Saturday, I finally did something that was a long time coming for a girl who wants to do triathlons. I got in the pool! This was something I only did once before my one and only tri. It struck me that if I want to do better than a certain someone at Chelan Man, I better improve my stroke.
Since Jesse is a Master swimmer now (ok since he swims with the masters) he helped me out in the pool. Task number one was to get me to put my head under water. I tend to feel claustrophobic if I can't easily get air or see a way out. The impaired vision and lack of breathable moments makes swimming a deadly combo for me. Anyone else have this problem? I practiced breathing out under water just like the little kids next to us, and I was finally given the go ahead to swim!
Task two was figuring out what stroke to do. My bad wing makes it hard to do freestyle, and even when he had me play around with a modified stroke, it still hurt too much. So, on to plan B, breaststroke. Now I have to work on perfecting this stroke, but it is easier for me to breath this way, which will hopefully encourage me to get in the pool more. I know with this stroke, I will never be the fastest swimmer, but since my life will mostly consist of sprints, I should only lose a few minutes at most. And if I can get really good at it, maybe less.
Now our Saturday plan is to hit the pool, help me, then while Jesse swims with the Masters, I do some water running. I did the running Saturday, too, and it felt great to go faster than a walk, but my feet were getting beat up by the bottom of the pool. Has anyone done a lot of pool running? Did you wear those water shoes? I may need to invest.
Have a Great Day!
3 comments:
I have been doing some aquajogging. I do it in the deep end so my feet don't touch bottom. It's a great workout, huh?
Yeah for the pool! I've been water running lately. I do a combo of deep water and running on the bottom. Here is my opinion, and track boy probably has his own. I think the deep water is great for turnover and teaching yourself to push down with your front foot and have it land underneath you. But the bottom of the pool is great for foot and calf strength. I can do about 15 minutes without my feet being raw. I have some aquajogging shoes I use. So yes, you need shoes! You can wear an old (but clean) pair of running shoes, or get some aquajogging or traithlon shoes (with drainage holes, like Zoot) to use. Have fun!
Spencer has this thing that helps you to learn how to aqua jog( it doesn't actually teach you, but helps get your body familiar with it so it can then do it on it's own) I know that probably doesn't make any sense so just ask me about it next time you see me.
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