Okay, so part of this might be aging... In my 40s and 50s, I could count on running 8something pace in a race (in fact, my 10k best was 48:40, but that was quite a while ago). In my early 60s, I faded to 9something. Now.... sheesh! 10 min. miles are race efforts! And that's just for the 5k! For the 10k and beyond... 11 is getting to be the new normal and 12 is peeking out from behind the curtains.
Yesterday, I ran a 10k race (overslept and missed swim practice, so needed some kind of workout... that's what I get! Still, I was happy to support the race as it's in memory of a friend who passed away a few years ago). I finished LAST! Granted, my time wouldn't have gotten me in last had the weather been warmer and attracted more people. When it's 15 degrees in the morning, you get mainly the diehards. :) I did around 72 minutes and, especially later in the race, that pace hurt the way sub-8 used to. At times, I yielded to the temptation to walk, but I didn't want to give up. Still, I was getting more and more discouraged as I continued.
Meanwhile, my swim times, while lately not significantly improving, do occasionally show nano-second advances, and I don't seem to be slowing down. I won't say they're fast--they've never been, but a recent 200 freestyle was a personal best, albeit by less than a second. ;) And that was with a sore shoulder. It seems harder and harder to get started running and pace gets slower. I've come to like track workouts, especially short sprints such as 200s b/c I can feel fast if only briefly. But even then, times have slowed down, though not as much.
Part of this is that I don't run as frequently now as I swim--and when I swim, it's pretty much always in masters' practice with my wonderful, merciless coach. :) So I'm swimming maybe 4-5x/wk, running about 3x/wk.
So, those who both swim and run--can a person have it both ways? I am signed up for a 10 mile race in early May. And though I was slow in the 10k the redeeming feature was that it gave me a supported distance run. I have a 7 mile race next weekend--entering more for the distance than any time goal (although hoping not to be too, too frustrated w/ speed... in fact, I may deliberately make it a run/walk, not even have my watch running).
I might decide though that swimming is becoming my main sport and running is the alternative cross-training workout when time or circumstance won't allow swimming. It's beginning to feel okay for me to decide that, but curious as to how/whether others experience a similar transition.
Yeah, I tried fins, they kill me, too constraining. In addition to a lack of ankle flexibility, 40 years running has made my forefoot very wide. They're spread beyond normal width. That should be a good thing if I can develop a kick, but I cannot go 10 yards with fins before the foot cramps up. I work on the kick more each week. It will come eventually I hope.
Well, I used run tis after 5 hip operations , it has become a distant memory. Maybe the floatation effect of the water has a medical benefit over the pounding of gravity on our bodies??
True, but there's also plenty of evidence that weight-bearing exercise is essential as we age to keep bone density up. No one is going to argue that swimming is not good exercise, but it does not provide that essential weight-bearing component.
Yeah, I tried fins, they kill me, too constraining. In addition to a lack of ankle flexibility, 40 years running has made my forefoot very wide. They're spread beyond normal width. That should be a good thing if I can develop a kick, but I cannot go 10 yards with fins before the foot cramps up. I work on the kick more each week. It will come eventually I hope.
I had a feeling you tried some fins. Perhaps someone out there can recommend a wide pair. The key for you now is to minimize the damage of the bad foot angle. Keep your kick as high in the slip stream of your upper body to minimize drag. Think of surface kicking with shallow high frequency kicks. Good luck.
One thing you might find is that when you get better at swimming, your aerobic endurance will likely get better, which will, in turn, make you better at running. I was surprised a few years ago to do a 5k with one of my brothers and had really only swam to keep in shape. It was one of my best 5k times ever without doing much running :) Good luck!
Thanks for all the responses! And it's looking as if running might need more of my attention because I'm having shoulder pain--so where once I was a reluctant swimmer when I had running injuries, I notice now I'm getting to be a reluctant runner with a swimming injury. C'est la vie!
Ganache, that's an interesting NY Times article. It confirms what a running coach once advised me to do: more strength training. He recommended upper body as well as leg work. And I'm thinking too I need to work the core more than I have.
