Dear All
About three weeks ago I posted some questions relating to my attempts to chuck the dreaded Styrofoam
pods for good - or at least kick my addiction to not kicking.
I wanted to say thanks for your tips and report on my progress.
So, far, it's been a qualified success.
The effort required for today for the average 100 metre rep is still about 20% greater without a
buoy, but at least that's down from about 40% a few short weeks ago.
I might indeed have been kicking too hard, as some have guessed, causing me to tense up and thus to
struggle early on in the workout – today it’s a bit smoother and more fluid, but by no
means perfect, especially at the end of a long set.
My sessions now are moving upwards to about 50-55 minutes each, encompassing around 2200 metres
or so. Generally, I'm alternating days with 80% swim 20% pull on the first and about 60%-40% on
the second.
The stroke is feeling smoother - but it does feel as if there's a "catch" or a "[censored]" at times. I
wonder if this is a result of imperfect co-ordination between my kick and my stroke?
Kicking wise, I've added about 200 metres of kick-boarding at the end of each session (which is very
difficult, I have to say) and it seems to be helping – although the lactic acid in my thighs
at times is a bit disconcerting!
I suppose, given what I've read, I would call mine a "three-beat" kick, in that I feel my feet
breaking the surface of the water about three times per stoke (I try to focus on feeling the
surface of the water on the top of my foot - and to do that, I focus on pointing my toes as far
back as I can).
So -- I'm left with a couple more questions, if you will indulge:
1. How do you feel about kick-work with a board versus kicking on your side (as recommended on a
couple of training websites?)
2. The motion in my kick generally seems to come from the knees down - in that I can feel the
"whip" in a more pronounced way below the knee, even though I think about kicking from the hips.
Is this normal?
Again, any and all comments are welcome.
Martin