10/22/09: swimming

This is apparently the week to improve on form. My friend Heather told me earlier this week that my swimming "sucked." I was annoyed at first as almost anyone would be, but then I asked for constructive criticism since "sucking" wasn't really something I could improve on. She said that my feet were too low in the water and suggested that I hold my head in a straight line with the rest of my body. Today we had a 40 minute open workout, which was a perfect opportunity to focus on form.

For backstroke, my head is usually almost perpendicular to the water so I can keep my bearings. I tilted my head back today and my feet shot straight to the surface. For freestyle, my normal body position was almost correct, but I tried lowering my head just a little bit. Even though the change in my head position was minuscule, it was very effective at raising my feet. Interestingly, for whatever reason it also became easier to only breathe on one side, so I went from breathing every 3 strokes to every 4.

Also, this article in the New York Times is pretty convincing about the fact that cooling down after a normal workout is unnecessary. I usually begin and end my runs with a 5 minute walk. Looks like I can save those precious minutes for stretching!