again doing the drills needs to be watched and corrected in real time or you just reinforce bad habits further. Practice makes permanent.
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On the sessions I’ve been to, eg day workshops they did watch you doing the drills to check you were doing them correctly. But I agree it does need a longer look if possible.
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Day workshops could be much better as you get some sustained time and the sort of people investing that amount of time are serious about swimming so would go back and practice. I find 5+ x 1hr sessions where we go over stuff and send them away with “homework” to return the next week a far better investment of time though.
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The moving time is 59:25 if that makes you feel better
I’m not addicted to my phone
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15x100m today. Happy to maintain sub 2 minutes for all the sets. I usually fade badly towards the end.
Regarding swim analysis vs masters I’m kinda stuck for both. Nobody round here does underwater videos or endless pool sessions and the local masters has no real coaching.
I’d expect to benefit from video analysis as I’m in the 2 min / 100 group but agree it can be hard putting drills into practice without someone giving you feedback.
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Ok don’t know if this belongs in swim or rant thread.
My daily work life involves talking to people most of the day. Once i have finished talking with them - or occasionally sticking a finger or other implement in them- there’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes. Writing letters, organising and interpreting stuff, general admin. It’s quite time consuming and on Thursday I achieved absolutely none of it at work.
Got home and immediately flagellated myself in the Zwift TTT and after that was good for nothing except lying on the sofa with the room gently spinning, while drinking an adult beverage (Budweiser if you must know).
So I went to bed knowing I had about 3 hours admin still to do. Not to worry- Fridays a day off this week, can catch up then.
Well the way my brain works is that I had unsettling anxiety dreams all night involving weird work themes. On the international space station with a chiropodist. Late for a bus that was actually an ambulance.
At 5.30 I was fully awake so decided to get up and crunch my admin so I could enjoy the rest of my day off (hence mental arithmetic before 6am @Poet - that was TT catch up with pre work coffee).
Well I blitzed it and by 9 am was just about done, and my mind was starting to wander. Should I go for a run first, or mow the lawn, or should I log straight on to the Jennifer Aniston fan site and start talking teeth?
Then the phone rang. It was my senior partner, let’s call him John.
“Where are you?”
“Um, I’m at home John. Where are you buddy?”
“I’m on a yacht about 2 nautical miles South West of The Needles”
“Oh”
“We swapped days so I could go sailing remember? Work have been ringing me for the last half hour, apparently there are 6 patients in the waiting room already, one of them is crying, and Mr Merdalot is SMEARING again.”
“Oh no. You’re right. I’m so sorry- I completely forgot” (we had arranged this, like 6 months ago)
So I throw on some clothes and leg it up to the office for 10 hours of unbridled and entirely unexpected joy.
At the end of that im pretty much brain dead but head straight over to the pool anyway.
27*100 off 1m40 in a 45 minute session was the ambitious plan.
Well the swimming pool Gods were smiling because slightly fierce pool girl opened the door at 19.29 which meant I was off bang on 19.30, red top. And had a lane to myself- not a single Star Wars
Character in sight to get in the way.
First 100 felt lovely. An effortless 1m28 and I could feel my woes and organisational ineptitude start to wash away.
The next few 100s, all sub 1m35, a generous 5 seconds rest then off. Feeling good. I quickly realised that the nice thing about going off 1m40 is that when you have done 3 reps, the red hand is at the top again. 9 of those and jobs a good un. Makes counting easy.
Rep number 12 - oh no- I’m joined by a star wars Character. Will it be a wookie? Jabba the Hutt? No, thankfully it’s an athletic looking Princess Leah and she proceeds to swim at a steady 1m45 per 100 so I only have to overtake her about 3 times.
Rep number 20, going well
Rep number 21- is this a stitch coming in?
Rep 22- yes - slow it down- continuous swim though 23,24
Rep 25 feeling better. Back to to speed
26
- Boom. Done it. 27*100m of 1 minute 40. Watch says 44m58.
Getting out of the pool my right hamstring goes into a sudden and alarming cramp and a howl comes out a bit like a randy wolf. Fierce life guard and Princess Leah look up in concern, as well as Jabba who I notice is in fact in the pool but had the grace to choose the medium lane.
Enjoy the weekend everyone 
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That’s kind of brilliant, sounds like a horrific day work wise, those work related dreams and bad sleeps are horrific although I often find that things aren’t as bad as I’d stressed, but I don’t have to deal with sick humans!
