Swimming problem (?)

Joe, I think I was where you are several weeks ago... Let me share my recent experience. I am working towards swimming 800 meters without stopping. I started with swimming 16X50 6 weeks ago. Last Thursday, I did 800 in 6 sets: 200-150-100-150-100-100 and it totally sucked. I consistently out of breath the whole time. I tried again to do the same set on Sunday, but lost my nerve after swimming the first 100 meters. I stopped and tried to gain my breathe before doing 4X100. They were all extremely difficult - I was even starting to feel little needles on my tongue! After contemplating quitting, I decided to try to swim the rest of the set as relaxed as possible, with the thought that the water was there to help me, not that I was trying to overpower the water. Also, I focused on breathing out steadily underwater, as opposed to holding my breathe for a second, then blowing out hard right before I turn to take a breath. Whaddya know if I swam the second half as 150-100-150, with each of those feeling easier than the first four 100's! Then, this morning, I swam 4X200, with the same swim thoughts, and it was so easy that I added another 200 just for kicks!

So yeah, the point I am making is that you have to stop trying so hard and fighting against the water. I would recommend the TI books and DVD's to help you with drills and proper technique, but you have to take it easy, easy, easy.

I feel your pain! Swimming is harder than it looks and is harder than just bopping around the pool or lake on a saturday. I spent quite a bit of time in my own backyard pool before I could relax and learn to breathe for a 1/4 mile swim! I thought that by living on cape cod and swimming in ocean all my life would suffice, wrong!!! The main thing is to just spent lots of time in the water doing whatever and of course swimming. Once you get comfortable and relax, spend time learning to exhale under water and breathing out of the water on every stroke. This will take time, but you have to be calm and know you can breathe when you want to before anything else will come. Next is to just slowly swim by pulling instead trying to kick your way across the pool. Kicking uses energy up, use the arms , lat muscles and hands to stroke easily across the pool. I mistakenly thought that I could POWER my way to a swim, instead I learned from others that it is more being streamlined and using efficient movements than pure muscle power.
Most of all, dont be afraid to emulate others, ask those who do it well how they do it, go to a clinic to ;learn good technique and practice, practice and practice. Oh, also, a cheap anykind of wetsuit ( dont' worry about tri wetsuits now, just any kind will do to help float, just make sure it is not too tight in the arms)will help you feel comfortable in the water since you wont be able to sink and drown in a wetsuit. good luck and most of all have fun

Joe, you are normal! (TBO thanks for the plug!)
Swimming is a different ballgame.
Getting your technique down will be all-important to getting your heart rate down.
Learn some drills from a coach (preferably one that abides by the laws!) Feel free to use fins- they are very helpful in swimming when learning new things. I prefer Zoomers or Hydrofinz. The fins will allow you to forget about your kick while learning, and also improve your ankle flexibility.
For more, check out my website and sign up for the free newsletter! www.triswimcoach.com

Good luck,
Kevin