Masters Swim
It sounded too professional for little old me. I mean, MASTERS swim, you have to admit
that sounds terribly intimidating, especially since I am a rookie when it comes
actual technique. It was my
accountability partner that pushed me to try.
Let’s get something straight, I am not a good swimmer, I
won’t drown per se, if I fall out of a boat but my technique is sloppy at
best. My freestyle stroke is too
splashy, I get swamped when I do the back stroke, constantly getting water up
my nose and in my mouth, and I have NO IDEA how on earth people do the “fly”
stroke.
The Masters Swim “class” is for people who need a little
guidance on their strokes, and a challenging push. Coach Linda is there to answer your questions and to gently
critique your stroke offering suggestions on how to better your technique. She places a workout on the board (I
have to admit, I needed a little translation on what all the 2 x 150 IM’s and
what not meant), and your challenge is to go thru all the workouts without
stopping, which for someone like me, is currently impossible, since I’m so out
of shape.
It also took me a while to count yards instead of laps. One of my biggest challenges is my
breathing in counts of three, and fives, because my swimming experience has
never taken me to breathing on the opposite side. Needless to say I have swallowed a lot more of the pool than
I wanted (which is none).
I used to swim in college, my first year of college that is,
way back in 1991, and even though I have done triathlons in the past, I have
never really trained for
swimming. In college I just did
laps to get into shape, and let me tell you, I never gained that freshman
fifteen, I instead lost 20 pounds and was, at the time, in the best shape of my
life.
Swimming is an incredible workout for your entire body. My neck was more sore than my muscles,
although that is mostly due to my poor technique and lifting my head up
constantly to see where I am going or when I panicked (which was often) and
started huffing water.
I highly recommend getting into the pool, and the Masters
Swim, though challenging, is a great way to start if you want to train on
bettering your technique, or if you’re training for a race. Even if the race is just for running,
swimming will get your body into shape with excellent full body cardio.
Rock on my friends.
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