Time for a swim again this morning! Today was backstroke day. We did the usual 600 m warm up, then did some kicking on our backs, using fins. Jen then got us to do some 6 kick stroke, but on our backs. With fins on it was pretty easy. Next up was doing a one arm backstroke.
I can swim the front stroke like this, with no fins, pretty well. I figure if I ever hurt one arm I'll still be ok for the swim, haha. I wasn't sure how this would work with the backstroke...but really it wasn't that bad. The key was to keep kicking no matter what! Without the fins I would have been a drowning heap on the bottom of the pool, haha.
Once we'd "mastered" the back stroke with one arm, we were allowed to try it with two! I actually really like this stroke. I love how I can feel my lats (latissimus dorsi) kick in. As I swim I keep thinking how I may just one day be able to do the old Lat Fan that body builders do, haha. Yes, I'm weird that I want to be able to do that. (Like me being weird is a shock?! haha) It just looks neat though!!
The last set we did was 75 m front / 25 m back times four. For the 75 m front we were to go slow, medium, then all out effort for each 25 m. Then use the 25 m backstroke as a 'rest'. I'm pretty sure Jen hasn't been watching me swim backstroke or she'd see that it is far from a rest for me, haha.
The sets went well, and I only got hit twice. Flailing arms hit me on the legs, haha. Could be worse, could have been in the face. Yipes! Someone would have gotten a swimsuit wedgie for that one I tell ya!! LOL. Oh, and I only got water up the nose a few times. I think I'm going to bring in my nose plug next time!
I had a great swim today. Worked hard and 'expanded my comfort zone' as I will continually do so from now on. Oh! AND I also had some pretty good flip turns...now if I could just perfect the pike part.... One thing that helped was having Maureen swimming beside me. I didn't want to go over sideways (as I seem to do normally) and kick her, so it forced me to go into it straight. Very cool!
i can do the lat fan ....it was all the years of butterfly - of which - i would be lucky if i could do ONE 25 m lap of now ....
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