Hello. First post. I'm Canadian (British Columbia), and I haven't found a forum like this for Canada. This looks like a wonderful place - friendly, intelligent people - a great resource.
So.....I was a runner for 40+ years. Then it became a struggle in my mid 50s. (I'll be 57 next month.) Osteoarthritis in both knees put an end to it. When I got this diagnosis, I moped for a while, and then, on February 21st, 2019, it suddenly occurred to me that Swimming is my new sport.
I bought a few books, and went to the pool most days since SRD. (Swimming Realization Day.) I absolutely love the feeling of swimming. It's my new drug. I hope I can have 40+ years of it. :)
But in these early days I cannot claim to be very good at it. I'm improving rapidly, and that in itself is thrilling. The books are very helpful, and I'm making adjustments/improvements in form. I care only about Freestyle.
At the time of this post, my very modest PRs in a 25m pool (without diving in) are:
25m-19sec
50m-42sec
100m-1min32sec
200m-3min26sec
400m-7min19sec
800m-14min53sec
1600m-31min19sec
I think by the time mid-April rolls around, I can be under 7min 400m. 400m seems to be my favourite event at this early stage. It just so happens that our Provincial Masters Meet is in mid-April. In running, I lived for meets. Those events organized my running. I'd love to do the same in swimming.....but I am so new at this.
I'm terrified about signing up for this meet in mid-Apr. Do I belong there with a 7min 400m? I've looked at old results, and I'm in awe of the times recorded. I understand that as a 7min 400m person, I would be in a heat with other people around my time, no matter the age/sex. That's a wonderful thing. But I'm still mortified.
It's a new sport. I'm very new at it. I'm not even sure what I'm asking in this post.
Perhaps some of you will describe similar situations in your journey? Maybe you can talk me into signing up and losing my inhibitions? I'd hate to wimp out of this, then read results afterwards and cringe, while shouting "I would have loved this".
OMG, another beginner posting here who's faster than me already.
I'm also facing a similar dilemma as well, afraid of signing up for a 5 km open water race because the cut-off scares me.
I don't have a "swimming realization day", but even after 4 years of watching videos, practising about 2 - 3 days a week, and joined a squad since 30 October 2018 and much increased training afterwards, I haven't seen any large improvement. An recent analysis has shown that my form is totally crap, even worse than a beginner.
I care only freestyle, mainly long-distance for open water swimming, and my PRs in 50 m pool (without diving) are:
50 m: 44' (no improvement since Sep 2017)
100 m: 1'37" (no improvement since Nov 2016)
200 m: 3'39" (no improvement since Sep 2018)
400 m: 7'41" (taken recently)
1500 m: 31'13" (taken recently)
The 5 km race will be at the end of April. I have no problem about the distance and OW, the only problem is the speed, because the race cut-off time is 1 hour and 45 minutes. I'm afraid of signing up for this race because I'm scared of the idea of missing the cut-off. I have looked at old results, and most people complete the race in around 1 hour 10 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes, but my current prediction is around 1 hour 55 minutes.
OMG, another beginner posting here who's faster than me already.
I'm also facing a similar dilemma as well, afraid of signing up for a 5 km open water race because the cut-off scares me.
I don't have a "swimming realization day", but even after 4 years of watching videos, practising about 2 - 3 days a week, and joined a squad since 30 October 2018 and much increased training afterwards, I haven't seen any large improvement. An recent analysis has shown that my form is totally crap, even worse than a beginner.
I care only freestyle, mainly long-distance for open water swimming, and my PRs in 50 m pool (without diving) are:
50 m: 44' (no improvement since Sep 2017)
100 m: 1'37" (no improvement since Nov 2016)
200 m: 3'39" (no improvement since Sep 2018)
400 m: 7'41" (taken recently)
1500 m: 31'13" (taken recently)
The 5 km race will be at the end of April. I have no problem about the distance and OW, the only problem is the speed, because the race cut-off time is 1 hour and 45 minutes. I'm afraid of signing up for this race because I'm scared of the idea of missing the cut-off. I have looked at old results, and most people complete the race in around 1 hour 10 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes, but my current prediction is around 1 hour 55 minutes.
