I have a swim partner right now, a young girl from Scotland who is training for our triathlon here; she pushes me big time even tho I could be her mother (she is always on my feet, I can't get rid of her!!)
I was a natural backstroker for 40 plus years, turned distance freestyle and no more backstroke.
Here's our personal challenge and wanted to see if any of you would be interested. I have never been a butterflyer except when I was young and didn't know any better and did the 400 IM, and I never butterfrogged; only dolphin kick.
On March 19th to build a different kind of strength, we are going to add to our training with distance fly (yes, I must have dementia).
From shore to a buoy, it is 350 yards and our goal is to do the entire thing fly. When I come up with challenges for myself, I always say Why Not?
So, my friend Jo and I are going to start training for the 350 fly and we don't have any turns, it is straight, non-stop to the buoy. I remember trying this same challenge for myself several years ago, and only got to about 150 yards and DIED. But it is always good to challenge ourselves in something we don't normally swim.
So, for you flyers out there and non-flyers, I ask my standard question: Why Not? Are you game? And if not fly, why not another stroke that gives you grief? All that can happen is you may not succeed at a particular distance, but you are giving your body a rest from its norm and moving into areas of different training.
I hope to report more than enough hilarious stories along the way toward this goal.
Donna
Parents
Former Member
Mel, :bow::bow:I am in awe of your accomplishments to a life of LD fly and long swim training. I have never been a person to take the easy way out of anything; it is not my nature, for the effort and journey makes the accomplishment more memorable--forever.
My fly training starts the day after I swim a mile in our triathlon here; don't want to start it before, it is getting too close to a taper, an older women's type of taper.
I just recently re-started swimming (Jan. 15); I needed some months off, so I have great respect for your long hours of swimming; I am now approaching the 4 mile mark, non-stop, ocean only, and am totally trashed for a day or so, but hey, this is how we build our engines!!
And we have no great whites here unless they have your name and number and follow your plane down here. We have reef sharks and some tigers, but in the stretch of water that I will be trying to cross, we have more Tuna and Whale Sharks than anything. The currents are murder; four of them collide at the 10 mile mark (uh-oh), that is my big issue, so come on down, swim part way with me (a couple of miles), and enjoy the boat ride while I get sunburned and suffer toward my goal. And no, I won't do one stroke of fly on the way; I don't have dementia yet, my faculties are still in place as of today.
Onward....Fly training starts March 19th!!
Donna
Mel, :bow::bow:I am in awe of your accomplishments to a life of LD fly and long swim training. I have never been a person to take the easy way out of anything; it is not my nature, for the effort and journey makes the accomplishment more memorable--forever.
My fly training starts the day after I swim a mile in our triathlon here; don't want to start it before, it is getting too close to a taper, an older women's type of taper.
I just recently re-started swimming (Jan. 15); I needed some months off, so I have great respect for your long hours of swimming; I am now approaching the 4 mile mark, non-stop, ocean only, and am totally trashed for a day or so, but hey, this is how we build our engines!!
And we have no great whites here unless they have your name and number and follow your plane down here. We have reef sharks and some tigers, but in the stretch of water that I will be trying to cross, we have more Tuna and Whale Sharks than anything. The currents are murder; four of them collide at the 10 mile mark (uh-oh), that is my big issue, so come on down, swim part way with me (a couple of miles), and enjoy the boat ride while I get sunburned and suffer toward my goal. And no, I won't do one stroke of fly on the way; I don't have dementia yet, my faculties are still in place as of today.
Onward....Fly training starts March 19th!!
Donna
