I really need to re-learn how to swim.
Last year, I broke my bad habit of only breathing on one side. (Of course, in open water, I revert to one sided breathing, but I think that's okay because I tell myself I breathe on the side that's away from the sun.)
Today I tried to put a glide into my stroke. I did this by counting how many strokes it takes me to get across the pool.
Side question: is a stroke one arm or two arms? Because if it's one arm, wow. I'm awful. The best I was able to get to was 21. Which, I guess, makes sense since I'm obviously not gliding pretty much at all.
In fact - and I have known this for a while, but didn't want to face it - my legs slow me down. When I don't kick - either because I'm using a pull buoy or just letting my legs drag - it takes me fewer strokes to get across the pool.
But anyway, at least my SwiMP3 player makes the swim workouts entertaining. I'm finding though that I want shorter songs on it, or maybe just parts of songs. After a few laps of one song, I'm ready for the next song to start. Maybe I should be a DJ and make custom mixes of various songs I like to swim to.
My current favorite swimming songs are Akon's Smack That and Come to Me by Diddy and the Pussycat Dolls. Hip-hop sounds really good under water.
Oh, so, a question to my loyal readers: should I:
a) join a masters program
b) take a Total Immersion workshop
c) take a triathlon-specific group swim workout class
d) continue doing whatever I want in the pool, but at least twice a week and including both distance and speed drills?
Obviously my preference is D, but...I'm not sure I'm a good judge of what's best for me in the swim arena.
So anyway, after my swim workout I did indoor cycling and worked pretty hard. It was definitely a morning worth waking up for - especially when I left the gym and my hubby told me what a chaotic morning the kids had graced him with.
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I took lessons from Eric at the Pro Club. The personal attention and instruction seemed to help me get me on track rather quickly. I just take a lesson every once and a while to get a tune up or the next step and practice everything on my own so I can wrap my head around it at my own pace. The fun thing is he is also training for IMC as well.
Here's something for you to try. Instead of using your thighs to kick your legs, use your hips and roll them from side to side. Not much mind you, but just enough to give your feet some motion. We know I'm new at this, but I thought that was kind of cool when I was doing it in the pool last week. Don't blame me if you drown ;-)
Masters. Definitely. Just make sure you that ask the Masters coach (and your lane-mates) for pointers on form - and also don't feel discouraged if you feel super slow. I've been going to an early morning Masters for the past month, and I was feeling super demoralized because I felt so slow in comparison to the rest of the group. Then this weekend I did a swim test and I swam my fastest 100 ever (1:25!). I realized that yes, I am slow in comparison to the hard-core swimmers that are in my Masters group. BUT, I'm still making progress! And training with people who are a lot better than you can be discouraging, but it also pushes you to work hard!
I second Jessi- I can feel it (Masters) working wonders for me already. Although I'm not swimming every workout with them, it's great for me to be forced to sprint the sprints, to count my strokes and report back, to leave on the 1:50/2:00/whatever even if I've just touched. It's scary, but also great
Masters...no question. I tried lessons, and I haven't heard the greatest things about TI. But the best way to improve your swimming is to swim a LOT under the guidance of a coach.
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