Anyone train on your own?

RE: Anyone train on your own?

Former Member — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 06:16:38 GMT

Hey Josh, Check out these work-out ideas, and scroll through the thread... It's all there... forums.usms.org/showpost.php Happy swimming...

RE: Anyone train on your own?

Former Member — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 07:43:39 GMT

I just got back into swimming about 2-3 months ago. I swim by myself and dont have a coach. I swam my first meet last saturday @ Towson and was content where I was with the little training I have in. I woudnt mind having a coach to point some things out for me. I get a lot of my practice ideas off here and make some up on my own also. I would like to have a swimming partner more than a coach. It would make the practices more fun and there would be someone there to push you along.

RE: Anyone train on your own?

brigid bunch — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 02:18:04 GMT

I train alone. In fact, I am the only one in the pool when I work out. It's lonely and very difficult to improve without someone to swim with (or against!). I live two hours away from the closest masters team. I sure wish swimming was more social for me rather than feeling like I am 'doing time' to get top tens. Short of moving, what can I do to continue to motivate myself? Meets are the only enjoyment lately and if I have a bad meet, I get really down on myself about all the time I spend in the water. Anyone else feeling left out of the loop?

RE: Anyone train on your own?

Former Member — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 16:26:33 GMT

I thought the only way to train was by yourself. I was asked to join the local masters team when it got started but my work conflicted with the practices. For the past six years I have gotten the workouts right here. This year the national team has been leaving their workouts posted after they swim so I have been using those as guidelines. It is impossible to make the repeat times or the distances they post so I adjust them as needed. I have been to a couple of meets. I will miss the SC Championships this weekend because the deadline was missed. I wanted to swim there and see some of the area swimmers and meet some of the members here. I do like the postal swims and plan on entering the 3k championship hopefully next week. The kids got in the way of swimming this week but that is another story. No doubt on the rare occasion I have someone to swim with it is easier to perform at a higher level and I enjoy that. The other 99 percent of the time I enjoy my private lane, my workout, and no turbulance while knowing I am extending my life with each stroke. That is the plan any way. Now if I could just be a little quicker...

RE: Anyone train on your own?

Former Member — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 12:44:55 GMT

As George Thorogood says: "I train alone! Yeaaaaaaaaah, wid nobody else!" Well, at least 90% of the time...

RE: Anyone train on your own?

Former Member — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 12:42:39 GMT

The YMCA team I swim with has pretty well gotten the shaft from the YMCA, so I've really had to go it alone lately. And I mean ALONE - the pool I swim at mostly now (Penn State-Harrsiburg) is a lovely facility, but often I have the pool almost entirely to myself. Last Saturday, I did 6500 yards (long, easy technique swim) with absolutely no one else other than the lifeguard even in the pool area. It's often like that. On the other hand, no fighting over lane etiquette, noodlers in the way, or kids jumping on top of me, but still... -LBJ

RE: Anyone train on your own?

aquaFeisty — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 08:13:25 GMT

I train both with a team and on my own. I can usually only get to 2 team practices a week, so I try to supplement by swimming alone to get the weekly practice total up to 4. Our team also takes a break from mid-Sept to mid-Nov, so I've got a few more weeks on my own till we start up again. I get the most out of my practices if I write down the workout BEFORE I leave for the pool, at least the main set. Sometimes I also ask my husband (he coaches masters and HS girls) to email/IM me a workout and that works well too because I don't want to report back at dinner that night that I wussed out on his workout! :)

RE: Anyone train on your own?

Former Member — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 05:18:42 GMT

Getting a proper workout without a coach or lanemates pushing you is difficult. But it can be a good thing to do occasionally too, if you want to work on technique at your own pace without having to worry about keeping up with lanemates or following a structured workout. I may add an uncoached saturday swim to my routine, now that I've found an okay place nearby, that isn't heated to an unusable temperature like the pool at the gym I go to.

RE: Anyone train on your own?

