Triathalon participate. Went to Masters Swim workout and I couldn't even interpret the workout!!, Finally jumped in water and , coach wanted me to do one arm pull, backstroke!! I was run over by the good swimmers, anyway, they say you can join in but not really!! They were nice but a little put out, so I come to you for help.
I did a .25 swim in 8.53, I mean i am in good shape and I love swimming but obviously slowwwwww. I did an ocean mile swim in 39 min and I was 72 out of 100(but, it was a very windy day (good excuse for me) generally people are doing like between 25 and 30 something, (I think, they had all left by the time I got out!) ahhh embarrassed,
I work on my swimming and am reading total immersion and trying to do drills. I did a mile swim in bay yesterday (lots of waves adn I am cutting time down a tiny bit)
I have tried to find a coach but geez the coaches here are all involved with teens and swim teams and they look to good for me to even approach. I cannot do a Total Immersion swim weekend - it costs 475 dollars wwayyy to much, but I would take private lessons if I could even locate a coach. I want to get better so badly but I don't know much about the drills, times and things, can u help me. I LOVE swimming adn I really want to do better. I like the way you answer the questions and have read your bio and I think your methodology is very good. sorry this is so long
could you suggest an easy to understand workout, I do freestyle and I do triathlons the distances are 1/2 mile. 1/4 mile, 1.2 miles etc and I am pretty much in the last 1/3 of the group out of the water (I am a runner and come in 1st in the running section most every time)
Former Member
Maybe it is better to assume he means .25 miles in 8 minutes and 53 seconds. That's a distance of more interest to a triathlete.
~400 yds in 9 minutes is a reasonable time.
It is unfortunate that your first workout was not a positive one. I suggest you have a conversation with the "coach" and tell him what you need or want. Ask him to be honest whether or not he can help you. He may not want to. If he cannot help you I agree with buying a training DVD to watch what good swimmers do. I cannot recommend one.
Or else find a new place to swim with a more supportive program.
Excuse my misinformation
it is 1/4 mile at 8.53 I very slow in relationship to the others in the tri
I did the mile in 39 minutes and I was 72nd place out of 100 and basically the rest behind me were over 70 yrs old and they were great!
Basically I am usually close to last, but there is hope
and thanks for the help, but should I just copy down some workouts and times and then work on that? I just usually swim for 1 hour without stopping, but, obviously thats not doing the job
Also, I am a girl and run more than I swim, so that is why I don't know to much of the lingo, but, ready to get started - very hard worker if I know something beneficial to do
I understand about the Masters workout, they were very expert and I was not so I understand, I appreciated them letting me jump in after about 5 min the coach said oh just do freestyle and i was grateful for that!!
2000 to 3000 yard or meter workouts, start with about a 300 warmup and always do a cool down swim of about the same distance. Swim lots of 100s 200s 400s with short rest periods. I don't believe in drills but swim drills if it makes you feel better. Try and swim your 100s in as close to 1:30 as possible this will help bring your times down. If you are a tri athlete don't worry to much about other strokes.
Good luck in your endevours.
If you want to be able to swim faster for long distances, be sure to do endurance sets, like 10x100 free on 2:00. Interpretation: swim 100 yards/meters free 10 times, starting a new 100 every 2 minutes. If you finish a 100 in 1:50, you will have 10 seconds rest before you start the next one. This interval may be too fast or too slow, so find an interval that works for you and try to work to a faster interval. You may also want to work on various drills to improve your stroke. Also, work on some faster swims, like 100's or 200's or even 50's as fast as you can.
When my son was a age grouper, the coach he had did test set 100's each month that were designed for the kids to get used to pacing 100's and to improve their distance speed. They would do 10*100 on an interval, let's say 2:00 just for ease of example. If they made all 10 on 2:00, they said hooray and the next month they had to decrease their time 5 seconds. If they could not make all 10, then they stopped when they missed the interval and the next month they tried the same interval again. They did this starting with the age groupers as young as 8. So by the time they were swimming 500's in competition, they had a good sense of pace so if the coach said, I want you to swim this 500 on a 1:25 pace, they knew how it felt and how to hold it, even at a young age.
I don't swim with an organized Masters team but I have had some interesting experiences with lane sharing. Asked a swimmer one time to share his lane with me, 50/50 not circle, and he was put off like I asked him to donate a kidney. Had a lane mate making grunting noises as he attempted to look around my head trying to see the pace clock, we were on close intervals that placed us at the wall together several times in a row. I usually just laugh it off and go about my business. Anyhow, as Tim said if you show a little courtesy it will GENERALLY be shown back to you.
Originally posted by Sydney
I've been told by lap swimmers on numerous occasions to splash less. It's a freaking POOL people!
Splashing is energy being wasted!!!
There are good suggestions here but I think the posters need to reconsider the interval recommendations. Van says she swims 1/4 mile in 8 minutes 53 seconds. Let's say 1/4 mile = 400 yds. She is swimming at a pace of 2:15 per 100.
So repeat 100s at 1:30 won't do. Maybe repeat 100s on 2:30 aiming for 20 seconds rest is a good start.
Many of the triathletes I see have (very) inefficient freestyle so I recommend spending a significant amount of time on technique, at least for several weeks or a few months. That's where a coach or instructional videos can help.
Originally posted by hofffam
There are good suggestions here but I think the posters need to reconsider the interval recommendations. Van says she swims 1/4 mile in 8 minutes 53 seconds. Let's say 1/4 mile = 400 yds. She is swimming at a pace of 2:15 per 100.
So repeat 100s at 1:30 won't do. Maybe repeat 100s on 2:30 aiming for 20 seconds rest is a good start.
Many of the triathletes I see have (very) inefficient freestyle so I recommend spending a significant amount of time on technique, at least for several weeks or a few months. That's where a coach or instructional videos can help. As close to 1:30 for Van could be 1:40, 1:50, 2:30. A quarter mile is 440 yards. The important thing is to set time goals and rest periods can be as long as you want. In order to get faster for the mile you must be able to swim pretty fast for a 50 or a hundred. After your 100 times get to be faster reduce your rest periods.
