The water temperature jumped up to 66.2 degrees this week. That baffles me as the temperature never went above 66 degrees and there hasn't been any sun. Wierd! It is up from 62.6 degrees on 6/6/2011 which is up from 59 degrees on 5/31/2011.
It was a good swim. I worked really hard to nail my technique. I think I felt that I had it solid for about 50-60% of the swim. I know that sounds really weak, but there are 3 factors that I am contending with:
1) Re-learning how to swim with a wetsuit
2) Swimming in open water
3) Still trying to get comfortable with swimming in open water
Because of the bouyancy of the wetsuit, my body wants to naturally stay level in the water. I sort of have to fight the bouyancy to roll my body to get a good stroke. After the last swim my shoulders were very sore. This is because I was not rolling nearly as much as I should and I was putting a lot of additional strain on my shoulders.
I focused on the following things as best as I could:
1) Rolling my body about 60 degrees with each stroke
2) Getting my elbow pointed straight up when it leaves the water
3) Kicking twice while my body is sideways, once during the roll
4) Turning my head enough to get a good solid breath.
I wasn't able to sight nearly as much as I intended, but I didn't seem too far off course each time I did. Considering my only visual point was the dock that is .55 miles away, I had some room for error.
I have learned that the best way (for me) to sight during an open water swim is as follows:
1) Decide which stroke you are going to sight on (ideally you should count while you swim. I need to work on this)
2) On that stroke, do not bring your arm all the way up for the recovery. Cut it short and drop it right next to your head.
3) Pull hard on that shortened stroke. This naturally lifts your body out of the water.
4) Lift your eyes directly in front of you and take a snapshot.
5) Take a quick breath
6) Drop your head back down. At this point, your body will be back in the swim position and your other arm should be entering the water and beginning the next stroke phase.
After the swim:
I felt incredibly light headed. I have a feeling that T1 is going to be difficult. I am hoping that grabbing my helmet and bike are simple as I don't think my brain is going to be all there.
The bike ride will be interesting as it takes about 30 minutes for my head to clear up.
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