The past 2 weeks I have had some breakthrough with my swimming. Since October, I have been working hard at teaching myself the crawl. It's been tough, mainly because progress has been limited, and for a long time I managed to swim only about 100ms without stopping.
This past Friday before the swim, I sat myself down and thought a lot about swimming, and what was holding me back. Obviously cardiovascularly I was fine. Lung capacity was fine, too, as I managed to swim one pool length while taking only one breath. In thinking back at past swim sessions I realized that: 1) I panicked when I was getting out of breath, 2) I forced myself to swim every 3 strokes, even though at times every 5 would have been fine, and at other times I needed to swim every 2 strokes, 3) I had moments when I forgot to kick, and felt I was sinking; in these moments instead of slowing down, I would speed up, get out of breath, and need to stop. So I decided to swim relaxed, breath whenever, breath more when I sense panic, slow down when I want to move faster, and think of the water as my friend. And it worked. On Friday last week I swam 400m crawl without stopping in about 9 minutes. Today I swam 2X500ms in about 12 minutes each (I use the pool's clock, and it is hard to get a good look since it is placed perpendicular to the length of the pool). I was not out of breath after these intervals, and I could have gone faster. I started a schedule that will help me become able to swim comfortably 1.2 miles in 12 more weeks. Can't wait!
I used to think that I depend on running to much. That was before the biking and the swimming. I would be afraid of getting a running injury, because running was the only form of exercise that I truly enjoyed. Now I feel much more in control, knowing that if I can't run, I can certainly swim and bike. And I can't wait to see how much I can improve in all three sports!
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17 comments:
Good for you! I have been wanting to attempt swimming, as well but I am so nervous. I have been reading a lot of swimming posts and hope to get out there soon...
Congrats!! It's hard to juggle three sports- sounds like you're doing great!! I love being able to cross training depending on how my body feels :)
I got swimming and running down... it is biking that I am nervous about.
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Good job with your swimming!! It sounds like you have it all together:) You also have a positive outlook and a great attitude!! I hope that you have a great weekend:)
I swear swimming is my achilles heel of the 3 sports!
But I've found the most *growth* personally from applying that perseverance to the other sports;-)
Nice job swimming. You'll be amazed how much it can help with running...cardiovascularly.
And then you will do triathlon! :) Yeah about the swimming!
I know you love to read--so if you want a good one on swimming I'd try Total Immersion. Great book. They have workshops too.
I swam (and ran) in college so I got that down but I just overall do not like it. I can tell you exactly how many pool 1x1" pool tiles are on the bottom of the pool. Ha Woohooo on the swim accomplishments, that's awesome. Have a really great weekend!!
You're really right about the fact that when you are relaxed in the water your swimming will be much improved! That is KEY! It does take a while to learn though, and of course it would be quite helpful if at some point you found someone to take a look at your stroke and give you some specific pointers. Sounds like you're on your way though! Which 70.3 are you doing?
Great job. I think if you had the time just a few lessons would really make a huge difference for me. I am still amazed at myself at how well the swimming is coming along for me.
I was a former "runner only" as well. I think it's a healthier life style to do all three sports even if you don't enter a triathlon. Plus, swimming is so gentle on the bod we can do it till we are 100!
Nice work. Swimming is definitely and challening workout esp. with those intervals. I'm sure it'll just make you an even stronger runner!
Very nice work! Keep at all, you'll be flying in no time.
well you've definitely made leaps and bounds in running so i'm sure swimming (and biking) will be no different! i'd love to see you tear it up in triathlons :)
i'm the opposite in swimming... you'd think running would give me endurance/good lungs but i have no stamina in the pool!
Great work. Those are good solid times, especially if you are not "enjoying" the water a lot.
I am surprised you are breathing every 3/5 strokes. Even though 3 is good for balance I'd recommend every 2 and swap sides (right to left) at each lap. That will definitely help the oxygen debt feeling.
And don't worry about the kick. It's a nice to have (for fast swimming), but not essential to swimming comfortably. You've got other things to do with your legs on dry land!
I'm with IronMatron, have a read through some of the Total Immersion stuff. Terry Laughlin is all about relaxed swimming.
I tip you'll be swimming low 9's for your 500's real soon!
Cheers, Paul :-)
That's great! It took me a while to 'master' freestyle, but I just kept plugging away at it. It's such a technical activity and so hard to coordinate all your body parts sometimes, but eventually you'll be able to swim forever and zone out (like running).
You'll be at 1.2 miles - no problem!!
This sounds like you're off for some new adventures and challenges, that's exciting!
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