{"id":55,"date":"2004-11-13T09:02:47","date_gmt":"2004-11-13T09:02:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/69.195.124.246\/~wisecon1\/blog\/?p=55"},"modified":"2004-11-13T09:02:47","modified_gmt":"2004-11-13T09:02:47","slug":"total_immersion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wisecontradictions.com\/blog\/?p=55","title":{"rendered":"Total Immersion Conversion"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"2.bike2run\"<\/a>I thought I knew how to swim.   I grew up at the shore and spent many summer days at the beach, playing in the ocean.  One summer, I even had gainful employment as a lifeguard, albeit at small apartment complex pool.  The truth:  I didn’t really know how to swim.  I knew how not to sink.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

So I signed up for Team in Training’s<\/a> (TnT) St. Anthony’s Triathlon<\/a> training program thinking the swim wouldn’t be a problem. We had our first swim practice at a 50-meter pool.  Scott, our relentlessly positive head coach, told us to go easy as we swam up and back.  I felt good for the first 10 yards–I can do this, I told myself.  Out of breath, my body disagreed.  I had to stop and plant my feet down on the pool bottom to rest on that first unhappy lap.  Swimming a mile seemed about as likely as my swimming across the English Channel<\/a>. (21 miles, in case you’re wondering.)   <\/p>\n

I listened and watched as Earl, TnT’s swim coach, demonstrated how triathlon swimming was different.  I saw how he moved through the water like a fish.  How was I going to do that?  In order to learn, I knew that I would need to read about these swim techniques to understand them better.  I searched for different resources on Amazon and read the reviews.  I settled on Total Immersion’s, Freestyle Made Easy<\/a> and started reading.  <\/p>\n

I read about form, but thought I needed more practice to build endurance.   I found a local masters swim program and I put the book aside.  I churned for three weeks before I rejoined my Team in Training teammates–who were a heck of a lot better than when I left.  I started doing the drills that Scott and Earl had described–the language was similar, if not identical, to what was described in Freestyle Made Easy.  With much practice, I swam a quarter mile, half, three quarter and finally, a one-mile time trial.  I felt ready for the race and had a pretty good swim at St. Anthony’s.  But that was really only the beginning of my experience with TI.  <\/p>\n

I was eager to continue with triathlon.  I signed up for a sprint triathlon training program through a local sports shop.  Again, I put the TI book aside, and tried to master the techniques shouted from the pool deck.  I was told that I could take 10 minutes off my time.  I did the drills and the swims–by this point I was more comfortable in the water but still struggled and really wasn’t having fun.   Race day came.  I had a horrible swim.  The 1\/2 mile seemed longer than the mile.  When I emerged from the water, I felt like I was going to vomit.  I thought I wasn’t going to make it. I managed to finish, but left the race thinking I should have stuck with cycling.  I asked myself, why am I doing this if it\u2019s not fun?<\/p>\n

After a fair amount of wavering, I signed up for the Westchester Triathlon<\/a>, and vowed to become my own best swim coach.  What had attracted me to the TI method was its emphasis on making swimming fun and a strong progression of more sophisticated drills that culminated in a good stroke.  So I went back to the TI site and ordered the freestyle made easy DVD<\/a> and a copy of Triathlon Swimming made easy.  I started by reading the drills, then watching and re-watching the drills on the DVD–sometimes in slow motion.  I went to every workout with a plan for what I was going to practice, took time to work slowly through the drills, then made notes about how I did after the practice.  I worried a bit–I wasn’t swimming–my technique was getting better–I was having fun and I felt comfortable in the water, but would I have the endurance to swim the mille?   By this time I was up to double zipper switch–amazed at how well the sequence had prepared me for swimming. <\/p>\n

On race day, I felt confident, even looking forward to the swim.  I followed the warm up routine outlined in Triathlon Swimming Made easy, practicing my exit from the water into the transition area.  We lined up and the gun went off.  I dove in and drafted off of some faster swimmers, was drafted off of a bit myself, and just enjoyed being in the water and moving though it.  When I emerged from the water I finally looked at my watch, I couldn’t believe my eyes–I had shaved 10 minutes off my time from St. Anthony\u2019s. I was ecstatic.  I  went onto set a personal record.<\/p>\n

I still have lots to do to improve, but now I am a believer in building speed through technique.  I have 4 races picked out for 2005, and am working toward more fun, at even greater speeds, in the water.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I thought I knew how to swim.   I grew up at the shore and spent many summer days at the beach, playing in the ocean.  One summer, I even had gainful employment as a lifeguard, albeit at small apartment complex pool.  The truth:  I didn’t really know how to swim.  I knew how not to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[78],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-55","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-triathlon"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wisecontradictions.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wisecontradictions.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wisecontradictions.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wisecontradictions.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wisecontradictions.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=55"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wisecontradictions.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wisecontradictions.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=55"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wisecontradictions.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=55"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wisecontradictions.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=55"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}