Today was my last swim lesson. My first swim lesson actually seems like quite a long time ago, although it's only been 6 weeks. In my lessons, (lesson #2, lesson #3, lessons #4 & #5) I learned freestyle, backstroke, and breaststroke. I have a basic understanding of each stroke, but still need a lot of practice to become an good swimmer. Since I wasn't interested in learning butterfly, today I wanted to focus on swimming laps. Mary (my instructor) assigned me different lap exercises and by the end of the class, I was exhausted.
I started with a 200 yard freestyle warm-up. Half-way down the first length of the pool, I choked on some water. Not exactly the stellar performance I was hoping for. I preserved however and made it through the warm-up. After the warm-up Mary suggested a 100 yard modified medley, since I didn't learn butterfly. This consisted of 25 yards of breaststroke, 25 yards of backstroke, and 50 yards of freestyle. I repeated that twice, then she had me do kicking and arm drills. I repeated the 100 yard medley, first while holding a kick-board, then using a pull buoy. You put the pull buoy between your legs and it keeps them floating so you can practice arm movements. I wasn't really a fan because it made my legs float very high and caused me to arch my back, but I can see the benefits of using it.
After the drills, I swam some more freestyle laps, trying to practice flip turns and going further than 50 yards before resting. I made it to 75 yards (3 lengths of the pool), but felt pretty worn out after that. I did a 150 yard freestyle cool-down with no flip turns and was done. Swim lessons have been a great experience for me. I had to change gyms to get access to a pool, but I believe it was worth it. I plan to incorporate at least one day of swimming into my next training phase to continue on the progress I have made.
Showing posts with label swimming. Show all posts
Showing posts with label swimming. Show all posts
Monday, February 14, 2011
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Swim Lessons #4 and #5
I took my 5th swim lesson today. I had previously recapped each week individually (lesson #1, lesson #2, lesson #3), but last we started on breaststroke and all I would have been able to say was it's really hard. This week I feel like a have a better handle on it.
Before my first triathlon, my friend Rebecca taught me the basics of the breaststroke and said it was a good recovery stroke. You bring your head out of the water to breathe every stroke which is helpful when you're tired. I thought I understood what she said and could manage a decent breaststroke. In reflection, it was probably more of a breaststroke/doggy paddle hybrid.
Last week, Mary (the instructor) taught me the kick first. She described it as a frog kick. You pull your legs up towards your stomach, kick them up and out to the side, and bring them together with your legs straight. I practiced for most of lesson #4 and still didn't quite get it. I was kicking down and out rather then up and out.
This week, Mary explained and demonstrated the kick again. I practiced on the wall, then practiced with a kick-board. After I felt comfortable and Mary thought my kick looked good, I added arms. The stroke movement starts with your hands together in front of your chest. You push you arms straight out then sweep them to the sides before bringing the hands back together in front of your chest.
Another tricky part of breast stroke is that your arms should go out as your legs come together. The timing is very difficult to get down, but it makes you faster because either your arms or legs take turns moving you forward. I spent the last 15 minutes of class practicing and had it right maybe half of the time. I will continue to practice it, but I don't anticipate using it during a triathlon.
Before my first triathlon, my friend Rebecca taught me the basics of the breaststroke and said it was a good recovery stroke. You bring your head out of the water to breathe every stroke which is helpful when you're tired. I thought I understood what she said and could manage a decent breaststroke. In reflection, it was probably more of a breaststroke/doggy paddle hybrid.
Last week, Mary (the instructor) taught me the kick first. She described it as a frog kick. You pull your legs up towards your stomach, kick them up and out to the side, and bring them together with your legs straight. I practiced for most of lesson #4 and still didn't quite get it. I was kicking down and out rather then up and out.This week, Mary explained and demonstrated the kick again. I practiced on the wall, then practiced with a kick-board. After I felt comfortable and Mary thought my kick looked good, I added arms. The stroke movement starts with your hands together in front of your chest. You push you arms straight out then sweep them to the sides before bringing the hands back together in front of your chest.
Another tricky part of breast stroke is that your arms should go out as your legs come together. The timing is very difficult to get down, but it makes you faster because either your arms or legs take turns moving you forward. I spent the last 15 minutes of class practicing and had it right maybe half of the time. I will continue to practice it, but I don't anticipate using it during a triathlon.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Swim Lesson #3
I hope to be mixing the posts up again soon, but my life has been mostly work and trying to stay warm recently. Just in cause you're new, here's Swim Lesson #1 and Swim Lesson #2.
Today's lesson was great. The 3 of us that can swim are all at different points now, so Mary (the instructor) works with us individually, gives us something to practice, and then works with the next person. I started out with a freestyle lap and a back stroke lap for warm up. After that, I worked on flip turns more. I started by practicing the flip and pushing off the wall, which is where we ended last week. It took me a while to get the feel for the proper amount of rotation to push off with the most power. You want to be about 3/4ths of the way around so your legs are parallel to the surface of the water as you push off.
