I had a really good session in the pool today.  I had a good feel for the water and swam quite fast. The problem was, that I got tired very quickly. I need to swim a lot more in order to build up my endurance.

Swimming has always been the weakest of the three triathlon disciplines for me.  As an adult onset swimmer, nothing comes naturally.  After a few years however, I have improved and today I learned something in the pool.

While doing some short intervals, I really focused on technique.  I was able to find a good body position in the water, and was also able to pull a lot of water. The result was a pace that I would be very happy with in my my races. The problem was, that after a few hundred yards, I got very tired.

Once I got tired, my technique deteriorated and my pace slowed down.  This led me to the conclusion that swim endurance is my limiter right now, and not necessarily technique. When swimming at the pace I liked, I was far from going ‘all out’.  The effort level felt perfectly fine. That was until my shoulders and arms got tired.

I just don’t have the endurance and strength to maintain a good technique for long enough.  This means that I need to spend a lot more time in the pool.  I had always realized that I needed to swim a lot more, but I always assumed this was so I could refine technique.  I still think my technique could be a lot better, but I now think that just getting stronger, will give me the results that I am looking for.