Swim Stroke

That's all I practiced during today's swim: my stroke. I got a lot of advice from Buz W. last week and have a ton to work on. But I can tell after just 2 days of using this adjusted stroke, it will help me greatly in becoming a more efficient swimmer. Hooray! It was a short swim (I got in 1,000 only), and it was all pull and all focus. I timed a couple hundreds (200 warmup, 1:44, 1:47, 1:40 [kicking] [another 400], 1:44 [kicking]).

Remembering to keep my arms straight (or at least to straighten them more than I had been was easy; figuring out how to breathe well without taking in water and without lifting my entire head out of the water was not. The few times I did it well, though, I could feel a huge difference in efficiency. I'm seeing a lot more practice during this off season!

I did the Cool Springs ride tonight, but I rolled out early. However, I decided at 5:29 that I wanted to leave early, and the early crowd left at 5:30. Needless to say, I rode the entire route solo. For a solo ride, it was pretty decent. Unfortunately I didn't event think to split at the corner, so I don't know how I rode the second half compared to the last couple times.

Tuesday's short Cool Springs route

9-14-10, 8-31-10, 8-24-10, 8-03-10, 7-6-10, 6-29-10, 6-22-10, 6-15-10.

• 1:09:40, 20.90 miles, 18.0 avg (33.8 max), 1,279 cal, 155 HR (180 max);
  1:29:55, 20.94 miles, 14.0 avg (31.1 max), 1,206 cal, 130 HR (170 max);
  1:05:32, 20.89 miles, 19.1 avg (34.4 max), 1,257 cal, 162 HR (186 max);
  1:05:16, 20.92 miles, 19.2 avg (35.6 max), 1,266 cal, 171 HR (192 max);
  1:04:46, 20.86 miles, 19.3 avg (34.4 max), 1,318 cal, 166 HR (192 max);
  1:35:50, 28.26 miles, 17.7 avg (35.5 max), 1,763 cal, 150 HR (189 max) (rode from home);
  1:02:01, 20.01 miles, 19.4 avg (34.9 max), 1,249 cal, 172 HR (191 max);
  1:05:37, 20.69 miles, 18.9 avg (34.4 max), 1,291 cal, 164 HR (190 max)
• no lap splits;
  No lap splits because we didn't stay with the group past 0.2 miles.
  24:32, 8.9 mi, 21.8 avg, 154 HR (we were moving!);
  25:49, 9 mi, 21.2 avg, 162 HR;
  25:04, 8.87 mi, 21.2 avg, 161 HR;
  24:06, 8.91 mi, 22.2 avg, 145 HR;
  21:45, 8.01 mi, 22.1 avg, 171 HR;
  27:43, 8.81 mi, 19.1 avg, 160 HR
  
• no lap splits;
  No lap splits because we didn't stay with the group past 0.2 miles.
  41:00, 11.99 mi, 17.5 avg, 168 HR;
  39:26, 12.02 mi, 18.2 avg, 180 HR;
  39:41, 12.0 mi, 18.1 avg, 170 HR;
  39:34, 12.0 mi, 18.2 avg, 172 HR;
  40:16, 12.0 mi, 17.9 avg, 174 HR;
  37:54, 11.88 mi, 18.8 avg, 168 HR