I swam two individual events today and led off with the backstroke leg of the 200 medley relay. I was able to get someone to film each of my races, which is fantastic, since my mental perception of my races is apparently often quite a bit different than they actually are. So, with that in mind, I'm providing the videos of each race and can critique them based on how I thought they went and how they actually went!
50 backstroke
I led off our Mixed 200 Medley Relay (two guys and two gals) with the backstroke leg. I went too deep off the start, but looking at the video, my reaction time and the start itself look pretty darn good, much better than they felt! Normally I stay under long enough to do 14 dolphin kicks before the breakout, which gets me up to the surface approximately one full stroke before the 15 yard mark. Anyways, going too deep, I did 16 dolphin kicks before I reached the surface, and came up right at the 15 yard mark. If this was a USA swim meet, rather than a USMS swim meet, there's a decent chance I'd have been DQed (on a side note, our relay did end up getting DQed, but it was due to an early start later on in the relay, not due to me). My stroke speed for the first 10 yards was pretty decent, but it slowed down on the second 25. I went a 29.64, which is about .2 faster than my previous Masters best time, so I'll take it, but I was hoping for faster.
This is my first time seeing a video of it, so that's a big area I need to improve, and is probably one of the main reasons why I'm so much slower in backstroke now than I used to be. I've gotta work on my arm speed, so I'll be doing a lot of spin drills over the next two weeks till Nationals.
This was an "interesting" swim. I had a great start and a nicely relaxed 50 butterfly. I was actually quicker going out in the fly than I expected or planned--I went a 27.8 and was aiming for a mid 28. Backstroke felt pretty good, although I was about a second off my goal time for that split. Breaststroke was where things started to go downhill. I didn't get enough air on the back-breast turn, and also didn't push off deep enough, so I did a rushed pullout to get to the surface. Midway through the first 25 of the breast, my back muscles locked up ridiculously badly. Add on another too-shallow pullout off the turn, dying legs, and an ever more tightening back, and it was a pretty miserable 50. By the time I got to the free, I was dead--back and shoulder muscles were on fire and my legs were dead. Let's just say the the free was *slightly* slower than the pace I should've had. All that said, I went a 2:19.62 and dropped four seconds off the last time I swam it, setting a new Masters best time. And I haven't trained for the 200 IM at all, either! While the back half was quite painful, I'll take that time!
50 fly
This was my most important swim of the day. Going into today, my best time was a 26.48. My goal at Nationals is to break a 26, so I was hoping to go a low 26 today. Didn't quite make that, but did drop a few hundredths of a second to a 26.44. My start wasn't the greatest--I wasn't properly set, so the push was kinda wussy, and my reaction time wasn't as good as it otherwise has been lately. On top of that, it took me a few strokes to get into the rhythm after the breakout off the start. Oh well, from there it was a good race and set a new lifetime personal best! I'll take it, and hope that I can knock off the remaining half second in two weeks.
Overall, I'm very glad I was able to get friends to record my swims! Sooooo nice being able to actually critique and reconcile the event I swam and the event they saw! On top of that, I made a new friend on the team (she joined recently and I've only been to one or two practices she's been to) and got to see/cheer for/time/count for three of my other friends on the team. I'm having a blast!
I did mean to ask you: could you tell a difference between your straight-razor shave and a shave with your own razor? And very nice job today! Keep up the good work, and congratulate your cheering/video-taping team! :-)
ReplyDeleteAmy