 |
 |
First
Mile Swim to Faster Mile Swim
By VIK MALHOTRA
 Several
years ago I built up to being able to complete
500yard swims – a bit more
than a quarter mile. For someone who, until
nearly age 40, couldn’t complete a single
25-yard lap without exhaustion, this was quite
an accomplishment, but my form was awkward
and sloppy. As an adult, developing a "feel" for
the water has been an incremental process with
the main tools being that I bring focus and
hunger to every practice session, day in, day
out, regardless of other circumstances affecting
my life.
These 500-yard pool swims were affirming to
a 40-year old: "Hey at least I can swim
a distance that not many people can complete
nonstop, however awkwardly." Even so,
I decided to “regress-to-progress.” I
gave up my cherished 500s to return to 25-
and 50-yard mindful swims interspersed with
drills. That choice has resulted in a “great
leap forward” to swimming my first nonstop
mile. I swam my mile (actually 1650 yards in
a 25-yard pool) alternating freestyle and backstroke...and
admittedly sloppy open turns. (Flip turns aren’t
a priority at this point.) Even though this
was a "combo" swim, I was so elated
that I increased my commitment, swimming five
days a week, starting every day with my combo
mile, then finishing up with TI drills.
For those who would like to try this approach,
here are the details:
- I
start out alternating 100 yards free with
100 back. I maintain this
pattern for as long
as I feel able to sustain good form for
the full 100. When I feel my stroke begin to
shade towards inefficiency, I move on to
alternating
50s of free and back. I then finish the
last few 100s with alternating 25s. I don’t
start out with a predetermined plan at
this point. I just play around with the set.
- By
switching strokes my “freestyle
muscles” do not get fatigued
as they would if I swam only freestyle
for
the entire
distance. After each segment of backstroke
I resume swimming freestyle feeling
fresher. Thus as I approach the end
of my mile,
my freestyle still feels good.
- The
combo mile also keeps me mentally fresh and
helps me swim every stroke
mindfully. I
speed up and slow down. I play around
with stroke count, rhythm and focus
points. But
I never attempt to get beyond myself.
I watch for arm fatigue as a sign
that
I’m not “swimming
with my body.” Indeed it has
taken me several years to transition
from limbs to core
body awareness.
- Being
able to swim continuously is exponentially
increasing
my "feel" over
the amount of intuition I developed
while doing shorter
repeats – or at least developing
a different kind of intuition,
for “swimming
sustainability.”
- I
finish each mile feeling fresh, with energy
to spare, and not a
hint of soreness
or tightness.
In
my last three swims, I have progressed from
38 minutes, to
36, to under
34 for 1650 yards.
On my fastest swim I actually
began with the intent to swim
slower
than usual to avoid
being
blind-sided by the clock. So
I was stunned when I finished
to
see I
had actually swum
faster!
My goal is to progress over
the next few years to 27 minutes
or less for
my combo
mile. While
I’m currently improving by minutes per
week, I know my rapid progress so far has come
because I’m so new to the “distance
game.” However there
are still some fairly accessible
improvements: (1) I still
have to
learn how to do proper open-turns
instead of flailing around
at each end of the pool;
and
(2) Being a very inexperienced
backstroker, I learn something
about it every day so those
segments will improve. Finally,
I know this
practice will gradually allow
me to swim freestyle for
greater distances, replacing
some of the
backstroke, which will also
carve minutes from my finishing
time.
Some
might feel that the combo mile doesn't “count” but
I love it because it
feels like a series of short repeats
which ensure I maintain
a high
degree of form and concentration
for as long as I wish
to continue swimming. As I told
my
wife Dianne, I would
not trade what I have gained
from TI practice for
a million dollars
– and I am not being
metaphorical.
Vik, his wife Dianne,
and Kellie (their Welsh
Corgi) currently
reside in Lantana,
Florida,
where Vik is a private
investor. They migrated to
Florida
in Jan 2004, after “burn-out” on
Wall-Street. Both are Certified
TI Coaches, though they
primarily use Total Immersion
for
improving their own swimming.
Vik’s exposure to TI accelerated their
plans to move to Florida. “I wanted to
have ready access to pools and warm weather – all
year long. Besides, TI fulfilled a deeper need – it’s
like dreaming as a child that you can fly – and
then to discover you can. Learning to swim
as an adult changed something within me. I
believe I could do anything now. We decided
to build a new lifestyle in consonance with
what felt ‘good and true.’”
Comment
on this article
|
 |
