I have been able to keep up on my bi-weekly visit to the pool and so far, for the month of february, I've also been able to complete a minimum of 2,000 metres each and every session. The problem is in what I've been doing for those two thousand metres. Quite frankly, I do whatever I can. Crawl, kickboard, floating thingy between the legs, backstroke, freestyle, whatever hits me at the moment. I am very lucky to be able to swim in a 50 metre pool. I found that out two weeks ago when I was forced to go back to the 25 metre pool for one training session. It looked like a duck pond in comparison. Believe me, fifty metres up and fifty metres back goes much faster than twenty five up-down-up-down-up-down-up down! In any case I had never gotten back into being able to jump in the pool, pump out 1500 metres and be done with it. I used to do it all the time. I'd even make myself perform a monthly time trial just to see where everything was. Why am I having such a hard time convincing myself to do it now? I think part of it is fitness. After committing to the pool now for almost six month I am stronger. I have a bicep (actually two!) , I feel firmer, I like going to the pool as opposed to making myself go there. I am definately in better shape than just last month. But the thing that I am surely missing is knowing that I am doing everything correctly. While I swim I question everything. Am I putting my hand in at the proper angle? Is my elbow too high? Am I balanced or are my feet dragging? By the time I get to the other end of the fifty metres I'm a mass of unconfidence . The other day I did have a small revelation, it lasted for exactly six minutes or three hundred metres. That morning I had been reading from Terry Laughlin's "Total Immersion Swimming" where he talks about swimming like a vessel and making your body long. As I swam one length I started to get into concentrating on my stroke and making the most of it. All of the sudden I was at the side of the pool and I started to love what was happening. For another pool length I was almost laughing at how good it felt and in a mini state of Nirvana. I imagined that it felt better in the water rather than out. I remembered all those dreams where I could magically breathe underwater. It-felt-so-utterly-fantastic...and then the bubble burst and I took a break. I know what is keeping me from progressing now. It's the doubt I have in my stroke. My swimming isn't automatic anymore and that's what it has to be if I am going to be able to do any long distance swimming. SO...for the month of march I'm going to take some private lessons. I really need someone to look at me and tell me where my mistakes are right now (yep, they change) and help me correct them so I have no more doubts. I'm not looking to be perfect, just the best I can be. Mostly I'm looking to get back to that nirvana state. Those six minutes were worth six months of bad swimming.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Just one moment
I have been able to keep up on my bi-weekly visit to the pool and so far, for the month of february, I've also been able to complete a minimum of 2,000 metres each and every session. The problem is in what I've been doing for those two thousand metres. Quite frankly, I do whatever I can. Crawl, kickboard, floating thingy between the legs, backstroke, freestyle, whatever hits me at the moment. I am very lucky to be able to swim in a 50 metre pool. I found that out two weeks ago when I was forced to go back to the 25 metre pool for one training session. It looked like a duck pond in comparison. Believe me, fifty metres up and fifty metres back goes much faster than twenty five up-down-up-down-up-down-up down! In any case I had never gotten back into being able to jump in the pool, pump out 1500 metres and be done with it. I used to do it all the time. I'd even make myself perform a monthly time trial just to see where everything was. Why am I having such a hard time convincing myself to do it now? I think part of it is fitness. After committing to the pool now for almost six month I am stronger. I have a bicep (actually two!) , I feel firmer, I like going to the pool as opposed to making myself go there. I am definately in better shape than just last month. But the thing that I am surely missing is knowing that I am doing everything correctly. While I swim I question everything. Am I putting my hand in at the proper angle? Is my elbow too high? Am I balanced or are my feet dragging? By the time I get to the other end of the fifty metres I'm a mass of unconfidence . The other day I did have a small revelation, it lasted for exactly six minutes or three hundred metres. That morning I had been reading from Terry Laughlin's "Total Immersion Swimming" where he talks about swimming like a vessel and making your body long. As I swam one length I started to get into concentrating on my stroke and making the most of it. All of the sudden I was at the side of the pool and I started to love what was happening. For another pool length I was almost laughing at how good it felt and in a mini state of Nirvana. I imagined that it felt better in the water rather than out. I remembered all those dreams where I could magically breathe underwater. It-felt-so-utterly-fantastic...and then the bubble burst and I took a break. I know what is keeping me from progressing now. It's the doubt I have in my stroke. My swimming isn't automatic anymore and that's what it has to be if I am going to be able to do any long distance swimming. SO...for the month of march I'm going to take some private lessons. I really need someone to look at me and tell me where my mistakes are right now (yep, they change) and help me correct them so I have no more doubts. I'm not looking to be perfect, just the best I can be. Mostly I'm looking to get back to that nirvana state. Those six minutes were worth six months of bad swimming.
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Swimming IS all about technique!
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