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

I do more IM and don't swim more a 200 yard swim. The most in workouts was 400 IM. I usually swim 50's and 100's and sometimes 25. I kick more breaststroke than freestyle.

Alright, did another. A few thoughts on it. - The UDK comment from earlier was in reference to doiing them with fins. Without, not as bad. Which probably means I'm doiing them wrong, since my core isn't (though I'm sure 67Queen would insist that I get my diaphragm plenty of work being full of hot air and all that!).:yawn: - Guessing at where 15M is by putting fins on the wall isn't very effective, as you can't really see them. No red stripes or anythign. Maybe I'll put them o the bottom of the pool next time? - When the whole workout references one's "100 pace," makes it kind of hard to do when you don't have a clue what that would be! :doh: - Guessing what it is probably isn't the best idea - However, guessing that it is "Focus: 100 Free @ 55.0" is not a good target for a newbie actually is a pretty good guess! - You know....it is really hard to do flip turns when there is no X on the wall. At least to new swimmers. Or new old swimmers. Or whatever it is when you start doing it again later in life. And along those lines, I'm sure that I'm not the only person in the world to injure a shoulder doing a flip turn......but the chances of me meeting the OTHER guy who has done it are pretty small. :blush: - I am convinced that the people that designed the drills were swiss watch makers. Sure they aren't as taxing as a lot of other things, but my lord! I'm not coordinated enough to do those (these were freestyle drills - catch up wasn't too bad, but the whole fingertip drag and hinge thing)? :confused: - Fingertip drag thing I think exists solely so people won't complain about water ingestion during breathing being only a backstroke thing.:rant3: - Went at a different time today, much later, as I had an early eye doctor's appointment. So I saw some new people. I'll preface this by saying i swim at a Gold's Gym. And so everyone in there looks like Randy from a Christmas Story when his mother puts the winter coat on him (you know.....arms won't go down). So......I got to swim with Dolf Lundgren today! Well.....I think that's who it was. He was pretty intimidating. :afraid:But swimming didn't appear to be his strong suit. :cool: - Lung Busters. Maybe "ego busters" is more applicable? - We need a little "RTFM" emoticon. Stands for "Read the :censor: manual" 'Cuz I need to do some more of that. - Trying to do sets with time using an analog watch (with foggy goggles) is a bit like an ornamental pear - just plain fruitless. - But! When I got home, a new Garmin Swim watch was waiting for me! :santa3: Alright, joking aside......I really have no clue what I'm doing when it comes to "relative to XXXXX pace." I probably erred on teh side of going too fast. My stroke count was way out of whack, it is usually about 18, but it was pretty consistently 22. I guess I"d expect a little higher, but not that much higher. Of couse, I was using my arms, then going "Hey, don't forget to kick!" at which point I forgot about my arms. So I had to have been pretty amusing to watch there! Oh yeah.......I don't think I'll ever give my kid grief for breathing inside the flags, again!

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. Yep, you got it! Judd is his name; that's Swimosaur! I just returned from choir rehearsal. Your mom brought in some framed photos of your family to show me. What a beautiful family you have! It was nice to put a face with 67King, too, and now I know what the "67" stands for. :D

Alright, did another. A few thoughts on it. - The UDK comment from earlier was in reference to doiing them with fins. Without, not as bad. Which probably means I'm doiing them wrong, since my core isn't (though I'm sure 67Queen would insist that I get my diaphragm plenty of work being full of hot air and all that!).:yawn: :lmao: - Guessing at where 15M is by putting fins on the wall isn't very effective, as you can't really see them. No red stripes or anythign. Maybe I'll put them o the bottom of the pool next time? - When the whole workout references one's "100 pace," makes it kind of hard to do when you don't have a clue what that would be! PWB (Patrick Brundage) explained how to figure that out in his workouts. I'll bet if you sent him a private message, he could provide the link to that post. - Guessing what it is probably isn't the best idea - However, guessing that it is "Focus: 100 Free @ 55.0" is not a good target for a newbie actually is a pretty good guess! - You know....it is really hard to do flip turns when there is no X on the wall. At least to new swimmers. Or new old swimmers. Or whatever it is when you start doing it again later in life. And along those lines, I'm sure that I'm not the only person in the world to injure a shoulder doing a flip turn......but the chances of me meeting the OTHER guy who has done it are pretty small. :blush: - I am convinced that the people that designed the drills were swiss watch makers. Sure they aren't as taxing as a lot of other things, but my lord! I'm not coordinated enough to do those (these were freestyle drills - catch up wasn't too bad, but the whole fingertip drag and hinge thing)? :confused: - Fingertip drag thing I think exists solely so people won't complain about water ingestion during breathing being only a backstroke thing.:rant3: - Went at a different time today, much later, as I had an early eye doctor's appointment. So I saw some new people. I'll preface this by saying i swim at a Gold's Gym. And so everyone in there looks like Randy from a Christmas Story when his mother puts the winter coat on him (you know.....arms won't go down). So......I got to swim with Dolf Lundgren today! Well.....I think that's who it was. He was pretty intimidating. :afraid:But swimming didn't appear to be his strong suit. :cool: - Lung Busters. Maybe "ego busters" is more applicable? :agree: - We need a little "RTFM" emoticon. Stands for "Read the :censor: manual" 'Cuz I need to do some more of that. - Trying to do sets with time using an analog watch (with foggy goggles) is a bit like an ornamental pear - just plain fruitless. - But! When I got home, a new Garmin Swim watch was waiting for me! Alright, joking aside......I really have no clue what I'm doing when it comes to "relative to XXXXX pace." I probably erred on teh side of going too fast. My stroke count was way out of whack, it is usually about 18, but it was pretty consistently 22. I guess I"d expect a little higher, but not that much higher. Of couse, I was using my arms, then going "Hey, don't forget to kick!" at which point I forgot about my arms. So I had to have been pretty amusing to watch there! Oh yeah.......I don't think I'll ever give my kid grief for breathing inside the flags, again! See comments above. Meanwhile, I really should forward some of your posts to your mom. I don't think she realizes how FUNNY you are! :D

See comments above. Meanwhile, I really should forward some of your posts to your mom. I don't think she realizes how FUNNY you are! :D Shhh! I'm an engineer, I have a reputation to keep! But if you do, I guess it is good I didn't analogize the whole "until completely recovered" direction in the workout to a hangover. When is one "over" a hangover? When functional? Because really being "over" one means the next day! Kind of like recovering from some of this stuff......at least to this newbie!

And along those lines, I'm sure that I'm not the only person in the world to injure a shoulder doing a flip turn Alright, I'll refrain from sarcasm here. This is a real thing, here. I know I have work to do, and like I said, the lack of any contrast on the wall makes it more challenging. While I assume I'll get better at judging that from the end of teh stripe on the bottom, I seem to have an issue coming off of teh wall. I hurt my shoulder, again, today. Only this time it really hurt. When I pushed off, my left arm shot over across my body and pulled the back of my shoulder. It hurt. Like seriously hurt. I felt it pull. I haven't done flip turns in over 30 years, so I am getting all kinds of stuff all kinds of wrong. I was able to finish what I was doing this morning, but I need to address this. Until I can work with someone, or get some video, is there anything that jumps out at anyone that I can work on? I don't think I've been coming off of the wall straight (which y'all might have deduced!). Does it sound like I"m trying to twist during the turn, rather than after? Should I just do touch turns until I get back in the pool that has the X on the wall, and then work on it, bringing it back to this pool? Two things that I KNOW I am doing wrong: 1. I often pick up my head to look for the wall (I'm still a little "afraid" of it, as I jammed a couple of fingers a couple of months ago trying to relearn before I punted on them). I'm turning too early. I'm still well ahead of the wall. Those two might be related. But I'm not sure what I may be doing to have my arm cross over like that, and enough to hurt myself. Any input would be greatly appreciated! Oh, Elaine. Thanks for teh compliments! I've lucked out pretty much my whole life on teh family thing. And one has to be a parent to fully appreciate the sacrifices one's own parents made, so I'm much more appreciative of Mom as an adult than I was as a kid. I don't know how she managed it all.

Alright, I'll refrain from sarcasm here. This is a real thing, here. I know I have work to do, and like I said, the lack of any contrast on the wall makes it more challenging. While I assume I'll get better at judging that from the end of teh stripe on the bottom, I seem to have an issue coming off of teh wall. I hurt my shoulder, again, today. Only this time it really hurt. When I pushed off, my left arm shot over across my body and pulled the back of my shoulder. It hurt. Like seriously hurt. I felt it pull. I haven't done flip turns in over 30 years, so I am getting all kinds of stuff all kinds of wrong. I was able to finish what I was doing this morning, but I need to address this. Until I can work with someone, or get some video, is there anything that jumps out at anyone that I can work on? I don't think I've been coming off of the wall straight (which y'all might have deduced!). Does it sound like I"m trying to twist during the turn, rather than after? Should I just do touch turns until I get back in the pool that has the X on the wall, and then work on it, bringing it back to this pool? Two things that I KNOW I am doing wrong: 1. I often pick up my head to look for the wall (I'm still a little "afraid" of it, as I jammed a couple of fingers a couple of months ago trying to relearn before I punted on them). I'm turning too early. I'm still well ahead of the wall. Those two might be related. But I'm not sure what I may be doing to have my arm cross over like that, and enough to hurt myself. Any input would be greatly appreciated! Oh, Elaine. Thanks for teh compliments! I've lucked out pretty much my whole life on teh family thing. And one has to be a parent to fully appreciate the sacrifices one's own parents made, so I'm much more appreciative of Mom as an adult than I was as a kid. I don't know how she managed it all. I swam for awhile in a pool without the end of pool "targets". I had some tiles that were left from tiling the bathroom that I put in the swim bag and took to the pool. i would put some down at the end of the pool and some down 3 feet out and then I had something to watch for. In terms of the shoulder injury, I it sounds like you are not getting your arms locked in streamlined position before pushing off. Work on making sure your arms are set before the push.

