Training & learning!

The year of the swim is here & January has been great for learning!  I can't believe a year ago I was just learning how to be comfortable in the water, learning to breathe & taking my first free style strokes.  2014 was spent in the water, but not really grasping what Dave & Jeff were trying to teach me. I just couldn't get what they were saying.  I would watch it & listen & try to replicate it, but never had much success. I was swimming & that was all that mattered to me.  Then one Tuesday morning in early January, Jeff & I met at the pool & he brought his video camera. We had been talking for months about getting video and the day had finally arrived. I was nervous about it, but figured now was the time to see what I was doing & what needed to be fixed. After the video, Jeff gave me some drills to do & said he would email me later with the finished product. Later that day, Jeff emailed the video to Dave & I. By the time I saw it, they had a whole list of things that I needed to work on.  It was a bit depressing at first, but I realized they were willing to help me improve & I needed all the help I could get! To get things started, Dave got me in touch with one of his friends, Kasha, I had heard about her last year & this mysterious swim trainer called a Vasa. I was able to schedule a session with her for that weekend. It was time to work on technique & I was excited (and a little nervous!) After my first 30 minute session, it all clicked.  Everything Dave & Jeff had been telling me for months finally made sense. I understood what the catch & pull were, I understood all of it.  I was so excited to get back in the pool the next morning to see if I could replicate the movement in the water. As soon as I got in the water, I was able to notice immediate differences in my stroke. Felt good to be doing what I was supposed to - it felt right.  The next weekend, it was time to do a timed 1000M. In June, I swam my first & only timed 1000M in 28:40 - pretty slow in my book, but that just left a lot of room for improvement! I didn't tell anyone my goal time for this go around, but it was 26:00. I was comfortable in the water & the new stroke technique was giving me the confidence that I could make that goal. I swam it in 24:41 - almost 4 minutes faster than I had done in June & beat my goal time by more than a minute.  I was thrilled! I have had a few more sessions with Kasha & each time I get stronger. We are working on building the muscle memory. She keeps me focused & always explains the why behind what we are doing - never knew a training session could fly by so quickly! I never thought training on the Vasa would be so beneficial, but it has been amazing. It has given me confidence & made swimming much more fun. I finally feel like a real swimmer. It's only January & I have learned so much. I have a lot of work to do before Augusta, but I have great coaches & friends to support me along the way & I can't wait!