Gray Guy/Girls Tri--Masters Sprint/Olympic Mentor Group CLOSED (Page 15)

First, glad you are not injured too seriously, and sorry about your bike.

I would go after this guy without hesitation.  Contrary to what he apparently believes, his dog does not have ANY right to be on the road.  There are leash laws in every state in the country as well as laws that dictate you must control your dog in a public setting.  My first call would be to an attorney, my second call would be to local law enforcement to file a formal complaint.  Certainly you should attempt to get all of your costs reimbursed.  There is a 'bigger picture' here also.  The next time this guy's dog gets loose, the results may be much worse or the A.H. owner may not stop at a 'mild verbal altercation.'  Who knows with a person like that.  If it were me, I would be on a mission to show this guy that his behavior is unacceptable and that his dog has no legal right to the street, certainly not without a leash.

Hi James,

From what you said, I gather you are swimming in a 50 meter pool?  You made the comment, "I can do 20 laps but I have to stop to rest for 20 seconds after each length."  So just curious, what happens if you DON'T stop at the end of a lap?

I suspect your problem is actually two issues.  Number one, I am fairly sure you have a swim fitness issue, and secondarily your stroke is still inefficient.  The two problems together work against each other and create a vicious circle - you tire quickly due to lack of swim fitness, as you tire, your stroke becomes even less efficient, which tires you further.  The end result is you end up stopping at the end of each lap.  You haven't been swimming that long and you have only recently started to perfect your technique.  Not trying to be snarky, but you are probably still largely 'beating the water into submission,' which is very inefficient and will tire you quickly.  Virtually EVERY beginning swimmer I have worked with over the course of 40+ years swims anaerobically until they are able to perfect their stroke mechanics.  That means you push off the wall, and within just a few strokes, your body is in oxygen debt.  That is the point when your body is screaming out to you that you MUST stop at the end of the pool and rest.

So how do you fix it?  First, you need to put in more laps.  It is going to take time to develop the muscles you use when you swim.  It will also take time to develop an aerobic base that will benefit you when you swim.  You may be able to run all day long, but as you have probably figured out by now, the rules change when you get in the water.  The aerobic fitness you may or may not have when you run or ride a bike will not directly 'transfer' into the pool.  You need to put in the laps to build that base.  Next, you need to perfect your stroke mechanics.  You read my blog, but I am going to quote a paragraph from the body roll article as it is pertinent to the discussion at hand:

Trying to Swim to Fast – Newer swimmers, especially beginners, are under the mistaken impression that ‘faster is faster.’  That is not necessarily true.  Are you trying to beat the water into submission with a short, scrappy stroke and little or no body rotation?  To develop your body roll you need to give yourself more time on each stroke to lengthen your stroke.  To accomplish this, consciously think of slowing your stroke down, rotate around the long axis of your body and reach for the far wall on entry.  The speed you gain from improved stroke efficiency will more than compensate for the reduced turnover rate.  Plus, as an added benefit, you will use far less energy to swim the same distance.

As you lengthen your stroke, you will become more efficient.  As you become more efficient, you will be able to swim longer before you reach your anaerobic threshold.  At the same time, as you log more laps, you will build your aerobic base, allowing your body to better use oxygen.  That will also delay crossing the anaerobic threshold.  The end result will be that you will be able to swim longer without tiring.  Eventually you will be able to swim aerobically and be able to go much longer distances.

If it were me, the single most important thing in my mind would be to perfect my stroke technique.  I would not swim any longer than I can maintain PERFECT technique.  I am not implying you swim two laps and go home.  What I am saying is, structure your workout to your fitness level on that day.  If you can only go 50 meters, then do 50 meter intervals.  Maybe tomorrow you do 20 x 50 @ 1:00 (or whatever time is appropriate for you).  Concentrate on PERFECT technique.  The next workout, maybe you change the interval to 20 x 50 @ 0:55, and so on.  I would also challenge myself once or twice a week.  Force yourself to swim two laps - remember you are likely trying to swim to fast, so when you try for two laps, consciously think about technique and SLOW DOWN.

After a few weeks of focusing exclusively on your stroke technique your fitness will have improved dramatically and your stroke will have become more efficient.  At that point, you can start working longer intervals into your workout and in fairly short order, be able to go the equivalent of a Sprint Triathlon swim.

Just my two cents.  Good luck!

You want to get to where your stroke is automatic, meaning you don't have to think about it.  You are right, there is a lot to remember when you are starting out.  Instead of trying to remember all of it, all the time, I would use a workout to concentrate on one element and get that right, then the next workout, work on a different element.  That is not to say forget about everything else when you are focusing on a specific item.  Rather, focus on one item, but be cognizant of the other items.  The next workout, again focus on one item while staying aware of all the other elements.  When you break it down that way, you will find that after just a few workouts, it will all start coming together.

