So I DID end up getting just a touch of the stomach bug. It was so mild I'm not sure I really got it, but I was sick enough that I was down two pounds today (142 even). But I'm not counting that as an official weight since it just sets me up for disappointment next week. I'll go with yesterday's weight of 144.4 as my official weight for the week.
I'm off to the pool in about 45 minutes. Ugh. I've been reading Total Immersion and it gives me a bit of hope. The book/technique is one I've heard about from various people who all swear by its methods and praise the technique with all sorts of flowery prose. The idea is to increase your efficiency while swimming by positioning yourself in the water in the most hydrodynamic way, balancing your body in the water and using your core muscles for most of the power behind your stroke. Sounds easy, right? We'll see. So far I've only read the first half of the book where they explain the how and why of the technique. The second half of the book deals with drills and implementing the technique. So I've gotten through all the PR and am sold on it, but now I need to read the small print and see how this really works. That won't happen in the next 45 minutes, so I'm in for another day of slogging through the water at a snails pace and being about as hydrodynamic as a lump of clay with twigs stuck in it.
1 comment:
It's mostly about muscle memory. I've always said I don't think humans are naturally aquatic creatures. Yet nearly everyone naturally floats in the water.
But doing the strokes can seem horribly unnatural and even uncomfortable.
I think many people jump into the water and just start flailing their arms and kicking their feet and just expect to sail across the pool.
Use your first few sessions to break down the stroke and feel it. Work on each part. Think about kicking and getting that right then add in the arms, then think about the breathing. All of a sudden the stroke will come together. Trust me, I've seen it.
I'm glad to hear you're really studying up on it. But take comfort in that most triathletes (and you will be one soon) suck at swimming.
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