uhhh, hi... i'm new here. and, in reality, new to swimming. thirty two years ago in basic training i had to learn how to swim to graduate. since then... no swimming.... last year (in december 2006) i decided to start swimming... i have no idea what kind of expectations i should have with regard to ability or progress.... at this point... i swim two to three days a week. typically, i swim one mile without stopping. currently, it takes me about 34 to 36 minutes to swim that. when i am done, i still feel relatively fresh... today, i went 1.5 miles.... 50 minutes.... the only stroke i know is the freestyle... can't do a flip turn to save my sorry carcass.... any suggestions... comments... ideas of what to look forward to... i have no idea if i'm any good at this, but it sure is fun... thanks in advance...
I started to swim at age 48 and have been doing it now for 7 years. Don't worry about the flip turns yet. I swam for over 2 years before attempting them. Just work on balance and stroke technique until you're comfortable in the water then do some of the things the others have here recommended. You'll get better and even may want to learn to master the other strokes.
uhhh, hi... i'm new here. and, in reality, new to swimming. thirty two years ago in basic training i had to learn how to swim to graduate. since then... no swimming.... last year (in december 2006) i decided to start swimming... i have no idea what kind of expectations i should have with regard to ability or progress.... at this point... i swim two to three days a week. typically, i swim one mile without stopping. currently, it takes me about 34 to 36 minutes to swim that. when i am done, i still feel relatively fresh... today, i went 1.5 miles.... 50 minutes.... the only stroke i know is the freestyle... can't do a flip turn to save my sorry carcass.... any suggestions... comments... ideas of what to look forward to... i have no idea if i'm any good at this, but it sure is fun... thanks in advance...
i guess my question was vague, huh... actually, in reading through.. it seems there was no question... however, the suggestions from each of you (michelle, rich and oguz) are excellent. thank you. i truly have no idea what i am doing (besides having fun). i will continue scouring the boards here, i will pick up the book. and i will continue to have fun... thanx, again.
First, don't worry about how fast you are going.
I'm not exactly sure, but it looks like what you are really interested in is making your workout more interesting and challenging for your ability. You should feel a good kind of tired at the end of your swim. It's hard when you swim through a long distance to know if you are going out to slow or too fast until you've hit the end.
If you enjoy swimming straight through, stick with that. But maybe try something where you try to vary your intensity throughout the swim. For example, throughout your swim vary between slow, medium and fast. Maybe throw in one or two laps after you are halfway through where you go as fast as you can. This will help to make sure you are challenging yourself as a swim a distance.
If you'd like to try something different, go for an interval based workout. I would stay away from the type where you are doing it on a time (ex: do 10x 50 yards on 1:00; this means you have to swim them all under a minute). Go for interval based sets instead and pay attention to how fast you complete them (ex: 10 x 50 yards, 30 seconds rest). The idea is that you can swim shorter distances at a faster pace than if you are swimming a mile because you get a bit of rest in between. The trick is to not rest too long for the speed you are swimming. Check your heart rate, and don't let it get too low before your next send-off. If it's getting too low either try to go faster, or decrease the rest (or both).
You might want to try learning a new stroke, or just improving your freestyle or learning flip turns. There are tons of places on the board here and on the web to find great advice on learning new swimming techniques.
But these are just some ideas, since I'm not really sure I understand what your question is.
One last thing. The goal is to always try to go a little faster. Keep swimming the mile in the same amount of time and you won't see any speed improvements. Keep trying to go a little faster. Your body won't get used to your workout that way, either.
What I learned when I came back to swimming is how important technique is. Learning good stroke technique will save joint pain and will really aid in going faster as you become a stronger swimmer.
Got Boost
Hi Jim,
I also recommend the book Fitness Swimming.
You might also have a look at Interval Based Training... by Kevin Williams in this forum. The workouts are really creative.
Best of luck
I'd also recommend the Kevin Williams intervals. They have different workouts based on your speed, and one of the posts translates your speed in a half-hour swim into the appropriate workout.
How about finding a cool masters team to swim with? All abilities welcome at most teams. Most often you just need to be willing to learn new strokes as they are presented; maybe take some stroke clinics. It's way more fun to swim with people, most of the time, than alone.
uhhh, hi... i'm new here. and, in reality, new to swimming. thirty two years ago in basic training i had to learn how to swim to graduate. since then... no swimming.... last year (in december 2006) i decided to start swimming... i have no idea what kind of expectations i should have with regard to ability or progress.... at this point... i swim two to three days a week. typically, i swim one mile without stopping. currently, it takes me about 34 to 36 minutes to swim that. when i am done, i still feel relatively fresh... today, i went 1.5 miles.... 50 minutes.... the only stroke i know is the freestyle... can't do a flip turn to save my sorry carcass.... any suggestions... comments... ideas of what to look forward to... i have no idea if i'm any good at this, but it sure is fun... thanks in advance...
Jim can reccoment a good book "Fitness Swimming" by Emmett hines. It will give you goo information to refine your freestyle and then move onto different workouts that can help build speed and stamina.
It a good book because it will take you as far as you want to go--right up to training for races. I got it because it's portable and you can take it everywhere. You will get the great same advice on this forum but unless you ave a really long extension cable you can't take the computeer with you to the pool :)
Best of luck and health.
Rich
Hi Jim,
I also recommend the book Fitness Swimming.
You might also have a look at Interval Based Training... by Kevin Williams in this forum. The workouts are really creative.
Best of luck
Goals are good. When I started swimming as an adult, I selected small goals. Things like learning a flip turn. Learning butterfly. Swimming 400 im in practice, swimming 200 fly in practice. Swimming 1000 in a meet.
I am liking the distance challenge USM is running. I am way down on the yardage list compared to others, but each month I see my mileage go up, and the consistency of my pool time makes me happy and motivates me.
So find things to focus on to attain. It can be getting to the pool 3 days a week for a month, learning new things, whatever motivates you.
Beware though, chlorine IS addictive, and you go through withdrawel when you are apart too long.:joker:
