Today was a very wet day! First, I woke up and my city was pretty much underwater. We had 11-inches of rain in a 24 hour period and the flooding was just awful. Of course, i had a bunch of appointments scheduled on the NW side of the city and had to go drive in this stuff - not good times!So that was the wet part of my work day and after such a lovely day of sloshing around I had the urge to go to the pool and try out my new swim techniques I learned from the book, "Total Immersion". I got to the pool and did a couple of laps the "old way" to get warmed up. Then I started on the first Drill the book has me working on. It basically has me learning to float on my back comfortably. I was able to do this pretty quickly and then focused on doing it while on my right side and then my left side. This took some more effort and got frustrating but I eventually became comfortable doing this. Then I would swim a lap on my back. Then one on my left side. Then one on my right side. Next thing I know I was at the pool for over an hour! In between doing the drills I would do a couple of laps and try to focus on what I had learned - which was learning how to use my body as a buoy and swim on my side.
Before it was time to leave I did 6 quick laps trying to focus on the new technique and I cannot believe the difference after only one day of doing drills! My form still needs a ton of work but for the first time my freestyle stroke didn't feel like "work" to me and felt really natural. I could have jumped on my bike and rode 14 miles easily and I bet I did over 30 laps at the pool.
Today was the first day I enjoyed swimming and cannot wait to go back again!
If any of you reading this are thinking of taking up swimming I highly recommend - Total Immersion: The Revolutionary Way to Swim Better, Faster, and Easier. By Terry Laughlin -- Thanks again to Boomer for recommending this book! This $12 paperback isn't quite as compelling as most Dan Brown novels but the content and theory is beyond solid and it should become a great reference for as long as I keep swimming.
Also, I just finished up Ab Ripper X. I absolutely blew through this today! I did extra reps on every exercise and finished up Mason Twists with 65 reps - just killed it and my abs are screaming a little at me now - but it was worth it!
Tomorrow is Cycling and Core Synergistics! I'm loaded up with appointments so I might get up at 5:30am and Cycle and then do Core Syn tomorrow night!
Thanks for Reading,
Jeff
Good job on your swimming drills. Yes, it is amazing at how this book has changed the way we approach the freestyle stroke. I am glad that the book is working out so well for you.
ReplyDeleteI increased my Mason twists today too. Looks like our core strength is increasing.
Boomer
Project Exercise
Boomer - The book is great! It little on the cumbersome side when it comes to reading it but the drills are very good!
ReplyDeleteJeff... check this out. It is the new Garmin 310XT. It made for triathletes and it can be used while swimming. Man, I gotta have this. Suppose to be out next month. I wish I had known about it earlier.
ReplyDeleteDude, that Garmin 310XT is $350.00. For that money, you can get clipless pedals, shoes and two tickets to Cirque de Soleil!
ReplyDeleteI know... that thing cost big bucks. I am digging through the 5 gal bucket where I've thrown all my loose change for the past 4 years LOL!!!
ReplyDeleteCrap...just like every time you buy a computer it is obsolete as soon as you take it out of the box .. My Garmin is scheduled for delivery today and now I am not that excited anymore!
ReplyDelete