Hello all -
I rejoined Masters 3 months ago after an 8 month layoff, which is pretty much starting over for me. I only learned to swim about 3 years ago, and am very slow. In my workouts, I swim about 2:20-2:30 for 100 yards (with my long fins on). So I can get a respectable workout, I keep the fins on the whole workout, and resign myself to getting 3 seconds rest on long sets. I am swimming 2x a week, and hope to bump up to 4x a week. My only goal is fitness - oh, and to consistently do 2000 yards per 1 hour workout (and a 2:10 100 yard swim would be a bonus. I made the former for the first time - swam 2150 yesterday, which is an improvement from my 1500 yard workouts in late November when I re-started).
Here are my dilemmas:
1) If I am getting no rest on a set where it's set up so that everyone else is getting 5-10 seconds or more in my lane, am I better off cutting the yardage down for form's sake and getting more rest or just "gutting out" the set with no rest?
2) What am I losing/gaining by leaving my fins on for the entire workout? Yeah, they're a crutch, but I have no hope without them.
3) Any other suggestions for improvement? I have yet to meet a slower swimmer :-).
K
Parents
Former Member
Been there, done that.
You dont't mention whether your workouts are coached. If they are, you should talk to the coach -- he or she may be able to modify the workout to help you and still fulfill the purpose of the set. "Gutting it out" might even defeat the purpose of the set. My coach's advice (instruction, actually) when I was in that position was to take fixed rest interval (say 10-15 seconds) between swims (regardless of the interval everyone else was doing) and not rely on fins, which can be a crutch if overused, to keep up. Your coach may have another suggestion.
Been there, done that.
You dont't mention whether your workouts are coached. If they are, you should talk to the coach -- he or she may be able to modify the workout to help you and still fulfill the purpose of the set. "Gutting it out" might even defeat the purpose of the set. My coach's advice (instruction, actually) when I was in that position was to take fixed rest interval (say 10-15 seconds) between swims (regardless of the interval everyone else was doing) and not rely on fins, which can be a crutch if overused, to keep up. Your coach may have another suggestion.
