I just started seriously doing lap swimming and joined USMS at the first of this year. I even did my first swim meet at Colonies Zone in April just to see what they are all about.
I do all of my training alone and I started with doing only 400m total a workout and now I up to 850m. I am adding gradually each month. But I am still the same speed - horribly slow (about 1:00 for 50 free) so I have purchased a Masters workout card.
I figured that I am not getting any faster despite swimming almost every day because 1) I don't know how to improve, and 2) maybe being in a workout will speed me up.
Now I am nervous about 1) showing up and being with swimmers who qualified for Nationals, and 2) having a coach who sees how slow I am.
I have signed up for some swim meets in October/November - mostly 50/100 back, 50/100 free, and 50 fly - and I would like to see my time drop somewhat. Or should I not compete until I see my times in training drop?
Parents
Former Member
I was a 1:50/100 swimmer for 16 years then after about 3-4 months of working out with a non-masters (but very similar) group, I was going 1:35/100. That's hardly fast, but I think it's a huge improvement. For 16 years, I would get in, swim a mile or a little more in a steady pace, get out. That did nothing for speed/endurance/power. I also got some stroke tips from the coach, but that wasn't until well into the initial 3-4 months. What really helped me was interval training and pushing myself to make the intervals even when it hurt. It really built up my speed and endurance in a major way, forcing me to go another 100 when it was uncomfortable, understanding the idea of active recovery, descending sets, sprint sets, etc. Check out the Workouts board here or just google some swim workouts. Tailor them to your ability (interval length, distance, # of repeats, etc.) - this will probably take a bit of trial & error to figure out what works for you but you'll figure it out soon enough. Write out what you think you can do and stick to it, even if it hurts. Always structure your workouts: warm-up/kick/maybe some drills/main set/cool-down. Before doing this type of workout, I was happy to get 2000 yards into a single session. Now I go 3000+ in about an hour. I totally understand the punch card preference - I'm kind of in the same boat with my schedule... so I kind of have to make do w/ solo workouts and only occasional team workouts. Also don't feel weird or embarrassed to sit out some sets in a masters workout.
Edit: haha, I have no idea how that frownie got there!
I was a 1:50/100 swimmer for 16 years then after about 3-4 months of working out with a non-masters (but very similar) group, I was going 1:35/100. That's hardly fast, but I think it's a huge improvement. For 16 years, I would get in, swim a mile or a little more in a steady pace, get out. That did nothing for speed/endurance/power. I also got some stroke tips from the coach, but that wasn't until well into the initial 3-4 months. What really helped me was interval training and pushing myself to make the intervals even when it hurt. It really built up my speed and endurance in a major way, forcing me to go another 100 when it was uncomfortable, understanding the idea of active recovery, descending sets, sprint sets, etc. Check out the Workouts board here or just google some swim workouts. Tailor them to your ability (interval length, distance, # of repeats, etc.) - this will probably take a bit of trial & error to figure out what works for you but you'll figure it out soon enough. Write out what you think you can do and stick to it, even if it hurts. Always structure your workouts: warm-up/kick/maybe some drills/main set/cool-down. Before doing this type of workout, I was happy to get 2000 yards into a single session. Now I go 3000+ in about an hour. I totally understand the punch card preference - I'm kind of in the same boat with my schedule... so I kind of have to make do w/ solo workouts and only occasional team workouts. Also don't feel weird or embarrassed to sit out some sets in a masters workout.
Edit: haha, I have no idea how that frownie got there!
