Category: swim

Posted on

Back to the Pool Part 2

I finally made it back to the pool today.  The last Back to the Pool post should have made it clear that my swim workouts are not entirely unstructured, just mostly so.  I picked up some kicking drills from an online source, and I figured that when I get too frustrated by the fast lane not being fast enough or too many collisions or whatever, I could move over to the medium lane and do those drills.

It turns out, December 28th is a good day to go for a swim workout, as the lanes were a lot less busy.  I warmed up with 10×25; and for once I remembered to take it easy on the warm up so I could keep my technique clean and have plenty of gas for the main set.

I decided on a little experiment before moving to the kick drills.  I did two sets of 100m (4x25m):

  • On the first set, I simply timed the 100m swim.  I came in at 1:46 which sounded good, but comparing it to race paces of over 2 minutes doesn’t make a lot of sense, since I’m going a lot longer in those cases.  Still, I wanted it for reference.
  • The next set, I counted the number of strokes it took me to complete one length, and averaged out over 4 lengths (stroke count is considered an important measure of your efficiency in the water).  It came out to 24 strokes to complete 25m which surprised me; I’d never had a stroke count less than 25 before.  

Due to the lack of traffic and according to the average pace in the lane, I was able to do my kick drills (12x25m) in the fast lane.  Doing drills like this was a little tedious at first, but once I felt I was getting the hang of it, the lengths started ticking off faster, it seemed.

I re-did the two sets of 100m coming in with a time of 1:42 and a stroke count of 23.  That looks like improvement , though it’s not entirely conclusive since I ended up really sprinting the last timed length to pass a swimmer and avoid a traffic jam in the middle of the pool.

 I’m encouraged by the potential of technical drills, especially ones based around my kick.  From what I’ve read, off-season is ideal for technical work, since the cold weather takes time away from doing more serious distance/volume (even in pool swimming, as the winter drive to/from the pool eats up more time than it would).  I’m also hoping that any improvements in kick strength/power/efficiency pay dividends into my cycling and running due to stronger legs and core.

Posted on

Back to the Pool Part 1

I feel bad for neglecting swim training sometimes since I really honestly enjoy being in the water.  Just about everyone under-emphasizes their swim since it’s the discipline that least impacts race time.  In my case this is compounded, since I do better on the swim compared to my age group – I should be trying to get my bike and run times up to the middle of  the pack like my swim often is.  Still, ‘use it or lose it’ so I went back in the pool for the first time in a long while last week.

I’ve found trying to learn better swim technique to be very frustrating.  Joining a Master’s Swim Club is not for me as making it to classes for a set time often doesn’t work for me, and I don’t really like the expense of it either.  When I try to learn on my own through reading and research, I come across articles like this one from Triathlon Magazine Canada.  It’s an example where the total mileage of a swim workout far exceeds what I would do in a race, and some of the technical stuff confuses (note my question at the bottom of the article that has gone unanswered as of this writing), to say nothing of how impractical the idea of using a parachute would be while sharing the lanes with other swimmers.

Here’s an example of a description of how to do a kicking drill:

  • With your hips rotated to the side, and your  shoulders parallel, keep your head still and continue looking at the bottom of the pool.
  • Extend one arm out in front.
  • When you need air, rotate all the way onto
     your back, take a few good breaths, and repeat.
 This makes no sense to me; if I’m lying sideways in the water, wouldn’t my head be facing sideways too?  Is ‘in front’ towards the direction of my swim, in front of my face, in front of my body?
Here’s a list of the things I actually do during swim workouts that are generally recommended.
  • Warm-up.  I usually do 10 25m lengths just to get my pace and breathing down, warm up my muscles and generally ‘get in the groove’.
  • Have a main body of the workout that is broken into ‘sets’.  I usually do sets of 100m with approximately 1 minute rests.
  • Use paddles and a pull-buoy (see photo).  The gloves put more load on my arms so I figure I’m strengthening, and putting the buoy between my legs lets me focus on my stroke a little more.  I try to hold the buoy somewhere between my knees and ankles which forces me to engage my core more.  Sometimes I use them both at the same time.
My paddle gloves and pull-buoy.
  • Do sets at different speeds; though usually I don’t have room in the workout to do both technical work with the equipment and speed/tempo work.
  • Count my strokes per length.  This one I do rarely and I’ve never been able to track much improvement.  I average 25-26 strokes per 25m, and at least one source I’ve seen says I should be getting in less than 18 strokes per 25 yards otherwise I’m categorized a ‘Practice Swimmer’, i.e. a beginner.

Of course, the other part of reality that makes implementing drills so hard is the fact that at public pools, there is basically no such thing as Lane Etiquette, in spite of  a sign explaining it at the entrance to the pool. 
My favourite is people doing kick drills (without fins, mind you) in the ‘Fast’ lane; not even Michael Phelps would be fast if he was merely kicking with a flutter board.

Still I don’t give up that easily, and I’m hoping to implement a few technical drills and improve my stroke so that this post will have a part 2, where I report a better swimming experience.

Posted on

Wetsuits and Weigh-ins

Remember when I won the free wet-suit from TYR?  Well it arrived and I’m stoked!  When I spoke to the rep, he told me to pick my size from the following chart and if I was between sizes I should pick the larger, as their suits tend to fit very tightly:

Size Height (ft/in) Weight (lbs) Height (cm) Weight (kg)
XS 4’9-5’4 118-142 146-160 54-65
S 5’3-5’9 138-166 158-170 62-75
S/M 5’7-6’0 146-173 165-181 66-78
M 5’8-6’1 155-188 172-184 71-85
M/L 5’10-6′-2 158-191 179-187 72-86
L 5’10-6’3 175-199 181-189 79-90
XL 5’10-6’4 191-220 183-194 86-100
XXL 6’0-6’8 208+ 185-201 94+

But here’s the thing:

OOPS!

So I guess I should pick the XL right? Especially because it’s the off-season, and I’m likely to only gain weight before next season… Well, I might be dumb but I ordered the large.  I guess, I want the wet-suit to be the stick (or the carrot, depending on your point of view) that will keep me policing my own weight, even when my life derails my training/dietary plans…

It (TYR Hurricane Cat 5) fits great, and I can’t wait to try (tri?) it in the water.  Thanks Multi-Sport Canada and TYR!