It's All About Technique

    By the gods I had a great swim tonight. No, it wasn't particularly long, or fast. It was my regular 75 minute week day swim. Tonight I felt as if I crossed a threshold, slipped up a notch, came to a better understanding of how my body moves in the water. Swimming is all about technique and streamlining. Being less of the human log bobbing along the surface, and more the sleek dolphin sliding through the water. I spend countless hours thinking of this very thing as I swim endless laps. There is little else to do when you swim but think, and so I let myself think of swimming. Well, swimming and food, I do think about food an awful lot when I swim. As I swim I am constantly thinking of every aspect of my stroke; position of hand, arm, shoulder, head, body, leg, feet. Maintaining a steady head position as my body rotates on its axis. Keeping elbows high, palms always facing back, pushing clear through the stroke until my thumb grazes my thigh. From the tips of my fingers down to my pointed toes. I have a good stroke, it is smooth, nearly silent, and creates very little splash. I've been told it's "beautiful." I've been told by complete strangers that I have great swim mechanics. Yes, I do know I tend to straighten my left arm a bit as I pivot my head to breathe. My biggest problem is body positioning, keeping my body level so that my legs don't create drag. I have been swimming with a pull buoy for the last year and a half, because my legs sink. I just started using the shorts from a shorty wetsuit for hip buoyancy, and this leaves my legs to their own devices. Tonight was my fifth swim with my legs freed from the pull buoy, and I am learning to use my legs, a single flip kick with each stroke. Not the energy consuming flutter kick of a sprinter, but the lazy little flick of a long course triathlete. Tonight, around lap 40, I came to a better understanding of my own body, and how it interacts with the water. My legs leveled out, my body rotation went into cruise control, my strokes seemed longer, and it actually took one less stroke to swim the length of the pool. In endurance swimming fewer strokes equals less energy expended. Less energy expended means I can swim longer and further. It also means more energy left over for the second two legs of a triathlon. I can't describe what exactly occurred tonight, I am still processing it in my own head. I can only hope that I can remember what it was that was so significant tonight the next time I get into the water.