The Feel of the Water

I nearly squirt orange juice outta my nose... thanks alesal. As a youngster, I had a coach yell (must have wanted to get home or something) at me because I swam after they all were done... I felt I was 'in the zone.' I hated to quit when I felt that way. There was no pain, a little daydreaming, and no disruptions... well, if it weren't for the coach. After a few years off, I've been back into the grind (since May) and love the way it feels. When in the water, there's nothing to think about other than the way the water flows around ur body and how it can be affected. It's quite stimulating, I think.

S(he)-Man - Yes, "part of the water" kind of feel is what I'm after. I'm going to stop thinking about what I don't have in the water and start thinking about how good what I'm doing feels. (I just finished The Miracle and believe that by what you think you draw more of the same. Think lack of and you get more lack of.) Chlorini - "water on the fingertips" is also a good focal point for me as I am working on my catch to increase propulsion. I love your name chlorini reminds me of high school when my friends and I made names up for each other the best was clitoria and we good not stop laughing. Thanks all for the encouragement and responses Mary

Hello Everyone, B.J. Bedford says: For me, I never forget how it used to feel. And I know what it takes to get there, and I just don't have the time or the drive to get there. Anything less leaves me feeling a little dissatisfied, so I just don't do it much. A bunch of years ago, BJ was doing Swim Across America in Portage Park pool. (Lake Michigan was closed due to bacteria.) I don't think she had done much training, but she could still do a 100 fly at the end of her 1500m swim, just to goof around. I'd be happy if I could get to the point were I could swim 100m fly without a garbage truck parking on my spine. But I do remember being able to "zone out" in high school and still swim fast, which I have not been able to do as a Masters.

I can tell you that speed doesn't always have to do with this feeling. For me, it was more about just feeling in tune one day with my stroke, my body, the water, and a joy in being there in the water at that moment. It was during a relatively low-key swim too, not one of my longer ones. And I wasn't swimming fast by most standards, maybe a little faster than my normal pace. I'm training for a long open water race, so I've been doing swims where I try to hold a steady pace and improve the speed more with stroke work than sprints (I do some of those, but they aren't the focus). But at one point, I had a lovely "this is all going so well" feeling--somehow connected to my body, the water, the stroke, everything. And I just relaxed and enjoyed it. But I pretty much always enjoy my swims, sometimes more than other times, and some parts of some swims more than others, but for the most part, I leave feeling better than when I started. Same with running. I don't so much look for any feeling to happen, but enjoy it if it does, and otherwise just feel grateful I can do all this stuff, since a lot of women my age don't have the time or inclination or are having a lot of health or weight problems. And I've had my share of running injuries that have me seething that I can't run. I'm really glad now that I have the swimming, because when running was my only sport, I'd really seethe inside when I had injuries. I have fewer running injuries now, but I also know I am not stuck if I get injured, because depending on the injury, I can switch over from one sport to the other. So naturally that makes me happy!

Like swimming down hill. Almost like body surfing.....very rare, but I do feel it once and a while and I savor it. You nailed it. For me, it's like ridng a wave. I feel long and balanced, like I'm gliding on top of the water -- downhill. I know I'm there when my freestyle gets to the point where I can feel these sensations: - full body rotation and glide effortlessly to full extension - reach and scull to really feel the water with my hands and forearms - rotate my forearm keeping my elbow high until I reach my catch point - use my arm and hand as a single paddle to pull myself over the water - completely balanced in the water throughout the whole stroke Yeah that's it! It's been so long... It usually takes me 8 to 10 weeks of hard freestyle training to get there. Problem is...I'm a breaststroker. Since I started competing again, instead of just working out, by week 10 in a season, freestyle's taken a back seat. As for breaststroke...well, I've spent the last 3 months starting from scratch learning the wave...So I'll have to let you know on that count. Mark

Thank you all for the respones. It's got me thinking about the feel of all the strokes. For me the way butterfly feels when you are strong anfdhave it right is the best ! I remember a set or 200s once and it felt like flying. Very Cool ! Joe, Made me smile that you appreciated the humor. I hoped not to offend anyone. Mary