"The Essential Triathlon Swimming" DVD Review

The Essential Triathlon Swimming DVD

"Discover the secrets to improving your swim
technique, avoiding painful injuries, and shaving
minutes off your best triathlon times to date!" ~ TriSwimCoach

Below is a review of the TriSwimCoah DVD "The Essential Triathlon Swimming" I have now watched this video a few times. I continue to take away great information about how to improve my swim stroke and what drills I should be doing on a regular basis in order to improve my swimming balance and efficiency. Read through my review, post your opinions and let me know if you've watched this video before. I encourage you to go to the TriSwimCoach website and read more about how to improve your swim.

For those who do not know who Kevin Koskella is, he is a very well known and experienced swimming coach. He has been involved in coaching for more than 25 years. You can follow Kevin on Twitter for regular updates about how to improve your swimming as well as general fitness tips. Kevin Koskella on Twitter

Video Overview:
This is the perfect video for the new triathlete. Of course, the DVD is about swimming, but the connection of swimming to triathlon is quickly made and covered throughout the video. Being a self taught swimmer and still new to the sport, I am grateful to see step by step instruction on technique drills and to understand what I should be taking away from each drill. Most of the 36 minute video is covering drills, so the seasoned swimmer may not take away as much information as the new swimmer/triathlete. The content is easily understood and presented in a manner as to where most viewers should be able to visualize the drills while later attempting the swim. There is enough content to necessitate watching the video more than once and the material is covered in a manner where watching it again won’t become boring. While there is a DVD Menu, there is not the option for Chapter selects (i.e. going from one drill to the next). So to review 2 or 3 of the drills may take a short time to find, however after watching the drills a few times, I continue to take away new information.

Video Quality:
Video quality is excellent. Instructional content matches the video / The voice over is properly aligned with the video aspects.

Audio Quality:
The audio quality is good.
Background music is not overpowering of the voice and does not fluctuate too quickly.

Intro:
Learn to “Laugh at the Water”

Drills that are covered in depth:
Vertical Kicking
Side Kicking
Shark Fin - Kevin reminds us that we should expect to sink while doing this drill. Good thing, otherwise I would have wrote off this exercise upon my first attempt in the pool.

Breathing and Full Stroke - Here Kevin Koskella does a review of the complete swim stroke with breathing. I found this to be critical to watch. If there is any single part that I visualize when I go swimming now, this is it! There is multiple angles and some slow motion video.

Many other drills are covered with great detail. A few others include: ¾ Catch Up, Fingertip Drag, One-Arm Drill, Sighting and Bilateral Breathing

Workouts:
Structuring Workouts including what duration and phases to utilize.

Description of Terms and Walkthrough of a workout:
For Example: WU
6x75 Kick/Fist/Swim
Cruise Intervals +/-:05s
6x50 Free Golf

Open Water and Race Strategies:
During the part of the DVD Kevin touches on safety, water entry and sighting. He covers the basics of swim starts - beach starts, wading starts and treading water starts.

Racing:
Be Early / Practice - Upwards of a 20 Minute WU - Swim to the Shore
Hydrate
Review the Course
Waves/Markers/Direction/Heat Starts
The Swim portion covers topics such as the Dolphin Start, staying to the outside and issues relate to panicking. Kevin talks about the essential issues like rounding buoys and drafting with great detail.

The Swim Finish
Swim to the Beach
Walk/Jog to T1
Start Hydrating Immediately

Equipment Recommendations:
Finis Paddles
Fins / Zoomers

Conclusion...

What I liked:
There is not an over emphasis on the slow motion reviews. Some videos seem only to show things in slow motion. I liked that this video included multiple angles and the underwater view. Descriptions of what each of the drills are designed to help you learn - what to focus on during the drill ie: hip rotation. Kevin covered some of the terms that I’ve always wondered about such as "Swimming Golf" and then explained how you can use it to make your swims more interesting without loosing focus. There is also discount codes for some of the equipment used in the video. I was happy to see a quick correlation of swimming and triathlon.


What I would like to see more of in future DVD’s:
How most people do the drills wrong / frequent problems encountered as a new swimmer or triathlete. Perhaps this point is even better covered in text. I liked to see the tips on the triathlon swim, but what could I do while swimming if I start to get cramps.

All in all, this really is a great learning tool. Short of having a coach at your side in the pool to correct your stroke deficiencies, this is a good investment for less than $40. You can buy this directly from the TriSwimCoach website. You will also find waterproof drill cards and an eBook available on the site.

Go Here Now to buy the TriSwimCoach DVD

Lansing Legislator 2009 Race Report

Here is my race report for the Lansing Legislator this past weekend. I had a great time, took 3rd in my AG and was 19th OA out of almost 200 people.

Right click and view image in order to read it.


