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.).
I can tell you this, swimming 28K yards per week with a family and a job would mean a quick trip to divorce court for me!
Former Member
Originally posted by gull80
I think the question is how do you achieve personal bests as an aging Masters swimmer. I'm not convinced it's all that common. Tom Wolf is swimming faster at 50 than he did in his 40s, which is very remarkable, but he is not recording personal bests.
I think this is the question indeed that my opening post adresses.
It adresses this by searching a process to do it.
The process has the points 1.) and 2.) in the opening post.
Yes, as we get older it does become harder for VW's to race with Porsches. However, that is why Masters is in age groups (one of the reasons I believe).
I also know that there are people in their 50's plus that have Porsche bodies.
I tend to believe that the fastest swimmers (elite) have many positive training habits, good nutrition, etc., but they also have one more thing that very many lack, talent.
Whether you start swimming at 15 or 50, you are talented or you're not. You can only control the hardworking part, etc.
Former Member
Originally posted by Swimmer Bill
I had over 50 lifetime bests at ages 37 and 38, including a one-minute drop in the 1650 from a personal best that was done more than ten years prior -- and I didn't start late. In the 1650 I dropped to 18:36.
Where does that put me?
...
It puts you in the company of Jeff Commings, Jim Clemmons in 2002 at the Short Course Nationals in Hawaii in 500 free in 4:59, Jim Thornton who dropped from 1:56 in the 200 free as an age grouper to 1:55 at age 49, and me too:
people who got lifetime bests after many years of training, while being adults, living a lifestyle.
The differences between you and me are that:
.) you didn't start swimming late, I did, so our times are of different caliber,
and
.) you had numerous lifetime bests at 37 while at 37 in 1996 I got one lifetime best.
But other than this, we chosed and followed respective processes.
In this experience, I stress the chosing of a process.
Former Member
Originally posted by LindsayNB
...
Knowing what did and didn't work for Ion, and others, gives me a basis for designing my own training and judging what will be necessary to achieve a given goal. I would be interested to hear more about what did and didn't work for Ion.
My points 1.) and 2.) in the opening post, and my next few posts after that, they summarize in a nutshell what works for me.
They are easy to read, but that's deceptive, they encompass painstakingly built experiences, many that I shared in this forum for years.
I can expand with details on them, once you pick from there points to debate.
Former Member
I consider myself to be a late-bloomer -- particularly in distance swimming and IMs. I thought of myself as a sprinter in high school, and didn't swim in college.
Realizing that my previous competitive swimming experience was limited to mostly the 50 and 100 free, I decided to try everything when I joined Masters.
My first Hour Swim was when I was maybe 27 or 28. I think I did just over 4000 yards. I did it a year or two later and did 4585 yards. For about ten years, that was my best. I didn't train for it, and didn't participate in the event much after that.
I tried the Hour Swim again in 2003, and did 5075 yards -- an improvement of almost 500 yards.
In 2002, I dropped from a previous best of 5:59 in the short course meters 400 IM to 5:21. The following year, I dropped to 5:10.
Seeing this type of improvement at age 37 and 38 led me to conclude that I never really came close to reaching my potential as a youth age group and high school swimmer. Although I thought of myself as a sprinter, I may have done well in a wider range of events. I think you could call that a lack of experience -- lack of training experience, and lack of experience doing many of the different races in the sport of swimming.
It may not be how everyone defines the term "late bloomer" -- we saw the buds early on, and then winter came -- but in a sense, I am definitely a late-bloomer.
That's one of the things I love obout competing in Masters swimming. We can reinvent ourselves.
Originally posted by gull80
I swim 20K/week, most of it at 6am weekdays. I get up at 5 so I have time to make a steaming hot (180 degrees) latte for my wife before I leave for the pool. As she likes to say, she loves me a latte!
That's what I do also, oddly enough, at the same time of day. I save my scalding coffee for afterwards, however.
Former Member
Originally posted by Swimmer Bill
I consider myself to be a late-bloomer -- particularly in distance swimming and IMs. I thought of myself as a sprinter in high school, and didn't swim in college.
Realizing that my previous competitive swimming experience was limited to mostly the 50 and 100 free, I decided to try everything when I joined Masters.
My first Hour Swim was when I was maybe 27 or 28. I think I did just over 4000 yards. I did it a year or two later and did 4585 yards. For about ten years, that was my best. I didn't train for it, and didn't participate in the event much after that.
I tried the Hour Swim again in 2003, and did 5075 yards -- an improvement of almost 500 yards.
In 2002, I dropped from a previous best of 5:59 in the short course meters 400 IM to 5:21. The following year, I dropped to 5:10.
Seeing this type of improvement at age 37 and 38 led me to conclude that I never really came close to reaching my potential as a youth age group and high school swimmer. Although I thought of myself as a sprinter, I may have done well in a wider range of events. I think you could call that a lack of experience -- lack of training experience, and lack of experience doing many of the different races in the sport of swimming.
It may not be how everyone defines the term "late bloomer" -- we saw the buds early on, and then winter came -- but in a sense, I am definitely a late-bloomer.
That's one of the things I love obout competing in Masters swimming. We can reinvent ourselves.
You are a good swimmer.
As an anecdote, before the 1500 free at the 1998 Long Course Nationals in Fort Lauderdale, you -as a deck coach- asked me what time I was going to do, I said that I wanted to come close to a time of 20:45 which I did in the early 90s, you said that you never swam that time before, and now after your processes and lifestyle you are in the nineteen minutes Long Course range.
Nature works in mysterious ways...
(But character no, and I stick to me valuing people's character, including promises)
Former Member
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.
Our circumstances are quite a bit different in that you are a lot faster and you have been swimming much longer, so not everything that worked for you will necessarily be right for me right now, but it should be interesting none the less.
A personal best is just that, a personal best. It is totally irrelevant what process was followed as long as you feel proud of your accomplishment, proud but not boastful. It is neither better nor worse than anyone else's PB. There are many paths to PBs and a PB by itself may mean nothing to a person who has accomplished so many other wonderful things along the way to that PB.
