Eau Du Chlorine

250 warm-up

16 swims, starting with the 200 IM
Interval started on 3:15 and went down to 2:00
Every time you didn't make an interval you decreased 50yd

So I did:
200 IM on 3:15, 3:10, 3:05
150 IM (omitted breaststroke because my adductor was twingy) on 3:00, 2:55, 2:50, 2:45, 2:40, 2:35, 2:30, 2:25, 2:20
100 IM (doing dolphin kick instead of breaststroke) on 2:15, 2:10, 2:05, and 2:10

Also did a length on the bungee belt... almost made it to the flags!

Total distance: 2800yd/1.6mi

Noticed that my fly entry problems (it's really hard to keep my hands from coming together when they should be staying at shoulder width) are probably due to the direction of momentum of my arms on the recovery. When I made an effort to swing my arms forward instead of forward and together my hands were at the proper width on my catch. Sweet!

Posted by Jitterbean Girl at 8:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

300 free warm-up
100 breast kick
4x50 IM order on 1:00

4x400 IM on 7:00, strong pace (went 5:45, 5:43, 5:50, 5:46)
50 easy
4x200 free on 2:45 (repeated 2:35)

4x50 easy on 1:00

5x100 free on 1:30 (repeated 1:15)
4x75 free on 1:00 (repeated :55)
4x50 free on :45
4x25 free on :30

Total yardage: 4350

The fly in the 400 IMs hurt. I think that leg was responsible for my lackluster third IM. It's been oh, three to four weeks since I've gotten some quality butterfly in, so it's no wonder that those were killing me. So on the fourth I made a real effort to really swim it strong with good technique and pace -- I was exhausted by the end but it seemed to have paid off in my time. I definitely need to put in some quality distance butterfly time -- perhaps after practice tomorrow will be a good opportunity.

Jack made some recommendations about my flip turns -- I push off too deep. I've known that but hadn't realized that it was forcing me to really pop up my head when I start swimming, which kills my momentum. He noticed that my chin was tucked way too much on my push-off and that I should get my head back to where they should be, streamline-wise. It made a huge difference.

It's so awesome to have someone helping me with my stroke again!

That afternoon: went cross country-skiing for the first time. Was out for about an hour -- great fun! I seemed to have picked up the rhythm and such pretty quickly.

Posted by Jitterbean Girl at 9:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

500 free warm-up
4x50 IM order on 1:00

3x400 IM on 6:15 (repeated 6:05, certainly not my best effort)
325 IM (300 IM + 25 free) on 5:00

5x150 on 2:00 (repeated 1:55)
5x100 IM on 1:45 (repeated 1:25)
8x75 -- 25s IM order, staggering starting stroke on each 75)
6x50 on 1:00 (2 fly, 2 back, 2 breast)

4x25 cool down

Total yardage: 4475

When I was doing breaststroke today I really concentrated on keeping my head still (addressing my bobble head issue) and it made a huge difference. I felt like I was actually moving forward instead of up and down and my recovery was easier and faster. Sweet.

Tried really hard to narrow up my butterfly catch, but had some issues with timing my breathing. I'm not distraught over this though since it will take a couple more days before my fly is up to snuff.

Total yardage: 4475

Posted by Jitterbean Girl at 1:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Za Claw
Apparently some time in the year between quitting year-round swimming and the swimming season of my senior year I picked up this weird thing with my hand where there is this 90^o bend of my wrist. It had always been there in my freestyle recovery, but apparently it was infecting other parts of not only my freestyle, but my butterfly as well! Za Claw, as it was affectionately dubbed by my coach, was on display at the meet last weekend, but it is by no means the first piece of photographic evidence.

An early occurance of Za Claw

This stunning specimen manifested itself at the tender age of 15, and while it is not a fully developed claw, it is certainly a portent of things to come. But I digress.

While it is impossible to deny the allure of having a quirk of yours have a name as cool as Za Claw, I think it may need to go. It's really wreaking havoc in my stroke -- my hands are pointed in every direction but the bottom of the pool. I think that Za Claw is a result of too much tension in my wrist and forearms. I just need to relax because all that tension in my freestyle catch and pull is really messing it up. I notice a marked improvement when I let my arms let go of that tension. That is something I am going to need to think about constantly when I'm swimming. I don't think it's a problem for the recovery -- it's stunningly common -- but it's definitely bad juju in the catch and pull.