Former Member — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 12:03:03 GMT

I mostly train alone generally because I find that master's workouts have too much of an 'entertainment' factor built in to keep the swimmers from getting bored. I don't need entertainment, I need training: many, many boring repeats until I get it right. It works great for me! I also study stroke mechanics through videos and watching successful swimmers ply their craft. Most of my time is spent on technical issues of swimming.

RE: Anyone train on your own?

Former Member — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 11:50:03 GMT

I train on my own. I did have 2 good coaches but they both had to move on to bigger and better things. The only coach that's left basically just writes the workout down and then chats with the aqua instructors for the rest of the time. So one day I realized that I could just get my own workouts (from old ones and ones I found in the workout section here) and I'm on my own. I may want a coach again someday, but for now I'm concentrating on interval training and the clock is my coach. JIM

RE: Anyone train on your own?

Former Member — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 16:52:13 GMT

I train on my own, which is both: - by necessity: I swim at lunch-time or early w/e mornings, and there is no team nearby; and - by choice: I know what I want and I know when I want it (in other words, I want to swim my chosen events fast, and train for that and that alone). Depending on one's level of experience, competency level (technique-wise) and degree of self-motivation, solo training can either be great or a bummer... Of course, YMMV. Just my :2cents:

RE: Anyone train on your own?

Former Member — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 14:10:17 GMT

I train on my own, too. I would like to train with a team, though. I just haven't found one yet. I think the competition would benefit me. Also I am desperate for someone to take a look at my stroke and give me some tips on where to improve. Looking at a video of my own stroke won't help me much as I might not even recognise any flaws. I need a proper coach to do that. Despite this, I have been training on my own for some six months now (after a 24 year abcence) and in that short period, I have managed to equal some of the times I was doing when I last swam competitively. So in one sense I am satisfied. However, I am not sure if I have reached the limit of where I can go on my own. Time will tell. I still have a lot, that I know, I can improve on. I do think if you had good coaches as a kid and your stroke is 90% good, then you should be okay on your own. But perhaps, if you are a late starter, or have serious stroke problems, then it would be better to get a coach. What keeps me going on my own? Well, I have no motivation problems. In fact, my biggest problem at the moment is trying to convince myself that I should, at least, rest one day a week. I just love swimming. And I love swimming fast even better. Because I have no lanemates, the clock is the only means I have of measuring my progress, or lack of it. So, everyday, I will try to do at least one event at race pace. Also, I have this imaginary competitor in the lane next to me. This person is always one stroke ahead of me and you have no idea how much this inspires me to swim harder. sincerely Syd

RE: Anyone train on your own?

Former Member — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 12:50:20 GMT

I have coached myself as a runner (2:38 marathon) and as a swimmer (1:16 for 5k SCM pool). Training with other people is more fun, but not always possible. For instance, I once told my running club mates I was doing 8x1 mile that evening. They just looked at me as if I had 2 heads. I also find it easier to train in the morning, so that I see the family a bit in the evenings.

RE: Anyone train on your own?

Former Member — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 10:39:15 GMT

I coach myself with notes I make from my TI DVDs, and I get tips and advice from this and the TI forum. Does that count for coaching?

RE: Anyone train on your own?

waves101 — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 10:07:45 GMT

While I don't train on my own, I'm also not coached. Our whole masters team is a group of individuals who sometimes get together in varying degrees to train. Sometimes its just me and sometimes we have up to 20 people show up. Usually its 2 or 3 people. Probably 50% of the entire group compete in meets mostly states but a few nationals. Several are state champs and some are national champs. I find its great just to have others to swim with. Most of the time its the only reason I actually get out of bed (AM workouts) because I know someone will be waiting at the pool. Try to find a swimming partner, it'll help immensly with your motivation levels.

RE: Anyone train on your own?

Former Member — Fri, 22 Apr 2005 16:28:38 GMT

Wow! I didn't expect so many self-coached people, that's great! Sometimes I miss the push from my coach, I also belive that having some one stand at the edge of the deck at yell at me can be pretty helpful. My coach had a way of knowing exactly what to say to get me to push myself harder. On the other hand, I'm also a little done with the yelling. Of course there wasn't a lot of yelling to being with, but being on my own is pretty nice. If I were to get back with a team, it would have to be with my old coach. Where I've been swimming lately (I'm a nomad) there's a group that gets together a few times per week to swim, and they invited me to join them. But it seemed they were just doing fitness workouts, not the more competitive push I feel like doing. So for now I'm on my own.

