I wanted to ask a question - just out of curiosity.
I had a too strenuous training regime a couple of weeks ago and I ended up a bit overtrained. I suffered then from chronic exhaustion and my results became much poorer. All improvement that I had made during the past three months was gone. I started to swim 50m fc at terrifying time of 41-43 secs, though I had already been able to do the same in 38 secs for 50m (not great, I know, but my swimming career is yet rather short).
I decided to have a rest. I was going to the pool only two - three times a week, decreased the volume to 1500-2000 and abandoned any demanding tasks. Just leisure swimming - technique and turns.
After about 10-12 days I was feeling great. No sign of exhaustion. In fact the fatigue disappeared already after about three days of rest.
But then, whenever I tried to experiment with speed and swim one or two 50s or 100s I found my results still as poor as at the time when my exhaustion reached its peak. I could not understand why my body does not want to stand a heavier effort even though my subjective symptoms of overtraining (i.e. fatigue etc) are no longer felt.
Now I am back in form - even did my pb at 50m :) (probably because I focussed so much on technique during the past three weeks).
Still I am very curious why it was so hard to me to swim faster, even though I did not feel any chronic exhaustion any longer? Is it possible that the effects of the overtraining last still longer than you subjectively experience them?
Parents
Former Member
Lindsay,
I have discovered over this last decade that my taper HAS to be longer than I think it should be. I found this out accidentally. I was starting a taper for the 1995 LC Nationals. I had previously been doing doubles several times a week for about 8 weeks. I knew I was tired; my race pace was off; my times were horrible, but I knew it was because of the effort I had been training with. I was looking forward to the taper.
One morning I woke up and had double ear infections and it was 10-12 days before my flight to Oregon. Rushed to the doctor and antibiotics were given. I had a fever and my jaws looked like I had the mumps. I was down; I could not even taper, I had to totally stop swimming for that 10 day period.
I was crushed over this, as well as worried :help:that I would lose so much power and my normal "feel" for the water. Well, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Had it not been for those ear infections, I would have kept swimming but tapering. I had no idea how much REST my body truly needed. I believe I was in my mid-40s about this time.
When the gun went off for the 800m free, I was explosive and I felt like a stick of dynmite. I kept negative splitting every 50 and the farther I swam, the better I felt. My time was improved by over several minutes. I had a 3rd place finish that year at LC Nationals.
My point is this: I did not know I needed more rest and if I had probably tapered down, according to those "charts", I may not have swam very well. I needed more rest/recovery than I ever realized. And I can thank those double ear infections for making certain I did not enter the water.
Donna
Lindsay,
I have discovered over this last decade that my taper HAS to be longer than I think it should be. I found this out accidentally. I was starting a taper for the 1995 LC Nationals. I had previously been doing doubles several times a week for about 8 weeks. I knew I was tired; my race pace was off; my times were horrible, but I knew it was because of the effort I had been training with. I was looking forward to the taper.
One morning I woke up and had double ear infections and it was 10-12 days before my flight to Oregon. Rushed to the doctor and antibiotics were given. I had a fever and my jaws looked like I had the mumps. I was down; I could not even taper, I had to totally stop swimming for that 10 day period.
I was crushed over this, as well as worried :help:that I would lose so much power and my normal "feel" for the water. Well, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Had it not been for those ear infections, I would have kept swimming but tapering. I had no idea how much REST my body truly needed. I believe I was in my mid-40s about this time.
When the gun went off for the 800m free, I was explosive and I felt like a stick of dynmite. I kept negative splitting every 50 and the farther I swam, the better I felt. My time was improved by over several minutes. I had a 3rd place finish that year at LC Nationals.
My point is this: I did not know I needed more rest and if I had probably tapered down, according to those "charts", I may not have swam very well. I needed more rest/recovery than I ever realized. And I can thank those double ear infections for making certain I did not enter the water.
Donna
