Terry Laughlin's Blog, page 30

Snorkel For Drills?

Here is a question I am often asked in workshops: “Can I use a snorkel when doing drills?”

The short answer is “Yes.”

The obvious advantage in using a snorkel while doing drills is that it allows the swimmer to concentrate on the drill without having to stop and stand-to-breathe, or to roll-to-breathe when those actions might break the rhythm, concentration, or disrupt balance.  Integrated breathing (think ‘smooth, easy breathing built into the stroke’) is a skill that is built on top of stable balance. If balance is poor, then breathing is a struggle. If a swimmer is still working on getting his balance in place, being able to bypass the balance-disruptive breath by using a snorkel is very helpful.

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Click here to read more of this post…

To view hundreds of articles of coaching advice and answers to swimmer’s questions on training and technique please visit Coach Mat’s Smooth Strokes blog.

Breathe Easy

Here is an excerpt from my recent post on the topic of breathing:

There are several details to making the breath (in freestyle stroke) feel relaxed and easy.

Among the several here is one that, coincidentally, several recent students have noted as making the biggest breakthrough:

Turn to breathe sooner.

Now, this assumes that you are already keeping your head down, and rotating on your laser spine (I label it the “Shishkabok” here in Turkey) because that is the only way this will work smoothly for you.  If your head is tilted up it disrupts the whole set up.

So presuming you are holding good head position, let your head rotate to air with the turn of the shoulders, as soon as you set the catch. The Catch, torso rotation, and turn to breath are one smooth, unified movement.

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Click here to read more of this post…

To view hundreds of articles of coaching advice and answers to swimmer’s questions on training and technique please visit Coach Mat’s Smooth Strokes blog.

Dropping Elbow at Forward Extension

A common problem and one not difficult to correct is the dropping elbow as lead arm extends forward. The hand scoops or rises to surface, elbow drops, torso begins to sink – leaving swimmer with no purchase, little leverage and sinking at the catch phase of the stoke.   Similar to an airplane losing lift and going into stall, the body is losing buoyancy and sinking.  The source of a dropping elbow is often misdiagnosed as “over gliding”.  ”Over gliding” is an overloaded term identified with swimming at slower tempo or turnover.  Coach Todd E wrote an excellent post on the “Over Glider” which best describes this term.

Blaming a slower tempo  or “over gliding” as the cause of the dropping elbow and subsequent stall is misleading.  One using this diagnosis is mostly unaware of the root cause.  I’ve heard a quick remedy is just speed up turnover and the elbow magically stops dropping.  The dropping elbow may not be as noticeable at a faster turnover, faster tempo may help a little with sinking, unfortunately the problems are still there and now with greater frequency.

I believe most (but not all) coaches agree,  in order to improve, correct, and/or change your stroke – you have to swim slowly correctly.  I’m not sure when and where it became taboo to swim more slowly (and correctly), possibly just competing programs that identify something they believe is wrong in one program rather than discuss the merits of their swim program and (or) methods.  Terry describes swimming slowly best in a recent post: The Beauty of Effortless. The Skill of Slow, “… swimming more slowly isn’t the object. Rather it’s to improve at swimming with consummate ease and to explore your ability to slow particular aspects of the stroke, while maintaining overall flow and body control” .

The source of the swimmer’s dropping elbow at forward extension is primarily following:

1. Stacking shoulders on recovery  Over-rotating 90+ degrees causing imbalance, losing control, body is unstable sinks.

2. Lifting recovery elbow over the body   Contributing to #1 stacked shoulders, sinking, lifting the elbow over body causes shoulder impingement (shoulder gets stuck), forearm remains folded and/or recovery arm swings away from body

3. Recovery hand/forearm drifts to center and/or crosses in front of head   Momentum of swinging recovery arm causes hand/forearm to drift in narrow or crossover.  Hand and forearm scoops toward or lays flat on surface, elbow drops.

Swimmers that over-rotate and drop elbow at forward extension may have bit more or less of  1 – 3 above.  Other possible contributing factors such as incorrect kick timing (kicking on the wrong foot) or frantic bicycle kick will magnify the error too.

