Catching Up With Joe Byram
Catching Up With Joe Byram
Yogalife Studios Sponsored Athlete Joe Byram is having an awesome summer. After being named to Team Canada in April he has been training and prepping for the Pan Pacific Championships which run August 21 – 24, 2014 in Gold Coast, Australia.
Joe just got back from a trip to California a few weeks ago and here's what he passed along to us:
The trip to California was a great experience: I had the opportunity to race some of the best swimmers in the world (Michael Phelps, as one example) at the first of two meets, the Santa Clara Grand Prix, near San Jose. My times and placing in my 100m backstroke were okay, but my 200 backstroke was abysmal.
After Santa Clara we went to Mission Viejo, near Anaheim, to train for 3 days, then to race at another meet, the Fran Crippen Memorial Swim Meet of Champions. For the most part, my performances improved from Santa Clara, with the exception of the 200m back, which got even worse...I guess if I am going to swim slow, California is a pretty nice place to do so: we swam outdoors the whole time (without major sunburns!) and had the ability to bodysurf in the Pacific a few times. A rough life indeed.
These meets are what we call "in-season", when our training load is high, and our bodies and minds are tired.
I raced at Provincials here in Edmonton last weekend, but swam events I normally wouldn't. Next weekend I head to Saskatoon for Nationals as a final prep for Pan Pacifics with Team Canada in Gold Coast, Australia. Nationals will be interesting, as I will be "unshaved and untapered" while most of my competitors will be shaved and tapered, as it is their pinnacle meet of the summer. The goal is to push through any tough spots and swim the fastest I have all season.
Check out this video we made with Joe to learn more about his practice and his experience at Yogalife.
Yogalife Sponsored Athlete: Joe Byram from Yogalife Studios on Vimeo.
Thanks Joe!! Best of luck in August!