So, I have my first real triathlon coming up in 6 weeks - a middle distance (read 70.3, but different brand). Bike and run should be fine - I know what I am doing. But the swim, oh my, the swim...
Having procrastinated as much as humanly possible, I finally started going to the pool a month ago and by now the improvement curve is starting to flatten off as I am used to having to swim. The thing is, my freestyle speed is still utter garbage (What did I expect not having swum laps for over 20 years?). I know that my technique is far below par and that my arms and upper body are far weaker than my legs - those are not things I would be able to fix in the 6 weeks I have left.
One thing I did notice however is that, relatively speaking, my breaststroke is... less bad? The same guy I can keep up with when swimming freestyle, I can keep up also swimming breaststroke. Looking at my Garmin data I cant discern when I was swimming which stroke. It seems to be the same-ish pace throughout.
So the question: what would you do in this situation with 6 weeks to go? Keep investing in freestyle and hope it improves, or - focus on breaststroke and accept the inherent efficiency loss?