I'm really sorry if I'm out of line for posting to this section with these questions, I'm a little overwhelmed and could use little help getting pointed in the right direction around here.
15 years ago I was a 4 year varsity letterman on my high school swim team (that really doesn't mean anything, it was a walk-on team and I finished dead last in every single event). Now I'm 20-25 pounds over weight, way out of shape and terribly miss swimming tough workouts. A lot of the workouts that I see seem to be geared for swimmers who are already fairly fit and fast.
My question is this: Is there a good/best strategy for wading through all of the workouts to fit ones that are geared for people just starting back in the water? People like me who have no race pace, can't do sub-minute splits, ect.........
Welcome back to the water, Girly. I used to swim with a club, but now swim on my own. Here are some things to try.
Use a common structure for your workouts, at least to start: warm-up, main set, cool down.
While it might be a bit boring, get into the habit of swimming (almost) the same warm-up each time. Knowing how you feel after warm-up can be a decent gauge of what you're ready for in your main set. I was out of the water for a couple years with shoulder issues. It took a couple tries getting back before I felt comfortable that I could tackle a bit more challenging things without hurting my shoulder again. Nowadays, I generally do a warm-up of 200 drill, 200 kick, 200 swim, with an easy 200 pull tacked on the end if I'm feeling particularly good.
Don't be afraid to swim a main set without a pace clock until you figure out what your body can handle. Just keep half an eye on the clock, give yourself a decent amount of rest between each element, then go from there.
Don't overdo your main set to start. Nothing like getting hurt to keep you out of the water for another few years. Sometimes my main set is nothing more than 16x25 on a generous time (45-60s) trying to swim with a "perfect" stroke.
Pick some of the sets you see in the workouts online, and adjust the reps or intervals to suit your current abilities. There's nothing saying that you have to swim 10x100 free, holding :58 on a 1:10 interval. :) For me today, it might be more like 6x75 free, holding 1:10 on a 1:30 interval.
Do you remember some set you loved BITD? Dust it off, and adjust the parameters if necessary. Add it to your arsenal.
Those are some ideas. I did leave out one other thing. You're in Seattle, so there should be many USMS clubs. You might check a couple out. Most have workouts geared to multiple levels and are welcoming to newcomers. There's no obligation to pick one and stay forever. I suspect most will let you hop in for a couple workouts as long as you are an active USMS member (which provides insurance coverage for the club).
