To quote Gull: What is the right mix of technique and endurance for a Masters athlete (who wants to be competitive, say, at Nationals) with a finite amount of time to train?
Back to Endurance Training - I just got out of the pool 8 x 100 at aerobic speed and 2 x 25 butterfly. Thats all the endurance I could muster today.
Lucky you. I didn't do any endurance training today. :mad: And I'm assured I have bad technique. I'm really sunk. I'm going to take LBJ's advice and become an OW swimmer. Or maybe go back to running. I take that much less seriously.
Rich:
I hope you at least warmed down. Very important. Gets that lactic acid out. Did you sit in your hottub after? Maybe when the congestion is done with us, we actually do a whole 200. But it's do or do not. No try. So I didn't today.
The neural muscle memory thing does not have to be repeated every day, once you have it it no longer has to be repeated. I feel sorry for any one who has to memorize everyday.
I guess you'll be joining the "usual suspects" since Donna agrees that good technique becomes natural over time and does not need to be constantly memorized. :joker:
Thanks Terry I did not realize that you have seen me swim lately, I have not quite attained perfect yet but stll trying.
I have seen some of your recent videos and must say I am amazed at your progress. However it did take you 40 years... To me you have not attained perfect yet but I can see the gradual improvement. Will you please let me know when your butterfrog DVD is ready, I am getting anxious.
I suggest however not to memorize any bad habits I think it would be better for you to try and get the perfect stroke before grinding into memory any mistakes.
Best zing all day. Kudos George.
As you note, I have always been a slow learner when it comes to sports. I was frustrated about that as a kid. In baseball I got stuck in right field where I'd present the least liability. In basketball, I played defense but was never a scorer. In cross-country I finished last out of hundreds in a major HS invitational. In soccer I sprained my ankles through clumsiness. And in swimming I got cut from the first team I tried out for at age 12 and qualified only for the "novice" championship (swimming against freshmen) as a HS senior.
As an adult I've realized it can be an advantage. It's taught me patience. It's helped me relate to other slow learners. And it's given me hope that I can keep learning year after year after year.
After spending March to August focused on distance free, for the 1500/1650 and the OW season, I decided to train as a 400 IMer for balance Sept through Dec. The progress I made was thrilling. Two weeks ago, in the middle of a 3600-yard IM set with Dave I swam the fastest 400 IM -- meet or practice -- since 1994. You can imagine how exciting that was.
This all sounds a little revenge of the nerds to me. I've seen it at work in other settings too. You weren't good when you were young, but now that you're older and wise, you've used guile to get better and some of the best have dropped out. So now you can play with the big boys like Jonty. You might have noticed, but Donna is one of those big boys. She's got the creds. And I don't believe respect is due only to people with creds.
I guess I'm glad I had some success in sports as a youth. I might not be more patient, but I don't have a tude either. And as an adult, I still find plenty of things "thrilling" -- like runing my first marathon, running my son's first 10K with him, or competing in my first OW swim. Good stuff.
You could go back and answer the question I posed several pages ago. You said, agreeing with Allen Stark -- another big boy because he's a world champion -- that 7 weeks of endurance was plenty. I questioned that, noting that if you were doing distance swimming, perhaps as big boy Paul noted, a different program was in order. So I asked your views. Certainly relevant to the topic of the thread.
I think good technique does indeed become habit, so does bad technique. I also think that EVERYONE needs to be reminded of good technique from time to time so that they don't develop bad habits, I mean Coughlin & Phelps drill daily so ...
Congratulations on having achieved the perfect stroke. I don't expect to ever get there.
Even Tiger Woods hasn't gotten there. Indeed Matt Biondi after several world records and 7 Olympic medals said he'd only learned about 10% of what there was to learn.
Your posts come off as rather rude frequently is that your intention or is it an email/message board lack of actual tone thing?
I also think it is interesting to look at the world of running when pondering people's appetite for unmindfull endurance-oriented activities. ;)
Very funny Lindsay. :rofl: You could just say you disagree with running, instead of zinging it. I guess even the most mindful among us can't resist a good zing. What's the matter? Bad knees like Terry? I find running to be very restorative; I used to get into a "reverie" (I know I've heard that word somewhere) and go much further than I should have. Man, I get socked either way. No good to be a sprint swimmer; unmindful to be a distance runner. Can't win with this mixed group of joksters and examined thinkers.
It sounds like you're doing more speedwork, not endurance though. Congrats on that 100 free. Good luck on your fly too. As you know, I think race pace fly is fun. Gotta do some high quality intense sprint sets, as you already know.
You always recast my questions in a more lucid manner. So let's just stick with your question and proceed onward.
As to that recast question, personally, I would say that I know I need to do more endurance work if I want to swim a respectable 200. I'd like to do a decent 200 IM. But I don't have much interest in doing a slow painful one in a meet. Not that I don't realize it will be painful. Oh crap, no one likes that pain word here... Not that I don't realize it will create uncomfortable sensations. I just know that limited yardage won't get me there.
Fortress I to refer to teaching people and we should not fault Terry for telling us about it.
Look at post #4 forums.usms.org/showthread.php I ocassionally brag to.
Once I had a discussion with my meet director over a Masters meet. She was critiquing somebody saying to the effect that they should just lighten up, it was "just" Masters swimming.
The individual in question was in fact in the swimming profession and his livelihood depended on having some respect as a competitor who could "walk the walk". So why should he "lighten up" when her decisions (which were breaking some USMS rules) could affect his status as an expert ?
As serious as amateur competitors can be, it takes it up to an entire new level if swimming is how you support yourself & family.
Sometimes, when dealing with disagreements it is helpful to completely cut out all references to one's "opponent" and just make one's point based purely on its merits. Getting personal just creates an unpleasant atmosphere that isn't fun for anyone.
My :2cents:
