Swimming

@mikec. probably seen you down there then. i go after work three times a week and occasionally on saturdays. usually try and get there early to avoid the crowds that start to build up from 5:30.

regarding the breathing thing, i used to start of at an arbitrary pace, and very quickly get out of breath and then either fight it till i couldn't go on or be forced to slow down (by which time my stroke would have gone to shit).

now i start off really slowly with a really stretched stroke, trying to glide as far as possible between each pull and maintaining a fully stretched out position for as long as possible. that way you can concentrate on your posture and stroke while getting momentum going. your breathing should be entirely comfortable at that stage. for normal swimming i breath bilaterally every three strokes. i breath to the right, hold it for the next stroke, breathe out slowly during the next stroke then rotate to the other side and breathe to the left on (actually just after) the third stroke. it also helps for me to concentrate on a controlled exhale leaving the inhale as an almost automatic. i find that avoids the gasping for a big breath thing or counting the seconds till you can breathe again. it's all about rhythm.

once you've got a good steady rhythm going you can gradually start to up the cadence till you're working the lungs a bit harder then keep upping it till you're really steaming along. oh and i usually start with little or no kick. i just use the occasional bit to keep balance and position in the water. as i'm upping the pace somewhere in the middle of the swim i usually start to bring a steady kick in. that's another morale boost. it's like, wow i'm really ticking along nicely now, then you bring the legs in and hey, i'm suddenly going another 20% faster for seemingly very little additional effort. very satisfying.

i have a few other key thing sthat i try and concentrate on during a swim but getting the breathing under control in that way was the big one for me.