Select this link or image below to video demonstration of dropping elbow

 Swimmer over-rotated, unstable, sinking, elbow dropping at forward extension

 

THE FIX:  Although simple steps, correcting errors will take time and focus, and of course slowing stroke down to imprint corrections:

1. Flatten rotation and swing elbow wide - stabilize balance, maintain buoyancy. Don’t lift elbow over torso.

2. Land recovery arm on wide shoulder width tracks, don’t let recovery arm sweep out and drift inside of tracks or cross in front of head.

3. Enter recovery arm deep spearing to 3 o’clock target, fingertips down, recovery hand remains below elbow throughout stroke cycle.

Select this link or the image below to video demonstration of correct elbow position

Swimmer balanced, stable, good rotation, head-spine aligned, lead arm anchored in front, recovery hand below elbow

For those who struggle with over-rotation, sinking body, and dropping elbow at catch phase of your stroke – you have some tips to get you stable, recovery arm on wide tracks and spearing deep to 3 o’clock target.  Just work on one focus at a time and rotate through each frequently (i.e. swing elbow wide, wide tracks, spear to deep target).  Initiating the wide swinging elbow focus by shrugging shoulder toward ear will get the recovery arm moving forward and reduce tendency to lift elbow over torso. 

Please feel free to ask any questions or drop suggestions in the comments.

Happy Swimming!

Stuart McDougal

MindBodyAndSWIM

8 Bridges Swim – Stage 3 – Swim Report

My Swim Report – Stage 3 – 8 Bridges 17 June 2013

This quasi race/swim/event report is long overdue.  Hardly seems like it was now just over six weeks ago.  This stage was 13.2 miles down the Hudson River, Poughkeepsie Bridge to the Beacon twin bridges.  Now you might ask what made me want to do this as my first venture into marathon swimming.  This would be many firsts for me, longest swim in distance and duration in open water, taking on nutrition/hydration while treading water, swimming with kayak support at my side and swimming in cold water—for me anyway, I live in south Texas.

 

What on earth made me think this was even possible?  I had completed the typical USMS postal events, i.e., the one-hour (25 yd pool non-stop) for the past 9 years, the long course 5 K (once 2 years ago) and 10 K (2 years in a row), the short course yds 3 and 6 K (2 years ago).  I had also completed the Waikiki Roughwater swim (2.4 mi) in 2011.  And the most important thing that made me believe I could do this was I am a Total Immersion swimming technique swimmer and coach.

 

I began the year restarting my swimming in November of 2012 after a two-month hiatus from the pool due to a right knee revision surgery.  My first goal was the one-hour postal swim in January 2013.  I finished that swim within 100 yds of the previous year with only 2 months of practice.  I felt good about this and the next goal was to do the postal 10K again.  I started ramping up my training in February towards a May/June timeframe for the 10K.  In early March the TI Coaches Summit date/location was announced for late June in New Palz, NY.  I had never really visited this part of New York (although having grown up just outside Washington D.C.) so we started planning an extended trip to the Northeast to visit NY and a side trip to Boston, MA.  About this time David Bara sent out information on the 2013 8 Bridges Swim that coincidentally was being held the week prior to the TI Summit.   This got my attention and I was interested in the swim.  I checked their website, www.8bridges.org, and looked at all the stages for length and date to coincide of course with our mini vacation.  The best dates were for stages 1-3.  Stage 3 was the shortest of all the stages at 13.2 miles.  I contacted Dave many times after this via email and Facebook messaging, probably way too many times for his liking, to get his opinion on the stages and my ability to complete the stage.  Dave was a great help and encouragement.  I kept thinking about the swim/distance/cold water (mid to high 60’s) all of which were out of my comfort zone at the time.  I kept working the dates and planning the 10-day trip.  Near the end of March it came time to fish or cut bait.  I had to finalize our trip plans.  So with one day to go I committed and signed up for Stage 3 at the end of March.  I started to watch the 8 Bridges website weekly, watching the river temperatures.  I noticed they were cold, in the 50’s.  So I asked Dave about expected temperatures in June.  He replied high 60’s to low 70’s are the usual river temps in late June.  Feeling better I continued my training for the 10K.  I was utilizing the tempo trainer quite a bit in training to hone my tempo since I knew I would not be allowed to use it during the 10K or in the Stage 3 swim.  I settled on a tempo of .95 for training.  My training started at around 3K per practice and gradually increased to a max of 7.5K (once a week during the last three weeks).  I was averaging 12 to 18 K per week.  I completed the 10K the last weekend of May.  My goal was to hold a tempo I could sustain for the stage 3 swim 3 weeks away.  In the 50 M pool I started my SPL at an avg of 42 and by the end was up to 46.  My avg pace/100M in the beginning was 1:40 and gradually increased to a high of 1:54 around the 8K point and then brought it back down to 1:46 for the last 1500 finishing in 3hrs-2 min (2 min slower than 2 years ago).  Disappointed in the time but happy about the tempo consistency, which felt right in the ball park of .95-1.0 except for a mental lapse around the 7500 point for about a 1000 meters.  I kept my thoughts on my stroke rotating focal points and counting strokes fighting off the normal mental fatigue thoughts that would only bring me down.  I was happy with this overall effort.  Over the course of the next 3 weeks my training took a nosedive.  It was the longest and quickest taper ever.  I had a personal family issue and clients were beginning to call wanting instruction (not a bad thing since that is my business).  This all meant my pool practice time took a considerable dip (no pun intended).

