Recently in Swimming Category

Last night I came to grips with my secret fears inside and met friend Uli at the swimming pool in Karlsruhe. Fear? Yes, you see Uli and her husband Bernd are Ironman (Ironmen?), and they have been the main catalyst in my decision to participate in a Triathlon. I have seen both of them swim, they make it look sooo easy, I mean I thrash through the water in comparison.

I arrived at the pool a little early so I could warm up before Uli arrived. The pool was full, which didn't help my nerves, which were doing backflips due to my lack of confidence in my swimming ability. After a couple hundred meters I spotted Uli's red swimming cap and joined her. Bernd was with her, he wanted to train with the Triathlon club that met Friday nights.

Uli warmed up with a lap as I talked to Bernd, then Bernd turned me over to my new swim instructor. Uli swam a lane with me, then got out of the pool and watched me as I swam the crawl back to the other side. To my surprise she said my technique was much better than she had expected. She mentioned that my main weak points seem to be that I don't lift my elbows out of the water enough and I need to learn to glide forward.

From there Uli got down to business, we did lap after lap of various drills, with only a short pause after each to explain the next one. Most of the drills I recognized from my swim class, and I managed to once again prove how uncoordinated I am in the water. Luckily Uli understands the difficulties of a beginner and has a great sense of humor - she kept me smiling as she dogged me out.

After about 45 minutes Uli noticed that I was suffering, and I admitted that I needed a break. She left me to unwind with some easy laps and she knocked out 700-800 meters of her own training. Afterward she suggested we do a couple fast laps, I knew there was no way this was going to happen. She took off in the lead and I tried to hang with her, after 25 meters I could barely lift my arms any longer, so slowed down. I met her at the end of the 50 meter lane and I said I probably need to swim the breast stroke back. As she took off I decided to at least try to crawl as far as I could, after about 25 meters I noticed Bernd was watching me from the sidelines, no stopping now, I tried to bring my form in grips and managed to make it to the end of the pool still crawling.

At this point Bernd took over and suggested we go to the smaller pool in the back and work on some specific training. He showed me several different drills that I could use to improve various points in my swimming technique.

Finally after almost two hours at the pool I headed for the showers, I was exhausted, this was the hardest swim workout ever! As I showered I thought about all that Bernd and Uli had said, it was clear that I have a lot of work ahead of me. But they both said that I should have no problem completing my sprint Triathlon in July, I only need to keep up the training. As I walked to the car my muscles ached, I was hungry, tired - but my heart glowed, I can't wait to head to the pool again!

On Tuesday I met friend Birgit at the local research center for a couple laps around the outside of the lighted compound. Most of the snow from the previous weekend was gone, making it much safer to complete our 13.2 km (8.2 mi.) run.

On Wednesday morning I stopped at the swimming pool in Karlsruhe on the way to work and did 1200 meters of laps, alternating 100 meter breaststroke and 100 meter crawl. My breathing is slowly improving, as is my overall swimming endurance. I still need to work a lot on my technique, but first when my breathing is more comfortable.

Last night I met Birgit, Uli and Gerd at the local research center for two 6.6 km laps. It was a bit warmer than it has been, around 3°C/37°F, and the asphalt path surrounding the complex was mostly free of ice. We had a good time running and chatting, time goes fast in a group. Towards the end of the last round we were joined by Uli's husband Bernd, who ran from their house to join us. He talked Birgit and I into running part of a third loop with him, he knows Ultra runners are easy to talk into a couple more miles.

Tonight I am meeting Uli at the pool, she is sitting out the Triathlon swim training that she usually does on Friday evenings and offered to give me some pointers on how to improve my swim technique. Uli completed her first Ironman in Zurich, Switzerland last year, she and her husband Bernd talked me into doing my first sprint Tri this coming summer - they obviously don't know how bad I swim.

This weekend I have 24 km (15 mi.) on my training plan for Saturday and 20 hilly km (12.5 mi.) on Sunday, I hope the weather cooperates. We are supposed to get more snow in the next couple days, snow is okay, but ice I could do without...we'll see.

My training is about a month behind last year's training, I figured out that I peaked about four weeks early last year, so adjusted my schedule accordingly. At the moment my body is still getting used to longer runs and higher mileage, most runs feel a bit sluggish in the moment - but last December was the same, so by next end of next month I should be ready for some hard training. Stay tuned.

As the old year ticked over into the year I officially started training for the 2010 race season. Over the last three weeks I have been averaging around 80-85 km (50+ miles) of running a week, 10-15% more than I have on my training schedule. The past two weeks we have had up to 20 cm of snow on the ground, making longer runs challenging. On Saturday it warmed up just enough to make the snowy trails treacherous to run, I slipped and slid my way over 24 km (15 mi.), the effort leaving my legs sore and tired, particularly noticeable when I woke up Sunday. I ended up reducing my Sunday run from 20 km to 13, no point in overdoing it on icy trails, besides my mileage was well over what I had on my training schedule.

