We had 15 people tonight. I can’t keep up with all the names, but it’s great to see so many people enjoying swimming. I spent most the night in a lane (not the Axe Grinder!) with Dagon, Sabrina, and Jeff. We were just doing drills, but we really pushed ourselves. At one point we were more than 100 ahead of the other lanes.

We learned a new backstroke drill tonight called Vertical Ice. I’m not sure I can explain it very well, but here’s my attempt. You take 3 full strokes and then freeze when you have one arm fully extended above your head, the other arm sticking straight up, perpendicular to your body, and you kick 7 times, then repeat. This helps you with your rotation, as you’re supposed to be completely rotated when you freeze. Luckily we did it with fins.

We finished up the practice with some Hammer-Downs without fins, which was a lot of fun. We started at the back wall and pushed off under water, kicking half-way across the pool without coming up. At mid-pool, we began treading water with our arms fully extended above our heads. This is a challenge, especially while trying to catch your breath from kicking your way out there without coming up for air. After treading water for 10 seconds, you put the “hammer down” and sprint at full speed back to the wall. We did that 6 times on 1:30.

I noticed that my “swimmer’s elbow” started to come back after those, and I think it’s related to pushing it as hard as I can on the sprint portion. I’m not in pain or anything, but I can tell my elbow isn’t 100%. I guess it’s good to narrow down the times when it happens so I can figure out what I’m doing wrong that causes it.

Warm-Up:
1 x 400 Free

Drills:
20 x Backstroke flip-turn work
2 x 300 Drill ( 2 x (50 Free, 50 Vertical Ice, 50 Free) )
2 x 200 Drill ( 50 Free, 50 Vertical Ice, 50 Fly drill, 50 Free )
3 x 100 Drill ( 25 Free, 25 Vertical Ice, 25 Fly (full), 25 Free )
6 x Hammer Down ( 12.5 underwater kick, 10 seconds tread, 12.5 sprint freestyle )

Warm-Down:
1 x 75 Free easy