So, the first thing that was apparent to me when I walked into the pool area for my first session as a *master swimmer* was that I had somehow not gotten the memo about the uniform. No, my multicolored red/purple/pink, high-neck so the girls don't pop out speedo, the one that all the old ladies in the locker room and pool deck just love (and yes, it does make me bitter when I get compliments about my suit from blue-haired ladies)...no my comfy, practical suit does not fit in the uniform scheme. Which simply means I stand out like a sore thumb even more. Just in case you were wondering, the apparent standard uniform for such an endeavor is a black TYR suit. See pic on left.
Second, as I walked up upon the group I got the stink eye. Yes, I really did. And it caught me by surprise. None of this Kumbaya bullshit that one gets at the end of a triathlon. No, I represented these ladies worst nightmare--not only was I 'fat', but I may take up some of their precious time with the coach. I'm sure they were wondering, would I be needy? Would I get in their way? Would I drown and have to be give mouth-to-mouth? Don't worry, I float!
Third, first conversation I hear as I come upon the group [& this is not tongue-in-cheek in the least, I swear]: "ya, yeserday I ran 19 miles & today I ran a fast 11." A fast 11, huh. Dude, I don't even think I've driven a fast 11! In fact, if I ran 11 miles I would call every single person in my address book and casually mention I was feeling good, but a bit tired because I had just run 11 miles. It would be on my Facebook page for a week. I would tweet it. I would post a newsletter to my college. This would not be the fodder for a casual conversation at the pool.
Anyway, class started & it was hard. I learned some things:
- I need to keep my head in the water more, my head is at an angle not really completely in the water.
- Because I'm pulling my head up too much my body is not flat in the water, but my leg appear to hang, which creates drag. A good cure for this is to look at my feet. Funny: I can barely see my feet when I'm out of the water, much less in the water!!!
- When you swim your center of gravity is in your chest, not your hips...as you swim your body should rotate...if a stick is attached to the bottom of the pool, your body should rotate as you stroke so that the stick is under one armpit and then under the other. Your hips rotate even further.
- As soon as you breath, when you put your face back in the water you begin exhaling, and you exhale the entire time until you take your next breath. At no time should you be holding your breath or should you be exhaling once your head is out of the water.
Our workout was solid & I was placed into a group with 2 other women. They were stronger swimmers than I, but we made it work and I never got passed!
- 200M warmup
- drill, 2 stroke, 3x50M
- Main set: 3x50M (1:30)
- 3x100M (3:00)
- 2x150M (4:30)
- 2x100M (3:00)
- 3x 50M (1:30)
- drill, drag & catch, 6x50M
- cool down, 100M
- Total M:1850
Now, I probably did about 6 lengths less than this between instruction and corrections. But I still swam more than I ever have!!! It was hard, but having other people there made it easier & of course having a coach to critique you helps a lot! I'm planning another swim workout on Friday of this week, I'm going to try and swim the same routine.
I'll be back to 'The Master's Swim Program' (and yes, in my head I say that with a deep voice like 'masters of the universe!') next week and try to resist the urge to buy the uniform...but I may not be able to help myself...
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