Getting Older,Getting Slower

RE: Getting Older,Getting Slower

antpappa — Sat, 07 Apr 2018 12:57:50 GMT

Here is my general thought, who cares. You are in the pool and in the 1% of Americans that regularly swim for fitness. I am 57 and started late to swimming I am still improving, but not as fast. I also notice that weight training does not result in as much muscle development as when I was in my 20's. Keep at it, and set realistic goals...For me I hope to be in great shape in retirement and for my future Grand Kids :)

RE: Getting Older,Getting Slower

Allen Stark — Fri, 06 Apr 2018 09:23:35 GMT

Yes, thanks King Frog. It sounds typical of repetitive stress injuries, which I have experienced plenty of over the years! Typically, there is that last straw. When I had a repetitive stress back injury when I was 25, a terrible sneeze is what finally blew out one of the disks. There was a "last straw" with my other two major RSI injuries that led to surgery as well. I wish you the best with your surgery. I hope it is successful! :agree: Thank you. And to Matt, swim fast at Indy.

RE: Getting Older,Getting Slower

Elaine Krugman — Fri, 06 Apr 2018 08:34:29 GMT

I was having some pain at the top of the arm(biceps insertion) and then I tripped and caught myself (hard) to stop my fall. Then I had pain on the insweep of BR and the back part of free pull. Dr. said the injury likely was the last straw, but it was a repetative movement problem in that once it started to fray it rubbed against the bone and got worse. Iftwas diagnosed by MRI. Surgery is May 10, first day of Indy. Yes, thanks King Frog. It sounds typical of repetitive stress injuries, which I have experienced plenty of over the years! Typically, there is that last straw. When I had a repetitive stress back injury when I was 25, a terrible sneeze is what finally blew out one of the disks. There was a "last straw" with my other two major RSI injuries that led to surgery as well. I wish you the best with your surgery. I hope it is successful! :agree:

RE: Getting Older,Getting Slower

mmlr38 — Fri, 06 Apr 2018 07:17:52 GMT

RE: Getting Older,Getting Slower

Allen Stark — Fri, 06 Apr 2018 06:47:24 GMT

Oh no, Allen! Oregon is going to miss you at Nats this year. What a bummer! I've been having some pain in my biceps tendon lately and am worried that I might be causing some damage to it. What was the cause of your frayed biceps tendon (could it have somehow been prevented?) and how did the orthopedist diagnose it? Good luck with your surgery and recovery. I was having some pain at the top of the arm(biceps insertion) and then I tripped and caught myself (hard) to stop my fall. Then I had pain on the insweep of BR and the back part of free pull. Dr. said the injury likely was the last straw, but it was a repetative movement problem in that once it started to fray it rubbed against the bone and got worse. Iftwas diagnosed by MRI. Surgery is May 10, first day of Indy.

RE: Getting Older,Getting Slower

Elaine Krugman — Fri, 06 Apr 2018 03:41:17 GMT

Sorry to hear you have had pain as well, Fly Trap! King Frog, what were your symptoms? Do you have pain all of the time or only when you swim? I thought it might be helpful for Fly Trap as well as others to be able to differentiate tendon pain from muscular or joint pain.

RE: Getting Older,Getting Slower

mmlr38 — Fri, 06 Apr 2018 03:37:35 GMT

Getting older seems to mean that the injuries accumulate. Just saw the orthopedist today. Frayed biceps tendon and partially torn subscapular tendon requiring surgery. I was told I would be out of the water 3 mo and no pulling for 6 mo. The only good part is that I'm 69 so I should be healed by the time I age up next year. I will miss Nats this year of course, and I was looking forward to Indy. Oh no, Allen! Oregon is going to miss you at Nats this year. What a bummer! I've been having some pain in my biceps tendon lately and am worried that I might be causing some damage to it. What was the cause of your frayed biceps tendon (could it have somehow been prevented?) and how did the orthopedist diagnose it? Good luck with your surgery and recovery.

