James G Group - CLOSED (Page 3)

Ok so I think within our group the underlying limiter is swimming and as promised see my thoughts below.. This is very often the case for new triathlete’s. Certainly was the case for me when I started the sport last year.

So how have I gone from being a 2.30min 100yd swimmer to a Front of the Pack swimmer in 12 months with around a 1.30min/100 yd time? The answer is with a lot of long work and hours in the pool and coaching. It is interesting looking in my 2007 training hours in my blog page. I have run 87 hours in 2007 and swum 97 hours in 2007 to date. For most people that will sound counter-intuitive, the swim part of the race is a lot shorter than the run.

My focus has been on addressing my limiters in 2007 1/swimming and 2/ bike endurance. Running is my strong point and I figured with very little training I could still run sub 7 min mile in a sprint and maybe with a lot of run training run 10 – 15 secs a mile faster. Now that is not a lot of bang for the effort say 1min 30 secs time saving for the run in a sprint race, however in swimming my times are 1min per 100 yds faster with the work I have done that translates to a whopping 8.30mins in a sprint race. I guess what I am trying to say in a round about way is don’t ignore the swimming. The longer the race the less important swimming is in terms of time as the step up from an Oly to HIM is only about 20-30% on the swim but the bike and run double in distance between the two events. However in saying that try swimming a half IM with poor form and you will automatically be tired getting on your bike.

The key to successful Triathlon swimming is being as efficient as possible the lesser energy you use in the swim portion the more you will have for the bike and run. Winter is the perfect time to concentrate on swim technique as less focus on running and riding and I find it relaxing being in a nice warm pool.

1/ Join a tri swim group or masters group to get someone to look at your stroke or if you don’t have this facility in your area go to your local Y and get someone to do a one-to-one session with you.. They will correct your stroke as you swim and these groups have really good structured swim programs with lots of drills. Yes it is daunting to start with, so start in the slow lane at the back. You will also find the coaches focus on the people in the slow lane the most as this is where the worst technique is so often results in some intensive 1 to 1 coaching for free.

2/ Swim three times a week. Frequency is the key two sessions a week is for maintenance and three is for improvement. My coach lives by this rule and now so do I. You are better swimming 3 x 2000 yds sessions a week than 2 x 3000 yds sessions a week as swimming is all about feel in the water the more often you swim the better you feel.

3/ Technique is key, concentrate a large part of workout on drills. By just churning up and down the pool with existing technique is reinforcing bad technique yes you will get faster because of fitness gains but you will soon plateau. The best improvements are from reducing drag in the water due to superior technique.

4/ swimming is not really related to strength, it is 90% technique. Don’t believe me go and watch 8 – 9 year old kids swim. And 8-9 year old 80lb swimmer will kick our ar*e as have superior technique. Concentrate on technique when swimming not speed. Speed is a by product of good technique. In saying that at some stage before your races you will need to include some faster sets.

5/ Work on your weaknesses, one at a time. This is really important work on one thing at a time concentrating on the drills correcting this flaw until it becomes second nature, then start the focus on the next weakness. I found this very useful, as I struggle to concentrate on more than one thing at a time when I swim. It may take three to four weeks to correct your biggest limiters. Just keep repeating and then suddenly it clicks. I am not exaggerating here. One of my biggest limiters for me was I never reached fully on my right stroke my coach had me do catch up drills to correct it must have taken me 15000 yds of drills and 3 – 4 weeks to fix this but it just happened one day repetition becomes habit.

6/ I swum with triathlon group twice a week this year was useful but I did find I was rushing at times to keep up so sometimes my form would suffer. I scheduled a Friday technique swim after work as my third swim of the week. I loved this swim I slowed it right down and did 300 yd warm-up and a 300 yd Cool down and then did a solid 45 mins of drills between the W-Up and W Down concentrating on everything I had learnt at tri group at my own pace. I would actually strap a pull buoy between my legs some days and just work on my stroke and breathing for the full session.

7/ when it is summer try and schedule one Open Water Swim (OWS) a week. Ultimately triathlon swimming takes place in a lake or sea the closer you can replicate this the better you will be on race day. I always do one swim a week out doors in summer in my triathlon wetsuit.

1/ Streamline

2/ Focus on the Tiles.

3/ Don’t cross the Centre line.

4/ Breathing & Balance.

5/ Extend and and Pause

6/ Surf Board Catch and Pull.

7/ Put the Umph in the Front.