mndiver's group-closed (Page 4)

On an off Ironman year I do not become a member of USAT.  There are very few perks that come with it I find worthwhile.  The only reason I do it on IM years is it drastically shortens one of the many long lines you need to stand in.  Just my opinion though on its value.  Some think it is very worthy.

How's everyone doing?

In an attempt to start conversation, has anyone registered for thier first event of the year yet?

I registered a few days back for the Cascade Lake Triathlon (Sprint) on 15 May

0.31 Mile Lake swim
15 Mile Bike
3.1 Mile Run

Good discusions on swimming and getting signed up for a race.  Swimming is one of those sports where you can work harder and harder and it only leads to frustration.  It is all about technique.  Most people I know will have a day swimming where there is just a break through.  Things click because they have been working on proper technique and doing drills every swim.  Then the next time they try to go for a longer distance they just keep going and all of a sudden they have swam 500 straight.  It might not feel it at this point but it will happen if you keep working on it.  Until that happens keep working on your technique.  If you find yourself tired and gasping for breath after a 50 you are going way too hard.  I usually do my warm up 500 at a pace that I could swim for hours at.   Nice and easy just to get a feel for the water.  Once you can stretch the distance out and you are getting your technique down then you can start hammering out intervals.  Sets of 5-10x50 or 100 at a certain interval.  (ie) Every minutes, every 70 seconds, etc.  So that's what the clock at the pool is for   If you want to get better at swimming I would say 3x a week in the pool.  Good luck everyone.

I would be willing to bet if you swam 3x a week you could do this in less than 1 month.

Races I am doing, hmmm.  Starting out with a few shorter run races in March and then leading to a half marathon in May.  I then end the run alone season and move into tri's.  I have a few old stand by favorote sprints I do every year along with a few new ones.  Towards the end of July I will do a tune-up half IM to gauge overall fitness and pacing and then the finale of IMWI on Sept. 11th.

Sorry I have not responded yet.  Will hit this question up tomorrow wgen I have enough time.  Hope you all had a fun and productive weekend.

Some drills I like to work on are as follows.

1.  Side kicking.  Roll on side and work on kicking from the hips and keeping balance.  Bottom arm is straight ahead of you and top arm in on your hip.  Kick for 8-10 kicks and then do three strokes putting you on opposite side.  Keep repeating all the way across the pool.  This will help with balance and getting you to work on rotation.

2.  Kicking drills.  I like to use a pull bouy instead of a board.  With a board it forces you to bring head out of water and drops hips.  You do not want this.  Both arms out front with head in the water looking straight down.  Kick from hips, not knees.  Whenever kicking work on keeping legs inside shadow of the body.

3.  Another good drill to keep legs tight is to put a band around legs at knees.  This keeps legs tight.  If they are splayed wide open you are creating lots of drag.

4.  Fins.  Using fins helps you to go faster and feel what it feels like to swim faster.  Helps also to get more distance in a certain amount of time and work on form.

5.  Hand paddles.  Use these sparingly.  Paddles help you develope a feel for the water and make you understand where the "pull" is coming from.  Don't use to often or if you have weak shoulders.  You will feel this the next day.

Try some of these drills and see what happens.  If you need clarification please ask and I'll try to help.  Remember, swimming is all about technique.  If you get the technique down you are way ahead of the game.

I guess this could be better explained as keeping your legs within the slipstream of your shoulders.  You punch a whole through the water with your shoulders as you swim.  You want to keep the "whole" you push through as small as you can.  If you kick outside this area you are causing more drag and fighting more dense, dense water.  Try to be an arrow, not a sail.

Nice job everyone.  Let's start a discussion on everyones biggest fears.  Throw them my way and we can discuss them as friday and the weekend progress.