Observations after a week back in the water

Hi Barry, I am certain you are going to gets loads of advice on this one. Rome wasn't built in a day, nor will getting your body into swimming conditioning in a short period of time. A lot of what you will be doing is determined by your goal(s); i.e., stamina and health, or stamina, health and fast speed or whatever else. But I would think that the first order of business is to get into a solid aerobic conditioning. Swimming can definitely do this if you put in the time and yardage. Some added strength training certainly would fit into this equation. I have no desire to face the threshhold of trying to repeat my Olympic training times. The reason is over 35 years have passed by and I will not fool myself into thinking it is reasonable or doable. Physiologically, my body has changed and is still changing--it's going away a little each day. It's called aging. With that said, I can still get in terrific swimming conditioning now (58) and I am willing to pay the physical price to get there. After all, it will benefit my body tremendously in all aspects. I would definitely work on stroke technique. Swimming lots of laps with poor stroke is what you will get if you don't. Do some short anaerobic drills also. One thing I still do to this day is I swim 1 lap fast, 1ez until failure. In the beginning, the failure happens pretty quick. After about 6 weeks, I am doing this type of swim for long periods of time. Distance is also crucial to the little sets below. Since you are starting out, do some sets on the clock if you have one there at the pool. For starters: 10x50's with 15 sec rest; 6x75's with a short rest interval. Throw in a 200 ez swim. This comes out to about 1200 yards. Now, that may be small, but you are just beginning again. I think with doing some small sets like these in the beginning will prevent you from thinking about how swimming alone sucks. You'll be too busy swimming and looking at the clock. Increase the yardage weekly and begin to throw in more challenging things for yourself. You can also use the kickboard to kick 1 fast, 1 ez, etc. There are loads of combinations and distances. Also, find out what your target heart rate should be for your age and try to swim within that range. I to this day take mine as I go around a certain buoy in the ocean. I also take it 1 minute later to see how fast it has returned to normal. This is a good guide as to how conditioning is coming along. Over the years, I have found swimming to not be boring; I find the solitude magnificent. Good luck, keep us posted on your progress and any bumps in the road along the way. Donna

Thank you Donna and Terry I agree the first order of business is to get into a solid aerobic conditioning. That was always the easy part for me. A little about my swimming background, I swam age group growing up, but my high school didn't have a pool or a swim team, so I was never really pushed. I swam masters off and on for 10 or 12 years until I was 35. Masters was a blast. The benefit came more from swimming with others than from having a coach. The majority of the coaches we had did not work with me on technique. That was probably as much my fault as it was the coaches. The Masters team I was on was at a local Y. We had a lot of fun, but the coaching available was nothing compared to what some people on these forums appear to have. I guess you get what you pay for. My stroke is not really that bad. My freestyle is adequate. I have a decent natural backstroke, and my breastroke improved greatly after watching the 96 Olympics. Can't remember who I was trying to copy. I see alot of discussion of the science behind the strokes on these forums, and thats where I get lost. I just swim with what seems natural to me. I know I got no kick in Freestyle. Is it possible to have less than a 2 beat kick?:laugh2: When I concentrate on improving the kick, my stroke goes all to hell. I am doing kick sets during my workouts. I do want to keep swimming. I do love it. So now I guess its time to set some goals. Towards that end, I've started a blog, basically, a diary of my workouts. I've dug out my old spreadsheet of my meet times. Next goal to swim 5 one hour workouts a week. Swim a meet on December 9, to establish a baseline of where I'm at. I'll definitely check out that thread, Terry. As far as strength training, I've never done it. Don't even know where to begin really.

Hi again, Barry !!! Wow, this is exciting--an upcoming swim meet. Not only can they be fun, but as you say you will establish a baseline. I know it is possible to have less than a 2-beat kick; I've actually seen it!! As far as strength training, I use Swim Cordz the highest level of resistance ones. I live in a place (an island) that has no gym, so I use my cordz to add strength to my upper body. Most people do use weights, though. A lot of swimming is finding body balance and timing and this comes with a lot of time in the water. It is also slightly different for many people. In Freestyle, I am not a big kicker. My legs act as stabilizers for my body. Of course, I swim distance. If I were a sprinter, I'd probably have that 6-beat kick. Backstroke DOES require a good, usually 6-beat kick. As this was my stroke for my entire life, kick, body position, timing meant everything. Please keep us informed as to how it is going, as well as your upcoming swim meet in December. Like Nemo, Keep on Swimming !!:groovy: Donna