Mad Manatee Mentors 2013: CLOSED (exc/ Pop Tart bribes)

Melon Presser

52116

Subject: RE: Mad Manatee Mentors 2013: CLOSED (exc/ Pop Tart bribes)

Originally posted by switch

Originally posted by brigby1

Originally posted by switch

Originally posted by brigby1

Originally posted by switch

Oh. Dear. God. I am so feelin it.

Do you know what's cooler than being an Elliptigo World Champion? Being a cheerleader (coughhecklercough) for a EWC in the making.

JT, are you man enough for all this?

And it's in San Diego, knowwhatimsayin?

But the timing is all off...looks like it's in early September, and my guess is JT is going to be doin the 70.3 Worlds right about then. Ben, you have a direct line to him or something, right? What's the word?

If by "direct line" you mean receiving the Picky Bar newsletter, then yes.

Pulled an off-the-wall 1:09 100 scy at end of practice tonight. No buoy either.

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat? Oh, that is so freakin awesome. At the END of practice? Good lord.

I thought you said you read his blog or something, maybe it was just the PB newsletter. BTW, have you tried PB? Are they any good?

I do read the blog too, but don't really comment. Many others already do so. And yes, have tried the Picky Bars and they work well. I tend to save them for races and the bigger rides I travel to, using some cheaper things for most training. Still hoping to find a gel that works again as those are *really* hard to beat when they work. Otherwise it's good to know I have something I can depend on with these, not a small order with me.

And another yeah, still contemplating that from practice. More so the descending throughout the whole thing, not just one rep. Don't remember if it came up when you were asking more about swimming, but making sure to hit some fast things on a regular basis has been very helpful. Kind of like how strides and occasional R-pace work helps out your running form, fast 25's or 50's have been vital for improved swimming. Lots of strong threshold sets to build up fitness and the occasional fast one to figure out how to go faster. That might be oversimplifying, but it's been easier to understand at first that way. Even 2-4 of them in a session has done a lot.

This is helpful. I definitely feel like my form starts to just fall apart at the end of my swimming sessions. I am really trying to do fast stuff every time I go though.

A few more fishy questions for the group:

One of the thing I'm struggling with a bit is where to place my arm for the initiation of my stroke. I know I shouldn't cross over, but I don't want to go too wide either. When I have good rotation my arm placement feels pretty narrow at the catch, and it feels like it has to be to feel that medial delt to the chin/cheek connection. Is there some other kinesthetic or other cue I should be looking for to know I'm doing it right?

A guy who swims at the pool was commenting how the final third of the stroke is where a lot of people lose speed, and I haven't been particularly focused on that (probably thinking too much about the EVF). Do you all feel like your power through the entire stroke is consistent? Do you actively push water back/push yourself forward in the final third of the stroke?

At this stage of my swimming is it more important to have longer RIs and shorter sets when my form starts to fall apart, or is it actually better to push through at this point and keep a shorter RI? Maybe it's not an either or, but I hear/read people talk about this with two very distinct school of thought: you don't want to have bad form and reinforce bad technique v it's good to push when you're really tired in swimming because that's where you'll get the big gains and it's ok if your form suffers a bit because eventually you will figure out how to adapt to make the SO.

Ben (whoa, that can't be your name ... Bill?) ... ya bloody fastie fishy that's beautiful!

The bolded isn't oversimplifying. It's just how it is. I'll repost the Swim Smooth "How to Train" article here--really helpful regarding structure/frequency of training down to RIs and repeats.

http://www.swimsmooth.com/training.html

Using Critical Swim Speed (their version of time trials) is much like doing field tests for bike and run HR training.

As for catch--it's really hard to say without video. It's likely to be extremely easy to say with it. MOST swimmers, even ones in your speed range, will be erring (if they are erring) on crossing over. Again, I vote video, but you could always try a little experiment with extending your hands to what feels like 12 o'clock, then 11 and 1, then 10 and 2. Which is fastest/smoothest?

Also, some swimmers LOOK like they cross over (or are too close to the midline) but when you look at the underwater footage they've actually initiated catch exactly where they need to in order for a good pull. Diana Nyad is one of these.

As for the back half (push or finish phase) ... I'm just gonna harp on doing the SSW. They really structure training in an optimal way (all gets answered regarding RIs, repeats, effort) and break the stroke down at the same time into very simple, easy-to-implement steps.

Mad Manatee Mentors 2013: CLOSED (exc/ Pop Tart bribes) (Page 432)

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