Coming back to the water after 16 years.

RE: Coming back to the water after 16 years.

waves101 — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 09:54:20 GMT

Carl, I started back at age 32 after 10 years out of the pool. I can remember my arms hurting so much I couldn't raise them under my pillow to sleep at night. The first year I only worked out for a few months and attended only 1 meet, our state meet. I didn't set the world on fire but I did do well enough to focus on doing better my second year. I was between jobs the second year so I was able to work out with my former high school team doing 7000 - 8000 per day. I got back to within 1 second of my lifetime best in the 100 free. Since that time, I've transitioned to more of a year round swimmer but only doing about 3000 per day. I'm still within 1.5 seconds of my best 100 and am setting lifetime bests in distance events. Keep at it, it'll all come together. When showing up starts to get hard, find a partner. That way you'll feel guilty if you don't show up and it'll help both of you stay engaged in the workouts.

RE: Coming back to the water after 16 years.

Former Member — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 15:31:04 GMT

RE: Coming back to the water after 16 years.

Former Member — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 15:19:33 GMT

One complaint I have with the Swedish goggles is they don't have an anti-fog coating. Is there a more expensive version that does? I only paid $5 for mine.

RE: Coming back to the water after 16 years.

Former Member — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 15:00:19 GMT

Thanks for the link, but back at ya with http://www.swimtowin.com :D I picked up a few pairs from Swimtowin at $2.79 each and a set of Hind Compy's as well to have around. I still find the Sweedish to be the most comfortable for me. I don't like the gaskets much but wanted to have the Compys on hand for that off-day where I may want them. I've been back in the water 4 times now. Last W-F and this M-W so far and it's rough going. My lungs do not want to cooporate with the rest of my body. I'm actually running out of oxygen before I can get my heart rate up high enough to really get energized. It appears I have to build my lungs back up before I can really start pushing longer sets.

RE: Coming back to the water after 16 years.

Former Member — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 13:15:43 GMT

Carl, I just saw on www.discountswim.com sweedish goggles for $3.75. Thought I would let you know.

RE: Coming back to the water after 16 years.

aquageek — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 11:26:43 GMT

One complaint I have with the Swedish goggles is they don't have an anti-fog coating. Is there a more expensive version that does? I only paid $5 for mine. The TYR Socket Rocket 2.0s seem to fog less than other Swedes. They cost about $7, or $17 for the metalized version.

RE: Coming back to the water after 16 years.

Midas — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 03:39:59 GMT

Yeah, but it's just always been habbit to reach up and wipe them clean between sets. I haven't worn them in so long and it was almost automatic the other day when I put them on to do that when I stopped. I was the same way and when I got back into the pool, I did so with a pair of swedes. Then I was out of town and needed some goggles and bought a pair of Speedos (which I knew the type, but I don't). The anti-fog actually makes a WORLD of difference in visibility after that first 50 or so once the swedes fog up. I'd highly recommend looking into a pair of anti-fog goggles. I'm still going to wear my swedes for meets, though.

RE: Coming back to the water after 16 years.

Former Member — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 14:59:48 GMT

It gets better quickly. At your stage you should concentrate on not overdoing it and avoiding injuries. I'm also your height and I had ballooned to 215 before I started swimming again this summer, and you're only at 200, so take heart. I'm now at about 193 after 3 months of swimming 3-4 times a week.

RE: Coming back to the water after 16 years.

Former Member — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 12:31:03 GMT

Ouch :drown: First morning back in and was only able to log 600 yards before my shoulders hit near muscle failure. It took me about 45 min to completely recover both respiratory and upper body :cane: 10 min of stretching then I only did 100 warm up and light 50's the rest of the time. I was having to stretch almost after every 50 and roll a few times to backstroke to catch up on breathing. As the shoulders were breaking down, technique went to hell really quick and long strokes became short chopping strokes. I had no idea I was this out of sorts. Please tell me this gets better quick. At least my flip turns are as solid as they ever were and my stroke count from the flags is predictable on back.

RE: Coming back to the water after 16 years.

Midas — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 04:54:39 GMT

RE: Coming back to the water after 16 years.

Former Member — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 13:33:58 GMT

Carl - being a guy of similar size as you, I would hesitate to call that overweight ;) It's not so much the weight as the distribution of weight :drink:

RE: Coming back to the water after 16 years.

Muppet — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 08:35:07 GMT

Carl - being a guy of similar size as you, I would hesitate to call that overweight ;) Anyways, welcome back to the pool! I think AnnG has some good advice about just picking a meet and swimming in it. The biggest thing I regret about my masters career is not doing more meets when I was starting out. They are a lot of fun, and my teammates were very inclusive, making sure I got on relays, sat with them, etc. It really helped to develop friendships with the guys on the team and get more involved in team activities. -jeff

RE: Coming back to the water after 16 years.

Former Member — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 13:50:51 GMT

RE: Coming back to the water after 16 years.

