Don't give up!!

Thought about this quote when I read your post.

Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did! - Newt Gingrich

Way to hang in there!

Still Tri'n
Michael

That is the kind of motivation I like to see. I am where you were about 6 weeks ago. There is a light at the end of this tunnel. Thanks for the encouragement to us all just starting the swim or any of the disiplines for that matter. I hope to post my successes along the way.

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Haha, no secrets. A friend gave me the book "Total Immersion" by Terry Laughlin and John Delves about 2 weeks after I started. I went from flailing in the water, with no real understanding of what to focus on (other than not drowning), to working on technique. The technique works!! It involves several aspects including
1)Balancing in the water- pressing your "bouy" or chest into the water to bring your legs and hips up (think swimming downhill)
2)Rolling side to side- rather that flat
3) Staying long, skinny and slippery- always have one arm reaching in the water- keeping the arms in the front quadrant as long as possible. (this makes sense when you think of the loing thin boats that cut through the water)
4) Power comes from the hips/core, the arms are just the delivery system.
5) When your hand is on the back pull. imagine grabbing a ladder rung and pulling yourself forward. He suggests that the big dogs of swimming actually take their hand out of the water ahead of where it entered...still working on that.
6) Kicking is an afterthaough- rather than tiring yourself out by power kicking, let the core do the work. Keep legs strong and ankles flexible and smooth.
I started from a pretty clean slate so it was relatively easy for me to adapt to this- for others who have been swimming a long time it would be more challenging to reprogram the body.

The other "secret" is a nagging IT problem that has kept me from running- I went from 70K a week to under 70K in a month. So I've needed to focus my energies somewhere to stay sane. After much research and reading I've decided to take a full month off running completely. This is probably the hardest part of training I've ever experienced. So I am grateful for the challenge of swimming to focus on- that and praying to the Gods of the knees that I heal completely.

Last but not least the support and knowldege from this site have played a huge part in sticking with the training. The email you sent Ron about sticking with it and then one day- BAM! it happens- was hard to believe at the time but it gave me hope.

Thanks.
Amber Dawn