I just got back from the SPMS meet and I am in a funk. I have talked to several of my contemporaries who share my dysphoria at getting slower. From age 50-62 I slowed down very little. Ages 63 and 64 were one injury or illness after another, but at least there was a cause and I felt I would do better. Age 65 I aged up and for most of the year was healthy. That was a great year,but my times were all significantly slower than at 62. Since then it is very unusual to have one swim that is faster than I did the previous year.At 67(almost 68) I am notably slower than at 65. I have seen the graphs of how times slow with age, intellectually, if I am staying at the same rate of decline as my peers I should accept it, but I don't like it. I know most forumites are much younger and what I am saying may seem like something natural that I should just acknowledge and go on, that is what I thought until I was 63. I know that our having age groups every 5 years is a partial solution to the problem, but there is more difference between a 65 year old and a 68 year old than between a 40 year old and a 50 year old, in my experience. How do the other older swimmers out there cope and have a good attitude? The common saying in Masters Swimming is that "you are only competing against yourself",but my slightly younger self is kicking my butt and I am tired of it.
So bummed out after practice today. Did 4200 yards in 90 minutes but about 1500 of them were kick/swim with fins and 500 with paddles. But I either couldn't make the intervals I set, or if I made them, I wasn't happy with my swim times.
i didn't start competing until I was 55, I'm now 61. Never did anything athletic in high school or college. So from 55-59 I had huge time drops . Now I stink, sometimes getting personal worsts. Losing speed and endurance. I've always been a 200+ swimmer because I have no kick for sprint speed. I try to improve technique, not sure if I am doing so or not, but I'm definitely always thinking about details ( admittedly not always executing them on the tough intervals). I've heard the only way to swim fast is to swim fast but I just can't swim fast! A friend told me today I need to do sets in which I feel uncomfortable for a long time. She said I need to do more repeats even if I don't make the interval and the back half of them are done with no rest. Yuck! So hard mentally as a solo swimmer. Kind of opposite to the USRP approach. Getting tougher and tougher for me to want to endure a really high heart rate. I always feel sluggish in warmup and tired in my sets. Doc and lab tests say I'm healthy. I usually swim 5-6 days per week, and lift twice per week. On the lift days I just do drills, mainly 25s with lots of rest at the wall. I don't think I'm doing too much, but am I for an old lady? It's so depressing to feel like I'm working so hard only to go backwards. And listening to my friend, she said, I've been wasting my time if I stop for rest after too few reps just because I fell off interval. Not supposed to let the heart rate drop. That's what really sent me into this funk. That I've been wasting time and gaining nothing for my efforts? Any thoughts? I know I sound like I'm whining, or making excuses. I just wish I didn't have to be so hard on myself. Is the only solution to just woman up to the killer heart rate- even more uncomfortable than the past because I'm getting older? I'm tempted to try doing less, but nervous to try that approach. I'd like to think I'm "broken down" right now and it's all going to be good when I get ready for championships, but I don't really trust that either. Not likely to be a miracle if not seeing improvements during the season. Any words of encouragement or advice?
Elaine, I'd be delighted to make a new friend! I guess we'll see each other at the blocks! 400 IM, bring it on!
I think you're going to kick my butt on 200 ***!
Look for me in the cheetah cap.
Hey, we're in different age groups (I just turned 55), so we don't have to be concerned with any butt-kicking. Besides, I'm sure you'll kick my butt in 200 fly! :blush:
I think you are working out a lot and maybe that IS breaking you down. If you've got a championship meet coming this spring I would stay the course for now, but think about changing things up after that, especially if you don't swim as fast as you hope to. You may just be stuck in a rut. Try more race-pace training. It doesn't have to be USRPT, but do more fast swimming with more rest.
I also don't believe in beating your head against a wall. If you are not making intervals I see no problem in stopping to regroup.
