Swimming is an awful struggle. I have been making some progress in the last two years. My question for the real swimmers is what I should do in the pool when I’m having a bad day. These seem to occur more frequently when I have had a hard run or bike ride that morning or the day before. When my legs are dead my kick is bad (not that it ever that good). A bad kick seems to lead to my whole stroke falling apart. The swim coaches in my area are only swim coaches with no real experience with triathletes. What is the appropriate strategy for swim workouts with tired legs? Drills?Tough it out? Skip it all together?
Duathlons 
Brett
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Have you tried swimming with fins? Zura makes a great fin that builds leg strength, ankle flexibility and helps with form to a certain extent. If nothing else it makes you conscious of your legs while you swim…kj
Swimming is an awful struggle.
Nothing about swimming should be a struggle. Sounds like you need to really relax and picture yourself effortlessly slipping though the water. If your legs are dead, do longs sets with a pull bouy. Think about relaxed effortless swimming…
OK I’m not an expert swimmer BY ANY MEANS. But how dead must your legs be in order to not be able to swim?
Also a question for those more “Learned” is it not possible, even a good thing, to be able to swim using very little or no kick at all? Seems to me this would be an indication that you’re not using your kick to keep your legs up. IOW tired legs shouldn’t be a problem in the pool…at least in my completely uneducated opinion.
Also why not use a swim coach for swimming? Again in my uneducated opinion you can learn alot about a single sport form a single sport coach. The only help a tri coach will be is “fitting it all together”. It’s not Tri swimming, biking and running are completely different than single sports. It’s just that we have to find the balance between the three.
~Matt
Thanks all. I didn’t mean to say that I can’t swim at all with tired legs. I just notice that i swim slower and use more strokes doing it. I worry that i may be doing more harm than good. I attended an adult swim clinic on saturday and got some helpful tips on my stroke. Now if I could only master those darn flip-turns.
Now if I could only master those darn flip-turns.
Can’t remember the last time I did one of those in a race.
Use a pool buoy. Does wonders for me when I am tired. And also simulates wearing a wetsuit I think, as you are more buoyant.