Another quick comment - you mentioned, "keep hand shallow."  Not exactly sure what you meant by that.  During the pull, the important thing about hand/arm position is that you have a high elbow.  I typically have roughly a 90 degree angle in my elbow as I pull under my body just off the center-line.  To see that position, hold your hand straight out in front of you, then bend your elbow to 90 degrees.  Now imagine you are horizontal and you have a good idea of what the depth of your pull should be.

The pool is probably a 25 yard pool.  Most 'short' pools are 25 Y and most 'long' pools are 50 M (hence the terms short course and long course).  In any case, if you are able to "swim 20 laps" that is 500 yards/meters.  The good news is that is roughly equivalent to most sprint swim distances.  I still stand by what I said in my earlier post, structure your workout to what you are reasonably able to do.  You aren't trying to set a world record, at least not today.  20 x 25 @ 'insert time here' is fine to start with.  Next workout, reduce the time by 5 seconds and so on.  Don't forget to challenge yourself periodically - force yourself to swim two laps.  Another thing to consider, you need to be in the water a minimum of 3-4 times per week . . . PERIOD!  If you aren't able to do that during this base build phase you are going to have a difficult time getting the swim fitness.  If you can dedicate yourself to 3-4 times/week for the next month, you will be amazed with the progress you make.

a.k.a. "Stroke Efficiency"

In my humble opinion, this is a MAJOR issue for a vast majority of triathletes for whom swimming is not their first language and more than a few of those that did start out in a pool.  It is counter intuitive to think that 'slower is faster.'  Not only is slower going to be faster, it will also be far more efficient, meaning you can go further, at a faster pace, with less expenditure of energy.  Those are all handy if you are an endurance athlete.  Your coach proved that to you with a stopwatch.

The trick for any swimmer is to perfect their stroke technique.  Full extension to full extension is the secret to an efficient stroke.  Most swimmer's hands enter the water too close to their head and fail to go to full extension in front of them.  They then compound the error by beginning their recovery part-way down their torso instead of at full extension by their hip.  Those two errors in combination result in what, a 50% reduction in stroke length?  That equates to a 50% reduction in propulsion and efficiency per stroke.

If a swimmer wants to make a dramatic improvement in their swim they should remember these two simple things:

a) Roll into the stroke at entry and reach for the far wall.  That will promote full extension at the beginning of the stroke and facilitate proper body roll.

b) Brush your hip with your thumb as you begin the recovery.  Think of 'dragging your hip out of the way with your thumb.'  This will force full extension at the end of the stroke and it will facilitate proper body roll.

James, if business brings you this way, I will be happy to work with you.  When we get done in the pool we can head down to the beach and get in an OWS to help get you ready for that adventure.  Everything changes when you get into a natural body of water.  That however, is a discussion for another day.

I have kind of a silly question.  I unfortunately recently discovered that there is a crack in my bike frame.  It is right where the seat post goes in to the seat tube.  Trek is going to be wonderful and they are going to repair the crack, reinforce the area where the crack developed, repaint the frame, etc. so that isn't a concern.  What is a concern is that I will be without the bike for a few weeks.  Of course, I just lent my Trek 1.2 to my brother who is roughly the same size as me and has decided he wants to try and improve his fitness.  My concern is now I only have an old mountain bike that is a bit too small and I think weighs as much as I do.

My question - assuming the fit is not so poor as to cause an injury, isn't putting miles in on the mountain bike better than not riding at all for a few weeks?  I know the bike geometry is different, yada, yada, yada.  It just seems to me that any miles is better than no miles.

Am I way off base here?

Yeah, that's not what I wanted to hear!

Yes, I am a member of LA Fitness.  Primarily because they have a fairly nice 25 yard pool that is virtually identical at every facility and like you, I travel a fair amount.  When we were back in Indiana, I would put one of my Sufferfest videos on and ride on the trainer simply because the winter weather often prevented riding outside.  As much as I like my Sufferfest training videos, I really dislike riding indoors.  I suppose I can lug my iPad along, man-up and ride at the gym.

Been thinking about a TT bike, if this is going to drag in to 6 weeks, maybe it is time to pull the trigger on that little expenditure.

Thanks for the advice Steve.

Yes, I am a member of LA Fitness.  Primarily because they have a fairly nice 25 yard pool that is virtually identical at every facility and like you, I travel a fair amount.  When we were back in Indiana, I would put one of my Sufferfest videos on and ride on the trainer simply because the winter weather often prevented riding outside.  As much as I like my Sufferfest training videos, I really dislike riding indoors.  I suppose I can lug my iPad along, man-up and ride at the gym.

Been thinking about a TT bike, if this is going to drag in to 6 weeks, maybe it is time to pull the trigger on that little expenditure.

Thanks for the advice Steve.