Breathe

"Let's just breathe." - Pearl Jam

This morning I met a friend at the pool to work on swim form and technique. She's a brand newbie to all 3 sports and is planning to race her first ever tri at St Anthony's.

She's a Mother, a Nurse and one tough chick.

She texted me, frantic the other night - "everything hurts! Not 'sore' hurt, but 'hurt', hurt."

I suggested we get together and do some drills.

Watching her in the water, she has great body alignment, a super strong kick and a fairly strong stroke, but breathing is what's hard... it's also what wreaks havoc on her form.

It's amazing to see how one small movement can have such big effects on the overall mechanics. By pulling her head up and out of the water rather than simply turning to the side in a 45 degree rotation (in line with her body), it was forcing the opposite arm (supposedly in mid-pull) out and straight, dropping the shoulder and the legs, thus disrupting the entire stroke. Dropping the shoulders and straightening out that arm caused stress on the wrong muscles and was causing the pain.

It's one thing to watch a video or read an article. It's another to actually have someone watch you. To direct you, physically and then repeat correct exercises together.

We finished up a successful hour in the pool and it reminded me how such small changes can have HUGE impacts. This is true for all 3 sports. Hydrodynamics and proper form are the keys to swimming - enabling the athlete to use less energy to propel the body faster across a prescribed distance. Isn't this something we all strive for?

Efficiency is necessary before you can even begin to consider speed. You've got to love the process is what it comes down to and, learn to breathe.