Bobble Head
During my lackluster 100 breaststroke in the meet on Friday I realized mid-race that my head was doing Bad Things. It is supposed to remain stationary with respect to my body, but it sure as hell wasn't. My head should not be leading the charge to the breath -- that is the job of the catch, pull, and insweep, not bobbing up and down like something in that Whack-A-Mole game. I also am having issues with kick/pull duality. I can have a good kick and I can have a good pull, but I can't have them both at the same time. They seem to be mutually exclusive. The solution? More drill. More work. More emphasis on the naughtiest-sounding of the strokes.

The Auto-Recovery
Pull width is a chronic problem of mine. I am constantly pulling too wide on freestyle, backstrong, and butterly, but the fly definitely has the best reward for fixing it.

When I get it just right and (later in the pull) my hands touch under my stomach/hips, my hands propel themselves forward like little rockets upon exiting the water. It's great! If I do everything right, then I don't have even try to get my arms over the water -- it just happens like they're being snapped ahead on a rail.

This is very tiring after a while (especially on the traps) so I must continue to work on it. This could be invaluable on the IM.

Posted by Jitterbean Girl at 8:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I've been focusing more on technique on my less-oft-swum strokes, which is always a good thing since I'm supposed to be a jack of all trades. IMs will do that to you.

Butterfly:
My hands have been about the right width apart on entry, but as I start my catch and pull I'm too wide. I've been working on narrowing it into a more pronounced keyhole shape so that my hands touch before they exit and recover. This is awesome for my speed and my shoulders but it's kind of throwing off my kick. With the Old Bad Slow stroke, I had a great kick because my whole body was undulating in the water the right way. It's going to take some more work to fix my kick with the Improved Shiny Fast stroke. I think it will be ready by the time it's needed in two weeks though -- my 400 IM is going to count on it. The importance of butterfly must not be underestimated, especially when the Adversary is a butterflier. I know that if I am ahead of her or at least close to it at the end of the first 100, I will win the race.

Backstroke:
This needs some work. My stroke is too flat: I'm not getting enough roll. As a result, my elbows are too far from my body during my pull and at the time that I'm supposed to be throwing the water towards my feet, I have far too little power and the direction is all wrong. I've been bringing my elbows in and I've been able to tell a huge difference. I don't think this will be totally perfected by the time the meet comes around, but it is less critical than the butterfly, breaststroke, and freestyle in the 400 IM. The Adversary has a terrible backstroke, so improving this will just be gravy. It will make my job a whole lot easier in the last 100 though if I am as ahead of her as possible.

Now, if only my adductor would heal....

Posted by Jitterbean Girl at 5:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Mimi gave us a great "see what you're made of" set today. We started swimming as long a distance as we could for 3:30. The next was on 3:25, then 3:20, and so on, down to 1:15. When you couldn't make the interval, you knocked a 50 from your distance. Everyone was doing them freestyle except Yours Truly, who had the honor of doing them all IM. Seriously, it could have been much worse. The nice thing about 200 IMs is that after a while they stop hurting and you just go numb.

I made about eight or nine 200 IMs before I kicked them down to fly/back/breast. Doing that, I made it down to about 2:15 before I started with the 100 IMs, which I did until we got to 1:25. I finished up the last two with a 50 fly and a 50 back.

Honestly I think I could have swum the workout harder, but I was still so sore from circuit training two days ago that I didn't want to push it too hard and hurt myself. I had also been up for 21 hours at that point, so I surely wasn't going to perform at my best.

Today's stroke ideas:
Backstroke -- relax the hands - reject Ze Claw! You don't need the claw to get a good catch when you roll your hips and shoulders enough and really stretch out your arm on entry. Saw improved stroke rate when doing this as well. And for the love, keep your head still!

Freestyle -- again, roll the hips. This gives you the power you need in the catch and pull so you don't have to do out searching in the periphery of the periphery with that right arm. Perfect that elbow bend through proper rotation.

Breaststroke -- well, shit, I just don't have enough time to spend in the water to strengthen up my adductors to the point where they can take that wide, powerful whip kick. Without that, my breaststroke is very lackluster. I will not be able to rely on it in the meet next month to be in a wide lead going into the freestyle. Looking back, a fitting motto for my glory days would have been "Better IMs through breaststroke domination," but now it looks like I'm a jack of all trades -- and a master of none.

Posted by Jitterbean Girl at 12:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)