My run, bike, and swim training is taking up roughly 10 hours of my week each week. Overall, it's all coming along just fine. Then, last night, we began working on the IM strokes in swim class (butterfly, backstroke and breaststroke in addition to freestyle) and I literally felt like a fish out of water. Backstroke isn't that bad - it's essentially freestyle flipped upside down. Butterfly we broke down, starting with the kick. I felt like I was just bobbing up and down intstead of moving forward. I was suppossed to be rolling from my core through my legs for a powerful kick. I think all I accomplished was my butt popping up and down, crunching my lower back. Trying to add my arms to the equation with two kicks for each stroke was a disaster. Similiarly for the breaststroke, trying to keep my knees in while sickling my flexed feet and trying to push the water with my lower legs to propel me forward was also unsuccessful. And keeping my arms in the front quadrant of my body to lift myself up and dive forward was very tiring after a short lap.
Basically, what i'm trying to say is - I suck. And i'm totally down with sucking. When you suck like I do, you can only get better! It's like my cycling field test - having my average LT power increase 60 watts in 4-5 months was huge! I couldn't have done that if I hadn't completely sucked the first time out to compare it too. That's not to say that I purposely want to bomb these things first time out. But if i'm naturally and realistically starting at zero, I get to see that path that lies ahead. I get to tackle a challenge and make progress. It's something to work towards. I'll get to work on these strokes all winter (hopefully - i've requested my coach to give me some workouts incorporating them). I'm excited.
1 comment:
you're hysterical - good luck!! :)
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