I was looking over my training plan yesterday afternoon and concluded that my training is much too advanced so early in the year. My gut feeling is that if I continue at this rate I may end up peaking way too early - not around the 100K in June when it is desirable. To counter this I want to drop back to 4 days a week running and add some weight training (Crossfit). I also want continue with my two days a week swimming for a couple more months, at least until my mileage starts to peak.

Speaking of swimming, I was at the pool on Friday following work and for the first time in a couple months had a halfway decent workout. Since my swim course ended at the end of November I have been struggling to complete a 50 meter freestyle lap without running out of breath. On this particular night I slowed down and concentrated on my form and was completing 100 meter laps without hesitation. I swam a total of 1300 meters, alternating 100 meters of breaststroke and crawl, with a 5-10 breath pause at the end of each 100 meters, probably not impressive for most of you out there, but nevertheless a breakthrough for me.

My swim goals for the next few months are to work up to 2000 meters combined breast/crawl by the end of June, with at least 700 meters nonstop crawl. The latter is needed for my sprint Tri in July, it will take lots of hard work!

Last night was swim class number 8 (out of 10). The last couple weeks I was suffering from a cold and had a lot of trouble with the breathing, which played havoc with trying to learn the proper freestyle (crawl) technique. I arrived a little early at the pool and warmed up with 300 meters of breast and freestyle before the class. I noticed that my breathing was better, but was still nervous as the class began.

As we warmed up with two laps (one trip down and back in the 50 meter pool) I concentrated on relaxing and concentrating on my form. We then launched into 45 minutes of various swim drills that really got the heart pumping. I continued to concentrate on relaxing, my breathing and correct form, somehow I survived without panicking like I sometimes do when I don't get enough oxygen. If my practice sessions are similar I hope that by next week I can finally start progressing with my swim training.

I ran three times this past week, Friday through Saturday, a trade show kept me away from my normal routine. I managed to get in an almost 22 km (13.5 mi.) run on Sunday afternoon with Ironman Bernd - RB accompanied us for 17 of the kilometers. On Monday night I did a single 6.6 km (4 mi.) loop around the local research center with two Walter and Horst L. from my running club, then headed to the swimming pool for 600 meters. Tomorrow night I hope I can return to the pool for some more laps - practice makes perfect, especially while trying to learn swimming.

Our new kitchen is in place, the only thing left to do is to cut out the slots for the sink and stovetop in on the large counter tops. A friend of mine is coming over Saturday morning to help do this - we should be able to cook our first meal by Saturday evening. I will try to take a couple pictures for those who wonder what a German kitchen looks like. My wife did a super job of coordinating all the colors, the room is worlds brighter than it was before!

On Tuesday evening was the third class from my 10 week freestyle swim course, we practiced our bilateral breathing. For the first half hour nothing seemed to go right, I think I drank half the pool dry...but then all at once everything clicked into place, well at least the breathing, but somehow I managed to forget how to kick, gosh!

Wednesday morning I returned to the pool and tried to practice my kicking and breathing. It went pretty well, but it seemed like after every 40-50 meters I had to stop and catch my breath, somehow I just wasn't getting enough air. I think that I don't release enough air before coming up for air, I guess it needs time and lots of practice.

On Wednesday I took a day of vacation so that I could plaster the walls in our kitchen. The new electrical cables and water pipes are installed, so it was time to close up the walls. At the same time I also installed Styrodur (foamed polystyrene?) insulation to the inside wall that connects to the outside of the house - the kitchen was always cold in the wintertime. Now I only need to put a light layer of plaster of the Styrodur panels and we can wallpaper.

I also ran on Wednesday night, picking RB up shortly before our group met. The group that I normally run with wanted to do some speed training, but I was worn out from the days activities, so RB and I ran at a slightly slower pace. After about 5 km we were joined by Birgit who was late getting off work and missed the group at the start. She just returned from a weeks vacation wandering in southern Germany, so filled us in on some of the highlights. The run was quickly finished, just like it always is when running with good friends. Oh well, I look forward to the next time!

Am Dienstagabend war die dritte Nacht von meine 10 Woche Kraul Schwimmkurs, wir haben bilateral Atmung geübt. Die erste Halbstunde hat es gar nicht funktioniert, ich habe viel Wasser geschluckt...aber dann auf einmal es hat geklappt, nun es hat mein Beinschlag durcheinander gebracht, oje!

Mittwochmorgen war ich 6:15 Uhr noch mal im Wasser, ich habe versucht mein Beinschlag und Atmung zu üben. Es hat teilweise funktioniert, aber fast jeden 40-50 Meter musste ich anhalten weil ich zu wenig Luft bekommen habe. Ich meine ich Atmung nicht aus zwischen durch und bekomme nicht genug Luft - ich glaube es braucht Zeit und viel üben.

Am Mittwoch habe ich auch ein Tag Urlaub genommen um die Wände in die Küche zu verputzen. Die neue Elektrikleitungen und Wasserleitungen sind installiert, es war Zeit um die Wände zu schließen. Ich habe gleichzeitig das Innere Wand an die Hofseite vom die Küche mit Styrodur isoliert, im Winter war es sehr kalt im Küche. Jetzt muss ich nur die Stryrodurplatten leicht verputzen, dann können wir anfangen zu tapezieren.

