I love to swim. I know I may have mentioned that a time or two. I am regularly swimming 2+ miles several times a week, and feeling great. I may also have mentioned that I do not float very well, and my kick, politely described as "weak" is actually so pathetic that I actually move backwards when I use the kick board. This has led me to the use of a Pull Buoy held between my knees so that I can basically forget my lack of buoyancy and "weak" kick. It lets me swim using just my arms, keeps me streamlined, and prevents me from sinking to the bottom. The upside of this: my upper body strength and stamina are amazing, and I have been able to focus intensely on my stroke technique. The downside: you cannot swim a triathlon with a pull buoy. True, my wetsuit adds buoyancy, eliminating the fear of sinking to the bottom of the river, but it is mostly in the torso. I have been giving myself a ration of shit for being too damned dependent on the pull buoy, and its security blanket comfort. I needed to push myself out of my comfort zone. Yes, I was pushing myself by adding distance and drills, but not truly pushing myself mentally. It was time to leave the comfort zone.
That all being said, last night as I stripped out of street clothes and slipped into my Speedo I decided that I was going to conquer my dependency even if it killed me. Gathering up the toys of the trade I thought through what I needed to do. Plain and simple: I need to be able to swim without drowning, or expending an unreasonable amount of energy just trying to keep my legs from pulling me into the deep. I slid into the water, and warmed up with a few laps of breast stroke and back stroke, neither of which make me feel like I am going to drown. Then I did a lap with the kick board, just to see if maybe I had magically developed the ability to move forward. No, I hadn't. My scissor kick is strong, and has been my default kick all my life. I practiced the flip kick used in Total Immersion Swimming, that was a tad better than my standard kick, but only a tad. I followed this with 5 laps using flippers, focusing on streamlining my body, and trying different arm and head positions to minimize drag. This was fun, flippers really work the ankles and calves.
Now, the moment of truth: Crawl with no pull buoy. Yikes. Okay, I cheated a bit, doing the first 3 laps with the hand paddles, mostly because they force me to use good stroke technique. As for my kick? I did only enough to keep my legs from sinking, focusing on trying to remain streamlined and near the surface of the water. I was amazed, I did not drown, or even feel like I was going to die. Yes, I struggled a bit. Okay, more than a bit. But it felt okay, not panic inducing as it used to. Then the real test: No Toys whatsoever, just me, my Speedo, cap and goggles. I did 2 laps, then flipped over onto my back to ponder just how it all felt, and I was not unhappy with the results. It was a little slower because I was not as fluid, and had struggled to keep my form, but it wasn't too bad. Time for more. All in all, with drills and flippers included, I ended up swimming a full mile with no pull buoy, maybe 20 laps Crawl. I was damned pleased with myself, though I must say it was the toughest mile I have swam in quite a while, but it felt like a milestone for me.
I finished with a mile with the pull buoy swimming about every 8th lap backstroke to loosen my shoulders, and bringing into use the opposing muscles muscles. Funny thing about this, it made me have the epiphany that the Crawl is now my favorite stroke, my Go To stroke. This was actually a stunning realization, as it was a major goal for me, something I have worked very hard to achieve. The last third of my second mile I tossed in 7 sets of sprints, just to spice up the workout. I was feeling the burn across my shoulders by the time I finished. It was fabulous.
The bottom line? I had a fantastic swim. I pushed myself hard, made some great strides both physically and mentally, had the epiphany of a goal attained, and my body felt great after, tired but great. The best part is the sense of pride I feel for reaching a hard earned goal, and the pride of forcing myself out of my comfort zone with good results. Damn, it was a fantastic swim.
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