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It's been a little while (3 weeks) since I posted, so I figured I'd update everyone following my blog (thanks be to ye, faithful followers of my humble swimming adventures).
Since I last posted, I have had several new things come to light. The first started with my second meet, which took place October 18th, 2008 in Cantonsville, MD at the beautiful UMBC pool. I was signed up for the 200 free, the 100 breast, and the 100 IM. My first revelation came 100 yards into the 200 free: I am not a distance swimmer--at least, not in freestyle. I swam a dreadful 3:37. I swim faster than that at practice going less than race pace, so I know I'm capable of better; however, I went out too fast and died in the end. I have a lot of problems controlling my pace and holding back, so I'm fairly certain I am best suited to shorter races in the front crawl.
The second revelation was that I have a lot of potential in breaststroke. I beat my seed time by a second, swimming the 100 in 1:34.44. That is a fairly respectable time for someone who had only been swimming for 6 weeks at the time. I immediately recognized things I did wrong in the race that would have significantly reduced my time. I took it out slow because I was afraid of dying again, I did not streamline very well, my arm recovery was slow, and my turns were slow. I also did a very flat dive. I didn't know it at the time, but I was also breathing incorrectly. I'll talk about that more later. Despite all this, and in fact, because of my ability to recognize this, I felt good about the swim and my future with breaststroke.
The third revelation was that I need more than 2-1/2 minutes between events. The 100 IM was two events after the 100 breast, but the event in the middle consisted of 4 heats of the 50 fly. Needless to say, by the time I was toweled off and ready to go swim down, it was time for me to race again. I scratched the event, because I was afraid I would not be able to finish it due to fatigue and my currently inefficient butterly and backstroke. I was okay with that, and it didn't disappoint me too much.
Since the meet, I have had good days and bad days in practice. My front crawl has improved dramatically, as I am no longer attempting to do the s-stroke that so many of my heroes use (Thorpie, Phelps, Sullivan), but rather listening to my coaches and using a straight pull with an early vertical forearm. Watching videos of Stefan Nystrand has also helped, as my hand posture has improved and helps me be more boyant while gliding. My sprint front crawl has gone down from 34 to 27 seconds per 50 yards. I know I can go faster there as well, it's just a matter of keeping my stroke efficient and really engaging my kick.
I haven't given up on the breaststroke either, and in fact, have dramatically improved. I did a time trial off a dive and a clear lane, and swam it in 29 seconds. This was several weeks ago. Since then, I have not swam the 50 breast as well, even in practice. Today, however, I realized my problem. Essentially, I have been working towards rapid turnover and speed, but sacrificing my stroke efficiency. I did a workout that I found on the USMS forums:
Warm Up
200 EZ (100 FR/100 BR)
50 underwater pull, then FR (essentially, doing a long underwater breaststroke pull to maximize distance)
100 drill (1 pull, 2 kicks BR)
50 pull FR
Main Set
8x25 BR ALL OUT - 3:00
4x25 BR Distance per Stroke - 5 seconds rest
4x25 BR ALL OUT - 3:00
Warm Down
100 EZ
I recorded the times to mark my progress. The first 8 sprints were an improvement on my Aquapalooza times, ranging between 18 and 20 seconds per 25 yards; however, I was getting frustrated because I knew I could go faster. Ironically, the great breaststroker Brendan Hansen is the one who got me into competitive swimming, and it was a video of Michael Phelps swimming breaststroke--his worst stroke--that keyed me in on my issues. I spent the 4x25 DPS between the sprints fixing my breathing, my kick, and my shoulder hunches. I hit the last 4x25 sprints between 15 and 16 seconds every time. I was quite pleased with this, as it puts me at a 30-31 second 50 yard breast off a push, which should yield me a 28-29 second 50 breast off a dive. That gets me back to where I was, and conscious of what I am doing right.
Even more importantly, I was going at a speed I could hold for an entire 100, which would put me around a :58-1:00 for a 100 breast. That is a great time, and I hope to make that at my next meet (Nov. 15). My 50 breast will improve with some time, since I only need to work on decreasing the glide time without chopping the stroke. I see myself hitting 25-26 second 50s fairly shortly. I just need to buckle down and really focus in practice and on my own. It's going to take some serious dedication, but I think I'm up for it!
In addition to the fabulous swimming updates, I have a new sponsor--H2O Audio. I am currently awaiting my welcome kit, but I am so happy to be part of the H2O Audio Team, which also has the wonderful Natalie Coughlin--world record holder and multiple Olympic medalist--in its ranks. Essentially, H2O Audio makes waterproof cases for iPods that are designed to be used by athletes in a myriad of sports, from swimming and triathlons to kayaking and surfing. I plan on using mine to warm up before races as well as wear during practices to keep my rhythm and timing (when I'm not boogying down in the deep end of the pool!). My welcome kit should be arriving shortly, so I will give an update on how everything works as soon as I get to test it out.
I am also in the process of filming several mini-commercials for my sponsors. They are all being filmed by me and a small crew of people providing cinematography and music services. My hope is to release one on my swimroom page, blog, facebook and loopd.com accounts. They will be shorts displaying my swimming as well as my sponsors, and hopefully will serve as promos for future sponsors that may consider me for their teams.
That's all for now. I will update you again after my meet on the 15th of this month. Happy swimming!
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