 

About two weeks out I was getting excited about our upcoming trip to NY and anxious about my Stage 3 swim.  I kept watching the Hudson River temps rise, ever so slightly.  Now my updates were almost daily, as the swim was getting closer.  About one week from the swim with my lack of pool time, doubts started to creep in about my ability to accomplish this goal.  I started to bug Dave more frequently regarding the swim; temps and how long he thought it would take me to complete the stage.  I looked at the two previous years times for the Stage 3 and wondered how I faired against those who had completed the same swim.  I notice Dave had done it both in 2011 and 2012 and his time was significantly better in 2012 and had the stage record now at 4hrs-12 min.  I noticed Terry had completed the swim in 2011 and saw his time of just over 5 hrs.  I had done some swimming with Terry at open water camps and clinics and felt he and I were similar in speed.  I thought 5 hours?  I had only done 3 hours and had the bottom of the pool to rest on while feeding and had the lane lines and walls if I needed them.  Wow only a kayaker, treading water while taking on feed?  I failed to mention that at two weeks out my wife and I went to a local lake and I practiced for the first time feeding in the open water.  What was I doing?  Dave reassured me that it would take me between 4 and 5 hours—I felt better since this was coming from an experienced marathon swimmer.  I also failed to mention the other deciding factor I had entering this race was that I had gotten to know Dave through some TI Open Water Camps and knew of his OW accomplishments.  I also read about his race director partner, Rondi Davies’, and her marathon swimming accomplishments as well and knew that this would be a swim that was run perfectly with support and safety as their number One priority.  So with my next round of butterflies calmed down I looked forward to the swim.

 

