Message posted by: Sasha C.

I just took 10 days off (rain, kids, laziness nnito). The only thing i did was two 40 min. swims in open water, which I hadn’t done for years. This was in lake Malawi, so I was too busy watching for hippos and crocs to worry about my stroke or pace. (Kidding, kind of.)

Yesterday I ran about 9 miles, which left me very stiff. Today I got in the pool and decided to just relax, not count strokes or worry. I knocked out 2000m in 37 minutes without even trying to, and with almost no effort. I was intending to do 3k in an hour, (my usual) but had to stop because of severe cramping in my arches which I assume was brought on by running after such a break. I wasn’t even breathing hard, going significantly faster than usual.

My question is this.

EVERYONE tells me extending the stroke is the key to swimming. But today I was probably taking 2 or 3 strokes more per length, and I was zooming (by my standards.) Do you think it was the extended rest, the relaxation, or am I just intended to take more strokes? I worked very hard to get down to 16 per 25yds, but was that just a waste?

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