When/how to transition from "lap" swimming to workouts?

Thanks for feedback......i had actually seen the prior thread about solo swimmers and did peruse it a little. As an engineer, I'm pretty analytical, and have always enjoyed listening to the kids' coaches when they talked technique. Am pretty good friends with a retired one, as well. Have gotten input from one on shoulder pain, which led to a big change in freestyle. They have also told me what they worked on during private lessons afterwards. Not that that would be any substitute for observation. That may have to wait until this Summer, though, just because of the difficulty in finding a pool I can use where one of them can observe me. I have thought about talking to one of them in particular who might be able to have some time that aligns with me. He has taken my best swimmer, and improved her worst stroke from "slower than B" to AA in trying to get her IM where it should be. So I certainly have quality coaches I can talk to. What I do now is try to focus on the feedback my body gives me. I "look" for the way my muscles feel during the strokes. My free is pretty good (and I can tell my how chaffed my shoulders are from my whiskers!), but my *** and back are inconsistent. I focus on my legs in ***, I lose my pull, and vice versa. I focus on my pull in back, I lose my reach and vice versa (though that is coming together, as I have gone from 18-19 strokes per lap to 14-15). So that is also one of the things I hope workouts do, is let me focus on one thing at a time to make it habit. I'm rambling. Thanks again for all.the feedback. The Garmin (pace clock substitute) should be here early next week, so I'll be starting to transition then.

:lmao:Stay with us on the Forums, 67, because I have missed your kind of humor! You asked about my location. Sun City Peachtree is located in the northern part of Griffin, actually in northern Spalding County. I am VERY familiar with the Tara Tarpons, because I have trained off and on at the Steve Lundquist Aquatic Center since moving to Georgia in 2009. My former part-time coach and training partner (he's too busy for private coaching now) is the coach of the S.M.A.R.T. swim team, the other kids swim team that trains at the pool. Was Tracy Collett one of your Forest Park Tarpon teammates? One last comment... I love your effective use of Smilies, too. Those little buggers make me smile! :D Thanks for the compliments! Hey, if we can't make fun of ourselves, who can? I was at Tara about the time Steve Lundquist was setting the WR at that 84 Olympics......but the only folks I recall from the team, other than the coach, Bob Bugg (who I believe lives in Griffin, now), were my fellow Griffinites.......yep, I'm from there, originally. Grew up on the south side, though, between College and Maple St's. Not far from the city pool where the Summer team (Gators) swam in my day (may still?). I think I may have swum there from 83-85 or so? I didn't last long.....I really never knew how to push myself to practice hard until I was older doing different sports. But hey, I did set myself up nicely to get the "Most Improved" award. Lots easier to drop 5 seconds when you are 10 seconds off the pace than when you are at the front, you know!? I'm like you on the pool temperature. Way too hot. This pool clearly is designed with them in mind. Kept probably at 85 degrees or so, the stairs go down into a lane, making it a pretty useless lane for anything other than freestyle (there is about 3' of usable space beside it). There are no T's at the ends of the lanes.......so that was another thing I couldn't figure out, trying to judge my distance to the wall doing flip turns!!!! The middle lane has a water jet thing right where you push off. The other pool I use, when I can train while my kids are at practice, is much better. A good 5 degrees cooler, everyone I've seen there is a lap swimmer. T's on the ends, recessed water jets, the stairs in a "L" section. Hopefully this Summer I'll be able to do all of my swimming there.

Thanks for the compliments! Hey, if we can't make fun of ourselves, who can? I was at Tara about the time Steve Lundquist was setting the WR at that 84 Olympics......but the only folks I recall from the team, other than the coach, Bob Bugg (who I believe lives in Griffin, now), were my fellow Griffinites.......yep, I'm from there, originally. Grew up on the south side, though, between College and Maple St's. Not far from the city pool where the Summer team (Gators) swam in my day (may still?). I think I may have swum there from 83-85 or so? I didn't last long.....I really never knew how to push myself to practice hard until I was older doing different sports. But hey, I did set myself up nicely to get the "Most Improved" award. Lots easier to drop 5 seconds when you are 10 seconds off the pace than when you are at the front, you know!? I'm like you on the pool temperature. Way too hot. This pool clearly is designed with them in mind. Kept probably at 85 degrees or so, the stairs go down into a lane, making it a pretty useless lane for anything other than freestyle (there is about 3' of usable space beside it). There are no T's at the ends of the lanes.......so that was another thing I couldn't figure out, trying to judge my distance to the wall doing flip turns!!!! The middle lane has a water jet thing right where you push off. The other pool I use, when I can train while my kids are at practice, is much better. A good 5 degrees cooler, everyone I've seen there is a lap swimmer. T's on the ends, recessed water jets, the stairs in a "L" section. Hopefully this Summer I'll be able to do all of my swimming there. You're originally from Griffin? Small world! We're San Diego transplants (by way of San Antonio; long story...). I pass through your old 'hood every Monday when I go to Griffin United Methodist Church to volunteer for the artistic director of Griffin Choral Arts, a community chorus. Yep, I know Bob Bugg, and I have trained at the pool where he trains (and helped design). I affectionately call it the "Buggatorium": 11089 The 25m pool is located on the property of his friends on Maddox Rd. in Griffin. Click on the photo and read what the banner on the wall says. :bow: He's a great coach, too. We did a trade-out a few years back; he coached me in exchange for me shooting stroke videos for him. He now coaches war vets; good on him! As for the Gators, they're still slithering around. Someday, if it ever gets built, they will have a new community pool to train in at Wyomia Tyus Park. It was part of the approved TSPLOST, but it will be awhile... Hey, there's another USMS swimmer in your area who is on my team, the Georgia Masters Killer Whales. He's on the Forums as Swimosaur. You two should meet; he's a great guy!