An Mittwochabend habe ich auch gelaufen, kurz vor den Lauftreff habe ich RB geholt und wir haben die Rest on die Gruppe getroffen. Die Leuten das ich normalweiß laufe mit wollte ein Tempo lauf machen, aber ich war müde so RB und ich habe mit ein etwas langsamer Tempo gelaufen. Ab 5 km Birgit hat uns auch getroffen, sie hat spät von der Arbeit gekommen und uns verpasst. Sie hat gerade ein Wanderwoche gemacht und hat ein bisschen erzahlt wie es war. Die lauf war schnell vorbei, wie es immer ist wenn man lauft mit gute Freunden, na ja, ich freue mich auf die nächste lauf!

A week ago my latest adventure in swimming made its debut, a freestyle (crawl) swim course. The 10 week course meets on Tuesday evenings and will hopefully prepare me for future plans in the triathlon world.

I took an adult swim course a couple years ago, whereas I became more proficient with the basic breast swimming technique and was at least exposed to the freestyle technique. Unfortunately I didn't stick with my swim training and still swim rather poorly. This was evidenced last week during the first evening of the course, I suffered dearly for my neglect in keeping up with the techniques.

Last week we swam a couple laps in the pool so our instructor could view our level of swimming. As far as I could see I was the only one of the 12 in the class that attempted to swim with something other than the breaststroke. I presented my rendition of the freestyle, probably hoping to impress, which may have been working until I almost drowned after swallowing half the pool on the way back on the first round. Humbled, I switched to the breaststroke and managed a speed that would match any aging grandma.

Unfortunately there were no aging grandma's around so I jammed up the lane with my pitiful technique. Our instructor is a sweet young lady with a pretty smile, probably about the age of my daughter, with the heart of a drill sergeant. She led us through a series of kicking drills that had all of us begging for mercy by the end of the 45 minute session. I humbly slouched off to the shower afterwards, I was beat and aching in new and interesting places.

The following morning (Wednesday) I stopped at the pool before beginning my day to practice what I learned the night before. After about two meters the aches and pains from the night before flashed back and I struggled through 500 meters of laps in any way, shape or form that brought me forward. Frustrated, I decided to wait a day or two and rest my body from this unaccustomed sport art. On Saturday morning I returned to the pool and struggled through another 600 meters, but at least didn't feel like I was drowning the whole time as with the previous sessions during the week. On Sunday before church I again entered the pool and after a couple laps, finally started to relax a bit - but was still worn out after 500 meters.

So last night (Tuesday) I arrived early before the class and warmed up with a couple laps before the class session began. I swam the first 100 meters using the breaststroke and the second 100 meters with my version of the freestyle, both went well, I felt ready for whatever drills we would be doing.

Our instructor sent us up and down the lane to warm up, then we started the first drill, propelling ourselves down the lane with the freestyle kick with our arms closed to a "V" in front of us. Halfway down we were told to clasp our hands behind our back and continue. This proved to be harder than it sounds for most of the class, the main problem being the breathing. We did this for 200 meters, then went on to the next drill, swimming on our side with one arm before us, the other by our side - again switching arms in the middle of the lane and 200 meters. We then flipped over to our back and kicked down the lane with our arms in a "V" before us - I managed to get kicked in the head when I overtook the woman in front of me. This of course shocked me and I ended up inhaling half the water in the pool.

Finally the instructor passed out flotation devices and we more or less repeated all the drills again using these training aids. At the end of the 45 minutes session the instructor wished us well and sent us on one more 100 meter loop, swimming however we chose - I tried my primitive freestyle technique, concentrating on the newly learned kicking technique.

Next week we are going to practice the correct breathing technique, which sounds entirely useful. In the meantime I hope I can get to the pool and get some practice in, I have a long way to go.

Tonight I need to run, really bad...but will my aching muscles even allow this, stay-tuned.

About 4 years ago I decided to do something about my terrible swimming technique and took an adult swim course. I was not a natural and fought my way through the course, but slowly improved during the 10 week course and the following months. But then I transformed into a Marathon Maniac (#1334) and Jackaquaman fell apart faster than Superman with Kryptonite!

Of late I have been hanging around (and running) with IronMan Bernd and IronWOMan Uli from my running club. As things go they have planted the Triathlon seed in me and somehow it has managed to sprout, despite the lack of "watering". My age old excuse of swimming being a problem just didn't work with these two...they went as far as to offer help with my swimming, how can I say no!

In any case, last Thursday night while making a round through the woods with these two Uli set out the bait. Next thing I knew I was signing up for a freestyle (crawl) course and telling my wife that I wanted to compete in my first Tri next summer. So beginning on September 22nd, I will be spending Tuesday nights attempting to rebirth Jackaquaman. At least this time I will have IronMan and IronWOMan on my side. My first goal is the local Sprint (Volks) Triathlon in nearby Blankenloch in July 2010, from there we'll see how it goes...

Yesterday morning I stopped at the pool on the way to work and managed 700 meters, form be dammed...this morning I rode my bicycle the 22 km (14 mi.) to work. Tonight = cycle home + run with running club.