Drills Have a Purpose, Trust me

During my swim practices back in high school there was nothing I hated seeing on the board more than a giant set full of freestyle drills. Well, except maybe an entire workout made up of butterfly sets, those were the worst. 3000-5000 yards of 80% butterfly? No thank you. And yes, this happened, unfortunately there’s no exaggeration here. Those dreaded drill sets just bored me to tears. If you’ve never been a teenage girl doing thousands of yards of slow, monotonous, freestyle drills at 4:15am before going to school and having to actually pay attention to things (and apparently “learn”), give yourself a pat on the back, because that was the actual worst. All of those drills would never get me to my goal times and make the champs meets.

Or would they?

One thing that has finally gotten through this thick skull of mine is that the very drills my coaches had me do over and over...and over again, had a purpose. AND that I actually needed to be paying attention whilst doing them, not just daydreaming and thinking about how excited I was for breakfast (my mom got up with me EVERY MORNING at 3:45am to make me a fried egg and cheese sandwich before practice, that woman is a saint) in order for them to have the desired impact. Huh, who knew?

All of the drills your coaches put into your practices have a point, and a purpose, and are there to help you build a proper foundation for your swimming. And that proper foundation? That’s what’s going to keep you injury free throughout the years. And the reasons you have to keep going back to them? So you can stay injury free. Swimming can be monotonous, even mind-numbingly boring at times, trust me, I’m aware (and don’t worry, I say that with love). But you have to focus on the technique of your stroke. You need to focus on the drills that help you perfect that technique. Doing so will help you be able to make improvements to your stroke faster and understand the purpose behind making the changes that lead to those improvements. And all of this will lead to a stronger, safer, and more efficient stroke.

The next time you head to the pool and see a laundry list of freestyle drills, don’t start singing songs from your favorite Disney movie and trying to figure out the math on how many cookies you can eat after this workout. Focus on each drill, take your time, and try not to fall asleep in the water. The more you focus, the more you’ll want to practice these drills over and over. Because you know what happens when you focus? Progress.

PS the drill I’m working on in these pictures is Triangle Drill, which helps you focus on proper catch position and the movement of your shoulder blades. Check out our instructional video and try adding it to your next swim workout!

SwimBox and Vasa Trainer Project: Katie's Third Lesson

In case it's not clear at this point, these ladies are really dedicated to improving their swimming! We've been seeing them as close to once a week as all of our schedules will allow, and both Katie and Flaca are making huge improvements to their stroke technique with our swim lessons and work on the Vasa Trainer SwimErg. If you haven't already make sure to check out the breakdown of Flaca's lesson from last week here to read about her work on elbow position and timing of her catch.

The main focus of Katie's lesson this week was on her finish and recovery. With so much emphasis on having and maintaining a proper catch position, the finish of your stroke into your recovery is often an overlooked aspect of freestyle. In order to fully benefit from the propulsion you get from your catch and pull, you need to keep your palm facing backwards and make a "J" shaped movement from the finish of your stroke into your recovery. For clarification, the recovery is the portion of your stroke from when your hand exits the water after you finish your pull to when you place your hand back in the water to start your next catch. Essentially, the entire time your arm is out of the water is your recovery.

To practice and gain better understanding of the "J" shape we're looking for, Dan had Katie work on just the finish of her stroke without actually making any full stroke movements. Lying face down in the water with her hands at her sides, Katie made an egg beater motion with each arm, only pushing backwards and slightly out using her forearm and hand. Dan has his hand in the water to give Katie something to aim for in order to give her direction as to where we want her to finish her stroke.

It's commonly thought that you want to pull back and finish your stroke in a straight line. And in a perfect world, that would make sense. BUT, because your hips are rotating during the entirety of your stroke, it pulls your arm and hand inward towards your body. This movement prevents you from pulling back in a straight line, and will even result in recoveries starting behind you or stacked directly on top of your torso. We use the "J" shape movement to keep your paddle in a straight line and to keep your palm facing back - not up towards the surface - in order to connect the fluid motion into your recovery. The finish of your stroke, the "J" shape, is the beginning of your recovery.