RE: Getting Older,Getting Slower

Elaine Krugman — Fri, 06 Apr 2018 03:32:30 GMT

Getting older seems to mean that the injuries accumulate. Just saw the orthopedist today. Frayed biceps tendon and partially torn subscapular tendon requiring surgery. I was told I would be out of the water 3 mo and no pulling for 6 mo. The only good part is that I'm 69 so I should be healed by the time I age up next year. I will miss Nats this year of course, and I was looking forward to Indy. :cry::bighug: I'm sorry, King Frog. It looks like you won't be able to hop around on the lily pads for awhile, either. When will you be having your surgery? I sure hope it goes well for you! I'm sorry you won't be able to go to Nats., and I'm even more sorry you will be out of the water for several months. I'll bet you'll have VERY strong frog legs by then, though. :agree:

RE: Getting Older,Getting Slower

Allen Stark — Fri, 06 Apr 2018 02:59:48 GMT

RE: Getting Older,Getting Slower

__steve__ — Thu, 29 Mar 2018 01:22:31 GMT

I’m not competitive (except with myself). But what is an OK time for off-the-wall and flip turn for various crawl and backstroke distances for a 69 year-old? . Keep in mind the following were done mostly in racing suits, tapered, from the block, shaven, and rested. Typically add a second or two to get an idear www.usms.org/.../eventrank.php Go to EVENT RANKINGS (to the left side on the page) and plug-in the age, course, stroke, distance, and rankings in order of time, typically 200 would include all of the 50 backstroke races swum for a particular course. This list can be very humbling and encouraging at the same time.

RE: Getting Older,Getting Slower

Sojerz — Wed, 28 Mar 2018 12:31:26 GMT

I’m not competitive (except with myself). But what is an OK time for off-the-wall and flip turn for various crawl and backstroke distances for a 69 year-old? All I can find are records but that ain’t gonna happen. I'm 68.5 and a middle of the pack swimmer. I hear you about the records and qualifying times - I don't think I will ever be able to get back to that kind of performance, although I haven't quit trying yet. Crawl - For 50 scy free from a push during repeats >5 I try to stay under :50 and can go around :45 for 'm about :33 to :35. For 100 scy repeats I'm trying to stay under 1:45 swimming them on 2:00 si. I can go around 1:17 in a meet. For 200 scy I can go around 3:15 from a push in practice swimming on 3:30 si but my limit is about 2- 3 before im doa for the rest of a 200 set and need to stick fins on to keep up. In a meet I'm under 3:00 for a 200 and have gone faster a few years back. I'm dreaming about a 2:30 for a 200 and under :30 for a 50 from a blocks, but who knows if I'll ever get there. I'm swimming 3x per week about 4k each time in a team practice where I'm the pokiest but also the oldest by far. I would need to kick that up to 4x or 5x times per week to go faster. but I'm not sure if I can handle that and recover. I don't have much to share on backstroke times, cause I don't swim it for 50s or 100s very often - too much water going up my nose during the turns and aggravating my already testy sinuses. In a meet I think I'd be around :40 for a 50 bk and in practice doing repeats trying to hold about :55 or :60 might be realistic for me for 50s. I just don't seem to be able to generate speed on my back anymore, possibly cause I don't practice. :) My 100 bk would be very slow. In my opinion there are a lot of very good swimmers still at it in our age group, so don't get discouraged. My theory is that only the best of the pack remain at this age. My mistake was the 40+ year hiatus and waiting too long to be able to get back what was lost. So, I just compete with myself and try not get any slower.

RE: Getting Older,Getting Slower

Former Member — Tue, 27 Mar 2018 13:26:16 GMT

RE: Getting Older,Getting Slower

kchuangharris — Mon, 19 Mar 2018 11:34:03 GMT

Yes I agree with kicking. Try kicking with a snorkel to keep your shoulder in a good position. I also did alot of one arm strokes with my good shoulder - my one arm fly is really fast now! LOL!

RE: Getting Older,Getting Slower

__steve__ — Mon, 19 Mar 2018 01:51:27 GMT

Are they recommending surgery.If a shot and second round of PT doesn't help. To stay in the water I've found IM kicking has kept swimming fairly interesting, the fly part has been done as 12.5M UW's mixing some atlantis. Atlantis seems to be a good workout Sorry about Indy training Sir, I do wish you a quick and full recovery.

RE: Getting Older,Getting Slower

__steve__ — Sun, 18 Mar 2018 12:26:58 GMT

Speaking of injuries,I hurt my shoulder and will miss at least Indy. Orthopedist suspects a subscapular tear. Xrays were fine, awaiting approval for MRI. I get really bored with kicking workouts.I’ve been kicking a lot latelyJust had an arthrogram: circumferential labral tear pronounced posteriorly and anterior inferiorly. Proximal tearing of the posterior inferior glenohumaral ligament from the labral complex. And changes in the acromyclavicular joint. Not sure if this is the source, or result of my problem. Or if it just sounds worse than it is. My kicking however has improved in some regards

RE: Getting Older,Getting Slower

Allen Stark — Sun, 18 Mar 2018 12:17:06 GMT

Hi Allen, sorry to hear this. Hope your shoulder heals soon. I know kicking workouts can sometimes be tedious, but they will keep you in the game. A bonus is that when your shoulder heals, you may have additional kicking strength which will hopefully give an overall boost to your swimming performance! Thank you.

