Weekly Practice Schedule

December 8th-14th, 2019

All practices will run as scheduled this week. Please CLICK HERE to visit our website, and view the MAC weekly practice schedule.

We celebrate the Season this Saturday December 14th! See Below

News:

1. You’re INVITED to the MAC Holiday Party is this Saturday 12/14 at 6:00 PM: Join us for a evening of conversations that last longer than the 15-20 seconds between sets!

The MAC holiday gathering kicks off at 6pm at Gordon Frenette’s house in downtown Milford. There will be plenty of fun, revelry, and holiday cheer. Please bring an appetizer to pass. Gordon will provide beer, wine, and soft drinks. You are welcome to bring any other drinks (alcoholic or not) of your preference. P.S. Gordon lost his coolers during the home move, and is requesting a few coolers and ice.
We will continue our annual crazy sock gift exchange so if you would like to join in, bring a wrapped pair of fun socks.

Hope to see you there!Per Milford Village Ordinance, parking only allowed on the south bound side of the street.

Please RSVP to : gordon.frenette@outlook.com

Gordon Frenette: 708 Hickory St., Milford, MI 48381.   248-539-2261

2. The annual MAC Raindeer Relay Games will be this Saturday, December 14th, from 7:30-9:30am. If you haven’t been before, you will want to come join the fun.  We split up into teams and compete for fun in a holiday themed swim meet.  There will be “fun” themed events, relays, and individual. Don’t miss it and bring your dancing suit and HOLIDAY Cheer!

3. The Dewitt swim meet was Sat. Dec. 7th.  The small but mighty MAC team included: John Cassidy, Steve Herz, Chuck Olson, Jim Izzi, Greg Banish and Brandon Marriott.
Congratulations Brandon, for winning the MAC meet attendance raffle of a $10 Lottery ticket.  At each meet this season we will have a MAC attendance drawing. You must come to a meet to get into that meet’s drawing!  Prizes will vary by meet.

4. Many thanks for all the donations to MAC gives back. The generosity of this team is fantastic.

5. The MAC team records have been uploaded to include the 2019 fall season.  Check it out at MilfordAthleticClub.org.

Swimmer of the Week:

Hong Weng

Hi, my name is Hong Weng.  I live in South Lyon and work for Siemens as a Noise and Vibration Harshness Support Engineer.  99% of my customers are men. I talk to each customer over the phone, provide technical support, and teach customers how to use our software. I love food, running, and traveling around the world.  Yes, I’m still single and there’s a reason…lol!

I have completed 43 marathons, including qualifying for and running the famous Boston Marathon in 2011. Additionally, I have completed 11 ultra marathons (from 50km up to 100km), 7 half Iron distance triathlons; 70.3 miles each, divided into 1.2 miles swimming, 56 miles biking, and 13.1 miles running. I have also completed 4 full iron distance triathlons (140.6, 2.4 miles swimming, 112 miles biking and 26.2 miles running).  I love endurance sports and always challenge myself to go further.  My body is used to running hours and hours continuously, and that’s why I love to swim the mile, 400 IM, and 500 FR events at the same meet.

Learning how to swim was a farfetched dream I never thought I could achieve.  I was born and raised in mainland China and arrived in Michigan as a 14-year-old high school freshman.  I remember gym class, the teacher told me to walk the lane line from one end of the pool to the other…short story I almost drowned.  Since that incident, I always wanted to learn how to swim, but didn’t know how to access resources that could help me.  During college, I took swimming lessons at OCC (Oakland Community College) and after few sessions I was able to manage the breaststroke kick.

Fast forward to September 2013. I was taking a hiatus from running when my friend Brian Hagan introduced me to the MAC family! He said the first three visits were free, but I was hooked after the first visit.  Learning how to read the workout acronyms on the board was very challenging. I relied on my lane mates to explain to me certain things such as F!, FR, BK, BR, FL…etc., another language in itself.  As time progressed, I learned and improved my swimming technique. Learning kicking with a board was a challenge, I was literally sweating after 25 yards! How to pull, the coaches were always telling me I’m not pulling; what?  I’m not?  I thought I had the perfect stroke…lol. Bilateral breathing was hard… I strained my neck from breathing on one side only, it was necessary to learn to breath on both sides.  Learning IM order was fun and challenging, it was beneficial to use different muscle groups with different strokes. Learning flip turns was a breakthrough for me; I felt a sense of achievement once I made the first turn 😊.  I used to hate starting off the block, bruising different parts of my body from the entry into the water.  I went to one of the clinics over the Christmas – New Year holiday, coach Dianne worked with me extensively to improve my start off the block. All the coaches have helped me to improve my swimming techniques, starting off the block, pulling, more gliding/less stroke counts, flip turns…etc.  And I love coach Maria’s Saturday workout incorporating dry land exercise!

