I was quite lazy today. Swam a 900 and called it good.
I focused a lot on bilateral breathing during the workout. It’s making me not look forward to the laps I swim using the crawl so much, but I’m gritting my teeth through it. In a couple of months, I’ll be back to being smooth and fluid again.
Retraining my body from one thing to another is something I’ve encountered a lot in my life. The first time was the transition from dancer to martial artist. You ballet dancers out there, imagine that instead of extending the leg with a pointed toe, you have to pull your toes back so that the first body part presented is the ball of the foot? Why yes, I’ve broken toes kicking before. Why do you ask?
The next time I had to rebehave was when I switched from Isshin-ryu karate to Kyokushin. See, in Isshin-ryu, a straight punch is delivered with the fist vertical and the thumb on top. It’s fast, and yes, you can break a board with it. In almost any other style of karate in the world, a straight punch starts with the fist (made with the thumb folded across the fingers) knuckles to the floor at the hip, and the delivered with a twist bringing the knuckles up as you strike the target. I still revert to the vertical punch when I practice, but can keep it together enough to do a proper kata in those style that do not habitually use the vertical punch.
I suppose that if you’re drawn to activities that are highly technical, that you just kind of have to get used to the fact you’ll have to retrain your body from time to time.