This season, I was consistently in the top 10 overall for bike + run split... but 50-60th in the swim. I'm giving up 2-6 minutes to my competition in the swim in an Olympic Distance Triathlon! I've been in this rut for the past 3 years and I've had it. It's time for a breakthrough!
For me to be successful competing at "Elite Open" in 2011, and be an overall podium contender at the Olympic Distance Triathlon, I HAVE to improve my swimming! NOW!
For some, natural talent is 80% of the reason for their success. Some are just "born to do it".
When it comes to swimming - that isn't me - I am not naturally talented as a swimmer!! I wasn't born to do it.
Swimming is something I've done as part of an outdoors, recreational summer my whole life... but not for competition - until 2003 when I did my first triathlon. In my first sprint triathlon open water swim, I swam like a blind little girl... (which I now realize is offensive to blind little girls, who could all swim faster and straighter than I did that day).
Heck - for all three sports of triathlon, I can definitely say I was not "born to do it" physically. I was never a good "ball sport" athlete in my schood days. I tried but failed at football, soccer, basketball and baseball. I tried... but just didn't have it. I was a competitive slalom and GS skier in the winter... and only played club lacrosse and soccer to stay in shape. After I left college - I spent the next 7 years working and ignoring my body. Ugh... almost 200lbs and never did ANYTHING physical. That all changed in 2001 when I was introduced to the multi-sport world. But that's another story, for another day.
Perhaps there are some natural "talents" or "traits" that I do seem to possess that will help me in this quest... mental toughness, desire and discipline.
The things that have made me successful in improving my bike and run these years have been:
- strong desire to improve
- specific, measurable goals (3:10 marathon, etc)
- a mentor or coach to give me direction on how to improve
- training with groups of athletes faster than me in those disciplines
- the discipline to do the "hard and lonely" work - when no one else was looking.
Now I need to focus my natural talents and traits of "mental toughness, desire and discipline" on the task at hand: Let's look at these steps and get my action plan for improving the swim for 2011:
- Strong desire to improve
CHECK! I'm tired of giving people a big head start on me when we exit the swim. I believe I can go from top 10-15 overall in the race, to top 5 if I make a big improvement in the swim, which will keep me in contact with the leaders on the bike and run - pushing my pacing overall.
- Specific, measurable goal (3:10 marathon, etc)
Turn a 25:30 Olympic Tri Swim split to a 22:00 or faster swim split at Maumee Bay Olympic Triathlon in June 2011.
3 minutes and 30 seconds doesn't sound like much - but right now it's like I'm giving my competition more than a 1/2 mile head start in the 10k run. As a percentage - this represents almost a 15% improvement in performance. This is HUGE, and might be more than I can accomplish in one winter. It's a stretch goal for sure!
- A mentor or coach to give me direction on how to improve
I have had my stroke under water video taped and analyzed by Leah Nykiss (Liquid Lifestyles.net) - an excellent Total Immersion swim coach
My coach Gregg Brekke (GBCoaching.com) is a TI trained swimmer and excellent coach overall.
Rob Reddy (team SSSMT) is running a fall/winter swimming training session, which I am participating in.
- Training with groups of athletes faster than me in those disciplines
My hope is that training with the multi-sport group that Rob Reddy is leading will have enough strong swimmers to really challenge me to push the pace. Also, my teammate Eric Gibb is a faster swimmer than I am, and often trains at the French Creek YMCA in the mornings. I need to spend more time in the lane next to him, and use his pace to push mine. Come spring when the lake is warm enough to swim - I need to find fast open-water swimmers and joing them too.
- Discipline to do the "hard and lonely" work - when no one else was looking.
I've neglected swimming in the past, and 2-3 short sessions (even for IM distance) is about all I ever do. I can also say that simply signing up for this group will likely have the result of a truly "swim focused" fall season for me. There are 4 scheduled workouts per week. So this group will give a big boost for me in terms of volume and frequency, too.
But this is where I think my natural talents of desire, discipline and toughness will come into play. I need to have my brain focused on making this swim improvement happen this winter. If my brain is fully engaged, like it has been for marathon, cycling and Ironman preparation - I will bring all effort to the table.
I must say that I'm quite good at making an aggressive plan with my coach, executing on the workout schedule (even when I don't want to get out of bed, or the weather is bad)... and I have the ability to force myself to the breaking point during workouts and keep going - to get the maximal benefit out of the speed and high intensity sesions.
So - let's see how this plays out!
To keep myself honest, and add a little external pressure (real or perceived), I'm going to post an update each week about how my swimming (and some other training) is progressing. Maybe no one in the world will read this, but I know it could be... and thinking that someone else might be looking and judging me for this - will add that little extra bit of motivation at times, when my internal motivation isn't enough.
