Johnny Hall's Travels and Travails

I've taken the first steps towards becoming a good enough swimmer to compete in Ironman next year.

I decided to take a look at learning to swim using the Total Immersion method a while ago but I've waited until now to make a start, so that I could get the marathon out of the way.

I had a clear choice when I made the decision to take up triathlon and realised that my swimming was too poor to get by. Either I join a club and get lessons and/or coaching with them, or I could get one-on-one lessons with a TI coach. I decided to go the expensive route and found Iain at Swimshack. Unfortunately, he's in Loughborough but it's close enough to my in-laws to drive over there in around an hour.

My first lesson was last Thursday. I made a start on three aspects - breathing, kicking and balance in the water. My kicking is ok but breathing and balance are a lot harder. I have another lesson next week, so I have to practise a lot before then. I've joined the leisure club at the local hotel here in Cardrona, so I have access to a pool 5 minutes walk away, which is handy.

I don't think I'll be doing any actual swimming for a while - I will be doing drills, drills and more drills until I'm comfortable in the water. There are a lot of movements to learn but the end result should be that I will be able to swim freestyle efficiently and smoothly.

It seems to me to be a bit like learning to snowboard (or ski). It feels alien at first but by learning the technique a little bit at a time and by practising a lot, it becomes second nature (not that my snowboarding is too great).

I have a triathlon on New Year's Day but the distance is only 400 metres so if I've not got to the point where I can swim freestyle, I'll just have to bite the bullet and swim breast stroke.

I've drawn up the first draft of my Ironman 2007 training plan and I'm going to be swimming/drilling for 3 hours a week for the next 10 months, Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. If I don't get truly comfortable with the swim, then the Ironman will be a difficult target to achieve.