It Clicked

06 Jan 2011 Leave a comment

by rendezvouswithsneakers in swimming Tags: ,

It’s amazing how I continue to despise certain workouts, including trainer time, and pool time. Looking at my weekly schedule and seeing that on Tuesday and Thursday I need to be in the water, on Wednesday I have interval training, does not excite me. The cold weather does not help, nor knowing that there is possible snow in the forecast, when you have a long run or ride scheduled.

Yesterday, I found myself at Bard when they opened at 0730, wanting to get my swim workout over with as soon as possible. I’ve played around with going to the pool at different times during the day (on my days off), to see if that affects how the workout goes. It’s amazing how busy the small University pool is during “Lap Time.” I’ve come to recognize when certain people go to swim, who the recreational swimmers are, and even which swimmers are triathletes (which, I’m pretty sure the tri shorts gives away).

I began with drills my coach told me to work on after our session last week when she butchered my swim skills (it was okay though- I told her to find everything wrong and tell me, and that she did). One arm “side swims,” one arm strokes. I was so focused on bent elbows and reaching infront of me as far as I could, not inhaling through my nose while my face was under water, and breathing when turning my head to the right. I prefer to only breath to my left, which is something my coach picked up on right away when she saw me swimming. “Your head is too far above the water…Turn to the side…When you breathe, you cross your arm under your torso…Use your obliques…Remember to reach, like climbing…” It’s hard to focus on so many different aspects of swimming at once.

I’m not sure if it was the fact I had not slept in almost 24 hours, pure exhaustion, or an insane amount of caffeine that I recently consumed, but something changed on my date with chlorine. I was on my second set of freestyle. Suddenly, something clicked. The non-stop racing thoughts ceased. My breathing was at ease. I could feel myself gliding through the water, weightless, almost effortless. For the first time, swimming felt…Natural.

At the end of the set and once my cool down was complete, I stopped my timer and could feel myself smiling as I looked across the pool. Success. Dare I compare the feeling I had to a “runners high” after completing an unusually fulfilling run?

I am actually excited for the next time I can enter the water.

Observations by a Land Mammal Turned Amphibian

08 Dec 2010 Leave a comment

by rendezvouswithsneakers in cycling, Running, swimming Tags: , , , ,

Yes, this land mammal is returning to her water roots, and finding amphibian life more complicated and difficult than she remembered. It seems like just yesterday I was starting my swim career at Pax River’s swimming pool. Boy, how times have changed.

Nowadays, between 3:30 and 4:30pm, you will likely find me spending time trying to grow gills at the pool. I was hoping my recent dates with chlorine would show some improvement in my swimming skills by now, but, I still seem to dread pool time, and continue to feel a need to gasp for air with every stroke and after each maneuver in the water. My attempts at flip turns are useless, and yet fifteen years ago, I could do them with my eyes closed.

I was discussing my swimming frustrations with my coach today who stated matter of factly, “You can’t be so hard on yourself, you just started swimming again.”

Dorothy was right, I can’t expect to be Nathalie Coughlin after a few sessions at Bard after a thirteen year swim hiatus. The only thing is, you cannot tell a perfectionist like myself perfection is hard to reach. “You have to give it time.”

Man, I really hate it when people tell me to “give it time,” even though I myself am guilty of telling others to do the same. Will I really be able to swim 1.4 miles by June without having a cardiac arrest?

I suppose “time” will tell.

Some observations I’ve noticed about swimming thus far:

1. Goggle marks around your eyes, and cap marks on your forehead, are not very sexy. Nor is wearing your swimsuit inside out, for that matter.

2. The black line at the bottom of the pool does not extend all the way up the sides of the pool.

3. Swimming hurts your thighs just as much as hill work on a bike. Try swimming 800 yards with a kick board.

4. I have not felt upper body fatigue like after a swim workout since my rock climbing days.

5. I’m hungrier after a 45 minute swim session than two hour bike ride, and have weird cravings for Ritz crackers after my time in the water.

Non-swimming related observations:

1. Brick workouts are painful, but an important part of multisport race training programs. They remind me of a quote about running: “running is like mouthwash, if you can feel the burn, it’s working.” Need inspirational/motivational quotes?Just ask.

2. Tears freeze to your cheeks when riding in cold weather. So do the other liquids that might come from your face, like your nose. Note: checking your reflection before going into a store after a ride in cold weather is strongly advised by yours truly.

3. I could easily own a European club with all the dance/techno/trance music on my workout playlists.

4. If compression socks are God’s gift to the recovering calves, then imagine what compression pants and shirt are to the body.

Miscellaneous Music Notes

Great tune for getting you out the door

JBT, bringing back memories of mishaps with Australian friends, is good for sprinting

And for a steady incline

Splish Splash

24 Oct 2010 Leave a comment

by rendezvouswithsneakers in swimming Tags: ,

Last week I returned to my water roots–the pool–for the first time in thirteen years. I know, long time to be out of the water, right? I’m not saying I have never gone swimming since I was eleven–I’ve fooled around in lakes and small bodies of water, but never entered the water in order to have a workout.

As many know, over the past couple of months, I’ve been toying with the idea of starting to swim, because that is a vital component of triathlons. Commentators say that you can’t win a triathlon by the swim, but you can definitely lose the race because of the swim. It is the shortest, fastest portion of the triathlon distance wise, and is where the race starts.I have no idea what the commentator meant, but am thinking it is going to be a difficult leg for a non-swimmer like myself.

Back and forth I’d debate the pros and cons of swimming and doing triathlons. I’m perfectly content doing Biathlons at the moment with just the bike and running.I was able to stay away from pools for so long because many local triathlons had duathlon options. Now, after signing up for the Ironman Mooseman 70.3, I need to go into the pool, and live there for the next couple of months in order to become a more proficient swimmer in what is my weakest part of the race.

It was saturday afternoon and I worked the night before, so I was slightly tired after taking a nap from getting home from work. And I thought, I really should try out this swimming thing now. Not just dip my toes in the water, but dive right in. So I packed my gym bag and headed over to Bard university, which has a small pool–25meter I think. After changing quickly out of my clothes into my bathing suit,I walked over to the showers and sprinkled under the water to get wet, and opened the door to the pool. Ahh,  the sweet smell of locker room mildew mixed with chlorine and perspiration–nothing like it.

There were a few empty lanes to chose from, and  chose the  middle one, #4, to reintroduce my body to the sport.

I put on my swimcap (havent had one of those on in yeaaaaars) and googgles and jumped right in, not noticing I was on the short end of the pool, where the depth is 5 feet deep. I would suggest knowing the depth of the water you are jumping in before going in.

Unfortunately, I was not really prepared with drills or what I was exactly going to do in the pool, and considered this a pre-test to my soon-to-be swimming career. I made it for about 30 minutes, freestyle, breaststroke…staring steadily at the black line down the middle of the pool.

It is always important to bring a bottle of water with you to sit at the end of the pool somewhere so when you need to drink, you can do so. Swimming is different that in running and cycling, you can sweat, and you can sweat a lot and become very dehydrated. Now, you can still get dehydrated swimming, because you sweat just as much as if you were say, walking. When I swim, I bring a sports  bottle with water and leave it close to the lane I am swimming in.

I’m glad to say I passed the pre-test and did not drown, and can start doing swimming drills when I next go.

Running, check. Biking, check. Swimming– ehh, needs more work…

So, Bard, I’ll be seeing more of you in the near future.

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