Triathlon Training Day 31 – Right Side, Strong Side

Today was amazing. We are back in the endless pool at Elevate doing some drills. Marci has me focusing on all different functions of the stroke. Marci dials in the current between 600-800. I’m feeling stronger than ever and more importantly I’m feeling more natural in the water. Today we “Zipped the Zipper”, roasted back and forth, put the head down, practiced not crossing over, and then we did the dreaded “One Arm” drills.

These swimming drills bring me quickly back to remembering what it’s like to breath water. Especially my right side. I’m a left side breather – no question. Each time I would do this drill on my left side it was ok (not great) but then we would switch to the right side. Today’s when I feel like the blueberry girl in Willy Wonka. I swallow so much water that I’m sure I swell up like a giant blueberry.

Today was different. I started in my left side and instead of just barely staying on top of the water i was actually swimming. I was swimming south one arm. “ How is this happening?“ I keep thinking to myself. I’m actually swimming with my left arm while my right arm is strapped down to my side. I was staying on top of the water and keeping up with the current. I’m having trouble believing that I can actually swim with only one arm.

Ok, I did it on my strong side. Now it’s time for my right side. Because I’m so dependent on breathing on my left side when I switch my lack of coordinated breathing turns into getting my full daily water consumption in about 2 minutes. Today Coach Marci said, “Champions breath on both sides.” This is all it took. Something deep inside boiled to the top and I started swimming AND BREATHING on my right side. Knowing that I was doing all of this (somewhat successfully) on my right side squirted endorphins to the front of my brain and then it was off to the races. I was doing this “ One Arm Drill” without drowning or anything resembling it. I popped up out of the water with a big smile on my face to find that Coach Marci had a big grin on her face too and a high five waiting. I was so stoked I asked her if I could do this drill again.