Is it too late . . .

RE: Is it too late . . .

isobel — Tue, 04 Mar 2014 12:15:05 GMT

I would just do it & see where you are in meet speed. Your team does "mostly free" WOW? How does that work out for the swimmers who do meets? Do they only sign up for free events? I would think the coach would add strokes to the mix much more often. Yes, I would say that 95% of our workouts are freestyle. Four days a week. Maybe we do stroke as warmup. But very rarely do we have a stroke day. I am working on this with our coach. I think it's really important to mix in stroke, all the strokes, and good distances of them (the most we do of fly, ever, is 50 yards; ditto for ***; occasionally we do a 100 back here or there). Doing stroke improves endurance for free, plus it's less boring, plus you don't fry your shoulders as easily, or you fry them in different ways. I am working very hard with our coach to increase stroke. My last team did a lot of stroke, and I was much faster overall as a swimmer. Then again, I was also much younger . . . And yes, most swimmers from our team sign up for free events. Or else they train on their own for their stroke specialties. Yah. But I still love my team and my coach. Just need to get more stroke in there! Wow, 5,500 posts! You rock, orca1946! I would post more but I tend to detour rather quickly into stories of little interest to others than myself. Frustrated writer and all that. Cheers! Iz-o-bel-la Oh. And thanks for the advice! I think you are right. Just Do It. See where I'm at. Work forward from there. I kind of love the 400 IM because it is not boring and it is challenging too. I love it in a kind of crazed way, I guess.

RE: Is it too late . . .

orca1946 — Tue, 04 Mar 2014 11:28:50 GMT

RE: Is it too late . . .

Elaine Krugman — Tue, 04 Mar 2014 07:21:32 GMT

+1 on all of the above. The 400 IM and 200 fly (especially 200 fly!) are my worst events. 7:10? I couldn't swim it that fast if you paid me a million dollars! (Of course, I am 52 and didn't swim in college- or for 31 years before joining USMS). Having said that, those are two of my favorite events to "race" at a meet. I just go out there and do it. I don't worry what others will think about my pokey times, and I don't get down on myself anymore. At 2014 LC Nationals I swam both races with a dislocated rib. My time in the fly was something like 1:30 slower than my best and a full minute off my previous worst. So what? It took me a looooooong time to get to the point where I could say, "So what?" Believe me, it was hard getting to that point. Just go out and have fun and focus on your technique if the speed isn't going to be there. Leave the pool knowing you at least gave it your best effort given the circumstances. I have a two-day meet coming up in mid-March and that will be my plan. I've had bronchitis and only got in 22 miles in February compared to 44 in January. My speed has suffered and I don't have enough time to get into top form. So what? I'm going to go and swim my 8 events (including 200 fly and 400 IM) and give it my best in any and all relays. I plan on having FUN! :bliss:

RE: Is it too late . . .

Three Rivers — Mon, 03 Mar 2014 12:22:28 GMT

P.P.S. I now know that real men swimmers and all men moisturize and use lip balm because they are now doing it on the T here in Boston. So the stigma is gone, dudes. You can lather up on public transportation. Really? I'll use my chap stick on the Orange Line tonight. In any case, you are much tougher than I am. I signed up for the 100 IM. I figure, anyone can do a 25 fly.

RE: Is it too late . . .

ande — Mon, 03 Mar 2014 12:21:32 GMT

RE: Is it too late . . .

Rob Copeland — Mon, 03 Mar 2014 11:17:58 GMT

What's the reality of any time dropped in the next 1.5 weeks? You most likely will experience a time drop from practice to a meet. What tack would people in my position take (please be kind).Don’t sweat it. Swim your race and enjoy it. Try to fine tune the little things (turns, breakouts, etc.) but don’t sweat the big stuff. It’s never too late.

RE: Is it too late . . .

isobel — Mon, 03 Mar 2014 10:47:03 GMT

I can only make distance day, opting for 1650 in shallow end at Harvard. I loaf the fly (opting for DPS with three kicks per arm cycle), then ramp up intensity to the end. You will do great. Work the walls and get pumped for a great swim! I look forward to seeing ALL the swimmers who are doing the NEM SCY Championships at Harvard in -- soon! Perhaps there will be a blizzard like a few years ago at BU? That would be cool! I just remembered I also need to work on my during-the-swim focus. At the BU meet I looked up to breathe and there on deck was a coach from long ago, cheering for me. IT WAS ALL I COULD DO TO REFRAIN FROM STOPPING AND SAYING "HELLO! HOW ARE YOU?!" I really wanted to wave to her. My current coach said he doubted Lazek (sp) ever thinks about anything other than his swims when swimming. Something else to work on. Yeah! I am pumped! Ooh, another aside: too bad these distance events often occur at ungodly hours such as check-in at 8am. That is just wrong. Oops. Negative energy. Gotta get rid of that stuff. Time to check in to my hotel, etc., have people wait on me between my last-minute trains. Obviously work is out for the next 2.5 weeks. Also time to eat a lot of whatever I want, I mean, carb load. Etc. Just need to finish one slight deadline of a book by tomorrow. In which there is a quote, "Abandon all hope of fruition." This means focus on the process, without expecting a particular outcome. OK.

RE: Is it too late . . .

rxleakem — Mon, 03 Mar 2014 09:26:21 GMT

RE: Is it too late . . .

isobel — Mon, 03 Mar 2014 07:46:40 GMT

RE: Is it too late . . .

isobel — Mon, 03 Mar 2014 07:45:07 GMT

you asked "Is it too late . . ." NO it is not too late, pick up your training for the 2 weeks train 4, 5, or 6 x per week, mostly freestyle but throw in some strokes. Then rest half a week. I wrote a Swim Faster Faster Tip called: 400 IM: How to Prepare for one and Race It What suit are you going to wear? I suggest you wear a new FINA Approved Speedy Suit *Slight* problem. The second of these two weeks precedes distance day (the 1000 free is probably my best event). So somewhere in that second of these two weeks I will need to rest. So maybe crank it up until a week from Wednesday? That will give me 10 days of cranking? Then rest Thursday and Friday and do the 1000 on Saturday, then maybe crank it up another two days and then rest? Since the rest of this (I wonder which one) meet continues on Friday-Sunday of the next weekend, and I'm swimming all of those days too. Tomorrow I plan to do drills and maybe a few 100s of fly and then another full-out 400 IM just to continue to remind myself of what I have dared myself to do. I feel like I need to get my endurance up for fly specifically. I really wish I had thought about this training a little earlier . . . I am wearing a regular suit due to financial constraints but it is very tight. :) Still, I like your optimism, Ande. I'm going to internalize it. This can't be as bad as deciding to do all the postal swims and having our long course changed to short course 3 weeks earlier than I anticipated, such that I had to swim the 10K with no training. I didn't die. That's the point. And I got such a nice badge! It's on my kitchen wall. It takes up the whole kitchen wall! Way cool.