1x25 yds Total Immersion (TI) glides
1x25 yds with a flutter kick
8x25 yds freestyle with a 10-15 second rest in between sets
We got up a couple of times, a little after midnight (for one of the oddest car wreck's i've ever seen, more on that later) and then again around 3 am, and then got off work at 8 am. I loaded up on the vitamins knowing I'd be even more tired after the hour long drive home. Still though, I drove straight to the gym, knowing the later in the day I waited to get my workout in, the harder it would be.
Now, a little back story. Last year at 33 years old, I literally dove into my efforts to learn how to swim. I've always loved water sports, having both ocean and whitewater kayaked, jet skied, snorkeled and scuba dived, surfed and more, all without knowing how to swim or even tread water. I just somehow never learned. Last year I was determined to change that.
I ordered a bunch of books and videos, was simultaneously taking lessons from two different instructors, and hopping into the pool every chance I got. Still, the progress was very, very slow. The TI books and videos gave me an idea why this was. I have a lean body type usually running between 11-13% body fat, short torso, with long, fairly densely muscled legs. This makes floating a challenge. The drills coach shinji takeuchi gave me, helped to teach me the beginnings of better body position and glide, where I didn't have to kick furiously to keep my legs from sinking.
I spent countless hours over the next month working on this, but it still had difficulties maintaining the body position and feeling comfortable in the water. When I tried the aqua sphere alpha fins, their buoyancy gave me a feel for where my legs be positioned in the water. I initially struggled after taking the fins were off, but once I was able to maintain that same body position on my own, my swimming became much easier and more fluid. I focused on increasing my stroke efficiency which resulted in both decreased effort and increased speed. My stroke count for 25 yds decreased from paddling and kicking furiously the whole time to a stroke count of 14.
This was a big step in my swimming progress. The next challenge was figuring out the breathing rotation. I love to push myself, and swimming is no exception. When working on efficiency I would only breathe once and be out of breath at the end of the swim. I'd swim until I had to take a breath, and then keep going. Problem is breathing is the toughest part of swimming for me. When swimming in this fashion I was practicing efficiency, but I was also practicing being out of breath and a sense of urgency and panic when it was time to breathe.
After some time, I realized the reason the breathing rotation was difficult for me, was because I really didn't like the feeling of water in my nose. Once I started wearing a set of nose clips, the breathing rotation instantly felt easier and more relaxed. With a bunch of focused practiced, swimming overall started to feel better, if still not entirely natural.
Over the following months I've cycled my training in the pool on and off. When I hop back in after a period of time away, I have to do a bit of relearning. Today was one such day. It's been around 2 or 3 months since the last time I was in the pool. Today I focused mainly on relaxing in the water and practicing an easy fluid stroke. This became especially important when my nose clips broke right at the beginning of the session. Ideally I'd like to not have to rely on the nose clips anyways. Swimming is a survival skill, it shouldn't need crutches. That'll come in time though, with a bunch of hard work. Next session I'll throw the alpha fins back on to help relearn my body position and increase my comfort level.
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