I continued to have trouble recording the lap times today.

The out leg times generated basically a flat line. The back leg times were pretty much all over the place.

My fastest length today was my first one. It took me 60.1 seconds and around 43 strokes. I don't actually recall the exact number of strokes. But, I do recall having the reaction when I completed the length that it was relatively low. When I run the calculation of seconds per length divided by seconds per stroke, that comes out to about 42.9. 60.1 seconds for 50 meters equates to about 55 seconds for 50 yards. 43 strokes for 50 meters comes out to 39 or 40 strokes for 50 yards. Looking at my data from yesterday's workout ties out well with this.

So, I'm having trouble drawing any definitive conclusions. My best time was at my slowest stroke rate. With all the practices I have done so far I'm still not certain if the increased stroke rate is actually leading to faster times. Some data say yes and other say no.

Comparing my average times for 1.40 - 1.31 from Friday's workout to today's workout shows that I am over three seconds faster on the out leg and about 2.5 seconds faster on the back leg.

But, one thing that I think I'm seeing is that my times are being affected by numerous factors besides my actual speed when swimming.

I definitely move the fastest through the water when I (get a good) push off the wall. Once I finish the glide and start stroking my speed actually slows down considerably.

I also think that I'm seeing I tire throughout the repeats, although the data I have gathered may actually contradict that conclusion at points.

At this point it's really difficult for me to know for certain what the best strategy is going to be for me. I think it's clear that 1.50 is too slow and 1.20 is too fast. It might be a good idea to try a few workouts doing 20 X 50 @ 1.35 to see if I can gather any consistent data. Another thought I have is to just stop using the watch at this point and just focus on counting strokes. The math really ought to work out that if I take a certain number of seconds per stroke and a certain number of strokes per length I know how long the length took. The "gotcha" is that it will definitely depend on how good a pushoff I got. As I mentioned above, my fastest pace is when I'm gliding from the pushoff. But, I would think that if I had a better pushoff it would result in fewer strokes for that length. And, with enough repetitions at the same stroke rate I should be able to get a good idea of what my true average number of strokes is.

I'm just going to have to keep this playful and experimental attitude about this whole process and not get too hung up on being 100% accurate. The overall goal is still the same and the results will show themselves at some point. Mostly, I want to make sure that I'm using my practices effectively.

I think part of my problem right now is that I'm probably not doing things consistently. There is variation in both the capturing of the data as well as in my technique. I think it's just going to take time for me to solidify the technique so that I can produce consistent results. Nonetheless, I think that careful inspection of the data does show at least slight improvement. I think it also shows that I've still got a ways to go to reach my (initial) goal of 36 strokes and 53 seconds per 50 yards.