Then to pull the swim out of bag, top marks 
I’ll even turn a blind eye to horrific gassy adult potion you chose 
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Well done sir 
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Leia
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This is one of the advantages of WFH, I can choose who I talk to most of the time 
Oh you poor thing, have you tried counselling
Awesome, well done
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Working on my pull, early vertical forearm etc., I’m feeling it much more in the shoulders…but I thought I would feel it more in the lats…does this indicate anything? Or just my ignorance? 
Actually this sounds like a good subject for IMJUK. 
You will feel it in the shoulders as well, you are rotating though a slightly different plane which will affect loads put on muscles. Are you rotating enough as well?
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So I’ve noticed my rotation and balance is affected while I’m working on it, somethings different but hard to say what.
A few other things I can tell are a bit off as well while I’m focusing on the EVF.
At the moment it feels like I don’t fully extend my left in the catch sometimes because I’m thinking about the bend in the pull, and that maybe means I’m not rolling quite so much too.
Also I feel I’m pushing the water under my body at the end of the pull, rather than past my hip, if you know what I mean?
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I am just getting to grips with this. The engaging Lats part evaded me for a long time and I always had a sore front shoulder and upper arm after swimming.
I watched a good video on Youtube that explained about visualising the pull. Instead of pulling your hand backwards through the water, your anchoring your hand and pulling your body forwards through the water( I realise this is obvious ).
However, it helped me get into a better position for engaging Lats.
I’m not one to give advice as I’m just under 2 mins per 100m, but that’s an improvement from 2 years ago…
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Just thought I’d pop in here, as it looks like I will back in the water next week. 
@fruit_thief – I’m looking forward to the ‘worries washing away’ effect when I dive in.
But with absolutely no chance of getting anyway near an effortless 1m 28s.
@Midlife_Trisis – Could you post the link?
As I could do with something to focus on as it will be six months since my last swim.
(And that was after trying to re-start regular swimming for the first time in years.)
@Poet – I would go with @Hammerer’s suggestion of sessions with homework.
The risk of fixing a problem is your swimming might get worse before it gets better.
I find the main advantage of Masters swimming is the level of club lane discipline.
So, none of the problems that most of you have when swimming in public sessions.
Generally, there is very little in the way of stoke correction in my club, more set setting.
Notable exception - When @DrClean (TT1.0) helped out at the club a few years back.
He set up a Tri Lane for TTers (Including BarnetRose, Mr & Mrs Mash).
That was both swim technique and triathlon race focussed.
(Including practising buoy turns in the deep end and mass starts.)
Gadgets
I’m lovin’ the times and data some of you have access to.
It makes my cheap Argos watch look very primitive by comparison.
But, without my glasses, I can’t even see the big timing clock, let alone read it. 
@funster - Chapeau!
I’ve seen squad swimmers get set 12 x 400m of swim/drills and that was pretty epic.
How big your paddles?
These are mine and my arms would break long before reaching a faction of your distance.
Sprints
Finally, I know there was some debate about how useful sprints are to swim training.
One of my swimming club coaches was a big fan of these, but they were brutal.
(And you have to remember swimmers don’t need to do anything else after the swim!)
One session, in the middle of a longer set, was:
- Block dive start
- 25m absolutely fat out
- Climb out
- Walk back
- Repeat
The instruction was to assume there would only be one length.
So, no holding something back for the fact you knew it would be more than one.
I was so deranged by the end of one of these:
- I had to ‘beach’ myself out of the water because my arms wouldn’t lift me.
- I was staggering along the side of the pool like a drunken sailor.
- Then I fell off the blocks at the whistle, as I couldn’t hold myself steady.
Absolutely loved it though. 
Cheers, Paul. 
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Yeah, this is what I’m scared of!
Pretty happy with my current speed, but if I could do that for less effort, or even crank it up a bit quicker, then I’m all ears!
One to think about for post-IMUK 
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I used to use that with the junior triathletes, the climb out was no knees on pool deck also and arms only
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Not sure I can do that fresh, unless I use the steps?!
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Now that’s a session I can get behind
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So I have a technique question. As a guide I am about a 1.40 pace swimmer. Heading towards 1.30 when I am very fit.
Being very unfit I am paying more attention to my style than usual.
I can float ‘flat’ in the water. But I don’t swim flat, I know that my legs sink a bit. Particularly turning my arms over (i.e. actual swimming.). It could be flexibility, arm issue, rotation, lack of core activation. Any thoughts?
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