Group Swim Training - Mar 11

Today has to be one of the defining moments of my training. Our coach started off with a talk about how he felt he was too hard last time about giving us the ultimatum that if we did not get our 300 yd warm ups in, we would have to be deferred to another event. Instead he told us, that we need to do a time trial for the entire 0.9 miles today (that is 66 laps!), yes sir....no kidding!!

My jaw about fell down, because I have been working my butt off swimming the last few days, and this is not the kind of drill I was ready for just yet. Anyways, I got into one of the lanes with my good friend Bora and Don, and we started off with our 8 lap warm up, which while wasn't exactly a breeze, was good to get accustomed in the water. I believe we finshed our warm up ahead of everyone else, so we got the distinct honor of starting the time trial (totally being sarcastic!), so off we went one after another. About 16 laps into it, my heart was beating so fast, I thought the worst, but Bora patted me on the back and said keep going, so I kept at it, and it was not until the 26th lap, that I fell behind 2 laps to Bora, and it seemed every other 6 laps I was lagging behind Bora. I did however have Don to give me company, so I had motivation to keep going!

By the time Bora finished, I was 10 laps behind and Don was 8 laps behind him, so we started covering yardage faster knowing that rest was in sight once we got done. I actually ended up doing a speed drill on my last 2 laps, because I was sooo excited to have accomplished this for the first time in my life...66 laps!!! 0.9 miles!!! :D

This was accomplished in just under 45 mins, with the pros having times of approx 20 mins. The coach said, once I improved my form, I could easily trim 10 mins off this, and put me closer to the 30-35 min range, which is not bad considering I am doing this for the first time!

Here is a breakdown of the yardage completed in the 25 yd pool:

1 x 200 yds (warm up )
1 x 1650 yds (time trial)
1 x 200 yds (drills - kick board and punching)
1 x 100 yds (cool down)

Total: 2150 yds

While we were catching our breath, I was talking to Ron about his flippers and he said that they increased his speed significantly and made it easier for him to swim, so I thought to put it to the test. We both made a speed dash for the other side, and interestingly enough we both got to the end at the same time, making me believe either my swimming is improving, or the fins are really not that effective. In any case I will get those to help me improve my form. I talked to the coach about how I can lift my legs up more and get my strokes right. He gave me a punching drill to work on, to improve my stroke, but since I am breathing on my left side, my right stroke suffers because of lack of proper rotation. I need to start improving on my form more to increase my effectivness, but the good thing is my body is being shocked to improve much needed muscles as well as increased lung capacity. By the time I got home today, I could feel all six individual ab muscles pulsating, along with my shoulders which did a lot of work today. The good thing was I did not have any cramps during the main run, because I kept myself hydrated before and during the run.

I sincerely believe there has been signficant progress from 3 weeks ago when I was struggling to barely get 4 laps in a row in. The combined training with friends has also kept me motivated and consistent and I feel a month down the line, I will be in a much better position and past the mental barrier that has been somewhat keeping me intimidated.

In the words of someone wiser than me...."you have to figure it out"...and guess what I am slowly starting to! ;)