As I'm thinking back on this past season, I'm realizing that I'm writing this a little late because for the past few weeks I have been in next season training mode and mindset. They say the first season comes with the steepest learning curve for the athlete, and I can attest to that. I learned a lot over a relatively short amount of time - from learning how to train, when to train, how to race, when to race, and everything that goes along with it, which I could not have done without the guidance of my coach, Matt Russ, and my other teammates at the Sport Factory.
Now I am looking ahead to the 2012 season, which is going to start early for me! After a strong 2011 season of racing locally, regionally, and then nationally, I have decided to jump in with the pros and race on the ITU draft-legal circuit. I'm very excited for this format of racing. I'm going to race in the Continental Cup races - the exact dates and locations of which have yet to be announced. I know that there will be a few early season (we're talking jan-feb) cups in central/south america, and i'm definitely planning to do at least one during that time frame. Then I will race the 3-4 cc's on US soil over the season and probably throw in a few non draft races too to mix things up.
I do have some big aspirations for this upcoming season, but am trying to focus my goals on things that are in my control. For instance, I can't control what place I get in a race, but I can control how I prepare myself for that race so that I place where I need/want to be. I do have goals, placement-wise so that I can qualify for different races etc, but I think it's more important to spell out the steps to get there. One goal is to make fitness improvements over all three disciplines. I think this will be accomplished by putting in a solid base season, which I really didn't do last season. I also have not done any strength training regimen in the past, and am really dedicated to getting stronger during this base season. Matt has given me some awesome strength and plyometric sessions that are pretty brutal! I'm also putting a lot more time in the pool for this season. I have a strong swim, but it needs to be stronger if I am going to try to hang with world class swimmers in the draft legal races. I'm swimming some on my own, which is not so bad because my swim coach, Tracy sends me work outs and gives me feedback! And also swimming with an awesome masters group, Peluso Open Water, a few days a week. There are some really fast swimmers to train with and i'm hoping some will rub off on me. Jay is a great coach and i'm excited for the challenging work outs to come. I'm also putting a lot of focus on draft legal bike racing, the technical side as well as the different physiological demands that this type of racing require. More on that later. Happy base training to all.
Friday, November 18, 2011
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Staying In Line
I learned a few things today in regard to keeping the body in line for efficiency both in swimming and running, and I thought they were interesting enough to share.
So I started thinking about this the other day after Jay told me I should put my head down some more while swimming at masters. With swimming open water and sighting a lot over the summer, I think I got into the habit of keeping my head up higher. Basically looking straight ahead rather than down. So this morning I was really trying to focus on keeping a neutral head position and realized how unnatural it seemed since I have gotten out of the habit. I also did some floating drills after practice: Go from standing in the water to a float with both hands at your sides, keeping the head neutral and looking down. Then slowly begin to look forward, changing the head position and you will notice that your legs and trunk begin to sink. This is because the body is out of alignment just from that slight head movement. In swimming, the center of mass is around the pubis, but the center of buoyancy is at the sternum, and keeping a neutral head position allows the body to be more aligned and reduce drag. I also found while doing those floating drills, keeping the core engaged as well as sort of pressing down through the sternum/chest/shoulder region adds buoyancy.
So today while I was running, I was trying to focus on more of a forward lean in order to get my feet more in line with my center of gravity when they land. The fastest/most efficient runners land (whether midfoot, toes, or heel) below their center of gravity, and in line with the hips. So as I was running and thinking about that slight forward lean, I thought back to swimming this morning and I dropped my chin some, just like I did while I was floating, and I could totally feel the difference! The slight chin drop got my head into a neutral position and the forward lean just naturally followed. This also brought on the urge to increase my turn over and run quicker. I am hoping that if I continue to work on the body alignment, I will adapt to a quick stride and be faster with less effort!
So I started thinking about this the other day after Jay told me I should put my head down some more while swimming at masters. With swimming open water and sighting a lot over the summer, I think I got into the habit of keeping my head up higher. Basically looking straight ahead rather than down. So this morning I was really trying to focus on keeping a neutral head position and realized how unnatural it seemed since I have gotten out of the habit. I also did some floating drills after practice: Go from standing in the water to a float with both hands at your sides, keeping the head neutral and looking down. Then slowly begin to look forward, changing the head position and you will notice that your legs and trunk begin to sink. This is because the body is out of alignment just from that slight head movement. In swimming, the center of mass is around the pubis, but the center of buoyancy is at the sternum, and keeping a neutral head position allows the body to be more aligned and reduce drag. I also found while doing those floating drills, keeping the core engaged as well as sort of pressing down through the sternum/chest/shoulder region adds buoyancy.
So today while I was running, I was trying to focus on more of a forward lean in order to get my feet more in line with my center of gravity when they land. The fastest/most efficient runners land (whether midfoot, toes, or heel) below their center of gravity, and in line with the hips. So as I was running and thinking about that slight forward lean, I thought back to swimming this morning and I dropped my chin some, just like I did while I was floating, and I could totally feel the difference! The slight chin drop got my head into a neutral position and the forward lean just naturally followed. This also brought on the urge to increase my turn over and run quicker. I am hoping that if I continue to work on the body alignment, I will adapt to a quick stride and be faster with less effort!
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