Friday, March 14, 2008

HTFU Role Model: Erik Vendt

Herbert Krabel interviewed American 1500m swimming and Olympic Medalist Erik Vendt for Slowtwitch. There were a couple great quotes from Erik in the interview on his training and recovery:

"ST: Just a short while ago you swam 14:47:59 in the 1500 m freestyle, and that is the sixth fastest time of all-time. It appears that your form is great.

Erik: I feel like I'm in the best shape of my life; I've put in more consistent training at a much higher level over a longer period of time than I've ever been able to. I've always considered myself to be one of the hardest workers in the world; it was a sense of pride for me. But lately, I've been able to reach a new level in training, a new tier, that I had previously thought impossible. Times that I could never dream of doing in practice before (in repeats, sprints, endurance based sets, etc.) are a common occurrence now. I think another reason for my body being in such great shape has been the advent of Sunday workouts. I haven't taken a day off, Sunday or otherwise, all year. And I don't plan on being out of the water for more than a day until after Beijing. "

....

"ST: Do you have much of an off-season at all, and if so, what do you do during that time?

Erik: Swimming is a year round sport. We get about a week off in August and that’s it. It's taxing, no doubt about it. But it's something I've gotten used to over the years, so it doesn’t have too much of an effect on my now. But during that week off, I do whatever it is I can't normally do. So I try to sleep in as much as possible and be as lazy as possible! "

Read the rest of the article on Slowtwitch

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