SBR Utopia - OPEN (Page 92)

There has got to be a way around learning the kick!

Nah, you are going to employ the whole not wearing sunscreen trick and it's going to work like a charm. 

Excellent point, well-taken. I even removed sunblock from what Rusty calls my "crazy, two-page, intended-for-mature-audiences-only IM checklist."

There was a pretty good thread about dolphin kick in Tri Talk a couple weeks back:

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=476725&posts=19

LOL, I well know the 2-speed butterfly vs. butterstruggle.

I'm planning to write the third (is it the fourth already? who knows) installment of my "weekly" (more like monthly) swim tips, which will be something like "simple fly for improving free."

What helps me (different visualizations help different folks in the different strokes) is to really relax the arms on recovery (it's called recovery for a reason) and lay them gently in the water at 10 and 2 (it should be more like 11 and 1 but you don't want to overreach). It's the kick that drives forward motion at that point in the stroke cycle, not driving the arms forward.

I also don't lift my face out of the water much--lift quickly just enough to have it at something like a 45-degree angle to the water, mouth barely out, which makes the undulating motion of the whole body much more FORWARD and less UP AND DOWN.

Don't know if that helps; it's just what I do.

Try doing some longer butterfly sets with fins on (zoomers).  Focus on getting into a good rhythm and proper body motion.  The fins will allow you to keep your forward momentum and get your arms around quicker in the recovery phase.

Just pulled the trigger on a FLO 60 front wheel to go with the rear cover on the PT.  This is the last of my speed that I could purchase.  It's all about the engine and the position at this point.

You guys and your multiple strokes are funny.....I'm just tryign to get the hang of one.

And no-one better tell me I'll improve that one by learning the others.  Don't want to hear it.

Sweet, post pics when you get it.  

Aw, come on and post it to the group Yanti - you knoooooow you want to! 

x2 Neil - what is your order timeline?

Hey here is a link to the data recorded by my Finis SwimSense this morning for anyone that is interested in seeing what the reporting looks like: 

http://www.finisinc.com/streamline/share/swimsense/view/512661ad4ce19

It was a pretty boring recovery swim - all fairly easy swimming. I'll be a little more interested to see what it looks like for a harder swim. It doesn't quite know what to do with kick and drill sets (it only recognizes the 4 major strokes) and just records them as long rests. (it also exposes what a bad lap counter I can be sometimes!) Training Peaks returned what seems like both a high Swim TSS and Intesity factor (87.1 & 0.96) which most likely means that I simply do not know exactly what they mean when they ask for my "threshold pace." I will need to read up on that a bit more and adjust.

Still not sure if the info is of enough value on a daily basis to wear it all the time, but it might be nice to wear on test days, TTs, etc.

I would be interested in seeing what the 910xt data looks like if anyone is willing to share?

Oh, and here is the workout:

2x
300 pull
200 kick (with fins)

Main Set, :20~:30 rest on everything
6x200 odds steady, evens build
3x100 quality
4x200 odds steady, evens build
4x50 quality

400 warm down

You asked for it -- no idea if the formatting will show up (it's in an Excel spreadsheet with 8 worksheets: pre-post race and transition bags, schedules, tourism, addresses/info, etc.). Ignore the X's.

Hm and I figured you just typed it out from memory

Rusty - the volume is embarrasing compared to you.  This is before something went wrong and my swim speeds disappeared again.  Click intervals in the top right to see details.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/274614229

Supposed to ship in 2 weeks time from Vegas.

I'm of course happy with my 5K PR but more important, have had a solid  week. The day following the 5K I did an 18-miler with 8 miles of marathon pace and it went great then yesterday at practice our coach had me do a 4-mile tempo run @ 6:28 pace. I had to do it solo (the rest of the team is mainly middle distance and they were doing a really irrelevant workout) and don't have a watch so I had to use the stop watch function on my iPhone and keep it in my sleeve lol!!! Oh yeah, and do lots of math while running. 

and a rampant STD breakout 

Sweet.  What color decals did you go with.  Besides the whole aero/affordable concept...I absolutely love the fact that FLO allows you to choose from so many decal colors...including the black on black.  Most companies opt for the black wheel and white logo so you can see it from a mile away.  I think the stealth logo, or one that matches your bike color scheme makes it so much cooler.  Because that's why we buy wheels anyway right...for the looks?

Truth - Yanti posted this (a couple of years ago maybe?) before my first IM and it honestly helped me tremendously by A) letting me know that my compulsive list making prior to IM was perfectly normal and B) it caused me to think of all sorts of possible scenarios that I otherwise would have overlooked. The only thing I do differently is carry cash and condoms on both the bike AND the run... 

Thanks Neil - FWIW sub 1:30 100s maintaining 16 strokes per length througout the setis nothing to sneeze at in my book.

So it looks like the same data. The Garmin does include an additional "efficiency" number so you can compare swims in different length pools and/or open water and it looks like it too does a good job of figuring out the stroke. Do you just push the button and go or do you have to hit laps? What does it do for kick and drill (for example, sculling) sets? It looks like the Garmin saves the workout as a TCX file, which is nice - that means you can completely avoid having to connect your actual device to Garmin connect, Training Peaks, etc.

Do you find yourself using the 910xt and its data for swims for anything useful? 

An interesting side note: the masters group that I swim with while I am home in Atlanta doesn't have any rules relative to watches, but the group I swim with back at Auburn has a "no watch" rule (they have a lot more people in the lanes than the group here in Atlanta). In the atlanta group none of the pure swimmers wear a watch, but most of the triathletes do. For years I wore one, but over the last three years I have just learned to really work the pace clock. It was actually kinda weird swimming with one this morning.

Rusty,

I use my 910 in the pool only when swimming on my own.  My master's class doesn't have a watch rule, but our class can have a lot of variables that may be misleading when looking at the data later.  Primarily if you were the lane leader or not and getting a draft benefit.

That said...I don't really look that much into my data other than split times.  During the workout...it's simply a really fancy stop watch that also counts laps.

I bought the 910 to replace my 410 as a running watch (which died), but also to give me all in one race day functionality.  Previously I would have my sport watch on for the whole race (for total time) and then put on my 410 for the run.  I looked kind of dorky with two watches on.

Yeah Kansas Mom five hours of running wow! you can be proud of that.

can i call my thirty min of pt exercises strength training? otherwise i dont know how to fit more training into my day. i am at nearing two hours now (including driving) My goal is only a sprint tri....

Sorry to hear of injuries..and colds. hang in there.

I do like hot yoga but dehydration is constantly looming over me in spite of having a drinking problem..I have a bottled of water with me..ALWAYS. Texas is so frickin' hot starting in like a week.

I had plantar fascitis for a week..from the wrong bike shoes and too much spinning. got rid of shoes..prob. solved. I do make a big deal of stretching my feet everyday since that happened. i cannot give up my flip flops at this time..but i did quit heels. My hips are too fragile still but I am working on that from several angles.

as far as the butterfly, timing timing timing....its all core and you might try drills to lessen your misery. I know about the "one speed" thing. With efficient motion and absolutely proper body position you will gain control . Its likely that your sinking as you swim and are trying to use speed to try to propel your self to the the wall. more drills. oh...get someone to videotape you with an I phone. Several of us learned that way last year. 

Keep getting it done however you have to!