Don't Have a Stroke!

Monday night is usually an "off night" for us but this week's schedule is different so we went to do our swim. Last night was a Cooper test night. The actual 12-minute Cooper test was preceded by 300m warmup and 300m drills. We got 6 minutes into the Cooper test and were kicked out of the pool due to an impending storm. Disappointed, yes! I was feeling great. Isn't that always the case though?

On Sunday, I watched the swim portion of the Hy-Vee Triathlon in West Des Moines, Iowa that aired on TV. I must admit that this was probably the best teaching tool this tri season for me. As I watched the swimmers powering forward through the water, I realized that all strokes seemed to differ, not just a little but dramatically. Some stretched out and plunged into the water while others seem to stroke outward and slap the water. Admittedly, I would never want Hunter Kemper of the USA to evaluate my stroke (or read what I am about to write), but I watched his stroke in comparison with the other swimmers he was either leading or trailing. His stroke appeared somewhat sloppier than others but nevertheless, obviously equally effective as he was right behind the leader during the first lap.

Of course, this got me thinking about the fact that maybe I am focusing way too much on what my stroke looks like rather than just relaxing and swimming like I know I can. As I've mentioned, last Spring, I couldn't successfully swim 300m without being exhausted. This season, I have far surpassed that already. I think that is what made the six minutes of the Cooper test last night so different. I just swam and it felt really good. It may not have been pretty but I felt like I was gliding through the water much more smoothly, with greater success and with less effort than on previous occasions where I stressed what I was doing each and every stroke.

I am going to continue working on it and see what happens as I prepare for my next Olympic triathlon on August 15th. I just might have a PR swim!