You can’t build a house without a good foundation. Similarly, to properly train for an Ironman you need a strong base of athleticism and skill. Skill is the key word here and since the gracefulness of my swim stroke has been compared to that of a drowning deer, I’ve decided to focus a good portion of my base training on improving my swimming abilities.
I consider myself a runner. I’ve been running regularly for the past 5 years. Running has always come naturally for me. This doesn’t mean that I’m fast. All it means is that I can run with a certain level of comfort and enjoyment on any given day. To lists all the different ways running has improved my life will most likely be dedicated to a future post. So, assuming I’ve got a good foundation of athleticism to begin training for an Ironman that brings me to the other half of the equation; skill. Running takes a fair amount of skill to be done properly enough to avoid injury as does biking. However, swimming, by far, takes the most amount of skill. Unbeknownst to me I was not one of the lucky triathletes to start their career with any skill in regards to my swimming abilities
I lived in water growing up. My summers were spent with my sisters in our backyard pool. I was also a lifeguard for four years and a member of the varsity diving team. With all the time I spent in the water you would think I would be a fairly decent swimmer, and In my eyes I was a good swimmer. I could tread water for as long as I wanted, I could float like nobody’s business, and had a mean doggy paddle going on. When I signed up for my first triathlon I figured the swim part of the race wouldn't matter since it was so short and since I thought I was a decent swimmer. Boy was I wrong. About 100 yards into the swim I realized that an important part of swimming is being able to breathe while doing your stroke and since I couldn't combine the two I was left doing the backstroke for a majority of the swim at my first race. Between my first and second season of triathlons I spent a lot of time in the pool. I also read a few books and went to a couple one day swimming clinics. All of these were helpful but I still had a long way to go. Once I had signed up for the Ironman I knew that it was time for me to really focus on my swim. I knew that it couldn't be avoided any longer, I knew it was time to sign up for swim classes.
Here I sit having completed 3 weeks of a 5 week adult swim class at my local YMCA. The class meets once a week on Sunday nights. For me, the face to face interaction with my instructor has already taught me so much. Last week I was able to breathe for the first time, without disrupting my stroke, on my left side. Let me tell you, it hasn’t been easy being a triathlete who can only breathe on her right side. Imagine trying to “spot” in open water swims if you’re only able to breathe/see on one side of your body. In the past I have had to stop and lift my head up every few minutes in open water swims to make sure I was staying on course. The point of all this is that swim classes have already helped me enormously. If nothing else they have forced me to learn and practice drills which I wouldn’t have otherwise done which, in-tern, drastically changed my stroke.
I think it's safe to say I'm well on my way to laying a proper foundation to begin training, one stroke at a time.