Making Progress In the Pool

The last time I swam was a little bit of a disaster. I finished the swim feeling nervous and stressed out.  I wasn't sure if I would be able to complete the 1500 meter swim leg of the General Smallwood International Triathlon on July. I knew that I would need to spend a lot of time in the pool in order to fully feel prepared. I do want to disclose that I know I will be able to actually complete the swim leg. As someone who has a history as a competitive swimmer I doubt that I will ever have trouble with the swim part of a triathlon. But I need to feel strong in the water. I know what my stroke feels like when I have strength, power, and am in control.

So my goal for today's swim was to focus on feeling strong and powerful and in control. I did a quick warm up and then jumped into pulling drills. By the end my arms were burning and it felt oh so good. One thing I like to do to measure my progress is to do a 100 freestyle before doing the drills, and then again after each round of drills. I didn't want to do the 100 all out but rather at a speed that I felt like I could maintain for a few hundred meters. I did the first 100 after my warm up in 1:34. After the first round of pulling drills I did the 100 in 1:32, and the 100 after the second round of drills in 1:30.

I am really pleased with these times since the last time I swam I did a 100 all out in 1:29. I can tell that after 1000 meters of pulling drills that my stroke has improved tremendously. By the end of the workout I felt so much better and I was no longer freaking out about my triathlon. My race is still nine weeks away, which means that I will have plenty of time to work on my stroke. I want to spend a solid chunk of time in the pool focusing solely on building strength and my form so that I will feel ready to workout on building endurance.

Apparently I am on a Finding Nemo kick today

I have two more swims scheduled for this week, weather permitting. I am not sure how many times I will be able to get to the pool next week due to the irregular finals schedule. When I go home for summer break I will be joining the local YMCA since it is the only place where I can both swim and go to the gym for weight lifting. Luckily for me I can join at a specials college rate, since YMCA's are normally pretty expensive. I would prefer to have a place to swim outdoors in the summer but this is really my only option.