California FBM Clinic Trip Recap

Who's ever flown to and from California (from the east coast) in less than 38 hours, worked the entire time you were there, and lived to tell the tale? At this day and age I'm assuming there are at least some of you answering in the positive to this question, but still, it's not a normal thing you do on a weekend. But alas, that's what Dominic and I set out to do last weekend in order to hold our first ever Foundational Breathing Method Clinic, and it was great! That is until a giant fog fell over us this past Thursday that caused me to live off of Oreos, donuts, and Papa Johns for a 13 hour period (it was great, don't act like you're not jealous) and change our bedtime to 7pm...

We landed in CA at 9:45pm EST, which is already well past when we normally get to sleep, and headed to dinner with our hosts for the weekend. The restaurant we ate at claimed to be Cuban, and no offense to CA but it definitely wasn't. Cuban inspired is more what I would call it. If I hadn't fallen in love with all of the authentic Cuban food we had in Miami maybe I wouldn't sound like such a snob right now, but I did, so I'm going to hold my nose up a bit too high for this one.  

Dinner put us back at the house at 12:45am EST, but the clinic wasn't until 10am PST the next day, so there was plenty of sleep to be had. That being said, I've only travelled to a different time zone once, so I'm not used to my internal clock not matching up with the external clock, and I was wide awake and ready to go at 3am. Oops.

All of my complaining about food and sleep aside, the clinic was great. We spent an hour in the classroom, two hours in the pool, and finished off with an hour of dryland. It might seem a bit weird to start off a swim clinic outside of the water, but this really allowed Dominic to teach everyone about the anatomy we'd be utilizing during FBM and how these subtle changes would improve multiple parts of their swimming. Not to mention our participants gained a greater knowledge of how it's possible to manipulate your breathing to aid in day to day aspects of life as well.

Putting everything together in the water is where everyone really started to understand how helpful FBM is. One of my favorite parts of clinics is being there to see the moment someone learns something new. Seeing that spark of understanding in someone's eyes really is a great feeling, and having the chance to be a part of that feeling is something I'm truly grateful for. We had one participant say that she'd never been able to swim across the length of the pool without gasping for a breath before, and now she feels like she can actually swim. Hearing that made the whole trip worth it.

After two hours in the water we headed into a ballet studio to work on some dryland moves. And if your first thought when you read the words "ballet studio" is of those rooms lined in mirrors, you'd be right. If you know me well enough you're laughing right now, because I can't walk past a mirror without looking at myself...I just can't. There's always a hair out of place or my bangs need fixing, so a room full of mirrors is my dream (and Dominic's nightmare). 

Our dryland session was the perfect way to end the clinic. Dominic went over certain PRI moves that help you better understand the strength of your breath and explore how to better gain your FBM when you're in the water. All of the movements are body weight only and can be done in the comfort of your own home. And by that I mean in your living room, dressed in sweats, with the TV on in the background.

Even though the weekend was jam-packed and we spent two full days traveling it was well worth it. We got to meet a great new group of swimmers and triathletes and spend the day learning with them. But the real moral of the story? If you're about to spend an entire Sunday flying from California, to Denver, to DC, make sure you have plenty of snacks with you, otherwise you might find yourself buying a $15 six ounce bag of popcorn while your husband stares at you with his jaw dropped...Was the popcorn good you ask? Sigh, it was okay...just okay. Does this mean it'll be my last extremely overpriced junk-food purchase? No way.

Butterfly Fun with Softballs

If you don’t learn anything from this video, at the very least I can promise you some entertainment, because this one’s a good one. Ever swum in an Endless Pool with two softballs in your hands? No? Well now I can proudly say that yes, yes I have.

This fun drill we came up with works on driving power through the finish of your butterfly stroke (which is also eerily similar to the finish of your freestyle, hint hint). As a kid butterfly was my favorite stroke and 100 butterfly was my best event, but I’d be lying if I said I always followed through to my finish and that I always carried my force during my entire pull through the water. It’s hard to focus on that for an entire 100 or 200.

Take a softball in each hand and start with your arms extended in front of you. While doing fly kick you’re going to take a pull and try to throw the balls behind you as far as you can (maybe have your brother or sister be behind you so you have a target you really want to hit). This forces you to have a strong pull the entirety of the way from your catch to your finish.

If you think this sounds easy, I say ha to you good sir. Ha to you. The first time I tried this I barely got the balls out of the water. I turned around and stood up only to hear Dominic laughing hysterically at my first attempt. Thanks for the support, husband.

