04/18/09 - racin' 300s

300 K/dr/swim
200 K
8 x 25 fast @45s, IM order

4 x 250 @3:00 (2:52, 2:53, 2:55, 2:56)

300 bk/br/free by 100
(1:08.81, 1:22.5, 1:08.8)
200 recovery

300 bk/br/free
(1:09.5, 1:22.2, 1:07)
200 rec

300 fly/bk/br
(1:10, 1:18, 1:24)
200 rec

Some 50s of breaststroke drills, working on timing and moving forward.

Apparently my elbows come out of the water on my breaststroke, meaning I'm coming up way too high and wasting energy up and down instead using it to go forward. I'm going to work on not pulling my arms back so far and not getting up so high out of the water and see where that leads. On those last 50s, I was able to swim 25 yards in 3-4 strokes, pretty decent for me. Of course, that was with a loooong glide.

I also have to start my kick a little sooner. When the timing is right, I feel like I'm coiling up like a snake and then striking forward. If it's off, it feels like I'm diving my hands forward and then kicking. I'm trying to come up with some way to remember the timing kinesthetically, and this is the closest model I can think of -- the "striking snake" feeling.

My free was more linear today and I felt like I was keeping a tighter forward line. If I'm not constantly thinking about it, my right hand/arm will surf outside of my shoulder line and fudges my streamline.