3.25.2008

Holy Butterfly!!

So I was able to get up nice and early this morning. It amazes me how easy it is for me to get out of bed when I have someone relying on me. Yesterday my coworker Kryssie and I decided to meet at the pool at 6:15 am. She first asked me when I would like to meet and 5:00 am did not work for her, so I had to let her pick the time. I was able to get a quick rotator cuff workout in before she showed up and then we hit the pool.

Once we warmed up I had her look at my stroke and give me a few tips. She echoed what I have heard time after time, REACH. I really need to make sure that I stretch out my body on each stroke. I have a problem of short arming my stroke which increases drag and your efficiency in the water.

After a few more laps at the freestyle stroke she had this brilliant idea of teaching me the butterfly. A few weeks ago I watched my fellow Tri-Fusionites attempt the butterfly after one of our workout sessions. It was pretty fun watching them and I could only image what I was going to look like, this was going to be my first attempt. So she started out trying to explain how you are supposed to do a little dolphin kick followed by a big dolphin kick. Sounds pretty simple right? WRONG!! I have never been a very flexible person so it took me quite some time to figure out how your legs are suppose to work. I have a pretty strong upper body but really wanted to make sure that I didn't rely on my arm strength to do this stroke. After a few attempts she actually gave me a compliment but I think it was out of pity.

After causing half of the water to splash out of the pool in my futile attempts at mastering the butterfly we switched to the breaststroke. I have done the breaststroke a few times and thought I knew what I was doing, apparently not. After a few tips I think I figured it out. Kryssie even made a comment on how fast I picked up the sequence of kicking, pulling and gliding :). Watch out US Olympic team you may have some competition.

After splashing around like a beached whale trying to figure out these new swim strokes, we headed down to the end of the pool to work on flip turns. If you have been reading my posts, I have been trying to figure these out for a few weeks now and I am slowly making progress. Kryssie was able to give a few great tips and hopefully in the near future I can bust these out in a Sunday swim. OK maybe not but someday it may happen. Thanks Kryssie for all the help and hopefully I can use these new swim strokes to help increase my overall water fitness.

4 comments:

jessithompson said...

Nice work. It sure helps to have some one watch you and give you some pointers. That whole REACH thing has been a big learning for me as well as pulling/pushing through the WHOLE stroke (not starting the pull late or cutting it short at the end).

Although I'm not sure our flip turn 'team' will be mastering the flip turns for Sunday workouts this season (in fear of injuring our other teammates), we're sure to have 'em down next season if we keep practicing. The whole circle swimming + flip turns is a little much to even imagine, not to mention continuing to swim and actually take in air. For now, I'm just happy to pull off an occasional decent one in a lane by my lil' ol' self :). You are awesome!

Trish said...

Sounds like you had a great swim! Good move enlisting help from a friend. Like Jessi said, it is so valuable to have someone watch your stroke and give you pointers. You are so dedicated to improving in the pool and it is totally going to pay off for you big time! Keep at it! Good luck this weekend...it is going to be so much fun :)

LORIE said...

Sounds like Kryssie is a blessing! WOW! Those early morning workouts. I look forward to watching you race and cheering you on! Here's to a good season!

Tiffany said...

I'm really looking forward to next week when you teach us all how to do the butterfly after the Sunday swim! :)