It has been close to 5 weeks since I took the 2 day Total Immersion workshop. I have diligently been doing the drills as prescribed. The first 4 weeks were spent doing 80% drills & 20% swim. For the past 4 weeks I have not swam further than 50 yards without taking a break. These 2 things were really difficult to adhere to but thankfully I am now into week 5.
According to Leah, the TI instructor, the next 3 months should be spent doing 50% drills & 50% swim. Consecutive swimming should not exceed 200 yard before taking a break. A break can be 10 seconds or longer. Also, speed work is not suggested. The focus is still on form & when tired form falls apart. This is definitely true in my case. I think this will be a much easier plan to follow.
Last Sunday I did the following workout:
WU - 800 yards
50 yd swim, 50 yd drill. Drills including skate, shark fin & shark fin switch.
MS - 500 yards - 10 x 50 yards
2 x 50 yd swim, 1 x 50 yd drill, 2 x 50 yd swim, 1 x 50 yd drill, 2 x 50 yd swim, 1 x 50 yd
drill, 1 x 50 yd swim
CD - 200 yards
100 yd free, 100 yd back
Total - 1500 yards
I swam the 50 yard frees moderately hard. Not a full out sprint. I was able to swim all 50's in 1:03 - 1:07. This is a solid 7 to 11 seconds faster than my pre-swim clinic 50 yard times. My stroke rates were 21 -22 per lap. I was pretty happy about that.
Honestly, this is a big relief. I won't lie that there was a part of me that was concerned I was putting in all these hours in the pool & wouldn't be any faster.
The next 3 weeks I am going to loosely follow the swim workouts in the 6 week triathlon plan. Heavy focus on drills & form. Also, I want to reduce my stroke rate to be consistently under 20 while maintaining my 50 yard speed.
I will post another update after I go to the video analysis workshop on April 1st.
A few other fun things happened this week.
1) Karma is doing great. She is peppy, eating good & just looks much, much better! 2) I received my Tough Chik kit! I will post pictures of this soon. 3) I was accepted to be a 2012 Clif Bar Ambassador. I will get a team kit along with lots of Clif Bar samples to give out at training sessions this summer.
I am looking forward to sporting both of my new kits!
This Saturday is Steve & my 5th year anniversary. It is crazy how fast time flies!
Hope is well with y'all!
I was telling a friend at Masters Swim last night about how hard it's been for me to make the transition from swimming the wrong way to swimming the right way. It takes a lot more strength to do a correct pull than it does that half pull thingy I was doing before. I get fatigued much quicker. It can be a bummer but in the end I'm guessing it pays off :)
ReplyDeleteHappy Karma is better! :)