preparing to compete post heart attack--mini-taper advice?
Former Member
I have taken the plunge. Approximately 20 months following a heart attack (four stents) at the bizarrely young age of 44, I have gotten my masters card and am preparing to swim in my first meet in 28 years. I had to negotiate with my cardiologist to do it, but I'm clear and set to go. I had been working out at about 10 to 12k a week with intermittent breaks for the last year or so, then shifted to going 5x a week for a total of 15k, and for the last month I'm up to close to 20k a week.
Here's my question. I am going to swim at a local meet in about 10 days (Ozark championships in St. Louis) then also (I hope) at the Breadbasket Zones in Iowa a month later. I am focusing on 50 free, 100 free, 100 IM, and 50 fly. I may swim 200 free and 200 IM at Zones--we'll see. Starting modest. I would like to be a little rested for the local meet in 10 days, but would like to "taper"--at my yardage level not sure the term has much meaning--for the Zone meet 5 weeks from now. Any advice, general or specific, on how to plan my workout schedule for this next stretch?
Many thanks in advance for the input.
Gull, if you are out there, I want to thank you for encouraging me to keep going late last year--it really helped.
Best
Red
Parents
Former Member
So I didn't drown! Just completed our local meet in St. Louis, and wow, what a pleasant and positive experience this masters comptetion thing turns out to be.
As I indicated at the beginning of this thread, it had been almost 30 years since my last meet, and I had little idea of what to expect. I limited myself to sprint distances and did okay, though generating explosive speed seems to be a challenge.
For the record
100 IM 116.7
50 Free 28.0 from a horrible start
100 Free 102.3
50 ***, on a lark 42.7
and
50 Fly 32.4
I finished very strong on the 100, which was the most positive part of my performance. I'm thinking that maybe I will work on the 200 free, to see what that will feel like. I will try to get to our zone meet late this month, just to see what another month of work and a little more experience will produce. I was disappointed not to break a minute in the 100, but it is clear to me now that the passing of decades does really make a difference! A goof place to start, anyway.
Many thanks to all who added their thoughts on this thread--it was very encouraging. Having done my first masters meet, I think I'm pretty bought in!
On a more somber note, I was concerned to read the thread about Ron Johnson (who of course I do not know) but pleased to learn that he pulled through and has responded well to treatment.
Again, thanks!
So I didn't drown! Just completed our local meet in St. Louis, and wow, what a pleasant and positive experience this masters comptetion thing turns out to be.
As I indicated at the beginning of this thread, it had been almost 30 years since my last meet, and I had little idea of what to expect. I limited myself to sprint distances and did okay, though generating explosive speed seems to be a challenge.
For the record
100 IM 116.7
50 Free 28.0 from a horrible start
100 Free 102.3
50 ***, on a lark 42.7
and
50 Fly 32.4
I finished very strong on the 100, which was the most positive part of my performance. I'm thinking that maybe I will work on the 200 free, to see what that will feel like. I will try to get to our zone meet late this month, just to see what another month of work and a little more experience will produce. I was disappointed not to break a minute in the 100, but it is clear to me now that the passing of decades does really make a difference! A goof place to start, anyway.
Many thanks to all who added their thoughts on this thread--it was very encouraging. Having done my first masters meet, I think I'm pretty bought in!
On a more somber note, I was concerned to read the thread about Ron Johnson (who of course I do not know) but pleased to learn that he pulled through and has responded well to treatment.
Again, thanks!
