Today was something completely new for me. At the suggestion of Lucho (see comments from yesterday), I did nothing but drills for the entire duration of my swim workout today. Not one length of freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke,.... nothing! All drills, all the time. It was easily one of the hardest swim workouts I've ever done.
I focused mainly on kicking today, something I feel could really use a lot of work. I got a book (see pic) from Barnes and Nobles today with nothing but drills in it. Not too creative of a title, but hey, what else are you gonna call a book with nothing but swim drills in it?
I fought the urge to do a couple 25's using the skills I was working on, but I really wanna try to stick to a full month with nothing but drill work. I also picked up some rubber cords (also Lucho's suggestion) and I plan to work with them as well. I really wanna "attack" my swimming this off season. I saw some good improvement overall, but a huge goal of mine is to really be a complete triathlete, Matty Reed style. I want to be equally good at everything. While there will always be some things that I'm better at, being a triple threat is still important.
In the afternoon I did an easy jog with a client and I plan on taking out Lucky for another night run. I did some videos (they suck, but they're still better than nothing) with my new Petzl head lamp. I'll post the vids tomorrow along with a full review. Just a sneak peak: That thing freakin' rocks!
I'm very excited about the progress I'll make with swimming. It's gonna be hard work but it'll all be worth it in the end.
Matty is a good friend of mine, we've spent many hours training together. He's a great guy besides being a total bad ass. Remember that catch up stroke is a drill that puts you very close to a freestyle stroke. And also kick on side with 3 strokes. Both of these can satisfy the urge to swim full stroke.
ReplyDeleteLucho-
ReplyDeleteOne of the coolest things about this sport, and one of the things I like about it is that guys that are ridiculously good, like yourself and Matty, don't seem to have any ego whatsoever! At least that seems to be the trend I'm noticing :).
I'll keep in mind the catch up stroke. One of the hardest things to do today was not to just turn out a few 25's! Especially since I was trying to impress the pretty girl in the lane next to me! :)
I'm not sure how the kick on the side with 3 strokes works, though I have a pretty decent idea. I'm guessing- side kick with one arm extended and one arm back. Stroke with the extended arm, then with the one that was back, and return to kicking with the original arm extended?
It was great though to feel the difference that the drills had on my body placement alone. They really brought out all the flaws in my stroke. I felt very sloppy and unbalanced at first, but because more and more comfortable as I continued. Almost like I wasn't "muscling" through the water. Just like you said, if you fight the water, the water wins.
Thanks again for your help. I'm gonna try out the bands tomorrow. Should be interesting!
Oh, and hope the pumpkin carving goes well!
Thanks,
Dave