10/13/08

SCY
150 wu
200 sw, 100 K, 200 swim, 100 drill, 200 swim 100 K @3d pers RI.
3 x (150 - 25 fl/50 bk/75 br @3d pers RI, 6 x 25 fr @25)
275 Fr @3:45
200 K @3:45
2 x 50 breast @55
250 Fr @3:45
200 K @3:45
4 x 50 breast @55
225 fr @3:45
200 K @3:45
6 x 50 breast @55
I held 40/41 on the breaststroke swims. Tried to focus on being more quick and compact, and balancing more on my lungs.

Then I did 45 minutes of breaststroke drills, from goswim.tv:
Streamlined Push
3-2-1 Stretch
Head-Lead Kick Underwater
Head Down Pull
Fast Scull
Butt-Head Drill

At the end of practice, I did 2 50s pretty fast. The first 50 I tried to be compact and quick, incorporating a lot of ideas from the drills. The second 50, I tried my older stroke... as a comparison:
1. 37-hi
2. 38-mid

So the compact stroke is a little bit faster right now... even though it's new. I'm going to continue to pursue it, doing extra drills as often as I can. It doesn't feel like it's as fast though because I'm not getting as much on each stroke as my bigger, wider breaststroke. The key is that I'm able to get a better rhythm going with the quick stroke.

I tested my old, bigger kick vs the much smaller, much quicker one on a couple of 25s K with a board. I went 26 with the old kick and 24 with the new. It's just going to take some getting used to.