Happy New Year!
My athletic goal for 2017 was to immerse myself into swimming, to shift from being a marathon runner to becoming a beginner marathon swimmer. Lofty goal. I wanted to improve my stroke technique (be more efficient) so that I would be more confident in the pool as well as the open water. I wanted to fall in love with swimming, as I loved running (something that I can't do anymore cuz of my knee).
I started to swim with a masters swim group at our gym 3 to 4 times a week, took a swim lesson in February to fix my stroke, and practiced all of the corrections. In late summer, I took an open water swim and VASA lesson with Eric Nielson (FAST coach) and practiced with his corrections for the rest of year. I do think my stroke is more efficient, hopefully I am dropping my elbows a little less than I used to. I think I catch the water with my forearms better too.
I am still trying to fix my timing, breathing, and lifting my head so much when I breathe (meaning I need to rotated my body to breathe, not turn my head). I have a long way to go in improving those things, but what is still totally eluding me is the damn rotation. I have videos of me swimming in open water and I see how my arms swing out too far, which means I am still swimming pretty flat - with very little rotation. It's so frustrating cuz I think I'm rotating while I swim.
Proper rotation comes from the hips - and I think my rotation originates from my shoulders. Oops! Rotation is something new for me, as someone who learned to swim in the 60's and 70's. So for 2018, my focus is to continue to immerse myself in swimming, get stronger and more efficient in the water.
I am falling in love with swimming - I look forward to starting my day in the pool. I miss it when I skip. That's a good sign isn't it? The unexpected part of falling in love with swimming, is that I am finding that I want to teach swimming in some way.
I have a friend who has asked me to teach her how to get past her fear of water and learn how to swim. I think she has asked 3 or 4 times in the last couple of years. We started her lessons about a month ago, and I am having fun sharing my love of water and swimming. I have signed up for an online coaching certification program and will start my first class this Tuesday. I'm so excited!
The other thing I am challenging myself with is joining FAST, Fort Collins area masters swim team with Eric Nielson. I will swim with the group 2-3 times a week and swim with the masters swim group at my gym 2 times a week as well. All to prep for some open water swims and building my mileage.
My longest swim (so far) has been 1.2 miles...this summer my longest swim goal will be 3 miles at the Carter Lake crossing. There is also is a group of masters swimmers who get together in the summer to swim in their lakes near their homes. I swam with them once - and I plan to swim with them a bunch more this summer. Longterm goal: learn how to swim in open water without a wetsuit. That will take some work! I like to challenge myself - so it will be interesting - and fun - to try!
I started to swim with a masters swim group at our gym 3 to 4 times a week, took a swim lesson in February to fix my stroke, and practiced all of the corrections. In late summer, I took an open water swim and VASA lesson with Eric Nielson (FAST coach) and practiced with his corrections for the rest of year. I do think my stroke is more efficient, hopefully I am dropping my elbows a little less than I used to. I think I catch the water with my forearms better too.
I am still trying to fix my timing, breathing, and lifting my head so much when I breathe (meaning I need to rotated my body to breathe, not turn my head). I have a long way to go in improving those things, but what is still totally eluding me is the damn rotation. I have videos of me swimming in open water and I see how my arms swing out too far, which means I am still swimming pretty flat - with very little rotation. It's so frustrating cuz I think I'm rotating while I swim.
Proper rotation comes from the hips - and I think my rotation originates from my shoulders. Oops! Rotation is something new for me, as someone who learned to swim in the 60's and 70's. So for 2018, my focus is to continue to immerse myself in swimming, get stronger and more efficient in the water.
I am falling in love with swimming - I look forward to starting my day in the pool. I miss it when I skip. That's a good sign isn't it? The unexpected part of falling in love with swimming, is that I am finding that I want to teach swimming in some way.
I have a friend who has asked me to teach her how to get past her fear of water and learn how to swim. I think she has asked 3 or 4 times in the last couple of years. We started her lessons about a month ago, and I am having fun sharing my love of water and swimming. I have signed up for an online coaching certification program and will start my first class this Tuesday. I'm so excited!
The other thing I am challenging myself with is joining FAST, Fort Collins area masters swim team with Eric Nielson. I will swim with the group 2-3 times a week and swim with the masters swim group at my gym 2 times a week as well. All to prep for some open water swims and building my mileage.
My longest swim (so far) has been 1.2 miles...this summer my longest swim goal will be 3 miles at the Carter Lake crossing. There is also is a group of masters swimmers who get together in the summer to swim in their lakes near their homes. I swam with them once - and I plan to swim with them a bunch more this summer. Longterm goal: learn how to swim in open water without a wetsuit. That will take some work! I like to challenge myself - so it will be interesting - and fun - to try!
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