Wetsuit balance off

[dprevish]

Well, the triathlon is over.
Results were not too grand: but not completely unexpected. There's no question that I'm in the middle of a plateau...I swam 33:26 on the same course and similar conditions of what last year was 31:10. I was looking for about 28 or 29:00.
I have not really been able to think of anything else to attribute the 2:00 + deficit but that I've gone through a year of trying to return my stroke to somewhere that I never should have let it go to.
Overall the rest of the event was not too bad, same time as last year on the bike and ran the 10k in about 49:00, 1:30 over last year, plus a little quicker in T1 & T2.

I'm going to be looking for a coach in the Bend, OR area; just moved back out here. I think that at this juncture I need to have someone in the pool with me that knows what I'm missing.

[Talvi]

Dave, did you try the foot thing?

Anyway, your time makes me wonder ... I did 33:27 for 1500 on Thursday, only in a pool so very different, and went for a swim in the lake last night feeling buoyed up by that, even though I was really very tired before I started. The water was 18'C, maybe lower out from the shore but felt ok. Even so after I got in a decided to put on a vest. I quickly got exhausted. Could only do about 300m, which was really very frustrating! Realised when I got home that I'd reached hypothermia - my temp had been between 34.0 and 34.2 when I got out. Think that had something to do with it for me anyway. So, long story to suggest that maybe your time difference was due to different water temperatures? Just another thought.

I really know what you mean by a 1-2-1 session with someone to feedback after every length or interval - a swim-therapist is what I need!

[dprevish]

Talvi,

Just reconnecting on the forum here...thanks for your thoughts. I considered the foot thing too. I think that my feet are quite a bit better than they used to be. I spent a lot of time though ruminating on the Triathlon last June. One thing that is notable was that I did not use my lower body at all. My wetsuit is so buoyant that I chose to save my legs. I'm not sure what loss I may have incurred as a result of that, but I'm sure something.

I have been working on my house as my wife and I have moved back to Oregon last June and been too busy to swim till last weekend.

I went out to a high mountain lake that I know very well and went flying in it.
I say this because it's so clear that even at 20 ft at the deepest the view is straight to the bottom; so refreshing. It's the closest thing to flying on earth I think.

It jerked me to realize that I need to enjoy swimming more too...I can get a little too fixated.

[terry]

Originally Posted by terry

Today I did 5 x 200 LCM averaging 41SPL and 3:25

By the last week in August I'd improved my 200 Long Course (50m pool) pace at 41SPL to 3:07. I did a total of 18 pool practices over 10 weeks this summer and improved my pace by 10 percent. I'll describe my program in my blog this week.

[terry]

Originally Posted by dprevish

I'm going to be looking for a coach in the Bend, OR area; just moved back out here. I think that at this juncture I need to have someone in the pool with me that knows what I'm missing.

The best Masters coach in the Bend area (though not a TI Coach--we have not in OR at present) is Bob Bruce. I hold him in high regard.

[Talvi]

Originally Posted by dprevish

...I went out to a high mountain lake that I know very well and went flying in it.
I say this because it's so clear that even at 20 ft at the deepest the view is straight to the bottom; so refreshing. It's the closest thing to flying on earth I think.

It jerked me to realize that I need to enjoy swimming more too...I can get a little too fixated.

I think 2-3ft is the limit of visibility in the lake here!! So I am envious, but still, I know what you mean about losing the enjoyment for the practice of it. This zen stuff can be a tricky business!

[dprevish]

Originally Posted by Talvi

I think 2-3ft is the limit of visibility in the lake here!! So I am envious, but still, I know what you mean about losing the enjoyment for the practice of it. This zen stuff can be a tricky business!

Talvi,

Too true, sometimes it perhaps is good to take a break. Periodization I believe has psychological benefits too. The practice that I get in OW is also good because it gives me a great distance to iron out my stroke w/out having to stop, flip and regroup.

[dprevish]

Originally Posted by terry

By the last week in August I'd improved my 200 Long Course (50m pool) pace at 41SPL to 3:07. I did a total of 18 pool practices over 10 weeks this summer and improved my pace by 10 percent. I'll describe my program in my blog this week.

Wow Terry, that's encouraging! I'll check out the blog.
Thanks too for the referral in the Bend area. The Redmond Masters group is lead by Bob Bruce, he's a great coach. The first time he saw my breaststroke he made an immediate revision that brought it up to just within a 2-3 second difference/lap than my free. I have been thinking of joining The Master's again, the only thing that I'm not crazy about is that it's not quite as focused, but perhaps Bob is up for private lessons.

Thanks again

[trysixty]

With regards to wetsuit balance, i'm finding that the more hip driven-catch up style freestyle with TI is somewhat restricted with the 5mm neoprene. Maybe restricted is the wrong word but the buoyancy of the neoprene produces a opposing force against the hip rotation for me. During the last 3 months of practicing the TI stroke in a pool, I will 1-2x a week wear a neoprene pair of surf shorts to try to simulate the wetsuit effect (lakes are still below 50) and sighting.

I really like the TI stroke but wonder once the tri season starts if I will swim any faster (22-23 min/1500m) than my previous arm driven trashing style. Thanks in advance for any comments.

[POLIDORI]

I understand that hate for swimsuits completely.
I hateb them as much as swimming in crowded pools, so this winter season I decided not to swim that much and I will try to catch up with swimming in a few weeks when the good weather arrives.
I am just swimming once a week in a good 25 m pool on Saurdays, noon or late evening, or may be twice a week as a maximum.
In a few days I will give the sea a try and check the temperature.
The winter has been so warm here in southern Spain that sea temperatures cannot be too low.
Then I will pray for water temperatures to be high enough to prevent the use of the suit in the few mountain triathlons we have here (two as a maximum for the whole year), so people who can barely swim cannot even conditions with those who have dedicated a lot of time to improve our technique and feelings.

With that said, I would add, regarding the topic you were talking about, that sports, practices, are much about sensations, but we cannot be sure of just that. We should measure our series, etc.
Sensations are never the same: not a single day in our lives can we feel the same things than any other day, as there are not too equal days in the history of our World.

However, although I am not much about controlling my practices (as I believe that that would take out the romantic feeling of practicing sports just for fun. I just like to swim (run, ride) and being in shape, but just for having good sensations), I usually wear a simple watch attached to my wrist and just measure how much it took me to do one of the things thah I usually do. Many times the results are surprising, as days with worse sensations (less rest, too much work, little health issues, etc) can lead to similaror even better results. And, of course, the other way around.

So measuring is an important thing, although it could emply not taking much time to write it all down, save it, etc.