Small world!.................artistic director of Griffin Choral Arts, a community chorus. I bet you know my mother.......Margie King?

Yep, I know Bob Bugg, and I have trained at the pool where he trains (and helped design). I affectionately call it the "Buggatorium": 11089 The 25m pool is located on the property of his friends on Maddox Rd. in Griffin. Click on the photo and read what the banner on the wall says. :bow: He's a great coach, too. We did a trade-out a few years back; he coached me in exchange for me shooting stroke videos for him. He now coaches war vets; good on him! As for the Gators, they're still slithering around. Someday, if it ever gets built, they will have a new community pool to train in at Wyomia Tyus Park. It was part of the approved TSPLOST, but it will be awhile... Hey, there's another USMS swimmer in your area who is on my team, the Georgia Masters Killer Whales. He's on the Forums as Swimosaur. You two should meet; he's a great guy! Now that I've picked my jaw up off the floor about you being involved in something that my mother does (and she confirmed that she knows you well!), other stuff. Wow. Wow. That is amazing. I want to think he was a butterflyer in his younger days, and would have been an Olympic favorite had we not boycotted the 1980 games. I want to think he has some step daughters my age, but I haven't really kept up with a lot of that. Also very happy to see some investment in teh community! Oak Ridge, where my kids swim, is kind of like how Griffin at least used to be. Big community center, hige city park, all of teh sports done through the city. And as such, a city pool (indoor in our case). Sadly, so many things have gone away from community run activities to letting private entities, mostly churches, build gyms and other things, and operate sports leagues. My kids' middle school had 8 times as many relay teams at that meet than did the one in Oak Ridge.....yet Oak Ridge has the pool (7 lane, 25 yard). Part of it is UT, as well. And that team is a bit of a leviathan, but I won't comment further on that, as I have issues with small teams like ours having to de facto recruit against the state university for youth swimmers. We've been to some very, very nice YMCA facilities, many built with corporate sponsorship. But UT has 3 50M pools, so there really isn't much drive with our local Y's to do that. I remember stumbling across another guy from Knoxville, and wondered if he were on the team at UT (TN Aquatics). Seems when I looked at his profile, his name was Jason or Judd or something wiht a J, don't recall. I know a few folks there. Some parents of former swimming teammates, and I've met some guys at the pool where I swim (a Gold's Gym) who weren't able to make the practices there at all times. At any rate, as I said, I was pretty humbled this morning. Gotta keep chugging to get into enough shape to actually do the workouts. And get a nose clip. There's a pretty strong back stoker who is neighbors with my sister in the Denver burbs. She just moved back there from California. I think she uses them. Real tall girl. Probably a fat chance, but it is a small world, right? You might have heard of her, too. I think her name is Misty or something? ;)

Well, THAT was humbling! So observations from trying out a small workout. - Not going to do another one of these the morning after 67Queen and I have a date night - lap swimming after a couple glasses of wine, NP. This was a little more challenging. - UDK's......you could call these things "ankle breakers" for all I am concerned. - I have a newfound respect for sprinters. 250 yards of any stroke (well.....except fly) is easier than a 25 yard sprint.:oldman: - I think that the CIA could replace water boarding with backstroke sprints and get the same result. :drown: - Just threw away my neti-pot, as I won't be needing it if I keep doing backstroke sprints :drowning: - I had forgotten how obnoxious some groups of people, collectively, are. Water aerobics people start taking over teh pool 45 minutes before their 30 minute long class starts :frustrated: - Lane ropes are removed 15 minutes before lap swimming ends (see above) At any rate, trying to inject a little humor into the morning. Actually felt good to do a little fly for short durations. But holy smokes, it took it out of me! Will definitely try to get an earlier start next time, so as not to run afoul of the water aerobics people. There are triathlon people in teh pool until 8:00, the first water aerobics person is usually there at 8:45, and they start filing in around 9:15. Class starts at 10:00. By 9:30, they move your wattle bottle and stuff so they can put their stuff at the end of the lane.......which of course means you have to move it just to get out of the pool.........but I will say that fins, paddles, deck bag, a printed workout, etc. served to be a bit more of a deterrent. One good thing about sprints, though! When the obnoxious water aerobics people see you pounding the water hard, they are less likely to walk across your lane right in the middle of your workout. Maybe my water aerobics gripes should go in Elaine's solo swimmer rant thread. It has been a while since I either swam on the same day as they had a class, or I wasn't done by 9:15. Speaking of Elaine and that thread, just curious. What part of GA? Grew up a bit south of Atlanta and swam for a team that was in Forest Park, but is now in Jonesboro - Tara Tarpons. There were 3 of us that made the 45 minute trek up to Forest Park a few times a week.

