April Swimmies

[GLC1968]

I can't deal with the mothers/kids thing in the shower room, particularly when mothers bring their 7 or 8 year old SONS in there (the pool has private "family changing areas" with showers/toilets/sinks, so there is no reason those boys should be in the women's locker room).

YES! Honestly, I'm not all that modest. I don't flash my white butt or chest while I'm changing mostly to not make others uncomfortable (who wants to see that?!), but I've never been embarassed to take my clothes off in a locker room before. On Wednesday, there was a mom dressing her daughter while her son just stood there (already changed) and started at me. Stared - and from only about 3 ft away, too. I'm not good at judging kids ages, but he was no toddler. WTF? I putzed around until they left (luckily they were almost done) so that I didn't have to undress while he was there. It made me VERY uncomfortable.


So, on a brighter note - I think I got an 'A' in my swim clinic last night! I was seriously rocking the whole swim thing. We had a bunch of instruction about the pull and did a few drills. Then we were given pull buoys and straps for our ankles and we did upwards of 500 yards of drills. Then we dropped the 'toys' and did some swimming. The coach/instructor walked around and answered questions or gave instruction/tips. I took advantage of the opportunity to get in a good workout and get more experince in this pool (same pool for my first tri). I wasn't keeping track, but I know I swam more than 200 yards using all my new 'skills' to the best of my ability. It felt good, though I was getting tired. Anyway, at one point the coach/instructor apparently walked the length of the pool as I swam, watching my stroke. I didn't realize he was watching but when I got to the other end, I saw him standing there, so I paused. He said I looked really good. He said my stroke looked well timed and strong, that my body position was excellent and that my rotation was perfect. He also said that there wasn't anything that he could suggest that I work on, and I said 'except my cardio conditioning?' and he laughed. I was thrilled!

Today my upper body is sore (particularly my forearms - which I figured because they were quite tired after a couple of the drills we did). Unfortunately, I don't get to swim again until Sunday but I'm really looking forward to it!

[kacie tri-ing]

Hey! I've been swimming, but busy. Did 4000yds last week :-)

[sfa]

Swam for the first time since last summer over the weekend. I tried back in January, after being released from PT for my SI joint injury, and was in horrible pain as soon as I hit the water, then didn't last a full lap. It just hurt too much.

So this weekend I tried again and got a bit further--I managed ten laps, but had to rest after every two and I was SLOW. I've always been slow, but didn't think I could get any slower than I was last year! And I got out of breath way too easily (thus the rests). And my SI joint was in pain again afterwards for a full day. I don't get it. Last week I ran 4 miles with no problems, rode 35 miles easily, went on a hilly 8 mile hike, put in a hard 35 minutes on a rowing machine, did yoga and pilates and general strenghtening exercises--none of these cause any problems, and while I'm slower than I have been, it's the sort of slower that you'd expect after time off, not the sort of slower you'd attribute to a complete beginner. It's only swimming that causes so many problems.

But if I managed ten laps this weekend after zero in January, I should at least be able to work up to the distance of the triathlon in the next four months, but I think after that I'm done. There are so many activities that I truly enjoy that I don't want to beat myself up about swimming anymore.

Sarah

[sfa]

That was....dare I say it?....almost pleasant.

Just back from the pool. I was there on Tuesday and had a frustrating workout--I managed to go the distance of the triathlon, but with LOTS of rests, and at a slow pace, and with my heart rate all over the place. And at the end, my SI joint hurt like hell, then was even worse on Wednesday. I had planned to swim again on Thursday but the pool was closed (cloudy water, they didn't know why but weren't letting anyone in).

So I was back today and it was so much easier. On Tuesday I did a bunch of drills on my back and I think that made my SI joint hurt more than usual, so today I did just straight, steady laps. I essentially didn't use my lower body at all, kicking only enough to keep from sinking, and that seemed to help both my SI joint and my heartrate. Surprisingly, it didn't slow me down that much either (any slower and I'd sink like a stone). I need to go stretch and twist my joint back into place a bit, though. I think the trick of the next four months for me will be to swim just enough to keep me in shape for the race, but not so much that I hurt too much to do anything else. My inclination after Tuesday was to crawl into bed and stay there until I felt better.

Sarah

[Veronica]

I did my monthly swim today. Warm up was 200 S - K - P. Then I swam 1,000 yards. It was suppose to be a time trial but I wanted to see what the time would be the way I plan to swim in my race. I was pretty happy with it - 18 minutes at about 5 - 6 effort level on a ten point scale. I wish running was so easy.

Did a 100 to cool down for a total of 1700.

Veronica

[roadie gal]

My workout called for a total of 1300 yds, with the main set being 5 X 100 fast. Somehow, I managed to do the first one in 1:35. That's 5 seconds faster than I've ever done it before, even at a lower altitude! I thought it might have been a fluke, but the second one was 1:36. I slowed a bit after that, but my 5th, and slowest, was still only 1:40. I'm thrilled!

[Veronica]

That's terrific! Are you still working with the swim coach?

Veronica

[roadie gal]

That's terrific! Are you still working with the swim coach?

Veronica

Yes, although I haven't been able to get together with him for a few weeks. I'm also having him coach me for my tri season.

[badger]

I've been swimming regularly with a Masters group for 10 years, and tonight a lightbulb went off. Honestly, TEN YEARS, and I finally figured out how to do freestyle stroke properly.

I've never been a good puller, and whenever we used pull buoys my shoulders would kill me. And I mean it felt like someone was sticking a knife into the joint on both sides.

It wasn't busy tonight so I had attention from both coaches on how to correct my stroke. The zipper drill came in very handy to get my elbows high and to engage my chest muscles as opposed to just using my shoulders. And to let the tension out of the arms and reach under the water as opposed to over as I was erroneously instructed a few years back.

And what a difference that made! it was actually relaxing, and got my stroke count down to 15 in the 25 yards section of the pool.

I learned more tonight in 30 minutes than I have in the last 10 years...

[roadie gal]

Badger, that's great! Isn't it amazing when it suddenly works?

[Susan Otcenas]

Thursdays are "endurance/tempo" days for me. This morning's 2200 meter workout included my longest continuous swim so far this season - 1000 meters. It came in at 25:15. I did it at a pace that I could maintain without breathing hard, and a pace at which I would have been able to extend for additional distance.

So, based on that, I'm feeling pretty good that my HIM swim should come in sub-50 minutes. My goal is 45 minutes. I swam 36:01 for the 1500 meters on the same course for the Olympic last year, which would be a 48 minute 2000m.

2 weeks to the 1st tri of the season, and 9 weeks to the HIM!

[Veronica]

Sounds like you're right where you want to be Susan.

Veronica

[Susan Otcenas]

Sounds like you're right where you want to be Susan.

Relatively. Really, I want to swim like YOU. Based on last years results, a 45 minute swim time would put me around 350th of 475 participants. Closer to 400th for a 48 minute swim time.

But that's OK. I'll catch up and pass lots of them on the bike.

Susan

[Veronica]

Yeah and you'll pass me on the run. :-)

It's all fun though.

Veronica

[roadie gal]

1750 yards yesterday. I thought that maybe Tuesday was a fluke, but I'm still going faster than I had before. I did 400 yds in 7:15, a 15 second improvement. I have no idea what finally clicked, but I'll take it. I'm going to try to swim with my coach again next week. I think our next step should be to do longer intervals, but we'll see what he thinks.