Last Thursday I had a group swim session for the triathlon training group at the Y. The instructor told me that I was wasting energy lifting my right arm up. Everything that I had heard until then was that I should be lifting the elbow high on recovery. This swim coach had some very unorthodox ideas about swimming, but he was also pretty pragmatic. He feels that swimming for a triathlon is all about energy conservation. That is something that makes a lot of sense to me. I gave it a try and it felt really good.
I focused on pushing my arm out in front of me to lengthen my stroke, and I focused on pulling from this longer position. It was the end of the night for me, so I didn’t get to try it for more than just a lap or so. I was anxious to try it again during my next swim session.
On Saturday I did the P90X chest and back workout. I am really enjoying these workouts. It is a dead basic but killer workout. I have really been pushing myself lately and I can really notice a difference in the max reps and weight.
On Sunday I had my spin class. It was tough but doable. I did about 16 miles and felt pretty good. I met my wife at the pool and tried my new stroke. It felt like I was moving pretty slow, but at the same time it felt much more comfortable. I timed a lap and it worked out to about 1 minute. That wasn’t as fast as I had been swimming before, but it wasn’t that much slower either. After a few warm up laps I decided to go for 11. I noticed right away that I wasn’t as winded when I got to the end of a length or a lap. I didn’t need much time to catch my breath. I kept plugging away at it and eventually I finished the 11 laps. I checked that time and it took me exactly 13:30 to do the 11 laps. I couldn’t believe it. I had shaved 3 minutes off of my best time ever! I wasn’t even that tired. I can’t tell if it was my new stroke or just an increase in fitness. I actually had enough gas in the tank to sprint the last length, it felt great. This despite the fact that I was sore from a killer chest and back workout the night before. And, to top things off, when I got out of the pool my legs were fresh as daisies. Note to self, find something more masculine to compare yourself to going forward. Things are looking up, if not linguistically, at least athletically.
On Monday I did the P90X arms and shoulder workout. That is a really great workout too. I love how it makes my muscles burn and my arms feel tight right after the workout. I know that I’m going to be feeling it for days.
I am ramping up for this weekend’s big race. I’m really excited to bring it on Sunday. My goal for the week is to get another swim workout in and do the P90X Yoga and stretch DVD’s just to get myself nice and loose. After this Tri my wife and I are going to put together some training plans. I would like to start working on my running. I would really like to do a half marathon this year, but I know I can’t do that without some focused, and planned training. I have been researching training techniques for some time and I plan to post some of the information that I’ve learned just to keep it all in one place.