After a 24 year absence from competitive swimming I started back two weeks ago. My stroke (crawl) falls apart after about 200 yrds. I can keep going but with a terribly poor stroke. After a short rest my stroke comes back to normal.
I've been swimming a 400 yrd warm up (I'll mix about 50yrds of *** in to save my stroke) then 10 x 50s on the 1:15. After that my stroke is breaking so I swim 25s then my stroke breaks again and I'll swim every other 25 ***. I've been swimming 30 to 45 minutes a day and running the same.
Cardio wise I am in good shape (I've been running everyday for a long time). I can swim *** for long distances with no problem.
Should I keep resting to let my stroke recover or just pound it out? Will swimming *** ever help my free? I would be thankful for any advise. At one time I was "real" swimmer and now I am embarrassed trying to get back.
Welcome back to the water. I would shoot for an hour workout where you shoot for 2000-2500 yards. I would recommend a 400 swim, 200 drill warmup and then target longer reps (I.e 5x100, 3X200, etc) swims to build your swimming muscles. I would avoid doing too much shorter swims like 25s and 50s until you can build up your endurance.
Welcome back to the water. I would shoot for an hour workout where you shoot for 2000-2500 yards. I would recommend a 400 swim, 200 drill warmup and then target longer reps (I.e 5x100, 3X200, etc) swims to build your swimming muscles. I would avoid doing too much shorter swims like 25s and 50s until you can build up your endurance.