When I was comfortable with the flip and push, Mary had me add turning over onto my stomach as I came off the wall. That wasn't too difficult to add in, although I'm trying to decide which direction I prefer to turn. Once I was able to complete all the steps - flip, push, turn, I practiced swimming to the wall and then completing the flip turn. This was actually quite difficult because you have to time your strokes so you can take a breath before the turn and be the proper distance from the wall as you start your turn. On my first attempt I ended up with a large quantity of water up my nose. It did get better after that and soon I decided to swim an actual lap. I'd started out in shallow water, swimming the width of the pool.
I got to the wall in the deep end and was rewarded with more water up my nose. I practiced the flip and push off a few times in the deep end so I couldn't use the bottom of the pool for support. When I felt comfortable with the turn in the deep end, I added swimming back in. Finally, by the end of class, I was able to swim to the wall, complete a flip turn and keep swimming. This is a lot harder than stopping to rest at the wall as I had done previously.
This was a pretty difficult move, but I'm glad to have the basics down. I especially like that it will allow me to develop more endurance since I won't be stopping every 25 yards, which will translate to being able to better complete an open-water swim.
Today's lesson was great. The 3 of us that can swim are all at different points now, so Mary (the instructor) works with us individually, gives us something to practice, and then works with the next person. I started out with a freestyle lap and a back stroke lap for warm up. After that, I worked on flip turns more. I started by practicing the flip and pushing off the wall, which is where we ended last week. It took me a while to get the feel for the proper amount of rotation to push off with the most power. You want to be about 3/4ths of the way around so your legs are parallel to the surface of the water as you push off.
When I was comfortable with the flip and push, Mary had me add turning over onto my stomach as I came off the wall. That wasn't too difficult to add in, although I'm trying to decide which direction I prefer to turn. Once I was able to complete all the steps - flip, push, turn, I practiced swimming to the wall and then completing the flip turn. This was actually quite difficult because you have to time your strokes so you can take a breath before the turn and be the proper distance from the wall as you start your turn. On my first attempt I ended up with a large quantity of water up my nose. It did get better after that and soon I decided to swim an actual lap. I'd started out in shallow water, swimming the width of the pool.
I got to the wall in the deep end and was rewarded with more water up my nose. I practiced the flip and push off a few times in the deep end so I couldn't use the bottom of the pool for support. When I felt comfortable with the turn in the deep end, I added swimming back in. Finally, by the end of class, I was able to swim to the wall, complete a flip turn and keep swimming. This is a lot harder than stopping to rest at the wall as I had done previously.
This was a pretty difficult move, but I'm glad to have the basics down. I especially like that it will allow me to develop more endurance since I won't be stopping every 25 yards, which will translate to being able to better complete an open-water swim.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Swim Lesson #2
I had my second swim lesson yesterday morning. This the recap of lesson #1 which includes my reasons for taking lessons.
This week we started by practicing freestyle again. Mary, the instructor, recommended I try to just breathe on my dominant side. I had thought I was supposed to alternate my breaths, so I would breathe every 3 strokes. Breathing just on the right side made a huge difference in how much energy I was expending. I think in trying to wait until the 3rd stroke I was holding my breath longer, which made me feel more tired. Now, I'm breathing every other stroke (every time my right arm comes out of the water) and it feels so much better. I practiced for about 10 minutes and then Mary decided it was time for me to move to back stroke.
She had me start out by holding a kickboard over my head and just practicing the kick. That went well, so she had me add arms, trying to keep them close to my ears as I stroked. She also taught me how to count strokes so I wouldn't crash into the wall. I feel pretty good about back stroke. It can be a nice break since you don't have to hold your breath.
We ended the class by learning to flip turn. Like everything else, this was broken down into parts. First I learned to do a forward flip in the water. The hardest part of this for me was breathing out as I went under so I didn't get water up my nose. After I was able to flip without difficulty, we moved close to the wall to practice there. Mary was impressed that I wasn't scared to flip close to the wall since most people are. I appreciated the complement, but after she said that I got a little more nervous. I didn't hit my head, but I did get some more water up my nose. After several times flipping by the wall, she had me start to push off the wall with my feet mid-turn. Unfortunately, we ran out of time as I got comfortable with that, so the rest of the turn will have to wait until next week.
This week's class was a little more chaotic since there were a lot of people in the pool that weren't taking lessons. I spoke to the aquatics manager after the class since the pool is supposed to be closed during lessons except for 1 lap lane. She said that the issue would be addressed during their staff meeting today so hopefully it will be better next week.
