The YMCA where I train with a Masters group as well as solo lap swim rented out their pool to a larger than usual number of high school swim teams this year. The pool has cancelled all but one of the master's practices that does't conflict with my work / commuting schedule and also closed the pool to lap swimming during evening hours. The pool was already closed a lot on Saturdays due to many special events. So basically I am left with one full length master's practice and the first 30 minutes of another one in the early morning. For solo swimming what is left is thirty minutes before work pretty much any day and as much times as I want on Sundays.
I usually swim every other day and bike or spin the alternate days. I can stay in general shape by cycling more days, but am afraid of losing my swim conditioning. It took me months to get into my current swim condition and I really don't want to lose it. Any suggestions on the best way of using my limited pool access?
Incidentally I already complained to the aquatics director and the YMCA director, but the contracts with the high schools were arranged months ago. The best I can hope for is for them not to repeat the mistake next year.
How many folks normally swim with your Masters group? I went through a similar situation a couple of years ago and we worked out a deal to leave one lane open for our team while the high school team was practicing. The high school coaches were also very accommodating and would let us use a additional lanes when they didn't need them.
They didn't hold dual meets at our pool, so once the high school season started we would get the whole pool when the team was on the road.
It wasn't ideal, but we managed to make it work by staggering our workouts, i.e., some folks would come early and some later, so we wouldn't overload our lane too much. Sometimes you could only get in a 0:45 min workout, but it was better than nothing.
With reduced pool time, I would try to minimize my formal warm-up & warm-down and pretty much jump right into my main set, using the first part of it as my warm-up. It became an exercise in quality over quantity. I also did more dryland work with weights & stretch bands, and cross-trained running & cycling.
Again, not ideal, but better than nothing.
How many folks normally swim with your Masters group? I went through a similar situation a couple of years ago and we worked out a deal to leave one lane open for our team while the high school team was practicing. The high school coaches were also very accommodating and would let us use a additional lanes when they didn't need them.
They didn't hold dual meets at our pool, so once the high school season started we would get the whole pool when the team was on the road.
It wasn't ideal, but we managed to make it work by staggering our workouts, i.e., some folks would come early and some later, so we wouldn't overload our lane too much. Sometimes you could only get in a 0:45 min workout, but it was better than nothing.
With reduced pool time, I would try to minimize my formal warm-up & warm-down and pretty much jump right into my main set, using the first part of it as my warm-up. It became an exercise in quality over quantity. I also did more dryland work with weights & stretch bands, and cross-trained running & cycling.
Again, not ideal, but better than nothing.