With one week to go I still had not been in the water training much, maybe one to two days per week hitting an average of 3K if lucky.  I guess I’d have the longest and quickest taper ever.  The water temps were approaching 68 degrees and I was feeling better.  The Saturday before we left I was up in Austin Texas giving a private lesson and thought, 68 degrees—that’s still pretty cold.  On a side note, if you are ever in Austin Texas I recommend going to Barton Springs for a swim.  It is a spring fed swimming hole of approx. 400 meters in length and a constant 68 degrees year round.  I decided that it would be prudent for me to stop by and do some swimming so I could see just how 68 degrees felt since I usually always swim in water well into the 70’s.  This was an excellent idea and experience as it gave me the confidence that if the water didn’t get to 70 I could still do this at 68.  It was brisk at first but then became really refreshing and invigorating by the end of my short 20-minute swim.  We departed the next day, Sunday the 16th of June, for New York.   On our drive up to Poughkeepsie from NY City, I checked email and had one from Rondi Davies that stopped me cold in my tracks.  The rain that came through NY on Friday and Saturday had dropped the river temperature to around 60-62 degrees and we might consider switching to warm feeds.  Now I remember Dave telling me when I asked about warm feeds that at 68-70 I’d look forward to cold drink not warm.  Now I had to get a thermos to keep my drink warm before they went into the water bottles.  I was panicking to say the least, 60-degree water???????  The distance and time of the swim were no longer my concern.  Water temp and hypothermia became my main thought as I was only allowed 2 caps maximum, goggles and suit (NO wetsuit), and I’m from Texas!  I didn’t get a good nights sleep thinking about this swim.  My wife would be on the main support boat during my swim, which was very comforting, but also a little disconcerting as she is a Nurse and I didn’t want to get into trouble in the water.  The next morning arrived and we drove down to Beacon to catch the van ride back to Poughkeepsie (I know that sounded crazy but go with it) with the some of the crew, Dave and Rondi.  We met Grace van der Byl, impressive young, tiny marathon swimmer from San Diego by way of Houston, TX—yes a fellow Texan.  I had heard and read of Grace’s swimming achievements and she was only one of two swimmers (the other being Rondi Davies) who had completed all 7 stages (120 miles) the previous year.  Great people.  On our journey up to Poughkeepsie I asked Grace about her Manhattan Island Marathon Swim (MIMMS) the week before as I remember reading about it but never heard how she finished.  Bad question for Grace and us.  She didn’t finish due to hypothermia.  As we drove along she recounted her ordeal, which she was extremely fortunate to recover from so quickly—my wife explained the severity to me later.  But, that talk of the cold water only lifted my anxiety even more.  When we arrived at the dock Dave said the water temp was up to 64—a somewhat sigh of relief.  At this point I was firmly committed to starting and just going as far as I could and only stop if I couldn’t take the cold water any longer.  I met my fellow swimmers Hanah, from NY City, and Rick, from Connecticut.  Both accustomed to swimming in cold water and half my age.  I thought this will be interesting; I’m going to be trailing these two the entire way!  We push off from the dock and Grace gives us our instructions and more swim information as we head for the starting point.  She hands out water bottles and tells us to drink up, need to have full bladders ready to pee when you first get in.  Dehydration is not a good thing and leads to hypothermia.  We arrive at the starting point and we are told to jump in.  Dave advised me, and Grace agreed, that since my tempo was a little slower than most I should pick up the tempo for the first few minutes to help overcome the shock of the cold water.  So as Grace said jump, get going I looked at Hanah and Rick and said after you speedy two and they just looked at me and said they weren’t going first.  So I jumped off and it was cold but I immediately thought about my increased tempo while maintaining my technique.  Before I knew it my kayaker, Steve, had pulled up along side me and away we went.  Hanah passed me at some point early on which I noticed during the first feed stop, which was at 20 minutes.  Originally, I had planned on 30 minutes between feeds but because of the cold water I changed to warm feeds every 20 minutes at Rondi’s suggestion.  The first 20 minutes didn’t seem that long but I was ready for a break.  The next 20 minutes flew by and was back within 25 meters of Hanah and Rick was behind me.  I really hadn’t been trying to catch her, just focused on a good tempo, rhythm and stroke thoughts.  I was taken out of my rhythm and thoughts by occasional FLOTSAM, or river debris.  Didn’t run into any big logs but did find a few 3-4 inch limbs and branches.  I noticed that Steve would all of a sudden take off in front of me and I soon realized he was my FLOTSAM breaker as well as the current navigator keeping me in the fastest part of the river!  I just kept swimming breaking every 20 minutes.  Before long 2 ½ hours had gone by and I was actually in the lead.  Kevin said my stroke count had been between 55 to 65 strokes per minute or a tempo range of .91 to 1.08.  We were at the 8-mile mark and I was really feeling good, very confident about the last 5 miles.  We could see the bridge in the distance—really small looking I thought.  The river up to this point had been quite smooth, smoother than I expected.  That was soon to change.  It seemed almost immediately after that break the wind and chop picked up dramatically as we rounded a right turn bend in the river with the finish bridges in the distance-5 miles in the distance.  Didn’t look too long at first.  The chop was taking its toll on me mentally and physically, and I couldn’t find a good rhythm.  I tried changing to shorter strokes, swinging straight arms to avoid the caps hitting my hands.  My wrists were starting to ache a little from the constant hitting the chop, I felt like I was struggling but kept going.  About 2 miles from the bridge the gauntlet was tossed by the additional crewmember, who was ex-Army, I’m retired Air Force.  He told Steve to tell me the Army guy on the boat didn’t think I could bring it home.  Game on.  It took another hour.  It seems the closer you get the further it looks.  I decided that I was not going to consider myself close until I could see the bridge when I breathed to the side.  Finally, it was there and I was coming under the bridges.  I decided to be my typical joker self and finished with 4 strokes of butterfly (that was all I could do anyway).

