Stroke Correction: Mind those Arms and Legs

Among the three legs of triathlon, swimming is the one I enjoy most. Quite naturally, it is also my relative strength. The thing is I am more of an endurance swimmer rather than a fast one. Two decades of meditative swimming allowed me to go to a dream-like state, floating through and in water for hours with very minimal exertion - but very slowly. Now I must learn competitive swimming. I thought I was an efficient swimmer because I can propel myself for hours with minimal effort. It turns out I have developed two "bad" habits from competitive swimming perspective. I rarely use my legs and I avoid catching the water. I last in the water because I exert very little.

Why did it take me so long to realize this, and how did I discover this?

There was no impetus for me to go faster. I have never come last in a swim leg and typically there are a couple of athletes behind me in the swim. I still make it to cut-off times in big races. But through the years I noticed that athletes who just learned how to swim were now overtaking me. More importantly, I need to make it to bike or run cut-off times so I must swim faster. There you have it. The specter of being cut off pushes one to swim faster.

I consulted teammate Hanna Sanchez, former varsity swimmer of La Salle. On our first session (mid-2012) she gave me her verdict:  You are not catching water nor kicking enough.  Ah ok, it was like being told you do not know how to swim. We'll it's partly true. I was self-taught for most part. She quickly told me to change my swim catch and do kicking drills - lots of them. Coach Ani De Leon-Brown also observed my weak swim catch in one of the triathlon camps held last year in Pico de Loro. Thanks to these coaches, I became conscious and somehow my half-ironman swim time dropped from an hour to 49 minutes in 2012 Cebu (although I think the swim course was short).

Last Saturday's drills were a revelation. While I can do 50m in 1:03-1:06 with a pull-buoy, I was struggling at 1:08-1:12 without the buoy. I was slower kicking than with leg steady. Clearly, my legs were a drag instead of pushing me further. I asked a teammate to record my swim in video. He correctly pointed out that while I was generally in horizontal position, I tend to stop kicking at times and then my legs drop. Old habits die hard!

In six months to Challenge Half, I shall form better habits. Propel from the core and position those arms like dragonboat oars. Maybe if I get to do this I will finally have a swimmer's well-defined back. Progressively extend and intensify those kick drills to 2k. My coach Hanna says 500m to 1K of drills may be enough, but my gut feels I need to progress to 2K to erase almost two decades of very little kicking. Let us see. May all these kick-start in a powerful way my personal crusade to wellness and life balance.

I will swim forever

The plan was a relaxation swim that will loosen some of the remaining tightness from my quads, hamstrings and gluteal muscles as a result of a 21K training run two nights ago. I started very, very slow - at what I love to call as meditative pace. I missed that pace. That swim pace in college helped me unravel philosophical conundrums, digest history of economic thought, solve quadratic equations, and fathom the complexities of women and relationships. Till now, when I hit the occasional doldrums, I wallow in the water, loosen my baggage, clear the mind, and emerge a better person.

Tonight I simply wanted to feel the water. Enjoy the magic of how a heavy person like me manage to slice through water with minimal effort. Tonight I had no puzzle to solve. I simply wanted the waters to cool my skin and knead my aching muscles. I had no intention of beating certain times, but I timed my laps just the same using the my new Timex Ironman watch. I get a child's thrill pushing that lap button every lap completed. When I decided last year to try triathlon again, I got myself the most expensive Timex Ironman watch as some sort of an incentive. I specifically wanted the Ironman series for it reminded me of my rather lofty aspirations. Someday and a zillion hours of more training, I will... I lost the expensive and sentimental Ironman watch. I replaced it with Casio for a while, but the Casio did not seem to have the Ironman spirit in it. I ditched the Casio and acquired the cheapest Timex Ironman model this time. Cheap model actually has that big lap button that I like.

I was not only enjoying pressing the lap button each time. I was also enjoying the times I saw on its screen. They were VERY far from brag-worthy times, but with each lap I seemed to get faster given the same perceived level of effort. So encouraged was I that I thought maybe I could notch up this relaxation swim a bit. I remembered that recent Inquirer article on triathlete Fred Uytengsu entitled "How A CEO Becomes an Ironman". Idol Fred says he swims 3kms per session so maybe I can give that distance a shot (and be an ingot closer to becoming an Ironman). It was only last week when I first tried a continuous (rest-free and drink-free) 2km swim, and I was ok naman.