67King:applaud::rofl: What's with those folks in water aerobics class? Half of them don't even work out that hard (yes, I've taken a class and know it can be difficult). What annoys me the most, though, are the water walkers, the people who jump in with their shower caps and noodles and weights and take up the entire lane. Occasionally one will agree to share, but why does each one need a lane to him/herself? Go figure.:dedhorse:

- I have a newfound respect for sprinters. 250 yards of any stroke (well.....except fly) is easier than a 25 yard sprint.:oldman: - I think that the CIA could replace water boarding with backstroke sprints and get the same result. :drown: - Just threw away my neti-pot, as I won't be needing it if I keep doing backstroke sprints :drowning: - I had forgotten how obnoxious some groups of people, collectively, are. Water aerobics people start taking over teh pool 45 minutes before their 30 minute long class starts :frustrated: - Lane ropes are removed 15 minutes before lap swimming ends (see above) :lmao:Stay with us on the Forums, 67, because I have missed your kind of humor! We used to have That Guy making us laugh with just about every post, but he hasn't posted on here in a long time. :sad: I loved your comments about backstroke! The only way I can handle backstroke sprints is by using a nose clip, so I don't waterboard myself! I trained myself to swim backstroke without the clip otherwise, because I race the 400 IM and can't stand using nose clips for the other strokes. Here on the Forums, that obnoxious group known as water aerobics people are not-so-affectionately referred to as "noodlers". The are a pain in the :mooning:, aren't they? May I add another miserable noodler trait to your list of frustrations? The noodlers here at Sun City Peachtree where I live complain about the water temperature INCESSANTLY. Mind you, the pool is 84 degrees, and if they would just move while they're in the water, perhaps they wouldn't be "sooo coooold!" :bitching: You asked about my location. Sun City Peachtree is located in the northern part of Griffin, actually in northern Spalding County. I am VERY familiar with the Tara Tarpons, because I have trained off and on at the Steve Lundquist Aquatic Center since moving to Georgia in 2009. My former part-time coach and training partner (he's too busy for private coaching now) is the coach of the S.M.A.R.T. swim team, the other kids swim team that trains at the pool. Was Tracy Collett one of your Forest Park Tarpon teammates? One last comment... I love your effective use of Smilies, too. Those little buggers make me smile! :D

I bet you know my mother.......Margie King? 11090 Oh, you mean that lady on the bottom right of this photo I shot of the choir? :D THAT'S YOUR MOM??? OF COURSE I KNOW HER! As you know, she serves on the B.O.D. and is in the choir. I worked for GCA for five years, and then I gave notice a year ago and just volunteer for Steve Mulder. (Long story about not wanting to work for the board; HOWEVER, it had NOTHING to do with your mom. She is one of my GCA favorites!!!) :agree:

Now that I've picked my jaw up off the floor about you being involved in something that my mother does (and she confirmed that she knows you well!), other stuff. :lmao: Wow. Wow. That is amazing. I want to think he was a butterflyer in his younger days, and would have been an Olympic favorite had we not boycotted the 1980 games. I want to think he has some step daughters my age, but I haven't really kept up with a lot of that. Also very happy to see some investment in teh community! Oak Ridge, where my kids swim, is kind of like how Griffin at least used to be. Big community center, hige city park, all of teh sports done through the city. And as such, a city pool (indoor in our case). Sadly, so many things have gone away from community run activities to letting private entities, mostly churches, build gyms and other things, and operate sports leagues. My kids' middle school had 8 times as many relay teams at that meet than did the one in Oak Ridge.....yet Oak Ridge has the pool (7 lane, 25 yard). Part of it is UT, as well. And that team is a bit of a leviathan, but I won't comment further on that, as I have issues with small teams like ours having to de facto recruit against the state university for youth swimmers. We've been to some very, very nice YMCA facilities, many built with corporate sponsorship. But UT has 3 50M pools, so there really isn't much drive with our local Y's to do that. I remember stumbling across another guy from Knoxville, and wondered if he were on the team at UT (TN Aquatics). Seems when I looked at his profile, his name was Jason or Judd or something wiht a J, don't recall. I know a few folks there. Some parents of former swimming teammates, and I've met some guys at the pool where I swim (a Gold's Gym) who weren't able to make the practices there at all times. At any rate, as I said, I was pretty humbled this morning. Gotta keep chugging to get into enough shape to actually do the workouts. And get a nose clip. There's a pretty strong back stoker who is neighbors with my sister in the Denver burbs. She just moved back there from California. I think she uses them. Real tall girl. Probably a fat chance, but it is a small world, right? You might have heard of her, too. I think her name is Misty or something? ;) Now that I have picked MY jaw up off the floor, I'm on my way now to see your mom at the Griffin Choral Arts Children's Chorus concert that she will be listening to as well. More later... Gotta run! :bolt: