We did benchmarks again today.
Here's my progression starting on 10/16, 12/11, 1/28 and today
25 lap time: 4:08, 4:09, 4:08, (4:08 on 2/11), 3:54
# of laps in 2 minutes: 12, 12.75, 12.4, 13.25
1 lap time: N/A, 13.something, 11.something, (9.5 on 3/3), 10.75
# of pushups in 30 seconds: N/A, 24, 33, 30
# of times you can put one knee down, the other knee down, and then stand back up in 30 seconds or 'get ups': 10, 12, 17, 18
Hey - did you notice my 25 lap time?
It's taken 5 months to improve on those 25 laps and you had better believe that I'm well aware the improvement is due entirely to my coaches' recent insistence that I focus on form. You can tell because I've only dropped time in the past month, even though I've been going to speed skating since December. I'm not done yet either. I feel like I'm about 40% of the way through changing up my form. Elements that remain are as follows:
1.) Get Low (the all purpose flour of roller derby). When I'm really skating low on my crossovers the area where I feel the most burn is - well actually it's my thighs but there's also a surprising amount of force generated from my lower abs. This is only the case when I'm really extending the full amount of both legs. It makes sense, then, to go ahead and do some work on my lower abs at home in order to help myself out.
2.) Flicking. My coach has been harping on my left foot flick (which definitely still needs work) but it was pointed out to me this week that you have to flick with your right foot as well. I sometimes get in the habit of just skating along without thinking to go ahead and really dig into the floor with both feet. It's amazing how much more push you can get by simply trying harder.
3.) Endurance. I spend enough time speed skating that there's really no excuse to let my form go to hell when I get tired. It's tempting to just start to go all out but I know that I'm working against myself when I start to go back to old habits in an attempt to gain extra speed when I'm tired.
<posted on 3.18.14>
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