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".
May I ask if this recent analysis resulted in things to work on? I'm sure that a swim instructor will be horrified when they see me, but hopefully there will be a way forward. I will likely plateau soon - I can't keep making these kinds of jumps. (7:09 400m yesterday.)
Yes absolutely. I was shocked and horrified when the coach pointed out my problems one by one. Afterwards the coach gave me something for me to work on, and the day immediately afterwards, I was basically learning to swim - catching my breath every 50 metres.
Since the analysis my 400 m jumped for 8 seconds, but my 200 m and my 50 m didn't returned to my previous best yet. I originally wanted to time my 1500 m yesterday but I was feeling bad (probably due to race training the day before) so I am going to postpone it to Thursday, with a complete rest on Wednesday, so I haven't got the improvement in 1500 m yet.
Wow - 7:19 to 6:40 for 400 m in 4 weeks - that's REALLY a lot!!!!!!! You are looking for 10% improvement over 4 weeks!!
I am thinking only for 1 minute improvement (about 3%) in 1500 m per month, but in reality I was much slower than that - maybe 1 minute improvement per every 2 months. So I am afraid of signing up of that 5 km race because my prediction is still 10% from the cut-off time.
... I have not learned flip turns yet. Is it worth trying to figure that out right now?
That seems like some pretty big, ripe, juicy low hanging fruit. I'd spend some time working on it every practice. If it is ready for prime time when the meet arrives, great, if not, you are still ahead of where you would have been if you didn't work on it.
...
On Saturdays I do 400m, and the last few have been 7:42-7:31-7:19-7:09 (2 days ago). ... I know I am being quite bold talking about 6:40 400m in mid Apr, ...
7:09 in practice now and 6:40 in a meet in a month doesn't sound preposterous to me give your progress curve. There is no guarantee, but it is at least a plausible goal.
:welcome: , Skuj. You came to the right place. We are about the same age (57), by the way. Welcome to the world of Masters swimming! You are going to love it.
DO sign up for the meet. I can assure you that you won't regret it. I signed up for my first Masters meet that took place about one month after I joined. After that, I went to Nationals in Atlanta about one month later.
Was I nervous? You bet! Did I feel a sense of accomplishment, though? You bet!! There is nothing like facing your fears head-on and overcoming them. If you don't go, it will just prolong that nervous feeling until the next meet you debate signing up for in the future. Do it now, and get that first meet over with sooner rather than later!
You will have a blast at the meet if you just allow yourself to enjoy the experience. Introduce yourself to the swimmers around you and tell them it's your first meet. They will take you under their wings, cheer you on, and make you feel right at home. Admit to them that you are nervous, and they will reassure you.
How do I know? This was my experience at my first meet, and I have heard the same thing on these forums time and time again!
Don't put pressure on yourself, and go have fun!
:cheerleader:
I did something similar at 67, now 71, but I'm a whole lot slower, like 50 sec. for 50 yds. I did about 500 road and track races over 40+ years, including shot put for 25 years. Then arthritis got to my spine and now I mostly walk. I had been a casual swimmer and lifeguard back in the 1960s. So I returned to swimming 2 or 3 days a week. I've done 9 swim events from 50 yards to 1 mile open water and a couple short triathlons. I didn't get such a big thrill out of the pool meets. It's mostly just sitting around bored. But was crazy for the mile open water swim in Lake Placid NY, the Olympic City. That had the same feel as a road race.
Well, this is very early days, and the improvements are big right now, but I know I will stall at some point in the next few weeks.
On Saturdays I do 400m, and the last few have been 7:42-7:31-7:19-7:09 (2 days ago). My fastest 200m right now is 3:26, so I know I am being quite bold talking about 6:40 400m in mid Apr, but I am trusting (hoping!!) for continued improvements. We'll see how it goes. :)
Another thing that worries me is - I have not learned flip turns yet. Is it worth trying to figure that out right now?
Aw, you guys rock. Thanks for these wonderful responses. I am DEFINITELY signing up!! :)
:applaud: Please report back here after the meet, so we can tell you, "I told you so!" :D
Good luck!
:cheerleader:
How can you improve so fast? I'm stuck for many years already below your level, failing to improve my top-end speed while only making minimal progress in long distance.
It's because you overthink ev. re. thing. And consequently focus too much on minutiae.
