Anna s wrote:
devashish_paul wrote:
Wow, well done. Sounds like you are on track for the sub 60 min in Roth (or if you don't you'll have so much leftover cardio on the bike that you'll have a pb bike split)
I find that if I focus on the legs and pull less with the arms, I have better endurance, or if I pull more and use the legs less I am OK too....but when I try to go hard with both, that's a problem. I think my cardio just can't supply enough oxygen if I go hard with both part of my body at the same time.
By the way, interesting thing....with all the dolphin kicking I have been doing underwater off every wall push off (I try to spend 1/3 of the pool underwater, so 8 m) on non "main set" lengths, I am finding my backstroke is going faster. Maybe "better kick" since the underwater dolphin kick used both sides of my body actively vs above water kick with a flutterboard?
A bike pb would be good and that's my plan too. This year I want to get stronger on the bike and start the bike course feeling fresher - instead of feeling "I'm so glad the swim is
finally over"!
Somehow Dev I'm glad you are noticing the oxygen deficit too, I just thought it was my lungs!!
Maybe your backstroke is faster because you have a stronger core and better position in the water making your kick more efficient.
I am thinking the backstroke improvement combines both of what you said. During the part of my swim where I do fins only, there are some days when I spend 10 minutes, where half the length is underwater dolphin and other half is kicking on my back with arms streamlined over my head. I actually have not been doing that much backstroke, but maybe this is carrying over. Interesting thing was when I ran intervals on the track last weekend, I did notice that my core was better at "staying together" rather than flopping around and swaying when I got tired at the end of some harder running intervals.
In any case I really can't tell what is faster for fly whether I pull harder or kick harder. They both feel equally fast or equally slow depending on how you want to view my slowness. For free, it's not even a toss up...pull harder with arms and swim faster. No amount of hard kicking can make up for soft stroking with the arms (at least for me). In fly I seem to be limited by cardio and if I go hard with upper and lower body at the same time, the cardio goes through the roof. I am hoping that when I get back to tri, all of this swim intensity will help the other sport. I just can't go this hard this often on the bike or run. I can on XC skis though.