 

Such exhilaration to finish.  My kayaker came over to congratulate me and we shook hands and I thanked him.  He was my lifeline in the water.  For 4 hours and 24 minutes, every time I breathed I saw him and his encouraging demeanor.  It was like we were the only ones on the water.  It was a special connection.  I was ecstatic that I handled the cold water.  Sometimes I hit pockets of several hundred meters of what felt like 68 degrees and then some that felt like 60 degrees.

This was a great adventure and one that I was glad I did and did with the 8 Bridges Organization of Dave Bara and Rondi Davies, the Riverkeepers and Greg Porteus and Launch 8.

We all have goals with our swimming and occasionally need to strive for something that we think is unattainable for our current abilities.  It is through these opportunities that we continue to grow and set new challenges.  It is because of the Kaizen mentality through Total Immersion Swimming and Teaching that gave me the ability both mentally and physically (with little training for such an event) to accomplish this personal goal.  I am excited about looking and planning for my next adventure.  I hope this inspires you to reach outside your comfort zone and achieve new goals.   I’d highly recommend attending one of the Total Immersion Open Water Camps held in various locations and times of year to help give you or increase your confidence in open water swimming.

 

Swimming is for Life!

 

 

Video: The BEAUTY of Effortless. The SKILL of Slow.

The liveliest thread on the TI Discussion Forum at the moment is titled ‘a question about continuance.’ with, as of this morning, 59 posts, which have drawn over 1300 views. What’s curious about this thread is that the initial query was about how to swim faster, yet the bulk of discussion has centered on various forms of ‘superslow’ practice.

Such a discussion could occur nowhere else but the TI Forum!

I should clarify that swimming more slowly isn’t the object. Rather it’s to improve at swimming with consummate ease and to explore your ability to slow particular aspects of the stroke, while maintaining overall flow and body control.

Martial artists have long known the value of moving as slowly as possible to increase awareness, control, fluency and integration. It’s a harder sell in the swimming world.

It’s also a much more exacting skill in the water, than on land. Slower movement highlights errors in Balance and Stability. Which makes it exceedingly valuable.

This morning, Ken B posted the following: I’m enjoying this discussion. I am 74, with the usual age related challenges. Continuing to swim with ease into my 80′s is my main mission. This winter I’ve been pushing gently off the end of the pool feeling the delicious, effortless glide then trying to maintain that feeling to the other end. If I achieve a clean well-timed catch and maintain my original long-axis posture ,and breathe with absolutely no head lift I can drift into the far wall with no energy used at all. I know I’m getting somewhere because I looked up this morning to find I had an audience.

Ken captured the spirit of this enterprise exactly. He recognizes that swimming this way is a highly exacting and very rewarding SKILL.

For the goals, priorities, and – yes - values Ken cites for his swimming, he could hardly make a better choice than this.

My goals are similar to Ken’s. I wish to swim well, enjoy it limitlessly and even continue improving for 25 to 30 more years — i.e. into my early 90s.

At the same time, I also maintain a vision of breaking the national 85-89 record for 2-mile cable swim, and contending for a FINA World Masters open water championship in the same age group in 20+ years. And hopefully repeating that in the 90-94 and 95-99 categories–which thus far no swimming-nonagenarian has yet attempted.

My initial lengths every day–I call it my Tuneup–is guided by exactly the thoughts and actions Ken describes. But with the addition of a  ’side game.’

While swimming as easily as I can, I also time myself, often for 100y/m repeats. When doing so, I always swim faster over a series of 6 or more 100s–even while trying to maintain my initial sense of relaxation.

While doing these, I often visualize how my swimming would appear to an audience–as Ken found himself with the other day.  This turns my Tuneup series into a Beauty Contest as well as an Exercise in Ease.

But even with far-off goals of breaking age group records or winning world titles,  the main reason I swim this way is that it feels so amazingly good — in both body and psyche — in the moment I’m doing it.

The video of TI Coach Shinji illustrates something like what I describe and strive for. But I try to make my 2-Beat Kick even gentler than you’ll see in the underwater segment. This is because I’m trying for maximum ease and relaxation, not minimum stroke count, in my Tuneup swims.

Happy laps!

