Triathlon Training - Fatigue is a Great Teacher

Arend Pryor
Aug 30, 2017
3 min read

If you haven't read any of my previous posts on swimming, I should mention that my freestyle technique pretty much sucked when I started my training.

Drills, Drills and more Drills:

I'm on a mission to improve my swimming technique and after doing a fair amount of research, drills are absolutely the way to go. Check out the handful of links below for the ones I've been using. The links point to YouTube videos, but if you want it all in one place, I highly recommend getting the Tri Swim Coach app. Well worth the five bucks. The triple touch drill isn't included in the app, but one you should include. If it's good enough for Michael Phelps, it's good enough for me.

Today's Workout:

Side Kicking Drill x 4 laps (w/ fins)
Shark Fin Drill x 4 laps (w/ fins)
Hip Rotation Drill x 4 laps (2 w/ fins)
Triple Touch Switch Drill x 4 laps (no fins)
Freestyle Swim x 22 laps (no fins)

I've been practicing the drills above for a few weeks now and recently started using Z2 Gold Zoomer fins. The things I like about the fins are the added resistance and that they allow me to focus on the mechanics and body positioning. Now that I'm a little further along I'll be looking to remove the fins and still shoot for 4 laps.

What I learned from today's workout:

After finishing up the drills portion of my workout, I moved on to some freestyle swimming and initially I planned on 12 laps (300m). The laps were going ok, but each time I finished I was definitely winded. I'd take a 30 second break then go for it again. By the time I finished 12 laps, I was beat and you could see it in my technique.

I was ready to call it a day but wanted to swim at least two more laps. Probably due in part to being frustrated with how it was going. Also, I find that when I'm tired like that, I learn more when I keep going because in order to move with any kind of fluidity, the technique has to be there. I also made myself slow it down.

I moved through the water with ease and wasn't exhausted when I reached the other side, which led to me doing 10 more laps! How great is that! You're no doubt asking, ok, what the hell did you focus on?

What I Focused On:

Reaching: During entry of my hand, I made an effort to reach as far as comfortably possible (Side Kicking and Shark Fin drills)
Head: While reaching, I focused on keeping my head close to my shoulder and looking straight down (Side Kicking and Shark Fin drills)
Body Rotation: Instead of using my hips to rotate, I used the force from my hand-stroke to turn my body, slowly and naturally.
Recovery: With my body feeling more rotated, I found it easier to bring my hand directly up and to my google line, like in the Shark fin drill, for the recovery portion of my stroke
Breathing: This is always an issue during some part of my lap, but was much less an issue during these last ten laps. For this I tried focusing on breathing as a result of turning my body and not lifting my head. Check out the video below for more great tips.