swim log book

Amy, I certainly don't want to discourage you from keeping a log book. Lot's of people find them useful. But,... If your logbook entries consist only of how many yards you swam, they can influence you to evaluate your training by that standard only. There are many different things that go into a balanced training plan. Refreshing and refining your stroke mechanics. Working on any or all 4 strokes or IM's; starts and turns. Training tailored to sprint, middle distance or long distance events. Building and peaking for top performance at a season ending meet. (Emmett Hines' Fitness Swimming has an excellent, succinct chapter on making a workout plan for a season. There are a number of other books that discuss this too.) So, I guess I'm saying use a logbook with awareness. Understand what your goals are, and avoid falling into the fallacy of thinking the answer to everything is to just get more yards in. Matt

Amy, I certainly don't want to discourage you from keeping a log book. Lot's of people find them useful. But,... If your logbook entries consist only of how many yards you swam, they can influence you to evaluate your training by that standard only. There are many different things that go into a balanced training plan. Refreshing and refining your stroke mechanics. Working on any or all 4 strokes or IM's; starts and turns. Training tailored to sprint, middle distance or long distance events. Building and peaking for top performance at a season ending meet. (Emmett Hines' Fitness Swimming has an excellent, succinct chapter on making a workout plan for a season. There are a number of other books that discuss this too.) So, I guess I'm saying use a logbook with awareness. Understand what your goals are, and avoid falling into the fallacy of thinking the answer to everything is to just get more yards in. Matt