Swimming Better and Better

    After having my Monday swim thwarted, I was bound and determine to make up for it on Tuesday. And indeed I did. I got into the water just after 5pm and didn't crawl out until 7:15. I started right in with warm-up laps, I was not really feeling it though, my muscles were tired and sluggish. Hell, I was tired and sluggish. But as is my Standard Operating Procedure, the more tired I am, the more likely I am to really push myself. I refuse to let myself give in to fatigue. I decided that I needed to really work on my crawl stroke, and not let myself wuss out by doing an easy lap of backstoke every 5 laps. I still am not all that great of a swimmer when I am doing the flutter kick, I have a "weak kick," polite term for my kicking-sucks-so-bad-it-is-a-hinderence. I tell myself that one of these days I will need to put some serious time and energy into rectifying the situation, maybe. It is common knowledge that Triathletes try to save their legs for the cycle and run, using their legs in the swim as little as possible. Even my instructor admitted that when she did distance swimming races, she didn't kick much. So I will continue to improve my stroke and work on speed and stamina. And this is exactly what I did Tuesday. Using the pull buoy I swam three 20 lap sets, using hands or hand paddles about equally. Between sets I strapped on the Aqua-jogger belt and worked the holy hell out of my legs for 20 minutes, doing the "cycling" down and "running" back routine, adding in hard, upright side scissor kicks, and front/back scissor kicks. I tell you, damn near kicked my own ass. The last 20 laps I did non stop crawl, no hand paddles, just my own delicate hands. I really focused on form. Every aspect; hand position, finger position, where my hand comes out of and how it enters the water, curve of arm during all aspects of the stroke. I lengthened my stroke, stretching my entire body into it, feeling long and lean. Yes, the last 10 laps were tough, but getting easier. Big triumph: I finally was swimming a little faster than the 60 year old woman who used to be able to lap me. She has swam competitively through a good part of her life, and has a nice, easy, fluid style. And it used to bug the hell out of me that she could swim faster and longer than I could. Now I can honestly say, I swim longer, and even just a tad faster. Some days it is the small victories, but it let me see that I have progressed quite a bit since my starting days back in late June.
    I really want to be swimming at least twice a week, it may be tough to manage through the ensuing months, but you all know how I like to challenge myself. A major upside of a long hard swim: it makes me so damned hungry I feel like I have a hollow leg, and I can eat accordingly, guilt-free. Like I said, Small Victories.