Swim February

Even though this February was longer than usual, I still failed to find time to write an update... anyway, here it is. My focus in February was on my swim, so I signed up for a stroke clinic at the local pool.

Now, I've been to a couple of stroke correction sessions before, but this was two 45min sessions a week, for most of February. The other sessions I've done have been individual half hour sessions. It's nice to have the extra time to really work on things, come back, get feedback on how you've improved (or not).

So what did I learn? The main things were,
1. My head position was too low.
2. My left arm had a slightly shorter stroke than my right.
3. Flip turns. I learned to tumble turn. Flip turn. Whatever you call it, I can now do it. Bearing in mind that I passed my lifeguard exams back in '95, then surf lifeguard exams in '04, it seems quite odd that I wouldn't know how.

A bit more about these, because they have interesting ramifications:
1. I thought I was supposed to have my head all the way down. Thing is, my head was low and so was my gaze. Apparently it was pushing  my shoulders lower into the water and increasing my drag. Fine. The interesting thing was that when I went to breathe, my low head position meant I had to lift my head slightly to get to the air; slightly lifting the head drops the shoulder further into the water, increasing drag. I think that just looking a little further forward when I swim (not consciously raising my head) has made me a second or two faster per 100. Free speed!
2. This surprised me too, since my right shoulder has suffered some nasty injuries in the past, and as such was my "weak shoulder" in the pool. After seeing this on video I have been able to think more about my reach and work on keeping it even. Catch-up drills should be fast becoming my new best friend, but...
3. The thing is, I didn't learn front crawl when I was a little kid. I learned breaststroke, backstroke and sidestroke. Front crawl I sort of picked up, but "learned" it "properly" in '94/'95, so I could take my lifeguard exams. I learned butterfly in '06 (I think). So I've been a strong swimmer, though not the fastest or most graceful. The thing is, I'd tried to teach myself to turn. I'd asked friends. I watched videos. Coach Scott taught me a decent flip turn in 10 minutes! Now I still think it's cheating a bit, since I get more of a push off the wall each turn, but I feel like my turns are now more connected to swimming than before; I have to think more about where I am in my stroke, my breathing and my streamlining. Flip turns are making me a better swimmer, not just better at turns.

Swim goals for March: keep working on my skills; nail my turns; build volume. Without improving my form I think I was looking at a 1hr25 Ironman swim. There may yet be hope that I can bring that down to 1hr10 through efficiency improvements. There's a 2-day intensive clinic at the end of the month (nearby, not in town) that I should sign up for.

I'll be evaluating my bike and run goals shortly (or writing about them, anyway).