Skip to main content

The new swimming me...the journey begins

Last weekend I attended a Total Immersion swimming course at a school in Hampton. I had a brilliant experience (the only way to describe it) and it has transformed my way of thinking about the sport, to the extent that l now want to completely re-engineer my stroke. This morning I started out on this journey, by spending an hour just doing basic drills - glides with focus on head and arm position, and a few attempts at the two initial drills, swimming on my back and "Sweet Spot", as it is called. Relearning all this stuff isnt going to be easy, but l AM going to be patient. The prize (being able to swim effortlessly in a fish-like way) is definitely worth it!

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Brighton Marathon 2013...a blast

I was lucky enough to be able to run the Brighton Marathon today : I did this in memory of my father-in-law (full story here ).   I;ve not run a marathon since London in (I think) 1992 : the ADT era, when the finish was on Lambeth Bridge, not the Mall, and we all ran in plus-fours.  Joking about the last bit.  I ran about 3:30 on that day in 1992, at the age of 29, and with a lot more single-sport dedication to running.  Now I am 50, I was thinking it would be interesting to see how I could run a single event marathon. Brighton is a young (4 runnings) but big race : 9000 competitors.  The route starts from Preston Park, does a shimmy or two around the town centre, then sends you first east, then west along the sea front. Finish is just past the pier. Conditions were good : the overnight rain cleared up, there as  a bit of light white cloud to keep the sun away, and some breeze but not a wind.   I had a few 20 mile/3 hour runs in my recent...
3 comments
Read more

Ironman UK 2012 - the race day!

The big day begins So. It's 02:45. I get out of bed, jump into my tri suit and calf guards, and head off to the bathroom to stare at my bleary face and apply my tattoo. Hold on, is it left arm or right? It's right. After a minute or so I have “1234” going down my right arm. I pop on a T and some Ron Hill legs, grab my car key, and white swim bag with wetsuit, bodyglide, and goggles, and head off to breakfast. The only people eating at this time are, of course, IM athletes, so I sit and chat to a nice guy called Michael (all the way from Copenhagen) about the day to come and stick a plate of porridge down my throat. He's got previous experience : Challenge Copenhagen. That looks like a franchise to watch. Sitting in the restaurant, looking out of the window into a still-very-dark Bolton night, finishing the race seems a long way away. We wish each other luck, and I go down to the car park, find my car and drive the 15 minutes to the Reebock Stadium where...
2 comments
Read more

Next event : Ballbuster!

My next event is the February Ballbuster Duathlon .  I've never done a duathlon before, but I like a challenge and this is a biggie.   An 8 mile run, 24 mile bike, and then another 8 miles of running to close it out.   The key thing about this very popular race is that each of the 5 8-mile laps includes a climb of Box Hill in Surrey. Box Hill has a bit of an iconic status as a "challenge" but it's basically a pussycat in road cycling hill terms.  There are far more aggressive, far longer climbs in the North Downs (looking at you, Ranmore), and even I've been able to climb it out of the saddle, in 42x16 on my single speed - and I'm no monsta. The stats don't lie : the road is a steady climb of 120 metres (390 ft) over 2.5 kilometres (1.6 miles) but won't have you hallucinating. What it does have is fabulous views on the way up, a couple of "pretend we're on Alp d'Huez for a moment" hairpins, and a decent tea and cake stop at the top...
2 comments
Read more