I ran 18 miles over 2 separate runs this morning; 12 miles easy and 6 miles in interval style.

Inter-Rockin' Triathlon

Race Report from Interlochen's Inter-Rockin' Triathlon

Click the image to view full size / readable image.

RR from BeginnerTriathlete.com

Rawk Squad Training

Rawk Squad Training - Michigan


A new group on Facebook that I hope will serve the purpose of a central location to plan training events. Check it out.

March 2009!

March of 2009 has been a great month for me in the training department. I got my new Cervelo P2 - A carbon triathlon bike. With all of the excitement surrounding my new bike and a biking challenge through the BeginnerTriathlete.com website, I logged more than 279 miles in the month of March.

My total biking mileage for 2009 so far is 451.57 Miles. This is great because that means that I have already surpassed my total mileage for ALL of 2008. Craziness!!

My total running mileage for 2009 so far is 136.19 Miles. This puts me right on the baseline goal for the year. I wanted to have an average of 41 miles per month by the end of 2009.

My swimming total so far is 7700 yards. This is by no means great, hardly even good. However this is almost half of the total distance that I got in 2008. So while I still need more time in the pool, I feel more comfortable.

This year I have already competed in 2 races. The first was an indoor triathlon at a local YMCA. I took first place in my age group. For me personally, the higher achievment in this was that I swam for 20 minutes straight. I had not done that before. In this race I ended up with 975 yds. This gives me hope for the upcoming race season.

I also competed in a 28k Time Trial at Fisk Knob (near Grand Rapids). I placed 61 of 120 Overall. So right in the middle of the pack. That's not bad for my first ever TT. The weather was 38 degrees F and per Weather.com it felt like 27. We had snow flurries mixed with some light misty rain. It was rather miserable weather, but I raced well. I hit my fastest speed on my new bike at 39.6 mph per the Garmin Forrunner 305 gps. The hills were hard, but I feel confident that I will improve my overall biking ability this year.

Upcoming races that I am already registered for:

4/05 Martian Half Mary
4/26 Steelcase Duathlon
5/16 Starker-Mann 40k TT
5/17 Starker-Mann Duathlon
5/31 Hawk Island Triathlon

That completes the first half of the race season for me. I hope to race 1 to 2 races per month. We'll see how these first few races go and then I'll complete my schedule for the rest of this year.

I'm excited about some new opportunities. This year has great potential!

Thank you all for your encouragement and support! I look forward to racing this year. Give me a call and let's ride sometime.

February 2009

While February was only 28 days, it did go by pretty fast. So far this year I have stayed on track with my basic training for the upcoming triathlon season. As always, I should be spending more time in the pool.

For the most part, February was uneventful. I put in over 110 miles biking and over 50 miles running.

The exciting part of February was that I was able to buy my new bike. Cervelo P2C. It's pretty sweet. It will be a few more days before it's finished and delivered.

Today, March 1st was my first official triathlon. While it was an indoor tri, it was a good opener to the season. I swam 975 yards in 20 minutes. That's potentially one of my best swims to date. At the end of March I'll also race in a time trial event and then early April is my first half marathon of the year.

So I'm excited for this year and I hope to see some serious gains. Wish me luck!

2008

2008 has come and now gone. As many of you know, this year has proved to have moments of extreme joy and a few moments of sadness. It's hard to believe that my mother passed away almost a year ago. A friend once told me that the days never get easier; however, each day you find a new way to get by. I have found the joy of life displayed through laughter, hugs and kisses of my daughter; love of my wife; the never ending love from my family and the support of my friends.

This past year I accomplished fitness goals that I set for myself over a year ago. A few goals I even exceeded. My first goal for this year was to complete a triathlon, and that meant that I had to learn how to swim. I also planned to train harder than I ever have before by increasing my endurance and speed in running and biking. I hoped to be in the best shape of my life by my 30th birthday.

I completed 2 sprint distance triathlons in 2008. I finished just above mid-pack in both of those races. I also ran a half marathon and set a new personal best for the 5k distance run. I placed first in a 10k race and also took medals in two 5k races.

My annual goal for running in 2008 was to complete an overall average of 1 mile per day, totaling 366 miles: My final total was just over 400 miles running.

2009 brings new challenges and while I haven't set any specific goals for training, I do plan to complete with the RACING GREYHOUNDS. I was accepted onto the team this past week. I'll compete in 5 races / events that include cycling as per my contract. Ideally I will race in the same 2 triathlons that I completed this year and then I will also add another tri and enter into a couple of cycling events.

This month my family will grow with the birth of our second child. I will need to learn to balance my family with work and training. This may be my single most difficult goal of this year. I am excited to see what the future holds for my family.

As always, thank you all for your support. I look forward to this coming race season, meeting new people and learning more about the sport of triathlon.