RE: Anyone train on your own?

Former Member — Tue, 19 Apr 2005 11:38:01 GMT

I work out twice a week with other people; other than that, I am on my own. Since I do longer open water races, it means some pretty long workouts with nothing to take my mind off endless laps. Making up workouts is no problem since I was a track coach and just adapt the physiological principles to swimming. -LBJ

RE: Anyone train on your own?

swimmieAvsFan — Tue, 19 Apr 2005 07:07:13 GMT

i'm kind of a blend- we have 4 coached workouts a week in the winter and 2 a week in the summer. i try to swim at least 5 (but usually 6) days a week, so i have to train on my own somewhere between 2 and 4 days a week, depending on the time of year. it's actually a pretty nice set up, at least for me personally. i love our current coach but it's also nice to have a workout that is tailored specifically to myself... luckily i've not had any bad experiences with masters coaches... whew! :)

RE: Anyone train on your own?

Former Member — Tue, 19 Apr 2005 06:16:40 GMT

I stopped training on my own since I joined a team on saturday. but my first impression is that I've gotten better workouts when I trained on my own or used Robert Strauss' workouts so I think about staying on the team just for the "social benefits" of fellow swimmers around you and to keep up my own workout routine if the lane space situation during training permits. I think I am probably the best coach to me, because I feel like I know best how hard I can push myself in practice I can also say on which things I need to focus most because I am actually in the situation feeling what's slowing me down. This statement is supported by dropping my times for *** and free by 20 respective 30 seconds and I also teached me a good breaststroke accordingly to my new coach and fellow swimmers. :cool:

RE: Anyone train on your own?

Former Member — Tue, 19 Apr 2005 06:07:42 GMT

Self-coached but I get my workouts either from Mel goldstein's site here at USMS or on workout 2000.org. I try to find people to look at my stroke every opnce in awhile. It keeps me honest. Wehn I travel, I always find a team to workout with.

RE: Anyone train on your own?

Former Member — Mon, 18 Apr 2005 15:24:00 GMT

I'm a self coached swimmer. I still compete and I love it. I'm starting to feel like I need a coach though. I find it hard to push myself without someone yelling at me. I tend to make excuses. One of the hardest things I find is motivation. Sometimes it's hard to go to the pool by yourself and swim all those lonely laps. Best of Luck going it on your own! I like using these boards, they help keep me motivated when I can't get going. ~Kyra

RE: Anyone train on your own?

Former Member — Mon, 18 Apr 2005 14:03:41 GMT

The only coach I have trusted since I was 24 years old was and is - myself. Only I know how I feel and when I have to stop. George

RE: Anyone train on your own?

Allen Stark — Mon, 18 Apr 2005 11:37:12 GMT

I'm self coached. It's really freeing to plan your own workouts. Just use the pace clock and get video taped regularly. I also read everything I can find on swimming. I go to LCM Nationals regularly and do well.(LCM is for swimmers,SCY is for turners!)

RE: Anyone train on your own?

Glenn — Mon, 18 Apr 2005 11:13:03 GMT

Oh, and yes, I compete locally and at Nationals both long course and short course with good results. GG:cool:

RE: Anyone train on your own?

Glenn — Mon, 18 Apr 2005 11:11:29 GMT

Join the club!!! I've coached my own workouts for the last three years and with good results. I stopped going to the coached workouts during the week because they changed the time from 6:00 -7:30 PM to 7:00 -8:30PM. That made it way too late to eat dinner before workout and too late to eat after since I would get home at 9:00PM!!! The key for me has been to write my own workout daily and post it at the end of my lane and then just do it!! I know what my repeat times should be and I push myself to make it. I still go to the coached workout on Saturday morning, but during the week I can get in the water usually by 2:30PM and get home by 4:30 and have an actual meal with my wife!! Everybody wins!!! :)