Saturday Swim

Now that tax season is over, I don't rush to the office to see clients. Now, I have breakfast with some of the team, go home and do a ride. I need to remember to right down what did that morning. On Saturday, Leah coached us. She likes to do more distance and drills. I can't really remember what we did...sorry.

Saturday Swim Meet

Last Saturday, we had a swim meet and like the previous swim meet, I chose to compete in three events:

200 yd. freestyle
50 yd. freestyle
100 yd. freestyle

Two words will describe the meet...."I choked..."

I didn't start out very confident to begin with. Last time, I didn't think there was a 200 event so, I didn't worry about it and just swam. This time, I thought and thought about the 200 and maybe siked myself out of it.

I remember starting the 200 and looking to my right and seeing Gina. I tried to keep up with her and even move past her but that wasn't smart during the first 25 of a 200. Add to that that I was in an end lane and the "waves" are stronger, especially after they hit the wall. After the first 75, I became tired and started to swallow water and panick...I didn't finish the 200...it was more like a 150.

It was downhill after that. I was tired and psychologically defeated that I was not into either the 100 and 50.

There is always next month...we are swimming against University of Chicago Masters Swim Team.

Saturday Swim and Pull Technique

As I child I didn't swim much...I played around in the pool but never really learned how to swim formally. I asked my mom and she claims that I didn't want to take lessons but I remember having a crush on the swim instructor...Lynn...I think was her name so that doesn't make sense.

I learned how to swim through Well Fit Training which teaches the total immersion concept. Basically, it focuses on rotating your body to make it more hydrodynamic. When I started Masters Swim, both Alessio and Matt severely changed my stroke. They said that I over-rotated and that my pull was very weak. Their directions were completely counter to total immersion. I quickly learned that triathlete swimming was different than pool swimming. Which was correct? I have been swimming like a triathlete or like a total immersion triathlete.

Today, I realized that maybe pool swimming may not be that different from triathlete swimming and that pool swimming is different than total immersion swimming and pool swimming is the correct way to swim.

When I say pool swimming, I mean swimming the way high school and college swimmers are taught - minimal rotation, head slighly above the water and bending your elbows depending on the distance of the competition.

When I learned Total Immersion, I was taught to bend my enter the water, bend my wrist, elbows and then pull....this would create three opportunities to "catch" the water. When I joined Galter, Alessio told me to not bend my elbows and just pull but also follow through and touch my thumb to my thigh.

This week we have focused on pulling and have done many drills. I guess the proper way is as follows:

1. enter water at the point of the opposite wrist;
2 extend the arm past the opposite hand
3. pull

Now, depending on the distance, the pull is different.

Short Distances - 25-50

Complete 1 and 2 above but during the pull, the arm stays straight.

Medium Distance - 50-200

Complete 1 and 2 above but during the pull, slightly bend the elbows while pulling

Long Distances - 1+ mile

Complete 1 and 2 above but during the pull, bend the elbows while pulling. This is very close to the type way I was taught to pull.

Interesting....very intersting...

• 1oo warm up
• 50 kick with a kick board
• 4x25 with a kickboard alternating arms and focusing on extending the arm prior to the pull
• 4x25 with a kickboard alternating arms and focusing on extending the arm prior to the pull and catch up
• 4x100 at 1:00
• 2x200 at 2:00
• 50 easy

Saturday Swim..not too bad

Saturday's are good and bad...good in that I get an hour extra of sleep before practice...bad - practice is 15 minutes longer and as Jean put.."the extra 15 minutes make a difference." Today, however, Leah wasn't too harsh on us. We focused on balance and keeping the body in the right position. Moving the body in one direct when you take the stroke or breathe will affect efficiency and speed.

• 200 warmup
• 50 swim on one side (25 right, 25 left)
• 50 swim on one side with breathing (25 right, 25 left) - focus on arm being out of water
• 50 swim on one side (25 right, 25 left) - she called it stop stop shark fin. Head out of water (stop), turn head (stop), pull the arm that is closer to surface and bend it so it makes a shark fin out of the water...the key is make sure that the body maintain its position
• 50 easy
• 5x100 (negative splits)
• 50 easy
• 100 Individual Medley - note - I really only one stroke really well..freestyle...I can do the backstroke...but I feel like I am drowning...Mandy calls me the Thrasher...apparently, I thrash my arms like I am drowning...there is some truth to that
• 100 IM with kickboard
• 100 cool down

Saturday Swim and breakfast

Today was a good swim day. Saturdays seem a little easier than the weekdays only because I get an extra hour of sleep but I also sleep an hour or to later because its friday night. Matt didn't beat us up too much today...not really...

• 100 warmup
• 4x75 (25 kick on one side then rotate halfway down the pool, 25 freestyle with minimum strokes and 25 freestyle)
• 50 easy
• 4x75 then 100 backstroke (75% effort or almost puking but not yet)
• 50 easy
• 2x75 (100% or puking) then 50 backstroke
• 300 non freestyle

After practice, we had breakfast which is always fun.

Saturday Swim...

There were a lot of people today and we used four lanes. Last week, I was in lane four which was a ridiculously fast lane. Today, I was in lane 2, not the "slow" lane as the people in the "slow" lane call it and not the fast lane. The question is: Is it better to be the fastest in a slower lane or the slowest in the fastest lane? I don't know. Regardless, Leah, kick our butts today:

• 200 easy warmup
• 8x75 (25 free, 50 back)
• 8x100-25 fly, 50 back, 25 free
• 100 freestyle easy
• 8x100 at 2.20, with 5 second reduction
• 100 freestyle easy
• 8x25 – backstroke and breast (evens kick, odds swim)
• 100 easy

I don't know how to write the program technicall so if anyone has suggestions, please let me know.