Sunday, September 5, 2010

Ass whoopin'

I do believe yesterday I wrote down that I thought the swim session was going to be tough. TOUGH? Not quite sure if the word 'tough' clearly defines how I found yesterdays swim. It wasn't the total distance that blew me away, it was how we did those 3000m and the fact that we used the pullbouy alot - leaving my shoulders and arms screaming in lactic acid pain.

Here is what we did yesterday:
  • 300m Fr/s warm up
  • 200m Rock n' Roll for 50m, Fr/s for 5om.
Then this is where it all started to hurt. We did a ladder set.
  • 100m - scull for 25m, Fr/s for 25m
  • 200m - 4 x 50m Fr/s stroke count. Decreasing the stroke count on every 50m
  • 300m - Easy Fr/s with pullbouy
  • 400m - 4 x 100m on 1.40. I did them on 1:16, 1:18, 1:22, 1:19
  • 500m - Fr/s with pullbouy. 50m hard, 50m easy
  • 400m - 8 x 50m Fr/s on 1 min. Coach wanted them all under 40s
  • 300m - Easy Fr/s with pullbouy
  • 200m - 8 x 25m open water swim start drills
  • 100m - cooldown
I have never ached that much in my shoulders before. I always thought I was strong in my upper body but this highlighted one critical flaw in my stroke - I lose form when I fatigue. I start to bounce through the water losing the front part of my catch and then trying to pull through with about 60% of my pull to go. This makes me dig hard and makes me drop my shoulder. I also start to cross my arm over the halfway point which makes me zig zag slightly in the water - which makes me lose momentum. NOT GOOD.

Oh well, good thing now is I know what I am doing wrong so I just have to fix it. Which means I need to focus more on form in all my sessions. I know I worked hard yesterday cause my shoulders, lats and deltoids are aching this morning. I haven't felt that in a while.

Off I go now to cook up some pancakes for breakfast for Father's Day for Stephen. Happy Father's Day to all you daddies out there.

Your hard work will be rewarded.

"The path to a dream is paved with sacrifices and lined with determination. And though it has many stumbling blocks along the way, and may go in more than one direction, it is travelled by belief and courage and conquered with a willingness to face challenges and take chances" Barbara Cage