Ghosts of Coaches Past

At first, it all seemed so simple...girl met race, girl trained for race, girl finished race, girl fell in love with racing.  Yeah, too simple.

Back in reality, training can be your best friend, or your worst enemy depending on the day. Running was coming along (slowly but surely), biking I was struggling with (but with the help from some awesome cyclists, it's starting to come together), and I figured I had swimming in the bag.  Just to be sure, I contacted a ghost from my past - my original triathlon coach, Brian, to get reassurance on my swim technique.  He had been a competitive swimmer, been trained under the wing of a four time Para-Olympian Gold Medalist, and had spent the last 20 years coaching at all levels.  Plus, he has known me since I was 15.  I don't think there is anyone who knows what makes me tick like him.

At first, the conversation was quite chatty - his wife, kids, Hannah, teaching and such. Soon, we turned to our favorite topic, swimming (occupational hazard for him, obsessive fixation for me).  I had already told him about training for Ironman, and his reaction was that the only person who did not believe I could do it back in college was me. He knew I could. But then came the million dollar question: did I want to "do" an Ironman, or did I want to "race" an Ironman. You can imagine my answer.

He asked me to film my swim, both above and under the water, and send it to him for analysis.  There's this cool app called Coach's Eye.  It lets you look at a video frame by frame, and you can draw on it to show different things. Highly recommend it for any sport. A lot of times what we think we are doing and what we are really doing are two different things. Film shot and sent, I waited.

A few days later, Brian called.  I asked him what he thought and he was quiet...too quiet. Then he said something I was not expecting at all.  He said the video wanted to make him cry.  Pardon?

Turns out I am what is called a front quadrant swimmer.

Confused? Me too.

It's a technique where all the emphasis is placed in front of the shoulders.  It's almost impossible to teach, so to find someone who does it naturally is a coach's dream.

Sounds great, right?  Wrong.

It is a sprinter's stroke. Not at all effective for an endurance sport. I could "do" the triathlon with it but...well, you know where I'm going with that.

List of corrections in hand, I have spent the last week or so trying to learn a new way of swimming.  Frustration does not even begin to describe how I feel. I'm sure I look like a suffocating fish flailing about. If I did not place great faith in Brian's ability, I would have chucked the idea this close to the Half. But like the Christmas Carol, my ghost of Coaches past has come to teach me something, and I have to learn it to go forward.

He knows me well enough that there is only one reaction he will give me to my frustration - he laughs at me. Then he makes a few sarcastic comments about my ability and, like throwing a grenade, waits..3..2..1. Boom - I get all fired up to go back and get it done. Like I said before, different people get coached different ways.  Soft and gentle doesn't work for me - I do best when that competitive spirit is lit, and I'm given a challenge. Turns out that works out well for Brian, since he thrives on sarcasm and cynicism.

I've got three months to make this work, and then six months to refine it. I wish I had Brian's faith in me that I'll get it done, but all I can do is just keep at it, and wait for it to click. So click, darn it, click!

See you on the flip side!