In my most recent blog entry, "One Man's Garbage..." forums.usms.org/blog.php , I asked my fellow swimmers their respective opinions on the impact long, slow, continuous swimming has on meet performance.
The expression "garbage yards" (and the pejorative overtones such a phrase conjurs) has become so embedded in the forum lexicon that many, I suspect, now consider as indisputable truth swimming this way is a waste of time for anyone with competitive ambitions.
Such a view appears particularly well-entrenched among the many non-credentialed exercise physiology pontificators here on the forums who also have a fondness for sprinting and dry land exercise.
But is the concept of garbage yards truly valid--or a kind of urban legend made up largely by sprinters who would rather be doing something other than spending 90 minutes without stopping in the pool?
I don't mean only practicing this way. But if you are, like me, inclined to enjoy swimming, once or twice a week, long, slow, relatively relaxing, continuous yards, do you believe (and more importantly, perhaps, have any evidence to bolster said belief) that so-called "garbage yards" can have some value for actual racing?
Or do these only teach your body to swim slow?
I invite you to read my recent blog forums.usms.org/blog.php and post your thoughts advice there or here.
At the risk of provoking censure by the forum authorities, I furthermore ask you to leave all civility by the wayside.
Feel free to trash talk and smack upside the head of any and every one who disagrees with your personal bias here!
It's been way too long since these forums have had a good, old-fashioned range war of opinions run amuk and ad hominem attacks!
Go at each other tooth and claw. It will only stir the blood of us all, I say--something we garbage yard enthusiasts probably need a bit more of, I will admit.
Back on topic: gotta throw the sprinters a bone.
www.drmirkin.com/.../ezine112909.html
"You cannot gain maximum endurance just with continuous exercise...All competitive athletes should do some sort of 30-second interval ...A sound endurance program should include a lot of slow miles, one or two workouts with many short intervals, and probably at least one workout that includes a few long intervals each week."
So Dr. Mirkin, who is not, I should add parenthetically, the inventor of the eponymous product, is suggesting that you can't build endurance by garbage yards alone, but that they are, indeed, a part of the process?
Disgusted by my practice speeds, mid-season meet times, and hour swim performance, I decided to ramp up the weekly yardage to see if this would help me swim faster.
As of last night's practice, I am up to 78.04 miles for 2012. Because of a detached retina, I was at about 45 miles for the same 6 and 1/2 week time period in 2011.
My yards basically fall into several categories:
Official "distance" day practice, which includes 100s, 200s, and 500s on intervals tight enough that I barely make them with 5 seconds per 100 rest (or less)--for instance, 200s on 2:30 or 100s on 1:20.
Official stroke day practice, where I swim mostly freestyle but try to use the extra rest to push myself below my AT times.
Official "sprint" practice, which includes a reasonable amount of AFAP type sets either on long intervals or where active rest is part of the mix.
This leaves the off days where there is no official practice for the Sewickley Y Sea Dragons, Geriatric Division. It is at these 4 other days of the week where I allow myself to indulge in garbage yards, at least on occasion.
So far in Feb., I have managed to swim every day, though my shoulder is starting to pay a bit of a price for this. During my solo swims, I tend to do the following:
Long garbagy warm ups.
Sometimes, an hour to an hour and a half continuous swim, trying to not worry too much about what the clock says but work on keeping a smooth efficient stroke.
Sometimes, I add kicking, which is the worst aspect of my swimming and in most need of improvement.
Sometimes I will add some quasi-quality sets to the mix, too. For example, the other day I did the following garbage modification:
5 x 150 on 2:20
5 x 50 kick on 1:00
repeat the above for a total of 5 sets, decreasing the interval by 5 secs on the 150s and increasing by 5 secs the 50s
This meant that the last set of 150s were at a 1:20 per hundred pace, and the last set of the 50s kick were on 1:20, so I sprinted the second 25s as hard as I could
slow 300
14 x 50 on :55 cool down
-----------------
I guess the basic question that is emerging at this point is this: if you do, say, 1 or--at the most--2 pure slow distance swims per week, but you do this against a background of other practices of reasonably high and challenging quality, will the garbage yards help at all? Or would you be better off just resting those days?
I suppose time will tell. As of now, I am betting they will help me. But who knows?
I do feel I am creeping slowly but surely in a positive endurance direction. On the other hand, a tweaked shoulder and general feeling of being run down argues that maybe I am deluding myself.
More as the data filters in...
Back on topic: gotta throw the sprinters a bone.
www.drmirkin.com/.../ezine112909.html
"You cannot gain maximum endurance just with continuous exercise...All competitive athletes should do some sort of 30-second interval ...A sound endurance program should include a lot of slow miles, one or two workouts with many short intervals, and probably at least one workout that includes a few long intervals each week."
So Dr. Mirkin, who is not, I should add parenthetically, the inventor of the eponymous product, is suggesting that you can't build endurance by garbage yards alone, but that they are, indeed, a part of the process?
Disgusted by my practice speeds, mid-season meet times, and hour swim performance, I decided to ramp up the weekly yardage to see if this would help me swim faster.
As of last night's practice, I am up to 78.04 miles for 2012. Because of a detached retina, I was at about 45 miles for the same 6 and 1/2 week time period in 2011.
My yards basically fall into several categories:
Official "distance" day practice, which includes 100s, 200s, and 500s on intervals tight enough that I barely make them with 5 seconds per 100 rest (or less)--for instance, 200s on 2:30 or 100s on 1:20.
Official stroke day practice, where I swim mostly freestyle but try to use the extra rest to push myself below my AT times.
Official "sprint" practice, which includes a reasonable amount of AFAP type sets either on long intervals or where active rest is part of the mix.
This leaves the off days where there is no official practice for the Sewickley Y Sea Dragons, Geriatric Division. It is at these 4 other days of the week where I allow myself to indulge in garbage yards, at least on occasion.
So far in Feb., I have managed to swim every day, though my shoulder is starting to pay a bit of a price for this. During my solo swims, I tend to do the following:
Long garbagy warm ups.
Sometimes, an hour to an hour and a half continuous swim, trying to not worry too much about what the clock says but work on keeping a smooth efficient stroke.
Sometimes, I add kicking, which is the worst aspect of my swimming and in most need of improvement.
Sometimes I will add some quasi-quality sets to the mix, too. For example, the other day I did the following garbage modification:
5 x 150 on 2:20
5 x 50 kick on 1:00
repeat the above for a total of 5 sets, decreasing the interval by 5 secs on the 150s and increasing by 5 secs the 50s
This meant that the last set of 150s were at a 1:20 per hundred pace, and the last set of the 50s kick were on 1:20, so I sprinted the second 25s as hard as I could
slow 300
14 x 50 on :55 cool down
-----------------
I guess the basic question that is emerging at this point is this: if you do, say, 1 or--at the most--2 pure slow distance swims per week, but you do this against a background of other practices of reasonably high and challenging quality, will the garbage yards help at all? Or would you be better off just resting those days?
I suppose time will tell. As of now, I am betting they will help me. But who knows?
I do feel I am creeping slowly but surely in a positive endurance direction. On the other hand, a tweaked shoulder and general feeling of being run down argues that maybe I am deluding myself.
More as the data filters in...
