I found my BIG KICK
Jun
5I found my BIG KICK
Posted by Kevin Doak on Friday at: 12:23am (June 5th, 2009)
Today we did a beneficial, yet incredibly boring set of 50x50's. It was split up:
3x (10x50's @ 1:00 + 100 easy @ 2:00)
2x (10x50's @ 0:55 + 100 easy @ 2:00)
All of it was #1 stroke with fins, I did mine backstroke with fins and one set freestyle with fins. I stayed on pace with the group for the entire workout. I pushed it a little but I was mindful of my elbow injury.
Today I was pushed by two great swimmers. Sebastian Rzepa and a swimmer from Miami University (Ohio) by the name of Jason Haas. Both guys were pushing me while I was doing 10x50's freestyle. I noticed they were alternating one 50 moderate and one 50 all out, per the instructions of the coaches. I was doing them all fairly quick. On #10 I heard Sebastian tell Jason, "ready to go?". From the looks of it they were going to race the last 50 all out with fins on. Now, just to recap, Sebastian is an awesome freestyler, he beats me 10 out of 10 times in practice like clockwork so I knew if I raced these guys it would be rough. However, at that exact moment I felt this overwhelming competitive feeling. I really wanted to see what I could do. I only had a few seconds to think it over and we all pushed off the wall in unison. I did a few underwater kicks and looked to my left just before breaking out, Jason was in the lane to my left, and Sebastian was 2 lanes over on my left. I was just an arm length ahead of them at the breakout! I got this rush of adrenalin and started powering through the water. Out of the corner of my eye I could tell they were still right with me. At that exact moment I turned on my kick even more, these kicks were HUGE, it must have looked like a rooster tail behind me! I was catching so much water, I don't think I've ever swam that fast before. I was gaining more and more ground as I neared the wall. I looked back right before I finished and I was a solid body length and a half ahead of both guys. Jason hit the wall and immediately asked what my time was. I mentioned I didn't get it. He was sure he was a 26 or lower. I have to believe I was at least a 24 or faster! I'm confident I've never crossed a pool that fast without a dive. I was just HAULING... and my kick was unreal! I need to experiment more with a big kick, I've never kicked with that much knee articulation in a meet.
This post is by no means a "I'm better than these swimmers" in any way. I have a ton of respect for both Jason and Sebastian. Both guys REGULARLY beat me in practice, but for just that split second, I had a moment of glory as I touched them out when we were all at 100% speed! There are many more stories they could tell about beating me in practice!
On the injury front, my elbow is feeling MUCH improved. I'm probably 90% healed and feeling great. I took 2 days off P90X, entirely for scheduling reasons. I will do Kempo X (kickboxing) tonight and get back on schedule.
3x (10x50's @ 1:00 + 100 easy @ 2:00)
2x (10x50's @ 0:55 + 100 easy @ 2:00)
All of it was #1 stroke with fins, I did mine backstroke with fins and one set freestyle with fins. I stayed on pace with the group for the entire workout. I pushed it a little but I was mindful of my elbow injury.
Today I was pushed by two great swimmers. Sebastian Rzepa and a swimmer from Miami University (Ohio) by the name of Jason Haas. Both guys were pushing me while I was doing 10x50's freestyle. I noticed they were alternating one 50 moderate and one 50 all out, per the instructions of the coaches. I was doing them all fairly quick. On #10 I heard Sebastian tell Jason, "ready to go?". From the looks of it they were going to race the last 50 all out with fins on. Now, just to recap, Sebastian is an awesome freestyler, he beats me 10 out of 10 times in practice like clockwork so I knew if I raced these guys it would be rough. However, at that exact moment I felt this overwhelming competitive feeling. I really wanted to see what I could do. I only had a few seconds to think it over and we all pushed off the wall in unison. I did a few underwater kicks and looked to my left just before breaking out, Jason was in the lane to my left, and Sebastian was 2 lanes over on my left. I was just an arm length ahead of them at the breakout! I got this rush of adrenalin and started powering through the water. Out of the corner of my eye I could tell they were still right with me. At that exact moment I turned on my kick even more, these kicks were HUGE, it must have looked like a rooster tail behind me! I was catching so much water, I don't think I've ever swam that fast before. I was gaining more and more ground as I neared the wall. I looked back right before I finished and I was a solid body length and a half ahead of both guys. Jason hit the wall and immediately asked what my time was. I mentioned I didn't get it. He was sure he was a 26 or lower. I have to believe I was at least a 24 or faster! I'm confident I've never crossed a pool that fast without a dive. I was just HAULING... and my kick was unreal! I need to experiment more with a big kick, I've never kicked with that much knee articulation in a meet.
This post is by no means a "I'm better than these swimmers" in any way. I have a ton of respect for both Jason and Sebastian. Both guys REGULARLY beat me in practice, but for just that split second, I had a moment of glory as I touched them out when we were all at 100% speed! There are many more stories they could tell about beating me in practice!
On the injury front, my elbow is feeling MUCH improved. I'm probably 90% healed and feeling great. I took 2 days off P90X, entirely for scheduling reasons. I will do Kempo X (kickboxing) tonight and get back on schedule.