Day #3 – Swimming For My Triathlon (Slow & Steady)

This week I was on a mission to calm down a bit and really try to work on my front stroke. First off, we got to class late, so I already had self-applied pressure and some catching up to do. Got in the water, and did my first lap with my goggles too d@mn tight. I felt like my eyes looked like Bart Simpson, bulging out, so I readjusted immediately, lol.

This week I was doing some reading and had some adjustments planned. Instead of taking a breath with every stroke, I’ll take a breath every 3 strokes to help calm me down a little. That allowed me to take shorter exhales under water, pivot my head out calmly and take a deep exhale. It actually worked for me and I didn’t gulp too much water with this change. I did try to work on my endurance by NOT doing the fundamental backstroke, but by doing the front stroke back to the start. I caught some serious wind at one point, drank half the pool, and belched like I just had a keg to my head, but I survived:) I know the lifeguard must think I’m a looney tune!!

Last week I completed 26 laps in the 90 minutes and this week, I did 22 laps, but I actually paused more to work on my form. So not bad for less time in the pool and more time concentrating of being more efficient. Nadia and I didn’t share a lane this week. I had to be careful not to slap the goggles off of my lane partner by accident, but we worked well together. I did however introduce her to my best whale impersonation as I blew the living crap out of my nose because I was holding my breath too long when she was waiting at the deep end. She was silent…but had to be flipping me “the bird” inside. Oh well. Actually, it was more like an elephant with water in it’s tusk.

Goals accomplished this week: (1) I calmed down drastically; (2) I stayed in my lane and didn’t wander as much; (3) I worked on pivoting my head more and looking up in order to take a nice deep inhale, reducing the water intake in my mouth.

Goals for next week: (1) Stay within 22-26 laps (which equals about 3/4 mile); (2) work on my endurance outside of the pool with 25 yard sprints outdoors or tabata sprints on the the treadmill. I have to NOT get winded…eventhough it’s really taxing. But I’m feeling better for sure.

Week #1: 15 laps

Week #2: 26 laps

Week #3: 22 laps

Thanks for following my journey everyone:) Any tips you may have, please share them (videos, books, etc.) I would appreciate it.