Former Member — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 13:36:31 GMT

Thanks for the welcome. Replied to your PM Bill and thanks for the offer! I left out the fact that I was really bad for about 10 years and picked up the cancer stick habbit. I've been off of them for about 3 years now and just begining to feel like I can exert my lungs again. I am embarrased to share that, but it's just another reason for me to push. I smoked too and am now swimming again after a 24 year break and loving every minute of it. My biggest battle is trying to stop myself from swimming everyday. So far I haven't succeeded. The advice given here is excellent. Baby steps at first. Attainable goals and once reached extend the goal posts out a little further. Taking on too much too soon can lead to injury and injury or illness is much more unwelcome than an unattained goal. All the best with your comeback. Syd

RE: Coming back to the water after 16 years.

Former Member — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 11:52:50 GMT

Similar story for me, training became an un-fun chore and improvement stopped. Now it's very different, perhaps no less frustrating but more rewarding. Friendly suggestions: 1. Find the right team 2. Get some stroke clinic work - fix the bad habits, learn the latest evolution of stroke thinking, don't just grind out mileage 3. Get someone to videotape your strokes as a benchmarking tool 4. Consider the shoulder-focused weight programs discussed around here 5. Compete for fun

RE: Coming back to the water after 16 years.

Former Member — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 11:44:25 GMT

Just focus on getting a new set of masters times! Very true. It's unfortunate that so many high school and college swimmers leave the pool with a feeling of relief...as if everything was a chore. I recall not wanting to go near a pool for the longest time. Now you can't keep me away from one. Once the perspective shifts from swimming as work...to doing it just for fun and fitness...everything changes. And as Fortress said, it's a good idea to start with a new benchmark for your goals. Setting the bar too high can lead to discouragement. Maybe after a while you'll surprise yourself with a time that comes very close to your earlier career. But until then it should be all about enjoying the sport. Welcome back to the water.

RE: Coming back to the water after 16 years.

AnnG — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 06:30:25 GMT

My advice is to find a local meet and enter it - whatever looks like fun to you. Being a former collegiate swimmer who was reduced to a single event by my third year, I very much enjoy being able to pick out anything I want. That 100IM sure is fun, I really stink at it but I do it anyway. Get some times and those can be your new baseline - your Masters baseline. Forget about high school and college times and start fresh. Masters is about participating so go enjoy it, don't wait for that magic "back in shape" moment cuz it may never happen.

RE: Coming back to the water after 16 years.

Midas — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 04:55:23 GMT

Very true. It's unfortunate that so many high school and college swimmers leave the pool with a feeling of relief...as if everything was a chore. I recall not wanting to go near a pool for the longest time. Now you can't keep me away from one. When I quit swimming, I had grown so sick of swimming that I hated getting wet (especially in the morning). I didn't even enjoy getting a morning shower! Now I'm up at the crack of dawn and in the pool by 6:00am and loving every minute of it (though getting in the pool is still tough).

RE: Coming back to the water after 16 years.

Midas — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 04:51:50 GMT

Great forum and great suggestions all. Thank you! I set a broad goal a bit further out than I would like specifically becuase I don't know what my starting point is going to be yet and with 2 young kids life does have a tendency of getting in the way from time to time. I believe I'm going to start out with the Zero to 1 Mile workout above to get back into the stroke of things so to speak. I'm also hoping to spend some time with some local masters swimmers and a coach for motivation and stroke work but since there don't appear to be any at my local centers that I belong to I haven't figured out my best course of action on that one yet. I've been swimming on my own for the last three months and thus far have been able to self-motivate within my workouts. I'd recommend doing the same for people just getting back into the water because you can do things at your own pace. You don't have to worry about keeping up, getting lapped, etc. I am thinking of joining a team this winter when my summertime pool closes in late October but haven't decided. I think being on a team will help push me, but it may push me more than I want.

RE: Coming back to the water after 16 years.

Former Member — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 16:52:06 GMT

RE: Coming back to the water after 16 years.

Former Member — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 16:27:31 GMT

wait until you get back into shape before attempting butterfly. haha, no worries on that one...trust me. Fly was my least favorite stroke, although I could do it for IM when needed. Right now I feel like this > :cane:

RE: Coming back to the water after 16 years.

Former Member — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 16:07:37 GMT

wait until you get back into shape before attempting butterfly.

RE: Coming back to the water after 16 years.

Donna — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 12:36:55 GMT

Welcome Carl, You are on the right track. The first month is the hardest, it took me atleast that to get my water lungs back, and even then it takes time to get back in shape so be patient with yourself. I would recommend that if you can find a team to swim with it does help motivate you more. Hope to meet you at one of the South Carolina meets there are usually 3 a year in SC. The next one is in Columbia Nov.3-4, you can get any meet information for the Dixie Zone at www.dixiezone.org.

RE: Coming back to the water after 16 years.

aquageek — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 12:33:10 GMT

I sent you a PM about swimming in the greater Charlotte area, not knowing if you knew all the features of this forum yet. Since you are new, the only advice I can give it to ignore everything Stud says. You might want to enable that feature of your profile.

RE: Coming back to the water after 16 years.

Former Member — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 08:42:54 GMT

Great links, thank you Midas. Looks like as good a place as any to start over again. We used to do 4k in the morning and 8-10k in the afternoon back when full time training. I'll be happy to just hit the 2k mark in a relatively short time. Regarding bashing butterfly...never. I just don't prefer it as I always had a hard time with getting the timing perfect. If I didn't have to breathe, it wouldn't be so bad :D I forced my way through for IM's because I could usually make up lost time in back and ***.