I'm a Swimmer!!!??!!!

Look, I'm no swimmer.  I swim because it's the first leg of a sport I love.  I'm not fast, and probably never will be in that first leg.  It's not for lack of trying.  I remember taking swimming lessons as a kid, I even remember taking them because I wanted to, not because my Mum made me; because I wanted to be a better swimmer, and I remember being a teenager in Sarnia wanting to be a better swimmer enough to ride my bike all the way across town to take those lessons in the summertime.  But I sure never remember anyone teaching me how to really swim.  Sure I could make it across the lake up North, but really swim?

Seriously, who knew there was this much to swimming.  And it's funny too, because everyone who DID grow up "really" swimming (and there are a lot of them here in the States, and especially the South it seems) seem to think that the terminology is all so common.  "Elbows up".  WTF.  It took me a long time to figure out what that actually meant.  For a while there I was swimming like a damn coathanger, thinking "why aren't I getting any faster - my f#%&in elbows ARE up!"  LOL.  Now of course I know what that actually means.  Thank God for youtube.  :)

So many little things that add up to a great technique.  A lot of my tri buddies are REAL swimmers.  They swam in college and I mean they (aka Tracy) do 100m in a minute flat.  <gasp>  And they don't look like they're really trying.  But man they're FLYING.  So many little things - hips up, head down, pull strong, elbows up, use your lats, complete your stroke, rotate but not too much, stop being a wind-up toy (pretty sure that is specific to just me!), and so on - and then one day, things start to come together.

And I still swim because I want to, and because I want to be a better swimmer.  5am comes quick though and some days there's a lot of pep-talking going on to get my ass out of bed.  Today was one of those days.  "Is it really 5 o'clock already?"  "I don't want to get up"  "Just get up Katrina"  "You want to be an ironman you need to get your ass out of bed" "one missed day won't matter" "Never mind IM, you have a race in 5 weeks, get your ass out of bed" "Seriously"  "HTFU.  Come'on"

And so I got up.  And I got to the pool, and I wasn't even late.  And today was a Great Day.  :)  Today, my swim coach Mike, walked up and down the deck for 50m watching me, and he came around to my lane, and said "Katrina, keep doing what you're doing!"  This is a first!  He said my hips were up, my kick was efficient, my timing was great (i.e. no more wind-up toy)!!  I was like, "Really????"  He said if you were watching you swim you'd say "there's a girl who knows how to swim!"  Hooray for me!  Man it just Made My Day.  Of course he also said that I still look a little mechanical, and I could pull a bit more when I hit my sweet spot, but that's all good.

So, I may never be fast, but I know I'll get faster, and I also know that I just need to keep working at it, and it'll come.  It feels good to know that when you work hard, you do get better.  Even if you are not a born swimmer!  Thanks Mike!

In the words of a famous swimmer:  Just keep swimming...swimming...swimming!

Happy Training!
Kat