I am so excited because good things are happening for me with my swimming!
A few weeks ago I had a swim session with my coach (one of many we have had over the years) and since then things have really been clicking for me. One of the things Matt is ALWAYS saying to me is “your recovery needs to be quicker”. Another thing he points out is that I pause just a little bit during the recovery phase. (Quick swim lesson here… There are multiple phases to a freestyle swim stroke. The recovery phase is when the arm comes out of the water at the hip position and reaches overhead. It is supposed to be relaxed during this time and be one continuous movement.)
I have never been able to feel that pause that he sees when I swim. During our last session he took some video of me and when we looked at it together he was able to point out where I was pausing… I think seeing this on video really helped. Now that I know where it is happening I have been concentrating and working really hard to push through the recovery phase without pausing. I’m sure it’s still not perfect but, I can definitely tell I am swimming a little better and I think my recovery is just a bit faster.
Another thing that I mentioned to Matt recently is that I know my swim technique has improved but, I don’t seem to get any faster. He asked me about my “effort” during the swim. I told him that I know what my “easy”, “moderate”, "hard" and “fast” efforts feel like and when the workout says to do 100 Fast, or 200 Moderate, I know what that feels like for me. He told me to make sure that when I am supposed to do something at a “moderate” or “fast” effort to get after it right when I start, don’t take too long to get to that effort. And guess what… BIG DIFFERENCE! I didn’t think I was taking too long to get up to the effort level but, once I started really getting after it right at the beginning of a lap or interval, my times improved. WOW!
I’m still not setting any speed records but, I am really encouraged by the improvements I am seeing and feeling!
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| Always Coaching - Matt says "You are not as horizontal as you could be". :) |
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| Working on my blog. Pat says this setup is why my neck is sore. |
