Today, I swam the 200 yards free in 2:09.11.
This beats my previous best of 2:09.54 from April 1994.
I challenged the 2:09.54 in the past 11 years, over 20 times, many times under what I learned the hard way to be the wrong preparation, and never came close.
My result will be posted officially in the USMS databse.
I won't be able to make the 2005 Short Course Nationals, but hopefully I will make the 2005 Long Course Nationals.
The reason that I bring this success here is that there are some lessons to learn from it:
1.) to pursue virtue and excellence by meeting the intrinsic requirements that come to having a worthwhile goal (in my case, the goal is to stay in my prime intellectually and physically, for longtime), that's intelligence and tenacious work;
I immigrated to U.S. and relocated within U.S. on job skills in science to live my lifestyle;
this lifestyle comprises now, over 39 weeks of the 2004-2005 season so far, of 1,093 kilometers of training (an average of 28.025 kilometers per week, or 30,828 yards per week, no matter the holidays, tapering or illness, that includes kicking, strokes, and technique quotas), the most mileage I slowly built my late starter physiology up to in life, mostly under a Masters club with primarly college and age group swimming expertise, which I searched for and choosed;
I also cross train consistently in weights and running;
2.) I scrutinize self-indulgence and greed (to an employer who was asking me to work overtime like his Japanese employees do, even though I was ahead in schedule in a project, and who thought that I am a slave to him giving me a work visa, I stated "You know, my life doesn't depend on you." and I walked away from a near six-figures salary because it was jeopardizing my swim training; I looked for and found another) and I scrutinize good intentions backed up by feelings without hard data.
2:09.11 and staying in my prime, that's a tribute to 1.) and 2.).
Parents
Former Member
Originally posted by LindsayNB
What I would find interesting would be for you to contrast the training that didn't work for you with the training that did and perhaps your experience of what made the most difference.
...
When I joined my first swimming club at 28 in 1986 in France, coming from public swim only, I looked promising, while getting early successes:
29 in the 50 metter free short course, 1:04 in the 100 meter free short course, 20:32 in the 1500 free short course.
But when progress got harder to do, then I developed a process that I refined over the years, including:
a.) go to the country that has the most Olympic medals and adult swimmers;
b.) in that country, go to the state that has the best climate and facilities;
c.) in that state, go to the club that has in Masters Swimming the spirit most closely matching age-group and college swimming, since age-group and college swimming have a mission to produce lifetime bests, while Masters Swimming doesn't;
d.) make sure the Masters workouts address five types of training (Aerobic, Threshold, VO2Max, Sprint Race, Explosive), diving from the blocks, technique in swimming and in flip turns, strokes, exactly like age-group and college program do;
e.) make sure the program is filled with competitive, faster swimmers;
f.) supplement the program with kicking with a board for a quota of 1/3 of your weekly mileage being spent on kicking (as a reference, with my power in legs I was able to kick repeats of 100 yards leaving every 1:30 last December, which is college caliber kicking), a quota spent on swimming in 12 strokes per 25 yards, a quota spent on no breath swimming, a quota spent on strokes, a quota spent on swimming while rotating the hips;
g.) supplement the program with weights and running;
h.) achieve a weekly quota of training mileage, no matter the holidays, storms, illness, tapering;
i.) achieve a yearly quota of races, so that racing is blase.
j.) involve the coaches in your goals;
k.) make sure that work doesn't tamper with swimming, i.e.: keeps your mind serene, not stressed, doesn't ask you for overtime and interfere with recovery, allows you to sleep plenty;
l.) once every so often, break the cycle by amusing yourself unpredictably, improvising fun to get out of the monotony;
m.) eat a diet rich in minerals and vitamins.
Ironically, when there is improvement from how I started in 1986 at 28, it's only in the magnitude of tenths of a second, the ballpark of what I do was pretty much set by the physiology that I got at the end of teenage years, the physiology of a non swimmer.
It's like taking a Volkswagen and hoping that with a V6 engine and fine tuning oil and tires, I can race V12 engines.
Originally posted by LindsayNB
What I would find interesting would be for you to contrast the training that didn't work for you with the training that did and perhaps your experience of what made the most difference.
...
When I joined my first swimming club at 28 in 1986 in France, coming from public swim only, I looked promising, while getting early successes:
29 in the 50 metter free short course, 1:04 in the 100 meter free short course, 20:32 in the 1500 free short course.
But when progress got harder to do, then I developed a process that I refined over the years, including:
a.) go to the country that has the most Olympic medals and adult swimmers;
b.) in that country, go to the state that has the best climate and facilities;
c.) in that state, go to the club that has in Masters Swimming the spirit most closely matching age-group and college swimming, since age-group and college swimming have a mission to produce lifetime bests, while Masters Swimming doesn't;
d.) make sure the Masters workouts address five types of training (Aerobic, Threshold, VO2Max, Sprint Race, Explosive), diving from the blocks, technique in swimming and in flip turns, strokes, exactly like age-group and college program do;
e.) make sure the program is filled with competitive, faster swimmers;
f.) supplement the program with kicking with a board for a quota of 1/3 of your weekly mileage being spent on kicking (as a reference, with my power in legs I was able to kick repeats of 100 yards leaving every 1:30 last December, which is college caliber kicking), a quota spent on swimming in 12 strokes per 25 yards, a quota spent on no breath swimming, a quota spent on strokes, a quota spent on swimming while rotating the hips;
g.) supplement the program with weights and running;
h.) achieve a weekly quota of training mileage, no matter the holidays, storms, illness, tapering;
i.) achieve a yearly quota of races, so that racing is blase.
j.) involve the coaches in your goals;
k.) make sure that work doesn't tamper with swimming, i.e.: keeps your mind serene, not stressed, doesn't ask you for overtime and interfere with recovery, allows you to sleep plenty;
l.) once every so often, break the cycle by amusing yourself unpredictably, improvising fun to get out of the monotony;
m.) eat a diet rich in minerals and vitamins.
Ironically, when there is improvement from how I started in 1986 at 28, it's only in the magnitude of tenths of a second, the ballpark of what I do was pretty much set by the physiology that I got at the end of teenage years, the physiology of a non swimmer.
It's like taking a Volkswagen and hoping that with a V6 engine and fine tuning oil and tires, I can race V12 engines.
