Wow! That’s about all I can say. I took some swim lessons a couple of months ago, began working on drills to improve my stroke, and had two rib injuries that derailed my swim training and practice time. Despite that, I somehow managed an incredibly solid week of swimming that culminated today in a short swim that focused primarily on what I’d learned in regards to my form and began the next phase of incorporating that into swimming faster for longer periods of time. Originally, I’d thought that just doing drills for a couple of months would help, but with Ironman Boulder coming up in just four weeks, I realized that I needed to start putting in volume. The form was going to have to find itself in my brain! I suppose that my new swim instructor, albeit having only taken a few lessons, has connected positively with me. I’ve been focusing on making sure that both arms symmetrically recover with each stroke, and that they “slap” down on the water, although I’m getting better at “slapping” quietly. I can begin to feel my body becoming “fish-like” as my hips roll with each stroke, and I feel less like I’m slowing myself down. Keeping my hands in front of me in the same quadrant is something else I’m trying to focus on, as it really helps with maintaining balance in the water. All of this is coordinated with my new two-beat kick, which admittedly doesn’t feel like a like at all, but does feel like my feet and legs are keeping me horizontal and balanced, and not dragging on my stroke. I made a new addition this week after reading an article by Gary Hall about head position while breathing, and realized that I’d probably been lifting my head too much. During my long swims earlier in the week, I intermittently focused on this, trying to close my right eye and seeing if I could keep may left eye under water while breathing to my right side. It’s been hit and miss, but getting the “feel” of keeping my head down and my breathing in a “trough” behind me is something that I’m definitely learning.
With all of that preparation and thinking at hand, this week took on its own swim focus, starting with back to back near one hour swims of 3000 yards straight, with no concern as to my pace. It then morphed into an eighty minute swim of 4400 yards straight, where I definitely felt pretty comfortable in the water and fairly consistent with all of the things I’ve been focusing on. I allowed myself to look at my pace for 80 straight minutes, and was pleased that I kept my pace pretty consistent and managed to keep my form throughout. moreover, I got out of the water feeling pretty fresh, and then followed it up with a 99 mile bike ride. Yesterday being a one hour bike effort followed by 3 hours and 17 miles of hilly running, and I had about 40 minutes to spend at the pool before a long day of traveling. I knew what I wanted and needed to do. With 10,400 yards already in the books for the past week, volume wasn’t an issue. I was also relatively fatigued from two big days, but woke up feeling surprisingly fresh. It was time to start thinking about my pace and my effort.
Working on my swim pace without messing with my form was my goal today, so I began with 10 x 100 yards, focusing completely on keeping my form intact and doing all of the things I’ve mentioned above. My first 100 took 1:41, but my next two slowed down a bit as I worked on locking in my form, but not going too easy. Somehow, I found my groove on the fourth 100 and the rest of the 100’s were right at the 1:40-1:41 pace. I started on the 2:00 mark, so had about 19-20 seconds of rest in between. First of all, this is a good starting point for me going forward, and I could certainly build on this workout from a total volume perspective, working to hold the pace with the same rest, and over time, decreasing my rest interval.
Somehow, I felt after these that it was time to just comfortably swim 500 yards, again focused solely on my form. I did this in 8:38, averaging ~1:44 pace. A little slower, but reasonable for where I am. Clearly, I want to at least get my 500’s down to 8:20, or 1:40 pace, before I set my next pacing goal. Endurance is suddenly not an issue for me, after remarkably ramping up my swim volume in a very short period of time. I really think that the two-beat kick has been a life saver in this regard!
Anyone who knows me knows that I had to close my swim with a fast 100 yard swim. I’ve just got to see where my speed really is. I can’t help myself. However, I promised myself that I wouldn’t lose my form for the sake of speed, and just focused on going fast. Something interesting happened in the process. A new focus came into my head, which was that of being “long” in the water, and feeling my body stretch out in a straight, stream-lined line. In order to swim faster, I incorporated this with the other focal points for my final 100 yard effort. The result? A 100 yard pace of 1:30. I’m looking forward to getting back in the pool in a few days and seeing if I can stay in this groove and build on it. The swim is about form, and not about strength. Since my ironman swim time has slowed by about 10-20 minutes in the past few years, I consider this “free” time to get back. Moreover, if I get it back the right way, I’ll be faster during the swim and fresher after the swim. That will pay off in a more relaxed bike and ultimately in a faster run. The impact of every match we burn during an ironman is geometric.
I’m really looking forward to continuing to work on my swim, finding and keeping my groove, and having a good swim at Ironman Boulder, an even better swim at Santa Rosa 70.3 (at the end of July), and a great swim in Kona!
No comments:
Post a Comment