RE: Getting Older,Getting Slower

Swimspire — Sun, 18 Mar 2018 12:04:23 GMT

RE: Getting Older,Getting Slower

Allen Stark — Sun, 18 Mar 2018 11:19:34 GMT

Speaking of injuries,I hurt my shoulder and will miss at least Indy. Orthopedist suspects a subscapular tear. Xrays were fine, awaiting approval for MRI. I get really bored with kicking workouts.

RE: Getting Older,Getting Slower

Elaine Krugman — Sun, 18 Mar 2018 09:31:38 GMT

Speaking of injuries,I hurt my shoulder and will miss at least Indy. Orthopedist suspects a subscapular tear. Xrays were fine, awaiting approval for MRI. I get really bored with kicking workouts. Oh no, King Frog! I hope it's not a tear! I've been wondering how you and Seal Girl have been doing since our last PM's back and forth. Please let her know I'm thinking of her, too, and keep me up to date. Ok? :sad:

RE: Getting Older,Getting Slower

Allen Stark — Sun, 18 Mar 2018 01:34:56 GMT

I’ve been kicking a lot latelyJust had an arthrogram: circumferential labral tear pronounced posteriorly and anterior inferiorly. Proximal tearing of the posterior inferior glenohumaral ligament from the labral complex. And changes in the acromyclavicular joint. Not sure if this is the source, or result of my problem. Or if it just sounds worse than it is. My kicking however has improved in some regards Sorry to hear that. Are they recommending surgery. I certainly hope you recover quickly.

RE: Getting Older,Getting Slower

kchuangharris — Sat, 17 Mar 2018 04:32:28 GMT

Yes injuries are a big factor in getting older and they seem to take longer to heal. My only consolation is I swim in a lane with some 25 year olds, half my age! I try to make myself feel better that it's okay if they beat me!

RE: Getting Older,Getting Slower

Former Member — Tue, 06 Mar 2018 14:50:05 GMT

I needed to see this today as well. When I was 16-21 my breaststroke times were great. 32 years later I recently found some journals from back then (yes, I was OCD and wrote almost everything down) and got so disgusted with my current times. This old thread popped up at a perfect time. Well, the master swimmers within 5 seconds of their youth times are in pretty good physical shape. Also, on the ladies side, the top swimmers like Laurie Val and others have been swimming masters since their 30's or early 40's. This helps to built a swimming based and makes it easier to be within 5 to 7 seconds of your youth times in a 100 yard. Many swimmers that take up masters swimming years later and do it more on and off can be 10 to 30 seconds slower than their youth time in a 100 yard.

RE: Getting Older,Getting Slower

Former Member — Tue, 06 Mar 2018 07:02:24 GMT

Re: Getting Older,Getting Slower By no means should a drop-off discourage anyone from doing what they enjoy. If you're lucky enough to be racing into your golden years - it should be reassuring to know that everyone else is showing up the same aches and pains. We're all going to get slower. Sooner or later that V8 engine is going to be running on 4 cylinders if you stay in there long enough. The key is to not slow down at the same rate as your counterparts. :)

RE: Getting Older,Getting Slower

__steve__ — Tue, 06 Mar 2018 03:53:26 GMT

After i turned 50 I didn’t slow down much, I instead became much less resistant to injury and require more and more rest

RE: Getting Older,Getting Slower

Swimspire — Tue, 06 Mar 2018 01:32:13 GMT

In order to continue to feel satisfied with your progress as you get older, I would suggest trying out the following: 1) Set goals (but be realistic). What do you hope to achieve in a year, or even in 5 years? What do you need to do to achieve these goals and can you do what it takes to achieve them? Make sure these are realistic goals, however. If you were an NCAA DI competitive swimmer over 30 years ago and quit swimming for 20 of those years, it's not realistic to hope to achieve a lifetime best. Which leads to the second point... 2) Try not to compare your current times with previous times from years back. Instead, start by comparing them to recent times you were able to achieve within your current age group. If you surpass those times, wonderful - you then know that you can set a slightly higher goal for yourself. But comparing yourself to a previous stage in your life when you were training every day twice a day in college is a recipe for frustration - and failure. 3) Keep track of your progress. Whether it's in the form of a yardage chart, or a time log for meets that you attend, keeping track of your progress will help you manage your expectations and feel more satisfied at progress you make. It will also keep you in the here-and-now instead of dwelling on your much faster past swim life. "Finding the Motivation to Train" can offer you some more extensive tips to help you progress even as you get older - I wrote this with this forum thread in mind! www.swimspire.com/.../