Pleasant Hill Lake Summer 2010
Sun on my face and sand in my toes is part of a day at the beach. Swimming at Pleasant Hill Lake gives me all of that but since it is frozen solid I went to the Y pool.
Friends of mine offered to spend some time with me and give me some pointers on improving my swimming. Since they are both swim coaches I jumped at this opportunity. My last swim instructions were in the Y’s tadpole class when I was 6. For the last few years I have been watching swimming videos and the Olympics to try to improve my strokes. But without knowing specifically what I was doing wrong I didn’t know what I needed to change, I just knew my swim times were slower than I wanted. In my mind I was swimming just like Michael Phelps. Swimming isn’t like cycling or running it is more about technique than simple training. With the suggestions from my swim coaching staff, thanks Marcia and Dale I was able to go from 26 strokes per pool length (25 yards) to 20 to 22 strokes while maintaining the same speed. That will be a savings of 675 stokes over the 2.4 mile Ironman swim. Learning to swim efficiently will save energy that I will need to complete the bike and run portion of the Ironman. I will work on getting comfortable with the new stoke technique for the next few weeks and hope my speed will increase. Once I am ready Marcia and Dale will work with me again, I am anxious for more instructions.
Excellent post on swimming, you Phelpsian, you. So, what is the secret of fewer strokes per length? Is it the arc of your stroke? Or is it the attack in arm entry? I'd love to hear your comments on it. Excelsior!!
ReplyDeleteBy the way, Teresa, congratulations on the new mug. Good running.
Love to you both, Jennifer
Hi Jennifer, It is a combination of how I put my hand in the water, how I pull my arm through the water, gliding through the water and kicking differently. It all seems very awkward now but hope to get comfortable in the water soon.
ReplyDelete~B
Got my swim in tonight. Counted my strokes. 18 strokes per length, 17 was my best. I would love to drop it to 15-16 average. 1550 yards in 29:36.
ReplyDeleteI started doing a light dumbbell workout. Basically you put 5-10lbs in each hand and mimic freestyle stroke for a minute, repeat three times. I plan on videotaping this for a future blog. Rabbit and Brad R. are meeting me around 3 @ my house for 2-3 hour ride if you can get away Tuesday. Happy training.