Hello, swimmers! I'm barely a real swimmer... I come from a running background (middle distance, mostly, and a bunch of post-college 5ks) and a series of injuries forced me into the pool. I actually couldn't swim at all until 2013, but seemed to improve fairly quickly (at freestyle).
So here's my question. Can I keep improving without doing super-long swims?
I do not seem to recover or cope well with long swims. I've gone up to 3500 yards in a single workout (took almost an hour), but it basically wipes me out and I don't think I'm good enough at form to keep good form for the whole swim. But when I reduce my workout volume to 1800-2800 yards per workout (but lots of hard sets that a great triathlon coach writes for me) and swim 6 times per week, I do improve! I've brought my 100 yard time from 1:31 down to 1:21 in the past few months and my 500 from 8:00ish, to 7:28. I already have good muscle strength and aerobic fitness from all the lifting and training I did for running so I think mostly it's my form that holds me back in the swim.
So should I keep swimming shorter swims and wait for form to smooth out? Or should I push the distance (maybe even just once a week?). Will I EVER feel good going long?
One of the issues I have is that my health isn't great . I have an eating disorder history and tend to underfuel and that may be an issue too, though I'm doing much better now and am at a very healthy weight. I feel like my body is kind of exhausted, and while I like swimming, I want to get better at it without overexercising.
Also, how do I do a darn flip turn?? I feel like my times would drop if I could do one, but as is, I'm so clumsy at it that they slow me down.
Thanks, everyone. I hope to make swimming 'my' sport, even though I only began in my 20s and would love some input.
But my situation is different from Glenn’s, as is the situation of the original poster: a few years ago, Glenn pounded down about 4,500 yards in an hour-long postal swim; I on the other hand, don’t really have what it takes to swim 3,000 yards in an hour. In other words, unlike Glenn, I’m trying to get back in shape. (When I’m back in shape, by the way, I’ll join those who are experimenting with USRP, and I’ll certainly go back to my old ways of occasional high-intensity sets – but that might be a year away, still).
Last spring I was completely out of shape. I hadn't swam in 27 years and hadn't really worked out in about 24. I was also 75 lbs over my high school graduation weight. I changed my diet, started biking 5-10 miles 3-4 times a week. I dropped about 25 lbs in the first 2 months. In the summer, I started going to the Tuesday/Thursday morning open lap swims' at the local outdoor pool. It's a short season, I maybe got 12 - 14 unorganized workouts in by Labor day when the pool closed. Down another ~15 lbs, I started swimming at the YMCA in September, 2-3 times a week. After 3 weeks of hodgepodge workouts, I stumbled across USRPT on the internet. It seemed like the most efficient way to get up to competitive speed, so I fully committed to USRPT at that time. At first I was going 3 times a week, then 4, now 5-6. Most workouts are less than a hour, and range from 1500-3500 yards; most commonly in the 2200-2500 range.
In early October, I swam my first masters meet and did a 2:47 200 meter (short course) freestyle. That converts to about a 2:30 in yards, or 40 seconds slower than my lifetime best swam 28 years ago. Less than 5 months later, I swam a 2:08 200Y free in a meet. A few days later, I did a 1.2 mile (2100 yard) time trial at 27:40. I've lost 20 more pounds since I started USPRT, for a total of 60. Less than a year after I started, I'm only 15 lbs over my graduation weight, and about the same weight at 46 as I was as a 20-year-old soldier. The improvements at this point are coming in smaller bits, but I'm still improving. I expect to be able to swim within 10 seconds of my LTB 200 free time by summer's end.
The moral of the story? USRPT isn't just for people who are already in good swimming shape. It can be a great way to get back into shape, assuming you have a latent "feel for the water" from previous swimming experience. I went into it with a very, very minimal base. Like 30,000 yards worth. I'm not saying you should switch. I'm just telling you that it worked great for this out-of-shape slug. Sure, I would have seen improvements with a SIT program as well. I wholeheartedly believe they would not have been nearly as dramatic, however. And I wouldn't have been able to do it, anyway, because I really wouldn't have had the time.
But my situation is different from Glenn’s, as is the situation of the original poster: a few years ago, Glenn pounded down about 4,500 yards in an hour-long postal swim; I on the other hand, don’t really have what it takes to swim 3,000 yards in an hour. In other words, unlike Glenn, I’m trying to get back in shape. (When I’m back in shape, by the way, I’ll join those who are experimenting with USRP, and I’ll certainly go back to my old ways of occasional high-intensity sets – but that might be a year away, still).
Last spring I was completely out of shape. I hadn't swam in 27 years and hadn't really worked out in about 24. I was also 75 lbs over my high school graduation weight. I changed my diet, started biking 5-10 miles 3-4 times a week. I dropped about 25 lbs in the first 2 months. In the summer, I started going to the Tuesday/Thursday morning open lap swims' at the local outdoor pool. It's a short season, I maybe got 12 - 14 unorganized workouts in by Labor day when the pool closed. Down another ~15 lbs, I started swimming at the YMCA in September, 2-3 times a week. After 3 weeks of hodgepodge workouts, I stumbled across USRPT on the internet. It seemed like the most efficient way to get up to competitive speed, so I fully committed to USRPT at that time. At first I was going 3 times a week, then 4, now 5-6. Most workouts are less than a hour, and range from 1500-3500 yards; most commonly in the 2200-2500 range.
In early October, I swam my first masters meet and did a 2:47 200 meter (short course) freestyle. That converts to about a 2:30 in yards, or 40 seconds slower than my lifetime best swam 28 years ago. Less than 5 months later, I swam a 2:08 200Y free in a meet. A few days later, I did a 1.2 mile (2100 yard) time trial at 27:40. I've lost 20 more pounds since I started USPRT, for a total of 60. Less than a year after I started, I'm only 15 lbs over my graduation weight, and about the same weight at 46 as I was as a 20-year-old soldier. The improvements at this point are coming in smaller bits, but I'm still improving. I expect to be able to swim within 10 seconds of my LTB 200 free time by summer's end.
The moral of the story? USRPT isn't just for people who are already in good swimming shape. It can be a great way to get back into shape, assuming you have a latent "feel for the water" from previous swimming experience. I went into it with a very, very minimal base. Like 30,000 yards worth. I'm not saying you should switch. I'm just telling you that it worked great for this out-of-shape slug. Sure, I would have seen improvements with a SIT program as well. I wholeheartedly believe they would not have been nearly as dramatic, however. And I wouldn't have been able to do it, anyway, because I really wouldn't have had the time.