Look for another installment next week!
For me to be successful competing at "Elite Open" in 2011, and be an overall podium contender at the Olympic Distance Triathlon, I HAVE to improve my swimming! NOW!
For some, natural talent is 80% of the reason for their success. Some are just "born to do it".
When it comes to swimming - that isn't me - I am not naturally talented as a swimmer!! I wasn't born to do it.
Swimming is something I've done as part of an outdoors, recreational summer my whole life... but not for competition - until 2003 when I did my first triathlon. In my first sprint triathlon open water swim, I swam like a blind little girl... (which I now realize is offensive to blind little girls, who could all swim faster and straighter than I did that day).
Heck - for all three sports of triathlon, I can definitely say I was not "born to do it" physically. I was never a good "ball sport" athlete in my schood days. I tried but failed at football, soccer, basketball and baseball. I tried... but just didn't have it. I was a competitive slalom and GS skier in the winter... and only played club lacrosse and soccer to stay in shape. After I left college - I spent the next 7 years working and ignoring my body. Ugh... almost 200lbs and never did ANYTHING physical. That all changed in 2001 when I was introduced to the multi-sport world. But that's another story, for another day.
Perhaps there are some natural "talents" or "traits" that I do seem to possess that will help me in this quest... mental toughness, desire and discipline.
The things that have made me successful in improving my bike and run these years have been:
- strong desire to improve
- specific, measurable goals (3:10 marathon, etc)
- a mentor or coach to give me direction on how to improve
- training with groups of athletes faster than me in those disciplines
- the discipline to do the "hard and lonely" work - when no one else was looking.
Now I need to focus my natural talents and traits of "mental toughness, desire and discipline" on the task at hand: Let's look at these steps and get my action plan for improving the swim for 2011:
- Strong desire to improve
CHECK! I'm tired of giving people a big head start on me when we exit the swim. I believe I can go from top 10-15 overall in the race, to top 5 if I make a big improvement in the swim, which will keep me in contact with the leaders on the bike and run - pushing my pacing overall.
- Specific, measurable goal (3:10 marathon, etc)
Turn a 25:30 Olympic Tri Swim split to a 22:00 or faster swim split at Maumee Bay Olympic Triathlon in June 2011.
3 minutes and 30 seconds doesn't sound like much - but right now it's like I'm giving my competition more than a 1/2 mile head start in the 10k run. As a percentage - this represents almost a 15% improvement in performance. This is HUGE, and might be more than I can accomplish in one winter. It's a stretch goal for sure!
- A mentor or coach to give me direction on how to improve
I have had my stroke under water video taped and analyzed by Leah Nykiss (Liquid Lifestyles.net) - an excellent Total Immersion swim coach
My coach Gregg Brekke (GBCoaching.com) is a TI trained swimmer and excellent coach overall.
Rob Reddy (team SSSMT) is running a fall/winter swimming training session, which I am participating in.
- Training with groups of athletes faster than me in those disciplines
My hope is that training with the multi-sport group that Rob Reddy is leading will have enough strong swimmers to really challenge me to push the pace. Also, my teammate Eric Gibb is a faster swimmer than I am, and often trains at the French Creek YMCA in the mornings. I need to spend more time in the lane next to him, and use his pace to push mine. Come spring when the lake is warm enough to swim - I need to find fast open-water swimmers and joing them too.
- Discipline to do the "hard and lonely" work - when no one else was looking.
I've neglected swimming in the past, and 2-3 short sessions (even for IM distance) is about all I ever do. I can also say that simply signing up for this group will likely have the result of a truly "swim focused" fall season for me. There are 4 scheduled workouts per week. So this group will give a big boost for me in terms of volume and frequency, too.
But this is where I think my natural talents of desire, discipline and toughness will come into play. I need to have my brain focused on making this swim improvement happen this winter. If my brain is fully engaged, like it has been for marathon, cycling and Ironman preparation - I will bring all effort to the table.
I must say that I'm quite good at making an aggressive plan with my coach, executing on the workout schedule (even when I don't want to get out of bed, or the weather is bad)... and I have the ability to force myself to the breaking point during workouts and keep going - to get the maximal benefit out of the speed and high intensity sesions.
So - let's see how this plays out!
To keep myself honest, and add a little external pressure (real or perceived), I'm going to post an update each week about how my swimming (and some other training) is progressing. Maybe no one in the world will read this, but I know it could be... and thinking that someone else might be looking and judging me for this - will add that little extra bit of motivation at times, when my internal motivation isn't enough.
Look for another installment next week!
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