Well I finally got some! And I almost didn't.
This past Saturday I dragged myself out of bed with not nearly enough sleep at the way too early (for a Saturday) time of 6:45. There were quite a few times Friday night and Saturday morning when I thought about just not going. But the training program I'm participating in had scheduled these swim clinics for us to work on technique and it was going to be my only opportunity to do so. The session was led by Sarah Thorpe, Australasian National Open Swimming Champion and member of the Australian Open Swimming Team. She offered some great tips on form and triathlon swimming.
Some key take aways:
- I need to be doing more drills to focus/improve form
- I need to get the most out of my arms as possible during the swim to save my legs for bike/run
- Relaxing my ankles will help with saving my legs
- I need to be better about alternating my breathing on both sides
- I need to think about/practice sighting in the distance more, won't have a black line on the bottom to follow on race day!
- Think about head/body location
- Use my core
- Rotate with the hips first for more power
- Use entire forearm for the "pull"
- Work on "high elbows" to engage the back muscles, shoulder above elbow, elbow above wrist, wrist above hand
- Arm should enter 2/3 extended with hand at 30 degree angle
So now in addition to long swims for practice for the race and swimming intervals for speed, I'm also going to mix in workouts with drills for technique. Here is today's plan:
WARM UP
·
200 SWIM
·
50 KICK
·
50 SWIM
DRILLS
·
5 x 50 : 25 yards Thumb-to-Thigh drill, 25 yards swim. 20 seconds rest
between each.
·
5 x 50
: 25 yards Touch-and-Go drill, 25 yards swim. 20 seconds rest between each.
·
4 x 100
: 25 yds kick, 25 yds Thumb-to-Thigh, 25 yds Touch-and-Go, 25 Swim
·
18 x 25:
o 25 yds L stroke, L breathe
o 25 yds L stroke, R breath
o 25 yds R stroke, R breathe
o 25 yds R stroke, L breathe
o 25 Touch and Go
o 25 Swim
COOL DOWN:
· 200 SWIM (more if needed for time)
70 laps/1750M total
***
UPDATED:
***
My plan - Run outside for 30 minutes, try to improve speed
Actual - Ran a 3.2 mile loop behind my apartment I had mapped out previously and run a few times. Set a personal record for that course! Also, inspired by classmate Steve who just started P90X so I added in an abs workout when I finished my run.
***
Today's training plan - 44 minute run
My plan - See above!
Actual - My plan might have a bit ambitious for 44 minutes the first time through. Vic and I did it together and ended up stopping to talk through the drills and some of the tips from the swim clinic which might have made it take longer. I don't necessarily feel like it was a great workout, I rested a lot more than I do when I'm just swimming or doing intervals, but I do think it was helpful for working on technique. Except for maybe that last drill, I was too busy trying not to look like a deformed dolphin than think about technique...
Here's what actually happened:
WARM UP
· 200m SWIM
· 50m KICK
· 50m SWIM
DRILLS
· 5 x 50 : 25m Thumb-to-Thigh drill, 25m swim. 20 seconds rest between each.
· 5 x 50 : 25m Touch-and-Go drill, 25m swim. 20 seconds rest between each.
· 4 x 100 : 25m kick, 25m Thumb-to-Thigh, 25mTouch-and-Go, 25m Swim
2 x 50 : Swim
2 x 50 : Swim
· 4 x 25:
o 25 yds L stroke, L breathe (R at side)
o 25 yds L stroke, R breath (R at side)
o 25 yds R stroke, R breathe (L at side)
o 25 yds R stroke, L breathe (L at side)
COOL DOWN:
· 200 SWIM (more if needed for time)
1600 M; 64 lengths total
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