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‘Drafting Off’ My Inner Voice

In my last post, Enjoyment Meets Improvement I wrote that I’ve reduced my racing schedule this summer to preserve bandwidth for writing e-books (the first, “How Swimming Works . . . and How It Doesn’t” should be released in October.)  But in practice, I still focus on improvement—it’s addictive and it stokes my creative juices.

In this post I’ll delve further into the Pull vs Push principle and how that connects practice with writing—and happiness.

I began to consciously pursue the Pull Effect four years ago after reading TI Coach Grant Molyneux’s book “Effortless Exercise: A Guide to Fitness, Flow States and Inner Awareness” (available by download here.)  I’d already been inclined that way, but Grant’s book provided a more detailed road map.

Grant’s core idea is that that you perform best physically when your training focuses as much on maximizing psychic energy as the chemical/physical variety. The more I align with these principles, the healthier and happier I feel and the better I swim. Here are some thoughts guiding me this summer.

Practicing My Art

It’s been years since I did a ‘workout’—of any kind, not just swimming. It’s also been years since I even thought of swimming as ‘exercise.’ Instead, for me, it’s become a blend of movement art and practice. I constantly seek to refine my art. As I do exercise ‘happens.’

I use the term ‘practice’ not as in practicing flip turns, but as an activity done with a conscious goal of creating enduring positive change in body, mind, and spirit. Which means my practice continues after I leave the water via making mindful choices about what will increase my physical, mental, and spiritual health.

In Push mode (workouts/exercise), you  expend energy.  In Pull mode (art, practice) you channel energy. First from the water and natural forces (gravity, buoyancy) into your swimming. Then from swimming into living.

What is Quality?

Swim coaches have waged a decades-long debate over Quality vs Quantity. The Quantity faction believes in high mileage. The Quality faction believes in high heart rates. Both approaches have produced Olympic champions, so the debate still rages.

I’ve resolved the debate in favor of Quality, but heart rates and repeat times have nothing to do with it. To me, Quality means moving through space with minimum waste and maximum joy. Working with, not against. Feeling better–physically, mentally and emotionally—during and after swimming than before. Most of all, Quality means swimming feels like play, not work.

Swimming as Play

How do we make swimming feel like play? In exercise our intent is to work.  When exercise becomes training, we usually add a sense of obligation. Play brings a feeling of freedom and creativity.

In Swimming-as-Play we aim to enjoy every moment. In Swimming-as-Work, we endure fatigue, muscle ache, some degree of monotony—and often the freedom to be doing something else—today,  hoping for the reward of improved performance in three or six months.

From my teens through my 40s, I willingly made those sacrifices. I always felt virtuous for keeping the bargain. I sometimes swam quite well. But I didn’t always enjoy the experience or feel deeply satisfied in retrospect.

In my 50s, I decided I would listen to an inner voice (intuition? Spirit?) and only do what I felt pulled to do on a given day—and to choose not to do anything for which I lacked that inner spark. This applied to both the content of practice, and whether to practice.

For 25 years I wouldn’t have dreamed of ‘blowing off’ a scheduled practice. But now I never hesitate to make other choices when it feels right. On a sunny day (when the air’s warm but the calendar means I must swim indoors), I regularly choose to forgo a scheduled swim because the psychic energy of enjoying the outdoors on my bicycle will be far stronger. (And I don’t replace a training swim with a ‘training’ ride; I ride just for pleasure, happy to accept that exercise still ‘happens.’)

Yesterday, I’d planned to swim at Lake Awosting, working on brisk tempos. But I felt more drawn to spend that time weeding in our vegatable garden. So I did. And though my big race—the Betsy Owens 2-Mile Cable Swim–is in less than three weeks, tomorrow’s another day.

Since making that shift to doing only what I feel my spirit moving me to do, I’ve swum much better and enjoyed every swim, bike ride, yoga practice, etc.

Start at a Stroll

A major reward of learning Balance–the first foundation of TI technique—is the ability to swim at a walking—make that strolling—pace. I start each practice that way, then allow speed to be pulled out.  Starting every practice at a stroll is a foolproof way to experience the Pull phenomenon.

In 2006, my friend, Runner’s World editor (and 1968 Boston Marathon champion) Amby Burfoot told me elite Kenyan marathoners warm up at 9-minute mile pace—half their racing speed. That made me realize I’d spent 40 years swimming too fast in warmup.

