Elbows High

I have been doing some reading about swimming and this whole "keeping your elbows high" thing is finally making sense. I had been hearing and reading about elbows high but had no idea what it was referring to (I did my competitive swimming back in the seventies, you see). More reading, watching some videos, and chatting with my friend John and I was ready to give it a try during today's workout. It turns out that my stroke wasn't all that far off (you don't really know your stroke unless you're in the water). It seems to make things easier and it sure doesn't slow things down. Next workout I'll compare stroke counts between this new way with my previous way. Anyway, I had to take last week off because of my cold, and when you add that to a too-warm pool, no long swim today. I could only manage about 1200 yards but that's okay because today was technique day.

Came across the IronBruin Triathlon for next March. 400 pool yards, 13.5mi bike, and 5k run. The pool swim is especially attractive because I don't want to buy a wetsuit...at least not this season. Could be a good "C" workout and my first tri. It would be just one week after the 100k Gran Fondo San Diego but I guess that will make things even more interesting.

I was listening to an Endurance Planet podcast and got an idea for training. I could go out Wednesday mornings and do a quick hill workout. I'm not so keen on riding in the darkness around here because of the rough roads but this route is do-able. It's about 1.5 miles to the start of the hill and it's not huge but powering up it would be quite the workout. I could even go up and down more than once. The cool part is that I would make it back in time to do my usual morning routine (shower, wake the kids, make them breakfast, etc.). Now I just need some lights for my bike...and maybe a pair of arm warmers because I'll be out there at 5:30. Sounds like a job for Santa Claus.