Possible to improve 30min distance w/only 30min sessions?

Hi, I went all out on Friday, and still fell just short of a mile :-( My question: Is it unrealistic to expect to improve my time without spending more time in the water? NO it IS possible, you can improve your mile time by just training 30 minutes a day, but it is more probable and possible when you train further, faster, better, and more often. Training 5 or 6 times a week is better than 3 or 4 Training 45 - 60 minutes per practice is better than 30. The quickest way for you to get faster is to improve your technique. If you are making any technique errors and if you improve them, your improvement will be proportional to the corrections you made. Because your mile takes you around 30 minutes, there has to be some low hanging technique improvement fruit for you to pick. Also since your pool is short (56 ft) I believe you can make your biggest fastest improvements by improving your turns, push offs, and streamlines. Concentrate on turning faster, pushing off harder, streamlining skinnier and gliding further and faster than you ever have before. Technique: Swim long and smooth, do a 2 beat kick, breathe every 2 or 3, Pacing: A mile is pretty long and it's wise to swim at a steady pace that you can sustain the whole way, this means you should go much easier at the beginning, work on even splitting and negative splitting What kind of suit are you wearing? There are many ways to improve. I wrote about them in SWIM FASTER FASTER Also consider the edvice I gave in Last 150 of my 500 falls off Scott put my advice into action and made dramatic improvements in his 500, the same concepts apply to the mile it's just a bit over 3 times further than a 500. What's your height and weight? If you're too heavy, become a slimmer swimmer. don't do the same work out each day hit different systems different days of the week Here's a sample week of practices: Mon warm up 8 minutes of easy 50's with 5 seconds rest (do awesome push offs) main set 4 x (swim strong and steady for 4:30, rest 30) cool down 100 easy on 2:00 Tue warm up 8 minutes of easy 50's with 5 seconds rest, awesome push offs main set 20 x 50 on 1:00 all fast best average cool down 100 easy on 2:00 Wed warm up 8 minutes of easy 50's with 5 seconds rest, awesome push offs main set 8 x (swim hard and steady for 2:00, rest 30 sec) cool down 100 easy on 2:00 Wed warm up 8 minutes of easy 50's with 5 seconds rest, awesome push offs main set 8 x (swim hard and steady for 2:00, rest 30 sec) cool down 100 easy on 2:00 Thu warm up 8 minutes of easy 50's with 5 seconds rest, awesome push offs main set 4 x (swim 75% for 2:00, swim 80% for 2:00 rest 60 sec) cool down 100 easy on 2:00 Fri warm up 5:00 like 5 easy 50's on 1:00 main set MILE FAST for time (awesome turns, push offs & streamlines) 100 easy 2:00 Sat warm up 8:00 easy 50's with 10 sec rest after each main set 20 x 25 FAST on 1:00 100 easy on 2:00 Sun off Lastly if you consistently act like you're a man on a mission to dramatically improve his mile You will, with out a doubt, but it takes what it takes. Is training harder, smarter, further, faster, & more often, with more desire, focus and intensity a price you're willing to pay? Hope this helps let us know what you do and how you do. Good luck, ande

Hi, I went all out on Friday, and still fell just short of a mile :-( My question: Is it unrealistic to expect to improve my time without spending more time in the water? NO it IS possible, you can improve your mile time by just training 30 minutes a day, but it is more probable and possible when you train further, faster, better, and more often. Training 5 or 6 times a week is better than 3 or 4 Training 45 - 60 minutes per practice is better than 30. The quickest way for you to get faster is to improve your technique. If you are making any technique errors and if you improve them, your improvement will be proportional to the corrections you made. Because your mile takes you around 30 minutes, there has to be some low hanging technique improvement fruit for you to pick. Also since your pool is short (56 ft) I believe you can make your biggest fastest improvements by improving your turns, push offs, and streamlines. Concentrate on turning faster, pushing off harder, streamlining skinnier and gliding further and faster than you ever have before. Technique: Swim long and smooth, do a 2 beat kick, breathe every 2 or 3, Pacing: A mile is pretty long and it's wise to swim at a steady pace that you can sustain the whole way, this means you should go much easier at the beginning, work on even splitting and negative splitting What kind of suit are you wearing? There are many ways to improve. I wrote about them in SWIM FASTER FASTER Also consider the edvice I gave in Last 150 of my 500 falls off Scott put my advice into action and made dramatic improvements in his 500, the same concepts apply to the mile it's just a bit over 3 times further than a 500. What's your height and weight? If you're too heavy, become a slimmer swimmer. don't do the same work out each day hit different systems different days of the week Here's a sample week of practices: Mon warm up 8 minutes of easy 50's with 5 seconds rest (do awesome push offs) main set 4 x (swim strong and steady for 4:30, rest 30) cool down 100 easy on 2:00 Tue warm up 8 minutes of easy 50's with 5 seconds rest, awesome push offs main set 20 x 50 on 1:00 all fast best average cool down 100 easy on 2:00 Wed warm up 8 minutes of easy 50's with 5 seconds rest, awesome push offs main set 8 x (swim hard and steady for 2:00, rest 30 sec) cool down 100 easy on 2:00 Wed warm up 8 minutes of easy 50's with 5 seconds rest, awesome push offs main set 8 x (swim hard and steady for 2:00, rest 30 sec) cool down 100 easy on 2:00 Thu warm up 8 minutes of easy 50's with 5 seconds rest, awesome push offs main set 4 x (swim 75% for 2:00, swim 80% for 2:00 rest 60 sec) cool down 100 easy on 2:00 Fri warm up 5:00 like 5 easy 50's on 1:00 main set MILE FAST for time (awesome turns, push offs & streamlines) 100 easy 2:00 Sat warm up 8:00 easy 50's with 10 sec rest after each main set 20 x 25 FAST on 1:00 100 easy on 2:00 Sun off Lastly if you consistently act like you're a man on a mission to dramatically improve his mile You will, with out a doubt, but it takes what it takes. Is training harder, smarter, further, faster, & more often, with more desire, focus and intensity a price you're willing to pay? Hope this helps let us know what you do and how you do. Good luck, ande