100 Yard Kick in 1:04

After a nice 3000 yard practice I took 2 minutes rest and tried my benchmark 100 yard kick again. It was a little ugly since I was worn out but I dropped 2 seconds from a 1:06 earlier this week to a 1:04! I have a long way to go to get my sub 1:00 however it is within reach. Four seconds is nothing! I have an even more ridiculous goal in store for myself once I go under 1 minute.

I did half my practice butterfly kick again today. I did 5 kicks off each wall during warmup and 6-10 kicks off EVERY wall afterwards. I think its a great drill. I find that I'm already becoming more comfortable under water and I'm getting a solid 10 meters off each wall. I have noticed that my kicks are relatively weak compared to my abilities. Right now I'm simply focusing on staying under longer than usual, the kicking is just a byproduct. I think I'll divide this training theory into two parts.

Part one will be to work up to a full 10 kicks off each wall during an entire practice. This will build lung capacity (which I desperately need) and abdominal strength and get me more accustomed to underwater kicking.

Part two will be quality and speed kicking. Rather than count kicks, I will focus on the fastest and most powerful kicks off the wall. Chances are there will be less overall kicks, but I will get further and be faster. I can only achieve this if I have the strength and lung capacity I'm gaining with what I'm doing now.

I think most of what I discuss on this blog is common sense, but it helps for me to write it down and set specific goals. When I'm training, I find that my mind is always focused on how to improve. I never "zone out" like I used to in college. I think short, dynamic sets and self coaching help. Nobody is watching me so I have to watch myself.

I'm excited for my first fall season Masters meet this weekend. I'm not sure who will be in attendance but I hope I run into a few friends. I tried my best to get Eric and Jim, a few swimmers I see at the Jones pool to join me this weekend. I'll be interested to see what I can do on Sunday. I'll probably swim the:

50 Back
100 Back
100 I'm
50 Free
50 Fly

Should be a good time as always!