Gulp - Can That be Right???
Discipline: Swim
Distance: No idea
Session: Drills
An after work sesh down the pool - normally sharing a lane with five or six other people, but tionight - there must have been twenty! Seriously. A very crowded lane, and it was a matter of taking the opportunities when they presented themselves. I was essentially trying to drill what I'd done with Spans last week - and most importantly, keep that kick going so that it became a part of my stroke.
Well - it all came together! I must admit that I was still fairly out of breath, and I found it hard to still kick if I slowed down the arm stroke rate, but the kick was definitely still there. My body and legs all felt a heck of a lot more stable than usual, and I didn't feel like I was "snaking", which I had done, even before Spans had pointed it out to me.
The session was drawing to a close, so just for a laugh I thought I'd time a length. I did have to swerve to avoid a breast stroker, and indeed, one of them completely blocked my path at the end, but I reached about 22 metres in....I glanced at my watch, expecting to see something like 27 seconds, as I was expecting to have slowed down to 28-30 seconds per length. The watch said 16.84. Something must be wrong I thought, so I regained my breath, waited for another gap, and started off swimming the other way down the pool. This time I managed a whole length uninterrupted and the watch stopped at...
16.99 seconds.
Bliddy hell!!!
Okay - I was a tad short of breath, but assuming I could turn round reasonably okay, I reckon I could have been fairly close to that on the second length.
Let's put this in perspective. I have, on one occasion, managed to achieve 49.7 seconds for two lengths (50 metres). My best for one length is around 22 seconds. And yet here I was, going sub-17. WTF??? Even allowing a decent chunk for slowing down, that still put me under 40 seconds for 50m. If it had just been once, I'd have put it down to me messing up the watch, but it happened twice in a row, and a couple of people in the deep end even commented on how well I was swimming. I still can't believe it!
Okay - I think I've taken on board a lot of stuff from last week - in particular not splay my legs into a V shape (hence less drag), and keeping a better balance3d body, so presumably there's a lot less energy wasted. My kick (previously non-existent - literally) might contribute too. I guess it is possible - but let's see what happens next time!
Distance: No idea
Session: Drills
An after work sesh down the pool - normally sharing a lane with five or six other people, but tionight - there must have been twenty! Seriously. A very crowded lane, and it was a matter of taking the opportunities when they presented themselves. I was essentially trying to drill what I'd done with Spans last week - and most importantly, keep that kick going so that it became a part of my stroke.
Well - it all came together! I must admit that I was still fairly out of breath, and I found it hard to still kick if I slowed down the arm stroke rate, but the kick was definitely still there. My body and legs all felt a heck of a lot more stable than usual, and I didn't feel like I was "snaking", which I had done, even before Spans had pointed it out to me.
The session was drawing to a close, so just for a laugh I thought I'd time a length. I did have to swerve to avoid a breast stroker, and indeed, one of them completely blocked my path at the end, but I reached about 22 metres in....I glanced at my watch, expecting to see something like 27 seconds, as I was expecting to have slowed down to 28-30 seconds per length. The watch said 16.84. Something must be wrong I thought, so I regained my breath, waited for another gap, and started off swimming the other way down the pool. This time I managed a whole length uninterrupted and the watch stopped at...
16.99 seconds.
Bliddy hell!!!
Okay - I was a tad short of breath, but assuming I could turn round reasonably okay, I reckon I could have been fairly close to that on the second length.
Let's put this in perspective. I have, on one occasion, managed to achieve 49.7 seconds for two lengths (50 metres). My best for one length is around 22 seconds. And yet here I was, going sub-17. WTF??? Even allowing a decent chunk for slowing down, that still put me under 40 seconds for 50m. If it had just been once, I'd have put it down to me messing up the watch, but it happened twice in a row, and a couple of people in the deep end even commented on how well I was swimming. I still can't believe it!
Okay - I think I've taken on board a lot of stuff from last week - in particular not splay my legs into a V shape (hence less drag), and keeping a better balance3d body, so presumably there's a lot less energy wasted. My kick (previously non-existent - literally) might contribute too. I guess it is possible - but let's see what happens next time!
posted by XFR Bear @ 5:11 am
10 Comments:
Woo Hoo!!!! Sounds brilliant! Well done. Only another mile or two at that pace and you've got it cracked.
Seriously though, looks like a breakthrough. Well done!
Works out at just over 43 mins for an IM swim - I'll settle for that!
Prolly won't be able to keep up that pace, but even so - double that would still be okay (I guess realistically, I'm after 75 mins)
that's amazing! is there no end to the coaching talent of spans!?!!
well done bear just try and keep focused and keep the good work up and you'll be flying soon! Will watch out there's a bear about!
I frankly still can't believe it, if I hadn't done it two lengths in a row, I'd have said it was a balls up.
Still reckon it might have been.
Then again - legs splayed out like skis when you're snowploughing to slow yourself down would presumably slow you down in water too. Sorta makes sense!
Brilliant...
Definitely going to have to have some lessons - You seem to have made a pretty big leap there Bear. Well done you!
Keep at it
:o)
I spot a corner turned there.
Well done Bear
>> very proud grin<<
My 25m sprint is much faster than half my 50m sprint
wow! good stuff Bear
xx
*ahem*
*clears throat*
I'd just like to point out... um, no training logged for a bit.
Have you gone AWOL..? Or is there another bloggy thing somewhere..?
Change blog locations Cath?
Now who would do such a daft thing as that?? ;o)
Okay - latest blog entry reveals the mystery of the super sped-up swim.
It's still got a shedload better though :oD
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