I am 34 years old and love to sprint. The free is my favorite even though I have some growth to do. I practice almost daily, with no formal club, on my own, and try to improve with videos from speedo and advice I find on here. My issue is I have a hard time getting in distance. I see where people swim thousands of yards, like in the challenge. I struggle so hard with this. To swim a 3,000 makes me hate swimming. I also try to judge when I have swam to a point where I am loosing technique as I don't want to practice bad technique at the sake of distance. Are there any other sprinters out there who struggle with this? Will I eventually one day move more towards distance as I age, is it possible now? Is this common. Sometimes I feel bad for only being in the pool for 30 minutes even though I may have swam a 1000 in that time. What gives? I am looking at starting a masters group at my Y very soon, hope this helps. Am I being to critical?
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Former Member
Your issue/concern is common. Although people come at the problem from a different past and history of course. I myself struggle to keep my face in the water for an hour (3,000) at a time. However, that is more from my background as a middle distance swimmer and years of staring at the black line. I have no brain cells left. I stand on the side of the pool forever trying to get in. Sprints (50 and 100) are more fun to train for in my opinion and don't monopolize as much personal/family time to prepare for. Although it's fine line to do what is minimal and still retain enough yardage (base) in your trianing season to formulate a small but effective taper for your goal meet. There's a bit of a trick to it. Sometimes just doing 2,500 - 3,000 a workout just doesn't allow you enough to come down very far in order to rest and shave. Intensity of workouts will certainly govern your results though. Make sure you are going something hard every day with an anaerobic mind set to it. I like to do a half dozen 25s nuclear hard with lots of rest... 2min. or so. I agree with you .... I see many masters swimmers do 4,000-5,000/workout, but personally feel it is just practicing swimming slow and buring calories. Race pace is more important and hand speed and timing can sometimes take weeks to get comfortable with before your big race. I'm not fan of the latest high intensity philosophy (mostly due to the lack of career long "base" it can create), but Masters is a different animal than the "real thing" i.e. USA Swimming. Who cares in the end .... have fun.... get in shape.... race a litle ... laugh at yourself as you get slower over the decades and drink a beer with your friends at Masters Nationals.
Your issue/concern is common. Although people come at the problem from a different past and history of course. I myself struggle to keep my face in the water for an hour (3,000) at a time. However, that is more from my background as a middle distance swimmer and years of staring at the black line. I have no brain cells left. I stand on the side of the pool forever trying to get in. Sprints (50 and 100) are more fun to train for in my opinion and don't monopolize as much personal/family time to prepare for. Although it's fine line to do what is minimal and still retain enough yardage (base) in your trianing season to formulate a small but effective taper for your goal meet. There's a bit of a trick to it. Sometimes just doing 2,500 - 3,000 a workout just doesn't allow you enough to come down very far in order to rest and shave. Intensity of workouts will certainly govern your results though. Make sure you are going something hard every day with an anaerobic mind set to it. I like to do a half dozen 25s nuclear hard with lots of rest... 2min. or so. I agree with you .... I see many masters swimmers do 4,000-5,000/workout, but personally feel it is just practicing swimming slow and buring calories. Race pace is more important and hand speed and timing can sometimes take weeks to get comfortable with before your big race. I'm not fan of the latest high intensity philosophy (mostly due to the lack of career long "base" it can create), but Masters is a different animal than the "real thing" i.e. USA Swimming. Who cares in the end .... have fun.... get in shape.... race a litle ... laugh at yourself as you get slower over the decades and drink a beer with your friends at Masters Nationals.