Since then I’ve started every practice as easily and gently as possible. I apply featherlight pressure. I recover my hand (fingers tickling the surface) so slowly I almost stall. My kick is barely-there. I glide off each wall with legs streamlined, letting balance alone bring me to the surface.

It never fails. Not only is a faster pace irresistibly drawn out of me, as if an invisible source–like the attraction the sun exerts on the planets–pulling me forward. I also experience the most profound relaxation and connection with the water–that stays with me no matter how I might exert myself later.

And it’s not just a sensation; it’s empirically verifiable. In the practices I’ve posted on the TI Discussion Forum, you’ll see countless examples of open-ended tuneup series, on which I swim repeats at constant Tempo or SPL, getting steadily–and irresistibly–faster.

Can I still race well?

Pull-mode practice, with its emphasis on ease and enjoyment is obviously ideal if you swim only for health and happiness, but can it work if you swim competitively? Can it boost you to a ‘podium’ spot?

My blogs have probably hinted at how deep the competitive spirit runs through me. So, I do occasionally ask myself–if I swim only when the spirit moves me, focus so much on relaxation, and train ‘playfully’—can I still race to my standards over two miles of open water? I answer in two ways

1) I’m confident I’ll race well.  The aspects of swimming I value most—having a sense of clear purpose and experiencing Flow as I swim; having a surfeit of physical and psychic energy throughout the day; and the overall feeling of health and happiness—come mainly because my practice is always Deep. And Deep Practice contains elements that are ideal for sharpening the skills that win races. These include laserlike focus, a high efficiency stroke, and the ability to increase Tempo while maintaining Length. At the starting line, I’m always confident that I’m well prepared.

2) But I won’t lose sleep over the outcome. This year the ‘Betsy’ is a National Masters Championship. Somewhere I have a box that holds six national champion medals and patches. In those events, the satisfaction of winning peaked within a few minutes after the race. But the good feeling that flows from how I swam during them never fades. Indeed my most satisfying national race remains one that I lost. I’ll never forget the furious, shoulder-to-shoulder (literally–our hips and arms brushed on nearly every stroke) battle over the final 300m of the 2007 Betsy, where my close friend Bruce Gianniny outsprinted me at the end, with both of us going well under the national age record I’d set the previous summer.

This summer, writing, not racing, is my priority. Yet for the 50 or so minutes of the Betsy I’ll give it all I’ve got. And during every minute of practice leading up to it, my focus will be on preparing well. But I’ve already decided that if making other choices this summer means I swim the two miles, say, 30 to 40 seconds slower, I’m happy to trade that for many hours of greater enjoyment that will come from ‘drafting off’ my inner voice over the entire summer.

The post ‘Drafting Off’ My Inner Voice appeared first on Swim For Life.

Pace Practice For 1500

How do you set up a practice to train for 1500?

A long-time friend of mine emailed me his latest 3000 yard workout, sharing his results for some 500 repeats he made with the 1500 triathlon swim as his target. His (traditional) approach is to jump in the pool and just swim hard, with some rest intervals in there to break up the distance and permit harder-than-race-pace efforts – basic interval stuff. He does this regularly hoping for some improvement in times.

He asked how I might design a 3000 to 3500 yard workout, in comparison to his. This was my reply:

Here is an example of a set I might design with 1500 tri-swim training in mind, using your 7:13 for 500 yards pace as a reference point for target pace.

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Click here to read more of this post…

To view hundreds of articles of coaching advice and answers to swimmer’s questions on training and technique please visit Coach Mat’s Smooth Strokes blog.

How to Work Less and Swim Better in Triathlon

Watch this video and see how this illustrates both ‘human’ swimming and ‘fishlike’ TI technique. The second section–shot in San Francisco Bay at the World Masters Open Water Championship– shows what happens to human-style swimmers when the water gets a little rougher, compared with how TI’s fishlike style adapts easily to any conditions.

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Total Immersion Swim Better and Enjoy It More Than Ever Before

Check this video and absorb the distinctly aquatic characteristics of TI Freestyle–balanced, slippery, relaxed and working with the water. 

Don’t just watch it. Feel it. Then imagine how satisfying it would be to swim with effortless grace.

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How TI Helped Tim Ferriss Bypass His Previous Failure Points

Check this video out and watch Tim Ferriss explain, on a TED talk, how Total Immersion helped him bypass his previous failure points.

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