After a few attempts I got the hang of throwing the balls behind me and out of the water, but they never went too far. And I was tired, after just a few kicks and strokes of butterfly. I like adding this drill to the end of a workout when my body and my brain are fatigued. It forces me to focus and stay engaged when all I want to do is crawl out of the pool and head to Panera for a loaf of bread.

Miami Man 2017 Trip Recap

Boy does it ever feel good to be back in the dreary, chilly, and wet weather I’ve come to find normal for Northern Virginia in the winter months. Miami was great, but it felt a bit weird to me to be in a tank top and shorts in the middle of the beginning of the winter holiday season. Sweater weather just started and I missed 5 days of it! 

Traveling to Miami to support one of our clients during Miami Man, their A race of the season, proved to be a lot more action packed than we had anticipated. And not just because we started the journey out with a 6 hour maintenance delay at the airport (Stranger Things marathon anyone?).  We took this trip as an opportunity to meet some online clients and do some lessons in person, and we’re so glad we did.  

Carmen started swimming less than 2 years ago and recently began competing in triathlons with her husband, Jose. Before competing in Miami Man on Sunday we met up with her for two private lessons on Friday and Saturday at her neighborhood pool. Although bringing in outside coaches is “frowned upon,” so we had to be pretty stealthy during our lessons. And by that I mean I walked around taking pictures, Dominic filmed for video analysis, and Jose filmed with his GoPro throughout both two hour sessions. Oops? 

Dominic worked with her on her kick, rotation, body posture, and balance.  

We also got to meet Marcel, who is a client we’ve been communicating with online for about half a year now. His first half Ironman is coming up next March in Puerto Rico, and we got the opportunity to work with him on our Foundational Breathing Method to correct his sinking legs/hips and body posture in the water.  

I had pretty intense oral surgery less than a week before our trip, so hopping on a plane to Miami wasn’t really something I was looking forward to. But getting to meet all of these great people and spend time with them was really a wonderful experience. And yes, I’m sure the fact that I was on painkillers throughout most of it aided my happy mood, but I digress. One of the best things about running your own schedule is getting to take trips like this, and I need to remember to be more appreciative of these experiences while I’m having them. 

Ohh, did I forget to mention the food? The food was AMAZING. We drove an hour and 23 minutes (after our 6 hour plane delay and 3 hours of rental car hassle) to a Cuban restaurant in Miami Beach and it was more than worth it. My mouth is watering now just thinking about that food, sigh. 

But all of that being said Sunday was the best day. We got to cheer on our client and friend Gail and be there to celebrate all of the hard work she’s put in this season. She placed second overall in her age group! 

Our clients are the driving force to what we do and make all of this so rewarding. We can’t thank you guys enough for your loyalty and support. 

How to Handle Missing a Workout

I grew up as the kid who never missed morning swim practice. I looked forward to it, I got excited about it. I wanted to hear my alarm go off at 3:43am in order to get up and jump in the freezing cold water and swim 3-4 miles before any of my other friends even woke up for school. Well, most days at least. 

I was also the kid who, when she did miss a practice, lost about 80% of my conditioning and spent almost a week getting back up to where I had been before. Which I hated. A lot. And it often felt like I had let everyone down just by sleeping in and getting up at 6am, like any other regular high school student.

Now that I'm old and wise (kind of) I know that missing a workout isn't the end of the world, but I still struggle with my own self inflicted guilt sometimes. Fortunately the swimming world I live in now is much more forgiving than it was in high school, and my body is much more acclimated to resting and taking care of itself too. I know that sleeping in one day when I'm supposed to go for a long swim won't hurt me or set me back. No one will call my cell phone at 4:30am wondering where I am (yes, my coach used to do that, and no, he isn't the only one) and I won't lose my spot in the lane I normally swim in. 

Even missing a workout because I have too many things planned for the holidays or I decided to go to an impromptu dinner with my husband won't hurt me. In fact it's usually more beneficial than not.

Taking care of myself and getting enough rest is HUGE when it comes to performance. I wish I had realized this when I was competing, but such is life. I just wanted to let you guys know that it's okay to sleep in sometimes. It's okay to go have that dinner with friends and grab a drink (or three) and relax even when it's not in your schedule to do so. 

But the one thing you shouldn't do is try to makeup the workouts you missed. That's when you get into overtraining and can really hurt yourself. So give yourself a break, don't beat yourself up too much, and sleep in a little if you want. Just don't do it everyday, because then you might be in trouble. And I definitely don't want your coach calling me at 4:30am asking me where you are...