Swimming 4

ONE.  For weeks now, about 40 minutes of swimming freestyle and a little bit of butterfly have brought on cramps in the arches of my feet.  I Googled that and came upon a SwimCity webpage that listed three possible etiologies:

1. electrolyte imbalance was possible very unlikely if I hadn't had a long biking or running workout before hitting the water--I hadn't.
2. Lack of muscular conditioning.  Possible, per the webpage.
3. Unnecessary Tension, especially of the ankle's plantar flexion (toe pointing) muscles in my legs.  The page homed in on this as "the primary cause of leg cramps in swimming."

Given #3 above, I spent much of the last three pool sessions on flutter kick drills and dolphin kick drills.  I caught myself pointing my toes during the ventral phase of the kick, that is, if kicking facing the ceiling, during the downstroke of the lower leg.  A deliberate relaxation of the toe pointing muscles during all phases of the kick seemed to bear fruit today, with no cramping after 50-60 minutes in the water.

TWO.  I had another aha moment for me in swimming the butterfly stroke.  Yesterday, while focusing on the arm stroke during butterfly, I did a few laps of "stone skipper" drills, where I recover the arms under water with three or four kick cycles to each arm stroke cycle.  I worked a bit more to keep my elbows high during the stroke, and as part of the drill, I let my hands break the surface of the water behind me.  After the drills, swimming full fly stroke, a higher elbow position made it easier to release my hands for the recovery over the water.   Doubtless, I will neglect something else now that I've made this little progress.

THREE.  Does the high elbow stroke facilitate a more forward focused butterfly stroke?  I felt less up and down motion today.

FOUR.  I had only a hint of cramp in the arches of my feet today swimming butterfly.  So many details in swimming.  Never give up.  I'm in the biggest room in the world, the room for improvement.

FIVE.  I have felt some improvement in my backstroke.  It may not be real.  I just feel it.  I seem to "catch" the water and propel better with my arms and hands.  I try to swim with more awareness of my body parts while swimming.  Are my legs streamlining?  Am I looking too much toward my feet?  How many strokes is it taking me to get from flag to flag?  From the flag to the pool deck?  Do my forearms feel the water as I pull myself through the water?