Sorry if these questions have all been asked before, but here goes: I've been a lap swimmer for about 5 years and have been doing my 1 mile 3-4 times a week pretty much regularly, but I never seem to get any faster than my 35-40 minute mile. I've done plenty of searching via the internet and all of the workouts that I've come across (the shortest being in the 2500 range) are far too advanced and time consuming at the moment. Currently I'm rather overwhelmed. I understand the notion of intervals and anaerobic work, but when and how often should I be doing them? I've thought about joining the closest master's team(St. Louis) , but they are well over an hour away and at the moment I doubt that I would benefit from joining since I'd only be able to get up there once a month or so. Would anyone out there be willing to get me going in the right direction?
Thanks, John
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Former Member
John,
It's very likely that your body has adapted to the workload and is simply set at going the same pace. By breaking up your 1 mile swim into sets of 500's, 400's, or 300's on a specific time (interval) you can stress yourself to work harder. Interval training doesn't have to be made up of short swims like 10 x 100's or 5 x 200's although they will certainly boost your stamina by providing a strong aerobic base. By raising the bar and focusing on long strokes (distance per stroke) your time for the mile should lower after a while. Even working on better streamlines while you turn can drop that time. (Many turns in a 1 mile swim).
There are many coaches who read the forums and I'm sure you will get some good feedback. Also try looking under the workout section.:)
John,
It's very likely that your body has adapted to the workload and is simply set at going the same pace. By breaking up your 1 mile swim into sets of 500's, 400's, or 300's on a specific time (interval) you can stress yourself to work harder. Interval training doesn't have to be made up of short swims like 10 x 100's or 5 x 200's although they will certainly boost your stamina by providing a strong aerobic base. By raising the bar and focusing on long strokes (distance per stroke) your time for the mile should lower after a while. Even working on better streamlines while you turn can drop that time. (Many turns in a 1 mile swim).
There are many coaches who read the forums and I'm sure you will get some good feedback. Also try looking under the workout section.:)
