There was a surprising turnout at swim practice this morning. Given the weather of the weekend, I figured that almost no one would show up, but we actually got most everybody. We're a hearty bunch, us triathletes. (I count myself among the "triathletes" now, because I can swim ... slowly.) Another technique-oriented session, focusing on catching more water.
I may be one of the faster people in my lane, but I can really tell there's a huge gap to get to the next one. On some of the laps, I'd have two people pass me from the other lane. They're a good 10+ seconds per 50m faster than I am. Looks like there's more work to do if I want to keep moving up.
Swim: 3x200m ez free w/flip turns, 30"
2x100m mitts, 100m pull, 30"
2x100m mitts, 100m free, 30"
200m back
3x100m (25 left fist/25 free/25 right fist/25 free), 15"
3x200m free w/flip turns
4x25m free sprint, 25m breast
Total: 2700m
Upper body:
Bear 2x4/75 lbs
Row 2x8/110 lbs
Pushup 2x8/30 lbs+80 lbs tubing
Pullup 2x8,7
Military press 2x6/70 lbs
Prehab circuit x20
Keep pushing it. One day you'll have that fabled technique breakthrough and it will suddenly seem possible to keep up with the "fast lane".
ReplyDeleteLike any sport, swimming has a hard and fast wall somewhere. It's easy enough to get up to the wall with hard work and dedication... but to actually make it through that wall takes a healthy does of natural talent on top of the hard work.
Train hard enough and you can be Cat 3 pack fodder, but many people will never make Cat 1 no matter how hard they try.
Given your natural ability at endurance sport, I suspect you'll bust through that wall like the Kool-Aid man once your technique catches up with your heart and lungs.
Thanks for the encouragement. I'll keep plugging away. What I'm really counting on as time goes by is that few more of my mental cues become natural, so I can focus on other things. Like reaching with every stroke. I have to think about it for the forst few lengths, then it's grooved, until I get tired and have to think about it again. As I get more pool time, my endurance will get better, so I won't have to expend as much mental energy on holding my stroke together when I get tired. It seems to oscillate between technique improvement and strength improvement.
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