Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Over the Barrel

Today I went to Fast Splits for a swim analysis session with my coach. I've been convinced that there are great things to be changed about my stroke; things that when corrected will make me super, super fast.

I got to Fast Splits and walked in. Two men were talking at the desk, one of whom I know but don't know (as in I don't know his name, just that he works there) and the other I immediately recognized as Tim Snow, Cait's boyfriend. Tim is a pro triathlete in the area, and I've seen him compete, so naturally, I know who he is. Naturally he does NOT know who I am. Introdcutions were in order.

So I stuck at my hand and said enthusiastically, "Hi! I'm Tim!"

Moment of silence. "I mean, oops. You're Tim. Hi, I'm, I'm, I'm, Mary."

What I should have said is I AM SUCH A LOSER.

There was really no way to recover. I just looked like such a tool. Argh.

Anyway. He told me Cait was in the next room, and I slinked away.

I've seen Cait race, but we haven't met before. Actually, that's not true. I met her at a race last year, but again, she's locally famous, and I'm a tool, so I know her and she doesn't' know me.
This time I got it right and actually introduced myself like a normal human being.
She's very pretty.
She's very young.
She's very strong and thin.

Okay. Onward.
I got changed and came out to the little Endless pool thing. I've never been in one, and honestly, I was a little nervous. What if Cait put on the force field too strong and I blasted into the back of the pool while trying to swim? I'm not sure I could take another moment of total embarrassment.

Embarrassment. right. So I started to put my cap on, and got half of my hair up when Dave, the owner of the store and an old friend, walked in. I haven't seen the guy for like six years. He's the X of one of my best friends, and when they split we didn't keep in touch. I like him, and I wish we had, but it was one of those things... You know how splits go. We were couple friends. Then we weren't. Now both he and my friend are married with kids. Time has passed. It's all cool.

Anyway, after not seeing him for eons, I saw him while dressed only in a bathing suit, while putting my hair in a cap, while all pasty and wintry white, with no makeup, and shivering from the cool air in the store. Nice. LOSER again.

He gave me a hug and we exchanged niceties, and he was very sweet about not mentioning that I was half naked and a little scary with my hair only half in my cap.

Then I got in the pool.
With Tim, Cait and Dave watching, I got in.

Silently I prayed-
Dear God do not let me make an ass of myself any more than I already have.

Cait turned on the power thing, and it was like the strongest jacuzzi jet you've ever felt. I began to swim, and it wasn't so bad! A bit hard to breathe with all of those bubbles blasting at you, but basically okay. There was a mirror on the bottom of the pool, which was fascinating. It was so fascinating that I kept forgetting to breathe because I was so busy looking at myself and thinking, "Cool! That's how it looks when I blow out my nose! Cool! I'm really rotating! Cool! That's me! Look! That's me!"

The good news (or bad news, depending on how you look at it--very bad stroke means room for major improvement which means more speed potential relative to where I am now etc. etc.) is that they convinced me that my stroke is good and it just needs to be "tweaked." That said, they found several things for me to work on.

Apparently I have good balance and rotation, but I over-rotate when I breathe. Also, I don't breathe enough. (I didn't want to explain that it was really my self-fascination that was causing me not to breathe, but whatever.) My kick is fine, my hips are up, my stroke is even. The one thing that is really wrong is that when I put my hand in the water after recovery I let my elbow drop. I have to keep my elbow up, like I'm lifting it up and around a barrel.

They had me do a bunch of drills to try to get me to do this, but I guess my whole dropping the elbow thing is pretty ingrained, because I didn't really get it before our session was over.
I see this as a good thing, in a way, because it gives me something to really work on in the pool.
I'm little and I'm short. Little, short people can't swim as fast as bigger, longer people. I need all the stroke perfection I can get.

Swim on.

11 comments:

Chris said...

"Hi, I'm Tim!" LOL!!! That's pretty funny!

Ange said...

What a cool thing to get to do Mary! I had quite a swim yesterday too. I'll post about that in a bit. I want to hear more about swimming in the endless pool.

Kim said...

hahaa im gonna ask tim about your encounter today! jk!

i hate the endless pool!! i feel like it's not accurate at all with showing my true swim stroke. it was certainly strange to see myself swimming from the mirror on the bottom and the videotape! sounds like youre doing great with only having your elbow dropping. i had like 120 things wrong with mine!

Anonymous said...

You are too funny...I'm sure they didn't think you were a loser!

That sounds neat. I'd like to try that because I'm a bigger, longer person but not fast :(

Maybe there's still hope for me.

kodiacbear said...

Mary, again LOL from your post!! People at work are wondering what is wrong withme. Yes, swim on little one!

Michelle said...

I don't know if I could swim while watching myself in a mirror - that must have been so bizarre! Very cool that you got that done, though - I'd love to know what I'm doing wrong (and right).

triguyjt said...

thats funny stuff. i think an analysis was be a good thing to do..thanks for the post..

Hi, I'm Mary

Pam said...

LOL! so funny. I'm surprised you didn't tell him you carried a watermelon:) (remember when Jennifer Grey says that to Patrick Swayze??)
Anyway little people rock. Let no one tell you otherwise!!!!

Rainmaker said...

Interesting - I've never swam in one of them endless pools before. Seems kinda evil - like the hotdog on a string/stick in front of the dog on a treadmill. Ya never quite reach it.

Good to hear you had a good session overall!

Judi said...

Mary, thanks so much for stopping by my blog and for your comments. That was really sweet. I'll be watching your journey as well.

Judi

Speed Racer said...

"Hi, I'm Tim." That's totally something that would happen to me. I'm surprised you didn't run out of there screaming.

I've heard that "elbow over a barrel" thing, like they think we're swimming in a pool full of barrels. When they start coming up with a more realistic metaphor, I'll start swimming better, but not before.

Where is this place? Is it expensive? Staring at myself in a mirror while swimming sounds fun, as long as I'm wearing a cap and goggles to hid my true identity.