The First of Many Laps

I spent my lunch hour at a pool trying to work on my stroke. I've read that it is better to work on the stroke than swim for endurance. I've tried to put instruction from YouTube videos into practice. The results were not immediately successful. I think this will be a long road.

I tried some of the drills recommended in my triathlon book (Complete Triathlon Book by Matt Fitzgerald), but they weren't so successful. I tried the "catch-up" drill, but got out of breath (when do you breath and how). I tried the "count stroke" drill, but got out of breath and also lost track. I also tried the "close fist" drill (swimming with close fists) and that worked better. I found that doing 100 yds and being concious of my form was possibly the best.

Among others, I did 3 seperate sets of 100 yards at freestyle, all were 2:44 or 2:45. I wasn't trying a all-out pace, but a pace I could somewhat maintain. I also did 100 yards of backstroke and I clocked it at 2:40, even though turns were much more slow and awkward (I cannot do flip turns).

It will be a long road. I have to remember that I have gone running 53 times since August, but this is my 4th time in a pool. I plan on trying to go twice per week.