May I brag? Wooo Hooo!

I kicked the flippers to the curb a while ago... Except when the coach calls for them in the workout. We had a 400 free, 400 kick, 300 pull and 200 stroke drill for the warmup... I used the fins for the 400 kick. Besides, now that the blisters on my toes have finally healed up, and my kick is starting to gain a tiny bit of propulsion, I'm not eager to put them back on. I was floored though, when the coach told me that my stroke looks good. I think my jaw dropped all 13 feet down to the bottom of the diving well! In a week and a half we have an SCM meet coming up, I'm hoping to do 100 free around 1:40, maybe a tad better. We'll see, because I signed up to swim a 1500M that morning, then a 50 free, 100 free in the early afternoon, and a 400 free at the end of the day. Plus I'll probably end up in one or two relays... We'll see how worn out I get.

Well, the way you are sprinting you might go under 1:30 but you are right swimming other events makes you a little tired. I can't do my best times in workout anymore, guess too old at 46 years old. But you were doing times I was doing in a 25 yard pool. So you are improving a lot.

Be very careful, perception is reality. If you think you are too old, then you are.

Congratulations! Truly inspiring. I know that the short time I spent with a now defunct team did more for me than swimming laps on my own ever did. Your progress has suggested to me that maybe it's time to join a team again. Good work, Connie!

don't worry about having to swim 100 fr last after swimming all those events. 100 fr is my fav and best event and it was always one of the last events on sunday. but i had some of my best times at meets where i swam all my free events twice b/c of finals. i know how good it feels to be told your stoke looks good! i was at the pool a week ago and one of the lifeguards told me i had a beautiful stroke. it was especially nice because i have been working really hard on it and i always considerend myself to have rough stroke --> fast but definetly not pretty good luck at your meet! :) if you keep the excitement you have and keep your technique during your swims i'm sure you'll do awesome!!

Good luck on the meet. Too bad I live in Arizona, I would be happy to help you in breaststroke.

NO flippers in your workout.

Okay... more bragging... The coach sent us the weekly email newsletter today, and, I was almost mortified, he named me the swimmer of the week for the three C's award... Commitment-Consistency-Confidence. Flattered and embarrased! okay, back to the replies... Mattson, I'm 5'9" tall. I have a really really good pushoff and a good streamline. I'm still figting with my cardio. When I'm sprinting, I can clear the flags by almost a body length before I need air. I still have a long way to go to build strength and my cardio. My stroke (is it speed?) is still not very fast, partially strength issue, partially cardio. My kick sucks. It's gonna need a lot of work, plus I have relative small feet (for my height), they're only a size 7.5, and not very flexible (working on it). Both my arms and legs are on the long side, and my hands are actually pretty big. Okay, I just measured my hand... 4" across at the thumb knuckle, 7" long. I'm thinking, I seem to have a pretty good distance with my stroke, even though it is not a very powerful stroke, so as I get stronger, I ought to get more propulsion out of it, and be able to do it a bit faster. I've recently gotten the hang of better breating, so when I'm sprinting, I can do 9 strokes before I need a breath, then 5 strokes, breath and turn. I still have a hard time keeping up that pace for full 100yards, but it's getting there. Another side-note, about my conditioning and cardio... my resting heart rate is still up there... around 70+, so there's still a lot of room for improvement. I think I'm trying to second guess how fast I can get, since I'm setting some goals now, and trying to make sure they're realistic. And I'm trying to figure out where my strengths are... And, oh, I like to overanalyze things ;)

Originally posted by Conniekat8 Oh, a question for all of you guys... What's the deal with the stroke count? is it something real significant? I just happened to count it today because of the breating count, as I was doing another 100 sprint (1:32), and it's 14 for 25 yards. Is that good, bad or indifferent? Does stroke count tell me anything? I keep overhearing about it, but I'm not sure what to make if it yet. Checkout any of the threads about stroke rate, stroke length, or TI (Total Immersion). (There have been many discussions.) I think 14 is fairly good, but it is up to you if you can continue to improve on that number or not. (What is your height, do you have a strong kick, wall pushoff, etc.) The other point is, can you maintain this stroke length while sprinting? The outdated school of thought was, if you want to go faster, you increase your stroke rate. (This is true for a sprint vs. long distance swim.) When that happens, your stroke length (and efficiency) start to decrease. Soon, you will put in a lot more effort, without getting any extra speed. Research has shown that elite swimmers go faster not because of stroke rate, but because their distance per stroke is much better. (A side note is that stroke length doesn't mean much if your stroke rate has dropped to almost zero!) TI and other methods teach you to swim more efficiently at low stroke rates, then try to maintain that stroke length as you speed up to a racing stroke rate.

Thank you guys and gals for the encouraging words :) and sharing in the excitement. I hope it inspores some of you a little bit too. Slow Lane... yes, joining the tream is the best. About 2 years ago I spent some 4-5 months just doing laps, on my own, and never got past using fins. The fins are pretty much history for mr (unless doing cardio kicking sets, and want more resistance)... What gives me a thrill is when I pass by someone that is using fins, especially the long ones. (okay, shhh... my teammates don't know this) Since my team is hosting the 2005 master's nationals, my goal is to qualify for something there, one event (other than relays), the coach says we'll be swimming relays anyways, but I want to qualify on my own. I think it will be either freestyle or backstroke. I have no idea what event yet. Cinc, with you being in arizona, aren't we in the same USMS (what is it called... section.. is it SPMA?) perhaps we'll meet at one of the meets :) And, if you come to visit southern California, let me know :) You can always come and work out in our team pool ... well, it might cost you a breaststroke pointer or two ;) Jennyifer, Thanks for the good words. Havign the coach tell me my stroke is looking good was great to hear, especially since he's been correcting me on crossing my arms. Sounds like I have that fixed. I might get a time on a 100 free in ine of the relays, beforethe actual event... Heh, now I'm contemplating geting myself a real racing swimsuit.. for the meet. One of those with shorts, I think it's the fastskin... I dunno, we'll see. I'm hesitant, because in few months I'll be a difefrent (smaller) size. I dunno, maybe in november, there is a meet in November too. Oh, a question for all of you guys... What's the deal with the stroke count? is it something real significant? I just happened to count it today because of the breating count, as I was doing another 100 sprint (1:32), and it's 14 for 25 yards. Is that good, bad or indifferent? Does stroke count tell me anything? I keep overhearing about it, but I'm not sure what to make if it yet.