As all of you should know by now, the swim is my limiter. Well on the request of Mistress I did not make today a brick to see how well my swim would improve. Well it improved. I felt much more comfortable in the water and of all the drills tonight, the big drill was a 500 meter straight. And even though I was dead last in my group, I did it. No stopping, straight swimming. No cramping, no survival stroke mid pool to catch to my breath. It felt really good.
I capped off the practice with a timed 100 meter when I was very tired. I did not have any expectations and pulled it in 2:55. I have no idea how good/bad that is in the whole scheme of things but I have got to believe I can improve that by 25% over the next 470 days (thats the days left before IMFL before taper).
I capped off the practice with a timed 100 meter when I was very tired. I did not have any expectations and pulled it in 2:55. I have no idea how good/bad that is in the whole scheme of things but I have got to believe I can improve that by 25% over the next 470 days (thats the days left before IMFL before taper).
7 comments:
Sounds like a great workout. I love your blog, read it every week.
Real quick, not sure what your swim experience is, but you might want to check out the total immersion technique. I started tri's this year and was worried about the swim (had not taken a lesson since I was in 4th grade... and I was the only one in that class who flunked). I had no idea how to properly front crawl. I was very, VERY scared.
Anyways, I bought a TI DVD and practiced the drills over the winter. I entered my first tri two weeks ago and the swim was my best event (I place 181 out of almost 600)! I could not believe it.
Anyways, just a thought. Plowing through the water with countless laps will build your endurance, but becoming more efficient in the water is easier.
Good Luck!
George
You'll get the swim. Just keep focused on learning to breathe. You probably do already, but (just a sec got to go wipe BNB's bottom-ok overshare-bet you can't wait til mighty mo potty trains) try really focusing on breathing out underwater so you can breathe in on your breath. It's like a 2-4 weight lift count. This might help, I noticed I held my breath alot without knowing it, when I learned to relax my breathing is when my endurance shot up exponetially. Just a thought to try.
Wow, now I think that might be just what I need to do with the breathing. Thanks, Tri-mama!
Com, I'm with you on the swim - but we'll get there!
like anything else, it's all about the time you put into it. mrs. commodore -- she's the stud pac-10 swimmer, right? -- is great in the water because she put in four hours a day for 10 years or so.
technique and lessons will only go so far. in the end, it's all about time spent in the water.
Are you guys reading my mind again, or what? I get it, I get it...more time in the water!
Sheesh...
Maybe I misspoke when I said pounding out the laps is harder than becoming more efficient? Kahuna, I agree with you 100% when you say time in water is the most important. However, for a beginner like me, it has paid to spend my time in the pool focusing on technique rather than just hammering out laps in hopes of getting better.
Let me try to clarify. I went from taking about 11 to 12 strokes getting across our indoor pool to 6 in a few short months. That is a TON of energy saved. My first tri I swam .5 in open water with 100’s at a 2:12 pace (slow for many of you, but for someone who had not swam a lap in a pool since he was 8 years old, well let’s just say it far exceeded my expectations). I went from being very uncomfortable in the water to doing my first tri and finding the swim to be the most enjoyable part of the race.
Like I said, I am a total newbie, so my training focus is probably completely different than most of the veterans here that blog. Thanks for listening. I love all your blogs and learn a ton from all of you.
Well done on the swim! I think you'll still beat me out of the water at IMFL, *if* I do IMFL, that is. I'm thinking now that I need to get in a regular weekly or biweekly master's swim group, just to push me on my swimming on a regular basis, and get that consistency established that I clearly lack now. Doing it on my own - even with the TI books - has only gotten me so far.
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