The MAC family is a group of supportive, friendly, and welcoming people.  It is fun going to swim meets, where we cheer and support each other.  Coach Suzanne talked me into participating my first swim meet.  I was so worried, I might need to be rescued by a lifeguard; however, I survived, and the rest is history.  Open water swimming was a big fear of mine, I remember Jim Young used to organize a group swim at Trout lake every Saturday morning during the Summer.  No one was left behind, always paired with someone.  I was able to overcome my fear of open water and finished Swim to the Moon 5k & 10K races.  Learning to swim has enabled me to complete of several IRONMAN events.  I found that swimming really benefits my running, cardiovascular capacity, and relieves stress.  Swimming is fun, and I have made lifelong friendships with many people in MAC!

MAC Swimmers are the greatest advertisements of all! We love how you share your stories on social media, with friends, etc. We would like to share your stories as well. Each week we will highlight a MAC Swimmer so we can learn more about the team.

Monthly Feature Article:

Breakthrough:
Swim Outside Your Comfort Zone

By Jim Izzi
• USMS Certified Swim Coach
Levels 1, 2 & 3
• Certified Red Cross Lifeguarding/First Aid/CPR/AED
• Certified Primary Personal Trainer
• Certified Core & Functional Fitness Instructor

We are creatures of habit. As we go through our days, weeks, years, and lives, we fall into habits of comfort in repetition.  We wake up at the same time, eat the same breakfast, stop at Starbucks and order the same drink. At work we perform our tasks in the same order and our day has begun its familiar pattern.

Being such creatures of habit can also manifest itself in our swimming.  We continually swim the same practice, the same familiar stroke at the same level of intensity, not wanting to push ourselves outside our comfort zone. Also, we have a favorite stroke and event, and choose these without consideration. As a coach I see this in swimmers all the time. When presented with a choice, swimmers will choose what feels familiar. At swim meets we sign up for our familiar events, which are our most comfortable strokes and distances. We do this year after year, and want to improve, but become disappointed when we don’t see any time improvement. The key to your breakthrough is; swim outside your comfort zone!

The Premise
The breakthrough comes when…  CONTINUE READING CLICK HERE

Weekly Featured Workout:

300 (75 swim, 25 kick on Bk)

6×50 Run/swim/run with Fr arms in run and :10sec stroke wall kick in deep end (on each 50) by 50-Fr, Br, Fr, Bk, Fr, fly swim is long/low stroke counts

5×100 des 1-5 1-3,5 Fr #4 RIM

400 FR Cruise – Strong FR swim

150 FR w/paddles (1st 25 low stroke count, drop stroke per after)

2×200 IM :05 rest Strong (short rest)

4×25 kick best stroke F! @:45

300 FR w/zoomers Cruise Strong FR

2×150 IM :05 rest (short rest) Strong
By 25s – fly, Fr, Bk, Fr, Br, Fr

100 IM closed fist/Smooth by 12 1/2

100 Best Build swim

200 FR Cruise F! (hold technique)

2×100 IM :05rest (short rest) Strong

4×50 IMO of the blocks F!

3550

Warmdown

Spread The Word:

Share the fun and fitness we have created at MAC!.  We now have a flyer available on deck. It gives details about MAC and MAC Lite. Thank you for being a part of the MAC Family!  To view the flier, CLICK HERE for a printable PDF.

Upcoming Events:

Saturday, Dec. 14th, MAC Reindeer Games

Saturday, Dec. 14th, MAC Holiday Party at Gordon Frenette’s

Friday & Saturday, Dec. 27-28 MAC Clinics

Sunday, Jan. 12, 2020 – EMU Coldest Meet
Visit: MichiganMasters.com for more information

Sunday, Feb. 2nd, Brighton FAST Super Bowl Meet
Visit: MichiganMasters.com for more information

Friday-Sunday, March 27-29, Michigan State Championship Meet in Kentwood, MI.