3/31/2011 - Swimming

I didn't want to focus on speed today, like I had done in the past.
I decided to swim at a pace that I could continue through an *unidentified distance* workout and not count laps...but just swim.
I swam for 45 minutes.

After swimming this way, I put together some things that I have learned that can be used as tips for swimming in triathlons or longer distances in general:
1) Not kicking from my knees, but kicking from my hips.

• This was hard because I am used to kicking from my knees. When you kick from your knees, your feet are more likely to leave the water (waste energy) and your knees and hips will both be bent which creates more vertical profile (slows you down) and less horizontal profile (easier to sink) in the water.
• Sometimes bad habits are hard to break, however it is bad practice to kick from the knees. Whenever I kicked from my hips, I wouldn't have to kick as often (saves energy) and I flowed through the water better (faster).
• It was hard to do. I have been kicking from my knees all my life. Whenever I would kick from my hips, my foot would feel like it was going to cramp up.

2) When my arm comes out of the water, aim my elbow straight up towards the ceiling before bringing it back into the water.

• This puts my arm in great position once it gets in the water. Novice swimmers will just move their arms through the water. By making sure your elbow is higher than your hand outside the water, when your arm goes into the water you are much more likely to push the water past your body WITH YOUR HAND...which saves energy and is much more fluid.

3) Rolling my chest side to side along with my arm strokes.

• When my arm leaves the water on a stroke, there is a small point in time (elbow straight up) where the shoulder needs more extension. If I am not rolling side to side with my stroke then my chest will be forced to become vertical (stick out) to allow the motion in the shoulders.
• Mychest has the most surface area in my body. If it sticks out, it will slow me down. Roll your body from side to side.

4) Closing my eyes under water to practice swimming straight.

• This may sound counter-productive since I'm wearing goggles...but every time my face is in the water I try to close my eyes. When my face is out of the water is when I can open them.
• This forces me to look ahead of me when I breathe and lessens the dependency on the big blue line at the bottom of the pool.
• In open-water swims, you really can't see more than a few feet in front of you so there is nothing under the water that tells you which direction to swim. Currents can push you around and the only thing that keeps you going straight is aiming for a buoy. The only thing I can see is a swimmer beside me or a swimmers feet in front of me.
• I want to swim the same distance as everyone else. I don't want to swim zig-zags through the course the way I did in my first triathlon.

5) Keep my lungs nice and full of air. Don't exhale until it is time to breathe.

• The fastest way through the water is not through the water...it is on top of the water. The more of my body that is floating and exposed to air, the faster I will be.
• When my lungs are full of air, my body is much more bouyant and I am much more horizontal in the water and much more likely to float on the top of the water. Whether my lungs are full of oxygen or carbon monoxide, both gasses are more bouyant than water and will help me float.
• It is easy to 'dribble out' air as I swim.  Hold it in until it is time to breathe...and when I do take a breathe, take a nice big one so that you float nicely.