I’m A Little More Doug Butabi Than Ricky Martin…

Last night’s Zone 1 swim training -

Total time: 00:23:45

Distance: 350m

RPE: 12-14

Positive experiences and valuable lessons: I had pre-programmed myself after last week’s less-than-satisfactory swim workout, feeding my subconscious affirmations and visualizations. This week it really paid off; from the time I stepped into the pool, I felt fantastic. Light. Powerful. I deliberately slowed my stroke down, analyzing it 25 meters at a time. I was breaking down the angle of my elbow, my glide, the feel of my hand pulling the water - it was a unique experience. I’ve never swam like that before, and I’ve got to say that I really do prefer swimming slower with more power than feeling like I’m going fast but being completely bagged by the time I make it from one end to the other. I spent the first few lengths swimming freestyle down, and a rest stroke back, then waiting for 60-90 seconds for my heart rate to stabilize. The more time ticked by, the stronger I felt…around 200-250m, I started experimenting with rolling my hips and torso, using my core as a pivot point - something that I had read in Eric’s book but never really focused on before. I made a conscious effort to drive my swimming from my hips instead of my shoulders and arms, and was shocked when I reached the other side of the pool and looked down at my stopwatch to realize that I’d just shaved 4 seconds off of a single 25m length. 4…freaking….seconds….that’s full 2 minutes off of a 750m swim. I felt fantastic, and envisioned my hips rolling like…

I’m sure I actually looked more like…

I spent the rest of the time in the pool trying to recapture that feeling, rolling and pivoting, feeling the resistance of my body in the water and trying to determine what was the most effective degree of pitch and yaw in my pivot. I felt more confident after that twenty-plus minutes in the pool than I did all all of my training last year, and as I waited for Cin to shower and change I took up a spot in a quiet corner at the West Van Aquatic Centre and dropped myself into some deep self-hypnosis, pre-programming myself for next week to swim stronger, faster, and with more endurance. I’m starting to figure out that my mind is my greatest training partner.