The introduction of fins. Forgot to mention in Day #7 Lesson Carol had me try hers and I got a persistent cramp in my left fourth toe. She said that is common when not accustomed to using fins and showed me how to fold the fin up to work out the cramp. The shoe part was actually too big and I was compensating for it by curling up my toes so it wouldn't slip off creating an uncomfortable situation. So we set it aside.
Today she brought be a pair of fins which fit. However, since my right foot is slightly bigger than the left I had to grapple with getting it on. We decided they need to invent shoe horns for fins ;) Okay, once that was done I went into my freestyle - glide - swim - float thing and before I knew it I was at the other end. Talk about cruising ! However, I must say because it's also new to me I found that my concentration on breathing and strokes was compromised. I was very conscious of these new flipper thingies on my feet.
What this demonstrated is that all the components of the various techniques is not natural to me yet. It's still not quite all connected and that only happens with practice, practice, practice. It is said that muscle memory occurs in about 6 months, which means if I keep up practicing in the water by November 2012 I should be able to swim with fins and not even have to think about it.
This whole process reminds me so much of learning to ride a bike. The dynamics of mind/body kinetics is at play here. Carol was very good at explaining the process and principles behind what she was teaching me. For instance, with treading I tended to move my arms too fast which goes against the water - the opposite should occur, the slower the more I'd stay up.
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