LCM autopilot

Yesterday I swam 5 x 50 fly long course with lots of junk in between, and I found myself thinking, "What the hell am I thinking, LCM 100 fly???" So will take your suggestion and go do my homework. Maybe I will discover a magic tip that makes this possible! Thanks for the recommendations. Not sure if this is classed as a magic tip, but if you're thinking 2 50s fly joined together seems a long way, practice 100s as fly kick or drills to get your body used to the idea of swimming fly for that distance.

I'm grateful for the fascinating discussion that's developed here. Chowmi's points are relevant, even though I did not raise such issues explicitly. I agree that training with a team would be best. But here's the thing: I have discovered that I have a finite amount of focus & energy. In the five+ years since I've returned to swimming and competing, I have noted that when I really commit major energy to training (more yards, more swims) I have less focus left over for work. Sometimes I'll make that trade; other times, I'm less prepared to do that. I'm a professor/researcher; when I say "work" I mean research time. Summer is a big research season for me; winter/spring is heavy with school stuff, and hard swimming is a relief. So summer swimming needs to adjust, or I have to admit that I'll get less done. Two years ago I committed to going to LC nationals (a first, and only) and was happy with my trade. But now I have a lot to get done--a positive--and can't bite off a big chunk in the pool. There was an age group meet at our LC pool over the weekend, so I had to swim SCY Saturday and Sunday, and it was great. A nice break. I'm thinking I might just focus on shorter distances for the summer--nothing over 100--and try to get ready to swim 100 LC fly, which I have never done. So less distance, more intensity, concrete goal. I think I have two meets to work with, in late July and mid-August. Anyway, this has been very helpful. I consistently get a lot from this forum, even when I keep my trap shut and just read. Excellent idea about the 100 fly! Not only is your swimming-in-general fitting around your current work schedule, but it seems you have found an event that works as well, with a reasonable time frame leading up to the race! I think just having this goal will put more umph into your speed, and you will look forward to swimming because you have a purpose. I suggest going through Tall Paul/Fort/Ande stuff;fly thread, sprint thread, and don't forget Rich A's words of wisdom! I am anxiously awaiting his next segment in the Colorado masters newsletter. You can search for the first two (not sure off hand what their website is, but i'm sure you can find it under a "colorado masters swimming" search. The 1st was in 4Q 2010 and the next one is in 1Q 2011. Qbrain cut & paste a great message from Rich into a post, but I can't remember which thread.

I train alone a lot. What I find useful in any pool, LCM, SCM or SCY is to use the Finis tempo trainer and structure my workouts so that I'm following specific pre-set paces. Then I don't need to worry about whether I'm on autopilot. If I just follow the beep, and am focusing on form, then I'm getting the workout I wanted.

Excellent idea about the 100 fly! Not only is your swimming-in-general fitting around your current work schedule, but it seems you have found an event that works as well, with a reasonable time frame leading up to the race! I think just having this goal will put more umph into your speed, and you will look forward to swimming because you have a purpose. I suggest going through Tall Paul/Fort/Ande stuff;fly thread, sprint thread, and don't forget Rich A's words of wisdom! I am anxiously awaiting his next segment in the Colorado masters newsletter. You can search for the first two (not sure off hand what their website is, but i'm sure you can find it under a "colorado masters swimming" search. The 1st was in 4Q 2010 and the next one is in 1Q 2011. Qbrain cut & paste a great message from Rich into a post, but I can't remember which thread. Yesterday I swam 5 x 50 fly long course with lots of junk in between, and I found myself thinking, "What the hell am I thinking, LCM 100 fly???" So will take your suggestion and go do my homework. Maybe I will discover a magic tip that makes this possible! Thanks for the recommendations.

Swim/train with a team ANY time you can, it's so much better. This. And the team that I'm training with this summer does LCM M/W/F and SCM T/Th which makes for a nice varied approach to training.

You may actually be pushing harder swimming LCM than you think you are. We've been swimming LCM for about a month and a half. I had to swim SCM at a different pool this morning, and found that I was about two seconds faster per 100 than I usually am for SCM. I didn't feel as if I was swimming any harder, and I didn't think I had been practicing at a different intensity level during LCM practices than I do during short course practices. And *** and fly were significantly easier than I remember them being. Needless to say, it was a pleasant surprise! I find that I relax more LCM, and am able to get into a better rhythm. I'm wondering if it just feels easier, but in reality we are working just as hard if not harder since we're doing more pure swimming and relying less on turns.

I swam a lcm meet at smu a few weeks back. I had literally not swam a lcm stroke in 3 years and not in a meet since 1991 I swam the 50 and 100 free and I swear to God I thought that second 50 on my 100 would never end!!!!!!! I kept thinking. "where is the freaking wall!!!??"