Swim Camp Recap!

Here's a very delayed recap of my Tailwind Endurance swim camp experience!  I recommend this camp for everyone.  We were swimming 4 hours a day and then doing warm ups and yoga before and after for a really comprehensive and awesome athletic adventure. 

Camp was located at the Fort Lauderdale International Hall of Fame Swimming Pool, which was a 50m pool. Seriously. I want to swim only pools of this length for the rest of my life. 

Anyway, here's a summary:
1) Lots and lots of drills, and in a very good way.  I think the problem for me is that I learned to swim as a triathlete, which means I never really learned about kicking with my legs.  This is problematic in training, but not the worst thing for a race scenario.  For the rest of this season, I'm going to try to learn to kick with my legs and build up my leg muscles. 

2) Speed
We did a number of speed drills, with the goal to just wipe you out, and also see if you could attempt negative splits where possible (i think). 
3x100s without fins
3x100s with fins
= 600meters total all out, relay-style challenge.

Best 100 without fin time was 2:20
Best 100 with fin time, after 400m sprint was 1:55

3) Stroke activities!
Sculling underwater -- we would start almost at the bottom of the pool and scull for as long as we could on a single breath.
Breast stroke underwater pull -- same thing with the breathing.
Butterfly -- my first attempt!  Geez, that's a tough stroke.
Backstroke with and without fins -- Lesson learned, must learn how to swim straight when doing backstroke, or deal with the bruises of swimming into the lane lines.
Snorkle sculling -- allows you to focus on the stroke itself and then add breathing and balance in later.
Focusing on breathing, holding/pulling water
3, 5, 7 breathing activity, each 50m was breathing every 3, 5, or 7 strokes multiplied by 5 sets.
One arm stroke, 3 stroke, switch to other side for more one arm stroke crawl and on back also.

4) Review and improve
2 sessions recorded with underwater camera and on my iPhone, and a sitdown session with Coach Earl to review my stroke, breathing pattern, hip motion, and more! 

An true endurance experiment...

I've recently been visiting the crew at Finishline Physical Therapy.  They've been helping me strengthen my back, core, hips, and now calves.

I've been improving my posture and running (especially through running on their AlterG which allows me to take off 80% of my body weight) and I'm feeling really good.

Today, however, I experienced my first fall as a runner. Can't really even quite explain what happened or how I landed, but I'm left with what looks like 2 kneecaps per knee (one is a large bruise below the cap) and there is definitely going to be a lot of swelling and pain over the next few days. I'm not sure if it was ice or a very rough large pothole on the road under the expressway (read limited lighting), but it was a glorious fall which got my palms, knees and right shoulder.  All I can say is that I'm super grateful that I wasn't alone, and that it was still cold enough that I was wearing lined running pants.  I can't even imagine what my knee could have looked like.


>>Update: 4/6/14: My knee is almost fully healed up.  Still a little pink, and I feel like the strength of my knee has been compromised slightly, so that I'm a little creaky, but I think I've very much learned my lesson in making sure I'm looking at the ground when it's patchy and dark like that.  New York City really should fix that road.