Oh, Elaine. Thanks for teh compliments! I've lucked out pretty much my whole life on teh family thing. And one has to be a parent to fully appreciate the sacrifices one's own parents made, so I'm much more appreciative of Mom as an adult than I was as a kid. I don't know how she managed it all. Your mom is a wonderful lady, and I'll bet she was a good mom. You did luck out! I'm sorry you hurt your shoulder-- bummer! Hey, is the bottom or side of the pool tile? If so, I wonder if you could stick on something with a suction cup backing (like a kid's tub or shower toy) to stick on the bottom to mark where to start your turn. Either that, or you could bring a plastic-coated weight for the bottom of the pool. Of course, King Frog's suggestion was a good one! By the way, if you ever need breaststroke advice, hop on over to "The Breaststroke Lane" thread. That's the lily pad where all us frogs hang out. :D King Frog is the KING of the pad, and he croaks the best advice of all. :bow: (I saw him break the World Record at 2011 Nationals in Auburn :banana:, and then I was competing with him at the World Championships on Montreal when he broke it again. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see it, because I was competing over at the women's pool at the same time. The celebratory dinner afterwards was fun, though!)

It sounds like you have had a tough go of it...............Keep your sense of humor and motivation; What a cool experience for your daughter! By the way, your mom used me as a consultant on her Christmas gift. I hope she's enjoying her swim boxes! :presents2: Oh, I am FINE. Honestly. I just threw that out there because y'all seemed to appreciate my sarcastic sense of humor. Besides, at least swimsuits don't stick to the bottom of the pool......unlike our Summer league pool, as I learned dong the backstroke on a parent relay at the end of the year party a few years ago!!! :blush: That and I really WAS looking for input on the shoulder thing. It is better today.......of course my plan to just go do 3500-4000 yards of lap swimming was destroyed by a sick kid I had to get to the doctor, grrr.... Abigail LOVES the Swimfluence stuff! That was a GREAT gift! She has been slowing working her way up the ladder, and has made great strides over the past couple of years. Goals keep moving up. Had a setback at our LSC (SES) championship as she was sick all week the week before, and added time in everything. Still got a 2nd place in the 50 Fly, a couple of 4ths, and the rest all top 10's, but she had really wanted a couple of 1sts, and had a chance. Sectionals were obviously much bigger, and she dropped time, but a couple of mental breakdowns cost her. Took a VERY late extra stroke into the wall on the 50 Fly.....to the poinit where she almost hit the wall with her head. That took her from 2/3 to 5. Bad 3rd turn on the 100 Fly cost her a Senior cut (she went 1:00.43). It is funny how critical some teeny little mistakes can be. She is hoping for the Zones team this year. I honestly don't know what to expect. She's a bit behind most of those girls developmentally, so it'll be tough, but the future darn sure looks good!!! Pic for reference.....she's the one on the right (and she's in front of that girl! but admittedly, she's one of the bigger ones) right before I believe backstroke finals.

Hey, is the bottom or side of the pool tile? If so, I wonder if you could stick on something with a suction cup backing (like a kid's tub or shower toy) to stick on the bottom to mark where to start your turn. The pool's surface is made of some industrial grade, diamond based, 36 grit abrasive material, to which nothing will stick. Except human flesh, as I learned when I attempted my first go at UDK's with fins on my back for the first time, and promptly nailed the bottom of the pool!!! :bitching: Allen's idea looks really good, I will see if I can try that until I can better learn my timing and location and all of that. Hope the stripes on the bottom are teh same distance on both sides. The weird thing, which I assume has something to do with the pool's flow, is that it almost always takes me one more stroke going one way than the other. On Breaststroke advice.......I'm not quirky enough to be a *** stroker! I'm an engineer. Always was good at fly. Or maybe I should say less bad. My daughter was in the pool a couple of times at Age Group Sectionals with a girls during new national record swims (SCY - so hey, that means world record, too, by default!). 12 year old girl did a 54.00 in the 100 Fly, and a 24.39 in the 50. I have a few pictures of my daughter sharing the podium with her, which is pretty cool.