Louisville Ironman 2007 Practice Swim

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Freestyle Kick

The winter and spring months are excellent times to work on swim techniques for the summer triathlon season. An article by Kevin Koskella in Triathlete Magazine discusses developing the correct freestyle kick and even includes a neat video demonstrating one of the drills. "There are 3 remedies to overcome Runner’s Kick: 1. Vertical Kicking drill . Find water that is deep enough for you to kick in place. Cross your arms, and kick in place in a vertical position (keep in a straight line), pointing your toes and keeping your chin above the surface of the water. Get your power from your quads and hips on this drill. Try 20 seconds at a time. 2. Use fins . Not just to "keep up" in workouts, but to actually improve your kick. If you have ankle flexibility issues, use fins for a few weeks, but wean off them as you get closer to your event. The shorter ones are best. I prefer Zoomers, but other brands may work okay as well. Fins can increase your ankle flexibility, allow you t...
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Motor Imagery

Image
In the book, " The body has a mind of its own " by Blakeslee, the authors state that, "While many types of mental practice are undoubtedly helpful, motor imagery is the only technique that alters your body maps in the same way physical practice does. Visual imagery (as from a spectator's point of view), relaxation, hypnosis, affirmation, prayer...may help you...but will not alter your motor maps." (page 60). Several experiments have been conducted that verify this information. A simple example is that if you imagine moving your little finger for ten minutes a day, after four weeks it will be up to 20% stronger. Motor imagery has been used by pianists, dancers and all types of athletes. It is not something that will help you overnight get better at swimming, running or biking, but over time, just like with physical exercise, it does promote stronger muscle memory and physical attributes.
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Head Over Heels

Probably not the best way to ride a bike, looking at the pavement up close, arms stretched out, seeing the rear tire straight up in the air. Once Jan knew I was only bruised and my bike was okay, she had a nice laugh. Apparently I didn't look too graceful flipping up towards the handle bars, arms and legs spread out. Fortunately I was going very slowly making a turn when I hit a hole off the shoulder of the road. The result was just a leg bruise. Jan ran 11 miles and swam almost 2 miles on Saturday. On Sunday, a beautiful day for bike riding, we rode the 6 villages route . I went 76.5 miles, she completed her scheduled 80 miles by going around our block several times. The route is 66 miles, but we did an extra 10 miles around Churchville. Our overall mph time was pretty good, faster than the cutoff time for Ironman. The roads were in pretty good condition, not too much traffic except for .5 miles on rt. 31, and only a few barking dogs that scared the heck out of us, but didn't ...
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