On another thread, there was a reference to having a "focus event." I was wondering how many of us have focus events and what they are. Is it a good thing to have a focus event to help direct your training?
I have an event that always seems to be my "best" event (50 back), but I wouldn't say I focus on it exclusively at all. More apt to focus on sprinting in general.
Thoughts?
Remember, the next meet is the SPRINT classic.
Doing any USA-S meets this fall? I need to focus on my meet schedule.
I plan on being at the Sprint meet. I may do 200's depending on how my wrist is doing. With recovery from the surgery, I doubt I'll do any USA-S meets. This fall is mostly a recovery time for me. I go back to the doctor on Wed and hope to get cleared to kick in the water. You know it's bad when you hope to at least be able to kick and submerge in the water!
Ann, I'm focusing on the 400IM, too. Will you be doing it at Nats in Portland?
Alison
At this point in time, it takes focus just for me to find time to get to the pool. If I had to pick an event it would be the 100 Fly or the 200 IM since they put you through you paces. If I am good to go on those two events then I am good to go in general.
Got Boost
Given the distances that your are swimming already, I'd lay good money down that you could do it now. I'm not saying it would be a walk in the park, but you could do it.
Agreed. I recently completed my 10k postal swim. During the two months before I did the swim I took nearly half the days off. I swam more than 4000 yds only a handful of times.
The rule of thumb I remember from another life when my knees let me run without a care was that to complete a certain distance you need to practice at one-third the race distance on a regular basis.
Skip
I'm focused on a 20 mile swim next year; time is irrelevant; completion is everything. I'll feel better when I get to consistent 10 mile swims. The clock is ticking and I'm trying to keep up.:doh:
I'm focused on a 20 mile swim next year; time is irrelevant; completion is everything. I'll feel better when I get to consistent 10 mile swims. The clock is ticking and I'm trying to keep up.:doh:
You can do it Donna...:banana::groovy::drink::applaud:
I'm focused on a 20 mile swim next year; time is irrelevant; completion is everything. I'll feel better when I get to consistent 10 mile swims. The clock is ticking and I'm trying to keep up.:doh:
Given the distances that your are swimming already, I'd lay good money down that you could do it now. I'm not saying it would be a walk in the park, but you could do it.
If you get to consistent 10 milers, you will be READY in spades. At that level, you could handily do Manhattan, if you can take the colder water.
-LBJ
My very first Marathon race 15 miles. I never trained over 2 hours of swimming. My second race that year a ten miler.
I laid off all winter and started to train in May again never swam over 2 hours and did a 28 miler, 2nd week in July. Swimming long distance is not that hard it just takes desire to win and swim. But I was 30 years old.
The rule of thumb I remember from another life when my knees let me run without a care was that to complete a certain distance you need to practice at one-third the race distance on a regular basis.
Skip
Yes, that was the wisdom for the marathon that came out of the 1970's. The rule was that if you averaged 1/3 the race distance per day for 8 weeks before the race, you could complete it (as opposed to race it.) I think that's true for running, but I think that swimming is more forgiving in that regard - i.e. you can get by with less due to the fact that you are not pounding your legs and swimming is more of a full-body exercise. Experience also skews this, both for swimming and running. I used to hop into marathons with little prep and racewalk them in about 4 hours (fastest was about 3:26) - it was painful, but I knew I could finish and did.
I also think that the newer energy drinks (e.g. Accelerade) help as well and in a long swim, you have a boat right there to give you one whenever you want.
Barring bad luck, Donna will have this in the bag.
-LBJ
The breaststroke on the back with tempo drill is interesting.I must point out that the swimmer was raising her legs at the hips,which slows you down. One good thing about the kick on your back drill is you can make sure your knees don't break the surface. Hers really do.