This week we started by practicing freestyle again. Mary, the instructor, recommended I try to just breathe on my dominant side. I had thought I was supposed to alternate my breaths, so I would breathe every 3 strokes. Breathing just on the right side made a huge difference in how much energy I was expending. I think in trying to wait until the 3rd stroke I was holding my breath longer, which made me feel more tired. Now, I'm breathing every other stroke (every time my right arm comes out of the water) and it feels so much better. I practiced for about 10 minutes and then Mary decided it was time for me to move to back stroke.
She had me start out by holding a kickboard over my head and just practicing the kick. That went well, so she had me add arms, trying to keep them close to my ears as I stroked. She also taught me how to count strokes so I wouldn't crash into the wall. I feel pretty good about back stroke. It can be a nice break since you don't have to hold your breath.
We ended the class by learning to flip turn. Like everything else, this was broken down into parts. First I learned to do a forward flip in the water. The hardest part of this for me was breathing out as I went under so I didn't get water up my nose. After I was able to flip without difficulty, we moved close to the wall to practice there. Mary was impressed that I wasn't scared to flip close to the wall since most people are. I appreciated the complement, but after she said that I got a little more nervous. I didn't hit my head, but I did get some more water up my nose. After several times flipping by the wall, she had me start to push off the wall with my feet mid-turn. Unfortunately, we ran out of time as I got comfortable with that, so the rest of the turn will have to wait until next week.
This week's class was a little more chaotic since there were a lot of people in the pool that weren't taking lessons. I spoke to the aquatics manager after the class since the pool is supposed to be closed during lessons except for 1 lap lane. She said that the issue would be addressed during their staff meeting today so hopefully it will be better next week.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Swim Lesson #1
Saturday was my first adult swim lesson. I took lessons as a kid, but never really learned to how swim well. Last summer before my first triathlon, I read Triathlon Swimming Made Easy,practiced the drills to learn the basics, and started swimming laps. I never got to the point where I could swim long distances comfortably or easily. I would usually rest after completing a lap (50 meters) and my form got worse as I got more fatigued. However, I was able to complete a half mile swim during the triathlon without stopping to rest. There was some backstroke, side stoke, and a lot of doggy paddling though. This led me to my decision to take swim lessons before entering another triathlon. I have an idea of what to do, but I need someone watching me to improve my form.
We started the class by telling our goal. My goal is to develop efficiency and ease in the water. There are 2 people in the class that have never swam, so they worked with one of the instructors, while the other 4 of us that can swim, but want to get better worked with the other instructor, Mary. The first thing we did was swim freestyle the length of the pool. I was pleasantly surprised that I felt good doing that and was the fastest person in our group. After our first swim, Mary gave us kickboards and had us practice kicking. This is something I'm actually pretty good at. The key is keeping your leg straight and ankle loose. Next, we practiced arm circles. This is something I need improvement on. I don't lengthen my arm enough before pulling back. Then we practiced breathing. Mary told us to keep our cheek in the water as we turned to breathe. I can do that about 50% of the time, but then I swallow water and want to lift my whole head. Mary recommended breathing out until my mouth is all the way out of the water. When we practiced everything together, I felt ok about how I was doing. I asked Mary about getting tired and she told me that would get better the more I practiced. We finished up by treading water and floating, which are useful skills in open water swimming.
Overall, I think the first class went well. I already feel like I can do more than "not drown" and I look forward to continuing to improve over the next 5 weeks. I'm planning to practice Wednesday and we'll see how I do at keeping all the tips in my head when I'm by myself.
We started the class by telling our goal. My goal is to develop efficiency and ease in the water. There are 2 people in the class that have never swam, so they worked with one of the instructors, while the other 4 of us that can swim, but want to get better worked with the other instructor, Mary. The first thing we did was swim freestyle the length of the pool. I was pleasantly surprised that I felt good doing that and was the fastest person in our group. After our first swim, Mary gave us kickboards and had us practice kicking. This is something I'm actually pretty good at. The key is keeping your leg straight and ankle loose. Next, we practiced arm circles. This is something I need improvement on. I don't lengthen my arm enough before pulling back. Then we practiced breathing. Mary told us to keep our cheek in the water as we turned to breathe. I can do that about 50% of the time, but then I swallow water and want to lift my whole head. Mary recommended breathing out until my mouth is all the way out of the water. When we practiced everything together, I felt ok about how I was doing. I asked Mary about getting tired and she told me that would get better the more I practiced. We finished up by treading water and floating, which are useful skills in open water swimming.
Overall, I think the first class went well. I already feel like I can do more than "not drown" and I look forward to continuing to improve over the next 5 weeks. I'm planning to practice Wednesday and we'll see how I do at keeping all the tips in my head when I'm by myself.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)