I was ok naman for the duration of my continuous 3km swim attempt. The magic was I didn't feel tired, run out of breath, get thirsty or hungry. I was OK, in the zone, and loving every moment of it! Yes, I was still relatively slow and well below race pace, but who cared? Certainly not me. What was running in my mind was that rush of a realization that if I just swim like that, I can swim forever! The realization came somewhere in the middle of my swim distance, and just like magic, I was surprisingly fast in my middle laps! Morale: think happy thoughts and you will dart away like a fish.

Towards my last two laps before hitting 3km, I toyed with the idea of shooting for 4km. I was in the zone anyway and still strong. But then I realized I have had enough swimmer's high for the night. Savor the moment and save the attempt for 4km for other nights.

On my finishing lap I sprinted like crazy - a mad, lung-busting, celebratory rush to touch the wall. Some meters from the wall I remembered: I can swim forever. True. But tonight, I celebrate. I touched the wall, pressed on the watch for the last time, and savored my bottle of sports drink till the last drop. Cheers to magical swim nights.


I will sing forever of Your love, O Lord
I will celebrate the wonder of Your Name
For the word that You speak is a song of forgiveness
And a song of gentle mercy and of peace

- I Will Sing Forever, Bukas Palad Choir

Back to Basics: It's All In the Breathing

To speed up my recovery from my long runs late December 2008, I decided to swim on the 3rd day of January 2009. I am not certain about the scientific explanation, but from my experience, relaxed swimming is better than massage in removing knots in muscles and any other aches I might have gotten after running. I suppose it has something to do with improved blood circulation. Yes, massage improves blood circulation, but mild physical activity circulates the blood more! Swimming engages the whole body and in the process well-oxygenated blood is pumped into the muscles. The blood will bring with it the oxygen and trace elements necessary for muscle repair, while carrying away with it lactic acid and other wastes produced by running. Oxygen is so important that if it is continuously supplied in generous amounts, a muscle group in theory can keep on contracting without getting tired. The heart as muscle is perfect example. Close to the lungs, the heart is assured of oxygen supply and will contract and beat in regularity. Now, if only we can all supply adequate oxygen to those quads and calves of ours, maybe we will all end up being ultra-marathoners!

Apart from muscle recovery, for my first swim of the year, I also aimed to change my breath count when I do the crawl (stroke normally used in free-style competitions). Yes, years after doing the crawl using a specific breathing pattern, I am changing my breath count. Crazy me! While my every two strokes breath count is ideal for my leisurely, meditative pace, it seems inadequate now if I intend to swim faster. While I may have succeeded in doing a sub-60 second 50-meter swim, I was stroking the water and flipping my legs like crazy! (Buti pa sa swimming, the nakaka-sub-60 ako. Kailan kaya ako mag-sub-60min sa 10K run ko?) While my furious swimming on a 2-stroke breath count may probably be done in a mini-sprint triathlon, this strategy will kill me in a sprint or standard distance triathlon.

The simplest way for me to improve my swim time is to breathe less often. In a 50-meter sprint, elite swimmers sometimes breathe just once or twice, or not all for the race duration! Of course there is a trade-off -- speed versus fuel economy. Yes, just like in cars. A 50m sprint with minimal breathing will be largely anaerobic - powerful and fast but cannot be sustained for long. For triathlon, my swimming has to be largely aerobic.

I decided to try breathing every 4 strokes. My transition from 2 to 4 stroke breathing was rather smooth. Of course every now and then my body would revert to its old way of breathing, but for most of my 50m practice laps I was doing well. The key was concentration. Whereas before I think of something else when I swim while my body automatically follows the breathing program I taught it, this time I have to teach my body a new algorithm and make sure it follows my new direction. Hopefully within a month's time, my body will be in autopilot again using the new breath count. Once the new breathing habit is ingrained, I shall train for distance.


(Next: Back to Basics: Maintaining Balance)