sport, family, friends, pets, social activities and hobbies is crucial to your sanity and ultimately your success.

4)  Don’t be Afraid to Fail - Yep, that's right, I said it … FAIL. Go ahead, I dare you! If you’ve never failed, until you do, you won't succeed. Hate to say it, but it's the truth … it even makes me cringe to write it! - "Those who have no problems never eventuate to accomplish anything, Those who face the most challenges often create the most value."

5)  Remember You Goals - Write down questions your goals are answers to and post them where you can see them. Having goals is one thing, but forcing yourself to recall them from memory regularly and putting them where you can see them every single day, several times a day, will engrave them in your mind … think of it as mental muscle memory.

6)  Ask Questions - just like in school, in athletics there are no dumb questions. Ask coaches, mentors, role models, older athletes, etc. anything you want to know: knowledge is power.

7)  Have Confidence – Last but not least, what are we without confidence? Not a whole lot. It’s the foundation of everything we are and everything we will become so BELIEVE in yourself and have confidence but don’t go searching for it, it only comes from within.

-By guest blogger Caroline Stilwell Burckle

My Christmas Tree

Blaise and I Decorating

Beginner Workout

Warm-Up

• 200 swim

• 100 kick

• 100 pull

Work-out

4x:

• 1x25 (15 yd. fast/10 yd. easy) :40

• 1x25 (10 yd. easy/15 yd. fast) :40

• 1x25 easy :40

• 1x25 fast :40

1x:

• 100 easy

2x:

• 4x75 (descend 1-4) 1:30

1x:

• 100 easy

1x:

• 2x100 i.m. (work on perfect strokes) 2:00

Warm-Down

• 200 Easy

Total: 2,000 yd.

Dry Workout

BEFORE YOU JUMP IN THE POOL:

4x:

• 20 crunches

• 10 burpees

3x:

• 10 squat-jumps

• 1 min. elbow (prone) bridge

3x:

• 20 sit-ups

• 10 v sit-ups

• 4 push-ups

1x:

• 100 choice sit-ups

If you have any questions please ask in the comment section below and remember this is only an opinion. If you attempt to follow it you are doing so at your own risk and should have prior approval from your physician!

2011 Winter National Championship Times

200 Breaststroke Final

2:24.46 (2nd)

200 Breaststroke Prelim

2:27.24

100 Breaststroke Final

1:08.31 (5th)

100 Breaststroke Prelim

1:08.51

Advanced Workout

WARM-UP

• 400 swim

• 300 kick

• 200 pull

• 100 swim

WORKOUT

4x:

• 150 kick (2nd 50 fast) 3:00

• 100 kick (1st and 4th 25 fast) 2:00

• 50 kick (all fast) 1:00

6x:

• 25 breast fast :30

• 50 free easy :50

• 75 breast fast 1:15

• 100 free easy 1:40

1x:

• 20x25 (1easy/1 no breath) :35

WARM-DOWN

400 easy

TOTAL: 4,600 yd.

If you have any questions please ask in the comment section below and remember this is only an opinion. If you attempt to follow it you are doing so at your own risk and should have prior approval from your physician!

Nationals

Leone Vorster, Maggie Meyer, Amanda Beard, Annie Chandler

I'm at Winter Nationals in Atlanta, GA this weekend so the blog will be updated with pictures but not much else until Sunday when I get home. Thanks for understanding and be sure to watch me race the 100 Breast Friday and 200 Breast Saturday via live webcast!

Intermediate Workout

WARM-UP

• 400 swim

• 4x100 i.m. 1:45

• 4x50 kick 1:00

WORKOUT

• 4x200 (100 swim/100 kick) descend 1-4 4:00

• 4x100 (50 swim/50 kick) descend 1-4 2:00

• 4x50 (25 swim/25 kick) descend 1-4 1:00

• 100 easy

• 4x100 pull no intervals (try to breath only 3 times per lap)

WARM-DOWN

• 200 easy

TOTAL: 3,100 yd.

If you have any questions please ask in the comment section below and remember this is only an opinion. If you attempt to follow it you are doing so at your own risk and should have prior approval from your physician!

5 Things I Love on a Lazy Sunday

1)  Influence by Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen - Okay, so I've been given many amazing birthday gifts but one I have yet to grow out of is the book Influence. Yes, if you only look at the cover, it can be mistaken for a silly little girl book filled with frou-frou pictures from Mary Kate and Ashley’s childhood but turn a few pages and you’ll realize they’re now an extremely bright minded dynamic twenty-something entrepreneurial duo. The book is an amazing collection of pictures and interviews of people who have inspired them in their design/fashion/personal life, from Diane von Fürstenberg to Alexander McQueen, and proof the girls lead an eclectic life. Mary Kate and Ashley's passions are nothing short of contagious. What I take from it: they never do what is expected. They do and create what they love, stay out of the crazy limelight and don't let what others think dictate who they are and what they love.

2)  houzz.com is a website my Aunt Wendy (an interior design genius) forwarded to me recently. I just bought a house in my hometown of Louisville, KY, and let's just say that this website has seen consecutive hours of usage by lil' ol' me. The site allows you to put together digital idea books from beautiful and amazing homes all over the world (I'm obsessed with Mediterranean style homes) in any way you want; by color, room, theme, location, etc. What I take from it: it's ADDICTING!

3)  weheartit.com is a site filled with fun photography/creative photos for any age ( it caters more to adolescent girls, but hey, to each their own). I often save my favorites and use them for fun backgrounds on my phone, computer, and iPad.

4)  Twilight: Breaking Dawn Soundtrack - Don't knock it till you try it. - ps #TeamJacob.

5)  Two Moms in the Raw make bars you can get from most any health food store (or sold individually at Starbucks now)! They’re healthy, delicious, ADDICTING, and the perfect fiber-filled, good-fat snack to sustain energy that you need throughout your Sunday!

Sunday Quote: "I am who I am, that is that. I am who I am thank God, I am". - Guru Singh

-By guest blogger Caroline Stilwell Burckle

If you have any questions please ask in the comment section below and remember this is only an opinion. When making any changes to your diet you are doing so at your own risk and should have prior approval from your physician!

Christmas Trucker

Blaise