I'm going to shoot for the moon...help?

So it's been what a month ish? Well things are going well. I've got 6-9 hours a week in the pool, 4 hours for dryland, and an extra 4 hours in the pool working out with water polo. I've lost weight, at least I think I have, I never weighted myself in the first place... I'm consistently swimming 100fr on the 1:10 interval at practices. And considering that I've been out of the water for what...3 years?...That to me seems pretty damn good. My 100bk seems to be a bit faster than my 100fr at this point. I have realized that I really need to work in my turns and my calves. I had surgery on my right ankle this summer to reconstruct the ligaments. I have full flexability back, but the strength is an issue. Turns are where I am falling behind. My coach (he's the masters coach and high school coach) has made minor corrections in technique, but he thinks what I really need is to up the endurance because my technique is pretty good. Now do ya'll believe me that I'm not going to just up and quit? I'm not sure what more I need to prove to ya'll to get any respect for at least TRYING to achieve a goal. I mean seriously, even if I try and don't meet my goal, I should at least get the credit for getting my butt back in the pool and giving it a shot....

Thank you. Everything you said is what I need to hear. Especially the healthier diet thing. I have the training, I have the dicipline, I just need to keep going. :-) Madeline Apart from all the (seeming) joshing, you will discover that 99.999999% of forumites here will be pulling for you and trying to help and hoping that you will make it. (After all, if you do make it, it will be BECAUSE of all the support you got here, USMS Forums and WE will take all the credit possible.)

Madeline: I think it's a great goal! You gotta spend your days doing something.... After being out of the water for so long, you are sure to improve quickly with hard work. Why not test yourself every couple of weeks? Start with a 50 free all out on the clock. Make a list of the things you could have done better (tighter streamline, not dropping elbows, etc.) and work on those as part of your workouts over the next two weeks. Then set a goal for yourself to go faster than the previous swim and then race! As you get faster, you'll likely keep yourself motivated day after day. After a while, you may hit a plateau, but these little tests (and little celebrations for faster times) should keep you motivated for the first few months. This worked for me after I returned to Masters after several years out of the water. Good luck!

I'm just reading this for the first time and I want to give you my support. Go for it girl!

So what do I ask of ya’ll? SUPPORT! Please help me to keep up with my workouts (I will be joining a local masters program). I’ll also be posting more often in this forum. Madeline Madeline, Nothing like a Big Hairy Audacious Goal to get you up in the morning and keep you focused. I applaud your ambition. There have been a number of good ideas in this post thus far. IMHO, the "easy" things to focus on (though not necessarily to do) have been mentioned already: pool training, eating/diet, fitness via outside pool activities like lifting/pilates/running/yoga, etc. Most of these are focused on increasing your propulsion (pool, fitness) and reducing your drag (diet). However, I think that you need to put significant focus on your technique -- learning how to further reduce drag, increase stroke length and reduce the energy you expend to move forward each yard -- as this is going to be a critical way to get faster. I think one of the big differences that we as adult swimmers can bring (and generally have to bring given our reduced time allotment for training) is to focus more mindfully on our strokes. I'd recommend you get yourself videotaped and analyzed by a coach with a strong emphasis on technique. I'd highly recommend you look into the books and videos by Terry Laughlin's company, Total Immersion (www.totalimmersion.net). Full disclosure: Terry was head coach of my age group team back when I was like 11 to 13; but over the years since that time, he's spent considerable time thinking and innovating on how to teach swimmers to swim fluidly and more "fish-like." I had basically been stagnant as a Master's swimmer since I got back in the water in 2001, but decided to get a stroke analysis in early April this year by one of Terry's TI-trained coaches, Anne Wilson of Camelback Coaching (www.camelbackcoaching.com). I had been training harder to try to do well at the Austin Master's, but had just swum some absolutely crummy times at our Arizona Master's championships. When I viewed the videos, I was stunned with how many things I was doing wrong. Mind you, I was a serious competitor in college and, although I wasn't world class, I swam at UT-Austin back in the day (85-89) and had come within a second of making Trials in both the 400 free and IM. However, even with that strong base, there were a number of areas that I could instantly see were increasing my drag in the water and decreasing my speed. I spent the next 5 weeks prior to Austin focused almost exclusively on technique, averaging about 15K yards per week. Although my performance was nothing that would get written up in USMS magazine, I dropped times in all my events, notably 3 seconds faster than my previous Masters' best in both the 500 and 400 IM. As I train now, I'm devoting considerably more 'thought energy' in my workouts to how I am swimming versus how hard or how fast I'm swimming. It remains to be seen if this will translate into further time decreases, but, based how much more in control of the water I feel these days, I'm anticipating further time drops. Patrick

If the technique is good the conditioning will come.I agree that more speed work is good.Also,waterpolo is a good cross-training sport,at least for the next year or 2(probably swimming and swimming related dryland work for the last 2 years though.)If you want it enough you will get there.

Hey Madeline, Go for it! Hell, I'm in a similar situation, with even less hope. I started swimming seriously only 6 years ago, at the age of 35. I managed to get my 100 Free (SCM) time "down" to 1:27.4 which I was happy with. That was 3 years ago. I now do 100 Free (SCY) repeats in 1:28 at the age of 41. I'm happy with that. But how is my situation like yours? Ever since I was in high school, I have wanted to "do" a modern pentathlon. You know, the multi-sport event which includes: 10m air pistol, epee fencing, 200m swim, equestrian jumping and 3000m cross-country run (all in one day). As a kid, I couldn't afford to take any of those sports, besides running and swimming, which I did (10Ks, triathlons, etc). Well, I grew up, joined the military, got married, had kids, got busy. But I still want to do modern pentathlon. I'm doing it! And the best part is, as a master level pentathlete, I only have to compete in four of the five events (no equestrian). I plan on competing in a Masters-level pentathlon (actually a tetrathlon) in 2011 in Europe. Additionally, for us fat and slow masters, the swim is reduced to 100m and the run is reduced to 2000m. Even better! So what I'm trying to tell you is: JUST DO IT. You're young, in good shape (I'd die for 1:10 repeats!), without kids (I assume) and have the support of your family and your new USMS family! GO FOR IT! Cheers, and good luck,

Go Madeline! Yours is a completely realistic and attainable goal - to qualify for 2012 US Olympic Trials. Given your club swimming history and that mid 58 swim, there is no physical reason why you can't get to the cuts. It is not impossible and it also doesn't take the sacrifice of your life, schooling, or other activities! You CAN do them all (and well), you just need to make sure you are training right for YOU. Not sure if you are only interested in the 100 free, or whether you are more a 50/100 swimmer or a 100/200 swimmer. Since you only mentioned the 100 free, i'll assume that is your one focus. Try breaking down your goals into 3-4 month increments with a reset after each major breakthrough. From here to December, try swimming some USA meets - can you qualify for US Nationals in Dec in Atlanta? 100 free 51.89 SCY or 58.89 LCM 50 free: 23.89 SCY or 27.29 LCM. Then you'd get back to national competition. Best of all, that meet has a LCM Invitiational on the last day (Sunday, I think) that is open only to the qualifiers. If not that meet, then train for some fast meet near year end 2008. See where you are. Adjust training after that. Then train for whatever sectionals or grand prix type meet come up in the spring.