The Trouble with Swimming

I had Shannon film me again today to see my progress (or lack thereof!). Ok, I shouldn't be so negative, but it certainly can get frustrating when you swim and swim and don't seem to get any faster. But video certainly reveals the truth.

• Body position: not bad - I might lift my head up slightly to breathe, but not too much.
• Kick: could be tighter, but I think it is improved.
• Hand entry: Awful. My right hand does OK, but my left crosses over all the time (it is why I was always pulling right in the open water!)
• Catch: Probably wait just a tad too long to start the catch, but better than I had been.
• Pull: According to Shannon, looks good. I think my elbows are high, though I may cut the stroke a little short?
• Recovery - shoulder problem here. Don't get that high rotation so I tend to swing my arm wide. Trying to get a long reach may be causing the crossing over.

So I'm probably swimming a few extra yards down the pool trying to stay straight (that line on the bottom keeps you on track). I think the biggest thing for me to work on is my hand entry. If I can get it in front of my shoulder and not in front of my face, I'll save myself a lot of energy and some time. It won't be easy since I thought I already fixed this once...

Today's workout:

Swim:
300yd w.u.
8x25 drills
4x300 with 1min rest
100yd easy
8x25 sprint
200yd cool down
Total yards: 2200

Bike
(Cold and rainy today so I did it on the trainer in the evening)
24min w.u.
2x14min @ threshold (hr ~172) with 10min active recovery
13min c.d.
Total time: 1:15:00

Time for bed and some positive visualisation of hand entry in front of the shoulder, not the head!