Archive for July, 2010
Why do swim drills? Don’t you hate them?
So I started a Masters Swim program at Mt. SAC back on June 17, 2010. Six weeks ago today. Although I seem to do fairly well at self-coaching myself on running, I have no swimming background and I’m not very good at it and I knew I needed someone with knowledge to watch me, coach me, give me tips. I did do some reading…Total Immersion swimming books, articles on Active.com, TriSwimCoach.com, BeginnerTriathlete.com. And reading was good, and did help, and I did try to use the advice. However, implementing what I read was just not going all that great without a coach.
Now one thing I did notice was that a lot of the reading material encouraged drills. The TriSwimCoach specifically encouraged doing as much drills as you could stand. And other sites also recommended drills for improving stroke technique and efficiency. It makes sense. In running I do speedwork on the track and I would say that is analagous to drills in the pool. I know that speedwork really does help me. I have to assume with all these articles recommending swim drills that that would help me, too.
But I really hate drills. Or at least, when I was trying to figure out swimming on my own, I really, really disliked them and almost never did them. I would maybe do a few laps of drills. Less than 1/4 of my workout for sure. Maybe much less than that. And then freestyle all the way, baby, because that seems to be the most fun to me.
Strawberry Fields Olympic Triathlon – Race Report
Posted by sheila in Race Events, Races on July 25, 2010
So this past Sunday, July 18, 2010, I raced the Olympic Distance at the Strawberry Fields Triathlon in Oxnard, California. One thing I will say about this race, is that if we do it again, we are going to stay overnight in Oxnard the night before the race. Under ideal conditions the drive from our house is about 1.5 hours, but when is traffic through L.A. ideal? OK, at 4 am on Sunday morning yes (heading to the race on morning of), but for packet pickup the afternoon before NOT. Must have spent 8 hours driving to/from Oxnard this weekend. Blech!
Saturday, the day before the race, we went down to the packet pickup. We got there late in the afternoon, about 4:30 PM. It was chilly and windy. After the 100-degree temps we’d been experiencing at home the past week, the tank top I wore was just not sufficient. It seemed the race might be cold the next day. Packet pickup was well-organized. Transition area was nearly set up. We drove the bike course just to see what I had in store the next day. One thing about this race, the run and bike courses are some of the flatest I’ve had the opportunity to run on.
Exchange between a cyclist and a motorist
Yesterday after I got off work I took a ride on my bike. There’s a local 14-mile loop that I ride regularly. It takes me westbound on Temple Ave in Pomona towards Cal Poly Pomona University. The streets I ride are generally fairly busy, depending on the time of day, and cars travel 45-50 mph and faster. Most of this route has a bike lane available, but not all of it and some of the streets without bike lanes are narrow although they have 2 lanes for motor traffic in each direction.
So last night about 6:30 PM as I road west on Temple approaching Valley Blvd a motorist in a large SUV whizzed past me in the left lane, honking, and then swerved just ahead of me into the right lane where I was riding.
Ocean Swim Entry/Exit Tips
Posted by sheila in Tips and Advice, Training on July 10, 2010
Here is a pretty good article from Active.com on entering and exiting the ocean for open water swim triathlons. I practice ocean swimming fairly regularly with the L.A. Tri Club, but I am not using all the tips suggested in this article. Saving the link here so I can review it from time to time and make sure I’m doing all these things…
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