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If there is one con about swimming in a group, it's the fact that during warm up, if one person intend to up the speed, the rest will just follow.
The warmup on this last training session showed an overall weakness of own pace awareness. I will not deny I'm proud to be able to finish one lap and tell you it's exactly 5# secs and 90% of the time it's spot on, even when i'm tired. In doubt? ask sam.
I only picked up swimming(from scratch) 3 yrs back and before that I almost drowned in a 1.4m pool. So it isn't an excuse that those of you who've been training with me can say that "thats because coach kk is a swimmer! I'm not!"..
It is really a matter of how much conscious awareness you're disciplined to put into each swim. With a swim squad and a coach, you're getting timing feedback almost every set.. So you should be measuring your perceived rate of exertion, number of pulls and distance per stroke relative to the swim time and be able to gain a rough insight to how fast you're moving through the water when you pull That hard. 2km swim is 40laps, if you swim once a week, you'd be getting about 40 practices of estimation.
My advice:
Work harder, the smart way people...:)
Individually..
Pauline and Robert I kind of feel bad that only both of you are in the other group and I hope I wasn't neglecting you all too much.
As much as I believe the sole issue faced by Robert and you right now is the lack of time spent in water doing swim reps in a conscious manner... I hope you will still find each swim session fruitful and not just there to clock lap after lap... You know if you have any qn, just stop me after I made the group go for the rep and I will attend to you guys..
You've done it before, I'll stop even in the midst of my swim.. You have my assurance.:)
Seriously, coming for the swim training at least makes sure that you're putting what you learnt into good practice and not forgetting it! The training I've designed for your group is specifically for eliminating the weakness and also for self discovery of what is lacking in one's stroke. Thus it really isn't just about the laps.
Swim wise, Pauline lack stabilizing strength in the core.. Without strengh in stabilizing the core, it is very difficult for the body to move fluidly from one stroke to another.. Be patient and with more moderate to slightly faster swims, the strength will come!
Robert is currently doing very well addressing to the shortness of breathe and also the body is getting more and more streamlined following each week's practice. This shows that you've been really conscious about how your body shape is when you're swimming.
Spend more time swimming, add a session by yourself or with Pauline, other than the Wednesday one.. With more frequency of practice (not the bulk or volume per training), you'll impove even faster.
Personal tip: don't look in front to see the end too often.. it should be an enjoyable deed that you can do over hours! Western Australia IM is your aim!!!!!:)
Lawrence
- I enjoyed watching the strong finish and also your own enjoyment of feeling strong in the swim. It also reminded me that training with timing is but just a mean of logging progress and one should not be always engrossed with whether you're swimming fast in one training or not.
- The so called "turtle legs" are also opening up quite abit.. it may seem like its just very small width apart, but once apart and especially when you're rotating body from side to side, it would just become more than shoulder width apart. That will contribute to loads of drag...
- Pulling arms crossed center axis Really badly in the last set.
- You're definitely in good form for the biathlon's swim right now. hope you're doing great on the run too! :)
Sam
You're getting very close to what I'm doing right now.. the ability to tell pacing.. and I can see that in you because of the inconsistency of timing (too slow at some point and getting too fast after realizing you are still very strong in the last set)/lack of confidence in pacing after missing 2 weekend swims over 2 weeks.
Kick also got a lot of bend in the knee and thus the feet got out of water a lot during the 500m in 11mins.
Also, the 500m's last lap of Strong finish is good, I like. :)
Good job on the swim again, now all you need to do is just build your confidence on the success that you can find in your progressively more challenging training. :)
Remember, Success breeds confidence and confidence itself will breed success. :)
Gen
Having not enough rest is definitely wearing you out. Lack of badminton training is probably one thing that is causing your overall body endurance to drop but the main problem lies in under-resting and not under-training.
Inability to complete the main set is almost expected when we depart from your home and I saw the shagness in your eyes.
Rest well, and for those first 5x100 that you did, you can Rest Assured you still have it in you and not have to worry of losing any swimming fitness.
We'll see what you can do in the next training. Feedback to me if its too hard, we can switch groups if need be. Consistency is key, intensity is but just an icing on the cake right now that we're building base for a strong 20 years of racing to come.
Yes, I'm assuming you will do triathlon and biathlon races by yourself soon enough. :)
Wilson
We missed you.
KH
We missed you too.
