A New Kind of Brick Workout

When I Signed Up for Stroke Improvement, This Wasn't What I Envisioned
Last week Dodie, the "Fat Tire Flash", emailed me and told me she had signed up for a stroke improvement class at the Y and that I should come join her. At first I begged off, but after some thought, I remembered that triathletes participate in 3 sports, and that swimming was one of them. Since I had not been in the water since the Pinebush in July, and since I wasn't exactly setting the water on fire during that race (how's that for a mixed metaphor?), I reconsidered.

Which is how I was sitting on the bleachers at the shallow end of the Y pool at 7:25, listening to the nice young man tell the member that no, he could not swim in the closed off lanes, because he, Aaron (the nice young man) was scheduled to teach a "stroke improvement class in 5 minutes. But, since no one was there, and if no one came, he would open the lanes. Now, I know I am invisible to women, but ......... I may be invisible, but I can definitely be heard , so I spoke up and said I was the stroke improvement class he was waiting for. He looked at his clipboard and said, "You're not on my list" I explained that I had signed up and paid on Sunday, but he still didn't seem convinced. Then I said the magic names" "Dodie emailed me and and encouraged me to join" and "Kelly told me she might be here after her open house" Wow - worked like a charm! Wrote my name on the clipboard and everything.

He had me get in the pool and swim a lap using the breast stroke, while he watched. After I finished the laps, he said my arms were fine, but that I was lowering my left hip on the kick, and that my right leg was lifting up as it was going out, instead of remaining level in the water. He suggested that I try keeping my knees together as I brought them up to my chest, and to concentrate on starting both legs out at the same time. Great observation and great tip - it really helped and I'm going to work on it. (I do have to say that when I visualized his description of what I was doing wrong, I thought I should maybe be looking for a fire hydrant or a bush or something...)

Same deal for the crawl stroke - up and back, while he watched. He noted that I was crossing my right arm over, and that hands were entering the water on an angle that was a little too steep. He suggested concentrating on placing the right hand in straight, placing them into the water on a shallower angle, and on really extending each arm stroke. These were good tips, too, and I will be working on them.

And then the fun began. He said that in addition to technique, we (Kelly had finished with her open house and had joined us in the pool - he didn't look for her name on the clipboard! Dodie was still at her open house but will be returning next week - probably won't look for her name on the clipboard, either) needed endurance. Reminded me of the punchline to a joke about the wedding night conversation between a woman and her minister husband.

Anyway, to get this endurance, he has some drills for us - boy did he have some drills for us!
Who knew you could do pushups on the edge of a pool? And they are tough, too! We did laps with the elementary backstroke, and between laps, we did wall pushups. Then we did kick drills - on our faces, then on our backs, with the board and without the board. And - you guessed it - between drills we did wall pushups. Then we treaded water in 20 second intervals - first legs only, then hands only. We did this for two cycles and on the third cycle, a special treat, legs only and hands straight up out of the water. (Note - along with downhill on a bicycle, treading water is one of the few times when a little excess body fat is a good thing - good for Ron - not so good for Kelly, who has, like, 2% body fat)

But, my favorite was when he said we would do "bricks." As a triathlete, I know a "brick" as two disciplines back to back, especially bike to run. Since we are already in the pool, I'm wondering if we are now going to run or bike or what. No! When he said brick workout he meant we were going to work out with - bricks - 10# rubber- coated bricks, one for each of. I'm thinking maybe we are on the set of the "Sopranos" and he is going to tie it to my ankle.

I won't swear to this, because I was pretty tired by this time and I had a lot of water in my ears, but I think Kelly asked which one was heavier. To be fair to her, she probably had water in her ears and didn't hear him say that they were both 10#'s. Given our relative sizes and buoyancies, probably would have been fairer if I had the 10#'s and she had 10 oz.

No - he had an extra special treat for us. First we walk, with the bricks, to the middle of the pool. Then we each put a brick on our chests, and cross our hands over the brick, keeping our arms tight against our bodies. The he tells us to lean backwards into the water and kick, until we reach the wall. He neglects to tell us that leaning over backwards with a 10# brick on your chest means that your head immediately submarines to about 40 fathoms under the surface, and that about 38 of those fathoms immediately rush up your nostrils, making it very difficult to breathe. His solution was I should push my upper lip against my nose to seal off the nostrils - I can tell you that bit of contortion was not the solution that sprang to my mind. What's next - eyebrow licking?

He also tells us to lift our legs up close to the surface while we kick, neglecting to mention that getting the angle too steep means that you are propelling yourself not to the end of the pool but to the bottom. After 8 rounds of kick, sink, snort, resurface, blowhole and breathe, I reach the end of the pool. (Kelly struggles a little, but does really well and makes it to the wall long before me)

He says that he normally has the class do this several times, but taking note of my stellar performance - and the advancing clock - he says we (mostly me) don't have to do this again. Guess he didn't understand the masochistic nature of triathletes - even if they are SFT's like me. So - we go out to the middle, grab the damn brick and do it again. This time, it only takes me 6 cycles to reach the wall. Wow - 25% improvement!

At 8:15 he tells us class is over. We mention that he had done an hour last week with Dodie. He says yes he had, but then Dodie told him class was just 45 minutes, which it is supposed to be. I ask if he is ok with going the last 15 minutes. He is game and says he is leaving at 8:30 anyway, so, why not? So, we work on the mechanics of the back crawl, learning new ways to snort water, feel graceless, and torment new muscle groups.

When it is all over, he tells us if he has done his job right we will be sore tomorrow, and that the sorer we are, the better he will feel. Does that sentitment seem as skewed to you as it does to me? Kelly and I both thank him and say goodnight. After, we go to the hot tub - Kelly to soak her sore calf (from the backstroke kicking) and me my sore hamstring (I strained it during the first 3 blocks of my noontime run today) and we both decide that this was work and that we will be sore - and that we both like it and will definitely be back next week.