Something is seriously not right with me these last few weeks? I have been waking up at 4:15am every Tuesday and Thursday for the last three weeks and am REALLY enjoying it? I KNOW? CRAZY, right? Well, let me clarify. The 4:15am wake up call is not what I am enjoying but the Master's swim classes that begin a short 45 minutes after the alarm beeps are what I am liking!
Let me explain in more detail: As I was deftly moving around the bedroom this morning with ninja-like dexterity trying not to wake the wifey - I saw my reflection in the mirror and something unusual made me take notice. No it was not the abundance of grey hair in my 3 day old beard or the dark circles surrounding my tired eyes. It was that I was smiling? AND I was smiling because I was going swimming!
Yep, that is right - I like swimming and this morning was the first time I let myself acknowledge this fact.
Now I get to the gym and jump into the pool and exchange some pleasantries with Coach Katie. I look up at the dry erase board and assume Katie is having a difficult morning because the 3000 yard workout is just loaded with kicks, pulls, and builds - she is trying to hurt us is all that I can assume! Midway through the butt kicking Coack Katie tells me that my swimming is looking, "Strong today"! I look over my shoulder to make sure she was indeed speaking to me and not someone else and lo and behold I am the only one in the lane. She then tells me that I am ready to learn how to do a Flip Turn.
Now I have never attempted a flip turn in my life. I always just assumed that a Flip Turn was something that only really good swimmers did and they had a super secret club that taught them how to do these Flip Turns I even rationalized to myself that this group of swimmers probably even had like a cool secret handshake too!
Well today was my initiation into club because Katie showed me how to do this elusive Flip Turn! I pretty much looked like I was having epileptic seizures my first few attempts. The group had a couple good chuckles as my nose seemed to be sucking in more water than the new massive skimmer, A Whale, in the Gulf. But after a few more attempts I started to figure it out. Still have a lot of practice to get it right but in a weird way I feel like I entered the exclusive Flip Turn Club - maybe on Thursday they will show me the handshake?
Here is a good video of how to do Flip Turns:
Thanks for Reading,
Jeff
My name is Jeff and I like swimming. It's been several hours since I last swam. Jeff, I like swimming, but I like getting up early even more.
ReplyDeleteYou made me have a chuckle. Welcome to the club :) I love doing turns, the quicker I can get in and away from the wall the better. Well done.
ReplyDeleteDang,
ReplyDeleteI thought the YouTube was YOU doing the flip turn.
Get a video camera and let's see YOU do it!!
Welcome to the club!! I started doing flip turns about a year ago because I found myself "cheating" at the walls.
ReplyDeleteI, like you, did not enjoy swimming at first, but have really started to enjoy it. I don't think I love it enough to wake up at 4:15 though!
Nice! thanks for setting the bar higher for me...havent even had flip turns on my radar to try out...until now! Also thanks for the loving the morning and loving the swimming mojo - I am pickin up what you are layin down!
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I remember when you hated swimming, now it's a strength. That's the transformation of an athlete right there.
ReplyDelete4:15 is hardcore man!
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting the flip turn video. I gotta learn them one of these days just for the sake of a new challenge in the pool.
Keep at it man! Your times are gonna fall.
Yeah, flip turns scare me, way to work on it! And I have been getting up early too and like it. Crazy.
ReplyDeleteKeep up the strong swimming!
I felt like such a badass when I started doing flip turns! occasionally I still mess them up, and it's been over a year
ReplyDeleteCongrats on joining the flip turn club! I hope to join that club someday!
ReplyDeleteWhoo hoo! Congratulations on the flip turn - that is huge!
ReplyDeleteyou're sick! up at 4:15 with a smile! Way to go, it is awesome that you have found a coach that has motivated you to that degree. Way to go!
ReplyDeleteI like the pool too. Headed there right now in fact for an 8 PM session. I'm typically a night owl. Adjusted for time zones I went to be 15 mins before you got up last night - 2:00 my time.
ReplyDeleteNo idea how I manage to get it together for early races but I do.
Yays all around! Yay for getting up early and liking swimming and yay for learning flip turns! Thanks for the video link. I've wanted to try flip turns ever since I joined the master's class, but have been too chicken. Maybe I'll give it a go! :)
ReplyDeleteSteve- Still would not consider it a strength, just no longer a liability!
ReplyDeletePatrick - i can barely stay awake to catch the Daily Show anymore. i usually make to the commercial before the guest and I am out!
Dude! The elusive flip turn. That's awesome!
ReplyDeleteYeah, that's great! I'm laughing now because my boss gave up swimming because he couldn't get the flip turn right. Ok, there were a few more aspects he sucked at, but I still smile when I think he, the boss, the man couldn't get it right.
ReplyDeleteOh Jeff, you are so crazy! I say this with admiration:) You were smiling and ready to hit the pool at 4:15 AM!?! Go you!
ReplyDeleteInteresting video...if I could swim...I think that the first one, (open hand) would be more for me:) It looks easier! I am glad that you are rocking your mornings with solid swims!
I always feel stupid when I try the flip turn and since I swim slow I figure I better not try and do it yet. Congrats on the improvements on your swim. I am going to join a swim masters class in the fall I think at the end of this season.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the flip-turn Jeff and welcome to the club!
ReplyDeleteBefore you know it, you'll be doing master's swim meets! And you'll never look back once you start flip turns...so much better!
ReplyDeleteI am a long way from doing flip turns, I assure you, but I can definitely relate to your enthusiasm for getting into the pool. I've even started looking into lessons myself :) Might have to wait until after my triathlon though...
ReplyDeleteBtw, great video, too.
I had a laugh and a smile this morning at 445am when I woke to do my 2nd OWS... thinking of your morning yesterday...it helped! good MoJo...thanks for that - haha
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Alright, I learned the flip turns kind of by accident. I didn't really care to do them but did not want to do my swim workout for the day so I said what the heck. Spent about 10 minutes and figured them out pretty quick.
ReplyDeleteEvery now and then I am not swimming normal and will mess my timing up for the turn, but I will say. My swimming is MUCH more fluid now with the continuous motion.
I would stop at the wall all the time. The flip turns forced me to control my breathing better and now I feel like a swimmer. I do not however like swimming nearly as much as I like biking now. Swimming will always be the thorn in my side!!!
Good luck Jeff, this will be a huge step in your endurance swims.
Please post a bit more on the masters swim setup. Heard a lot about it but not sure if it will be worthwhile on my end.
Does Coach Katie work with your IM training plan? Or is it, you do what she wants, when she wants?
Keep it up man, solid workouts!
Wait till you get invited to a shaving party, thats the swimmers secret handshake
ReplyDeleteYou have shamed me into learning flip turns. I love how you described it as an epileptic seizure. Too funny! Way to go tackling that move.
ReplyDeleteI cannot do flip turns. I've tried - countless times. My wife tried to teach me (oh yeah...THAT worked!), my kids (all on swim team) tried to teach me, masters coach at pool tried to teach me. What do I look like? A drowning victim. An Oil skimmer. Whatever. NOT PRETTY.
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