The Breakdown

The breakdown of the stroke, that is. I think Don likes me. He knows I am not going away and I keep asking for more of his abuse. Not that I would have a choice to filter it out, by the way. I was the only body in the pool this morning at 6 am. With rain falling, Don yelled at me from under the roof along the side of the pool. Normally, he paces around it, over and over. He is so ADHD, he cannot stand in one place. He likes to call himself "lazy" when he does not get in the water to do his own workout, so he pacifies himself by power walking the pool's edge.

So, from under the awning, he is yelling instruction to me from afar. I think I am almost understanding his term, "holding water" now. He has not even ventured to work with me on the catch stage of my stroke yet...just the recovery and entry and some kick. He even made me do some backstroke today. after only one hundred of that agony, I told him I was out of time. I think that man would talk at me all day. Ex-army, he loves the power of picking apart my stroke. I almost don't feel offended by his delivery anymore. I have come to like him, too,cranky old goat he is. Now, if only I could really put into practice the technical thinkgs he is telling me to do. It is so easy to listen and understand what he is saying, but to actually perform is a whole different issue.