I miss your presence alot at home when you were away at camp. :)
KianMing
We missed you also.
Teck Beng
The back extension video is not yet done as I really don't have the time yet. I will do so once I can find the time yeah. Apologies.
I felt that you did a great job in the swim. And you demonstrated to us what biomechanical advantage can do to offset the lack of mature swim finesse. :)
The swim was relatively fast when compared to the others but at your height and limb length, you really ought to be doing at least 10 to 20seconds faster at the current effort you're exerting.
Try to work on the catch part of the pull to catch more water. Its not that the left arm is weaker, it is just that the right arm is catching more water and thus you can feel that you're applying more force whereas the left arm is like swinging through the air and you have nothing to apply force on.
Work also on the kick and keep your butt and hamstring and back of knee up on the surface of the water. That way, you'll have a horizontally flat base in the water and thus more streamlined. :)
Marianne
I nagged enough to you one on one after the swim.. From the timing you can also see that you're literally Hanging there at the last 3 sets... From first 100 of the 5x100, you can see the potential timing you should be aiming to maintain every single lap for now.. 2:04 for a hundred!
Okay, things to do for you:
2 words:
Swim More. :D
JiaWei
Lifesaving instructor leh.. wah piang eh.. at least 2 hrs before the exercise you must FINISH YOUR FOOD LIAO....... NOT START EATING.. and you still ate 1 hr before you exercise... you wanna vomit is it.... or you think the pool not dirty enough?? zzz... hahaha..
Ok la, joke aside, I see obvious improvement in your stroke lengths per pull and you can now keep up with the majority despite feeling a little breatheless. It is like that at the beginning because when you switch from one habit to a new one, it's more energy consuming.
Try to work on relaxing the WHOLE body whilst you pull through the water with one side. What I always do is try to act like the rest of the non working muscles are dead piece of meat, including the face. Seldom you'll see me have other expression than a straight face of deep thought(or pain when pushing really hard).
Sometimes I also find that you kick a little too hard and chiong a bit too hard at the beginning. Try to restrain yourself from chionging in the first lap. It is sort of an subconscious/ego kinda thing. Needless to say, you probably don't know you're one of them pushing the pace at the warmup phase..
Be patient, the race is always won at the end as long as you keep sticking close to the leader with a much lower perceived effort than him/her. :D
Ryan
First of all, welcome!
Pardon me but I can't do the video analysis now due to not enough time (12.40am.. tired.. 3 hrs ride + run tomorrow...).. i will do it on monday! Gen took the video of you swimming... and its pretty clear cut that you're making some of the very common mistakes.
Generally your fitness is up there, and your swim is pretty ok. I see quite a few easy tweaks that you can use to swim faster.
Currently, you need to work on
- High elbow recovery on both sides after pulling all the way back (right arm got high elbow now but your pull ended at abdominal area instead of mid thigh, left arm pulling all the way back but is recovering with a straight arm)
- Leaning into the water from the chest and armpit area. Chest is too high, resulting in the hip sinking and the legs too.
- Gliding more. Holding your arm that had finished pulling to your body side (stand straight and raise one arm reaching to the sky. That's the position you wanna be in) and just let the body glide forward longer before recovering the arm to the front again. Start the next pull only after the recovering arm passes the forehead.
Ponder over the above in VIVID DETAILS in your brain. If you can't, ask me how before you start practicing.
Leon
What better to way to start a review with the daddy and mummy then to end with the son! haha.. that way, we're all a family already! Haha.. sorry, too shag liaoz..
Seriously, the swim was pretty good judging from the timing. But from what I see personally, the swim didn't seem very effortless or relaxed at all. Body was sinking quite abit and the recovery was more than draggy on the surface of water. Kick was way stronger than before and thus the improvement in timing. Also, leading all the way during the 500m in 11:00 until the last 2 laps was real cool. :)
Lets try to work on staying on the surface of the water, fingertip to the toes. The hand should be just as deep as the diameter of your head's cross section.
Also, the rotation over to the left side isn't really triggering.. thus the low elbow recovery worsened too..
Overall, I'm really impressed with what your fitness can bring you right now after a short period of swim training! Keep at it! I wanna see more improvements from you! Exciting to see your growth each week! :)
Alrightie, below is the timing for the sets. Enjoy. :)
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Click to enlarge please.
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Cheers
KK
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