I don't agree with everything about USRPT, but some of Rushall's ideas make sense to me. First, that training the neuromuscular system is very important(he would say most important.) This means that what you train is what the system learns, so that training to swim slow trains to swim slow. Second that adaptation comes from going to failure.He defines failure as not making the interval.For myself I have expanded that to not keeping my stroke count. If you are not able to make your interval you are way past failure. Rest is where the adaptation happens,without enough rest you are breaking down, not adapting.
The "you have to keep your heart rate up" idea makes some sense, up to a point, but as the only measure of work it certainly has limitations. How much does your heart rate drop during the rest, probably not much.
My way of training is different from most peoples in that I focus mostly on the race pace. If I can't make my goal time I increase the rest and or shorten the distance(like goal time for 100 at 200 pace is 1:18, if i don't make it I rest longer, if I still don't make it I change to 50s shooting for 38.) I have found I need more rest than I did when younger. This irritates me, but it is part of adapting. I recently was having more shoulder and knee problems than usual, so I increased my warm up 50% and that helped.
I was not satisfied with my starts and turns at my last meet,so I decided to do them until I do them right. When I am doing sets with a start, if I don't do the start, pullout,and breakout "good enough",I flip and swim back to the wall, get out and go again.If my turn is not "crisp", again I flip and do it again. This, of course, blows my intervals, but my starts and turns seem better, and they are much of the race in SCY.
Makes sense to me. I do moderate swims and more sprint swims with longer rest. I looked at the NT's and the only stoke I within 10 seconds is 100 yard breaststroke.
I think it depends on which events you are training for. Someone swimming events 200 yards and greater is definitely going to want a solid aerobic component to their training, but that doesn't mean your training needs to be all or mostly aerobic, and I don't think it should mean you just keep swimming if you're missing intervals consistently.
If you are not able to make your interval you are way past failure. Rest is where the adaptation happens,without enough rest you are breaking down, not adapting.
Well said, Allen!
I think you are working out a lot and maybe that IS breaking you down. If you've got a championship meet coming this spring I would stay the course for now, but think about changing things up after that, especially if you don't swim as fast as you hope to. You may just be stuck in a rut. Try more race-pace training. It doesn't have to be USRPT, but do more fast swimming with more rest.
I also don't believe in beating your head against a wall. If you are not making intervals I see no problem in stopping to regroup.
Makes sense to me. I do moderate swims and more sprint swims with longer rest. I looked at the NT's and the only stoke I within 10 seconds is 100 yard breaststroke.
:bighug: I feel your pain, King Frog. (No matter what, and no matter who beats you, you will always be "King Frog!" :cheerleader:)
At least this didn't happen to you until recently. I will be 55 in January (Inauguration Day :afraid:), and I've been experiencing similar (mental) pain for awhile. I watch video of my breaststroke at 47 years old, and my current breaststroke technique; and, I scratch my head wondering why I am so much slower now. (Sure, we all get slower, but I have slipped an entire column in Swimosaur's motivational charts, which I didn't do before aging up to 50!)
King Frog, all I can offer you is the same pep talk I give myself when I want to kick myself in the *&%:
"Hey Aqua Dog, be thankful you are physically able to swim, and you enjoy it as much as you do! You are healthy, fit, and happy; so, quit beating yourself up! Look around you. Most people your age are physically waaay worse off than you, so give yourself credit for all that you do to stay healthy and fit. In the big scheme of things, it is just a time on the clock for a swim race! How does that really compare in importance to everything else in life? Just have fun at the pool and at meets; and, don't worry about that clock so much! Just give it your best shot, and congratulate yourself for your efforts. AND, even if you were a human meet delay :blush: "racing" the 200 fly, at least YOU DID IT! (How many 54 year-old women can even swim a legal 200 fly race, anyway?)."
King Frog, you are an amazing swimmer (World Records!!!)! The pool isn't half-empty; it's half-full. ;)
Although your post is almost two years old - thank you for that, @ElaineK! I really need this today. My times have really dropped over the last year and I'm not sure whether it's work interfering, age, injuries or a combination of all of the above. Did a meet today and although it didn't feel bad, my times were just awful for me. Thanks for putting it into perspective.
