At masters swimming last night, we did a 10-15 minute warm-up, then she told us we were going to do 8x200 on 3:30. I got done with 2 of them at which point she said I wasn’t rotating at all. Which I knew because Todd and Bob were finishing well ahead of me, I was probably swimming 1:45/100m. So she gave me some suggestions, slow down my stroke, more glide, more focus on front quadrant swimming. Sadly I was still all over the place. I can feel when I actually am swimming properly. My speed really improves dramatically when it happens. Unfortunately, that happens maybe once every 8 weeks. I really mean that. I am very inconsistent. Anyhow, after watching us all work through these laps, she tells us that even though we’ve all improved over the last few months and she knows that we are all distance swimmers and would like to swim distance workouts… We are starting over. We are going to be working on balance drills. Balance is the foundation on which good swimming is based upon. Our ability to improve is hindered not by our lack of strength but by our lack of form. I don’t think there is anyone in our group that could argue with that.
So last night became a bit of a suffer-fest for me. Once we started these drills, my weakness is incredibly obvious. On a 50 yard drill I at least 20 yards behind everyone else. My kick is just that bad. There were many times I’d look at the bottom of the pool and I wouldn’t be moving. It’s quite humbling. Yet I’m on board with the plan. I figure if I’m this bad, I have the most room for improvement. If/when I catch up to the rest of them doing these drills, I should leap ahead with my overall swim times.
So I have to make time to do these drills and not be lazy about them when I do them. I have to figure out how to tighten up the width of my kick and relax my feet. At the same time I’ve got to be focusing on improving my balance. (It’s never just one thing at a time with swimming, is it.)
Enough of the training woes, time to move on to more entertaining information.
From the Mooseman Race Director:
Moosey's got a TON of new stuff this year, to please one and all.
MARGARITAS ALA MOOSEY...we'll have a margarita and beer tent set up at the race site this year, with complimentary post-race margaritas and beer. Maybe even a pinata to knock around.
ATHLETE TRACKING....provided by MY ATHLETE. This is gonna be really cool.
CLAM CHOWDAHHHH....Real, honest-to-goodness New England Clam Chowda for everyone. Working on breadbowls for it....we shall see:)
(don't worry, we'll still have Jordan's Ice Cream:))
RECOVERY ZONE....we'll have a recovery zone for everyone, with gobs of fruit, recovery bars and drink, ice baths, flavorice, misting tent, and more.
NEW IMPROVED KIDZ ZONE...we'll have Nintendo WII's set up for the kids to play video games during the race, and we'll also have a movie zone with popcorn for kids, as well as Mo the Clown, hairbraiding, arts and crafts, etc.
MOOSECALF KIDS RACE....1K fun run for kids on Saturday afternoon
REPAVED RUN/BIKE COURSE...yup, more than 12 miles of the course has been repaved...
MOOSEMAN GENERAL STORE....Kids can get their Moose MOOLA from Bonk the Moose, and redeem the bucks for cool things at the Mooseman General Store.
SIMON LESSING CARBO LOAD GALA....Simon Lessing will be joining us this year, and will be speaking at the friday and Saturday carbo load dinners.
WEBCASTS...working on this. Hopefully, we can make this happen this year.
ALUMINUM FINISHERS WATERBOTTLES...Yup, REALLY nice aluminum Finisher's bottles this year....to go along with your towel and medal...AND...another VERY special finisher item. We're not going to let the cat out of the bag on this one, though.....
TEAM TAILGATING...if you've got a team, make sure you email audra@endorfunsports.com to reserve your spot for your team.
MUSIC BY THE MILE....4 bands on course, plus 5 sound systems set up, to play your favorites. Email me at keith@timbermantri.com to let me know what songs you'd like to hear as you're running....
We're not messing around this year!
2 comments:
I'm glad I didn't go to masters. Thanks for the tip that it would probably turn into remedial swimming.
It is kind of funny to think of it as remedial swimming when Todd and Bob are capable of 1:20/100's.
She's expecting us to do much better than that.
I'm willing to drink that Kool Aid!
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