Mike's SwimBlog

RE: Mike's SwimBlog

Former Member — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 13:09:49 GMT

So I finally had a chanced to swim at one of the competition pools today. I had cool water and a wide lane to myself...what a luxury. My fiance was not able to time me, but there were some other masters swimmers who were happy to help (at least for the fly and free) I made the mistake of asking permission to use the blocks and got the liability speech (note to self: It is easier to beg forgiveness than ask permission) Consequently, my swims were from a bulkhead dive. Here's how I did it: Warm up 200 FR 200 Pull 200 IM 100 FL Drill 100 BK Drill 100 BR Drill 100 FR Drill 8 X 25 Each stroke on :45 (Worked SDK/Breakout (or pullout)on evens) 3:00 Rest 50 Yard Time Trial Results: 50 FL: 27.5 50 BK: 31.0 50 BR: 32.5 50 FR: 23.4 Notes: Fly start was really slow...should have practiced a couple bulkhead starts. Back and *** are approximate since I timed myself. Took 3 fast SDKs on free start and turn, might have been able to get away with 4. Felt really good about the times (except for BK), especially since I just started sprinting in workouts. I need to get someone to look at my bk. Something feel really wrong about it. BR feels strong, but timing is off. I'll do this again in 2 weeks.

RE: Mike's SwimBlog

Former Member — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 13:17:13 GMT

Another really sluggish day at the pool. I concentrated really hard to avoid the dreaded crossover kick. I had planned to conduct "time trials" today, but neither of the decent pools in town was available. I decided to swim a moderate workout instead...I'll try again tomorrow 400 Swim 200 Kick 400 Pull 5 X 100s on 1:30 holding 1:15 5 X 100s BR Kick on 2:00 1 X 400 IM Drill 100 Warm Down

RE: Mike's SwimBlog

Former Member — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 15:01:05 GMT

Struggled through the workout I had planned. I decided to work on 12.5 sprints at the last minute. 400 Swim (6 Beat flutter kick) 200 Kick BR 400 IM Drill 4 X (4 X 50s) on 1:00 FL/BK BK/BR BR/FR FR/FL 4 X 12.5 Sprints from push Experimented with SDK/Breakout 3 Kicks seems best 4 X 12.5 Sprints Flag to flag 200 Warm down

RE: Mike's SwimBlog

Former Member — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 08:38:46 GMT

Tried a different pool since it seems there is a conspiracy afoot. Really enjoyed the different scenery, cool water, and large digital pace clock. Today's emphasis was sprint kicking: 400 FR Swim 200 IM Kick 400 FR Pull 5 X (4 X 25) Kick ~ 4 SDK/4 BK/4 BR/4 FR/4 BR 1-3 Build :10 rest/ 1:30 rest after 3/Sprint 4 for time Times: SDK: 16 BK: 18 BR: 18 FR: 16 BR: 16 5 X (2 X 50)Kick on 1:00 Same order as above 6 X 75 Free on 1:05 4 Pull/2 Swim Avg: 52+ 400 Warm down One month to go before my first meet!!!

RE: Mike's SwimBlog

Former Member — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 07:51:01 GMT

Thanks Ande! That's encouraging. I hadn't put much thought into the suit since cash is a little scarce at the moment. I've been working out in a lycra TYR jammer.

RE: Mike's SwimBlog

Former Member — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 06:06:23 GMT

So that would put me at: Fly: 24.6 BK: 29.0 BR: 29.8 FR: 22.0 I would love to think I can go these times at my first meet back. I hope you're right. I have decided to conduct a time trial this weekend. There is a pretty fast pool here in town. Hopefully, I can get some practice on my starts and see what me 50s look like from the blocks. I have no idea how to translate these my 25 times to a 100 IM. Any ideas out there?

RE: Mike's SwimBlog

ande — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 03:39:31 GMT

you should be much faster than that what sort of suit are you going to wear in your meet? At least get a PRO LEGSKIN Train for speed and strength Rest a little bit and find out where you are think you're going to surprise yourself It also depends if you're a "workout swimmer" some swimmers are very fast in workout and how much rest you need for hard back to back 50's Formula to figure out IM time Swim a hard 200 IM in practice for time subtract 10 seconds. Based on the times above, does anyone have comments on the following methodology for the 50 goals: 50s ~ (2 X 25 Push off time) + 1 Second This would mean goals of: 50 Fly ~ :26.6 50 BK ~ :31.0 50 BR ~ :31.8 50 FR ~ :24.0 Am I being too easy/hard on myself? What are your thoughts? Any alternative theories? What about the IM? Has anyone developed a formula for calculating how fast you can go?

RE: Mike's SwimBlog

Midas — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 09:03:34 GMT

Based on the times above, does anyone have comments on the following methodology for the 50 goals: 50s ~ (2 X 25 Push off time) + 1 Second This would mean goals of: 50 Fly ~ :26.6 50 BK ~ :31.0 50 BR ~ :31.8 50 FR ~ :24.0 Am I being too easy/hard on myself? What are your thoughts? Any alternative theories? What about the IM? Has anyone developed a formula for calculating how fast you can go? Those are pretty good goals, but I would think that,unless your dive starts and turns are absolutely awful, your 50 race times will probably be more like 2 times your 25 push-off times MINUS a second or two. In addition to the speed boost you'll get from your dive, I would have to think you'll just go a little faster in an actual race situation as opposed to sprints in practice. At least, that's how it works for me.

RE: Mike's SwimBlog

Former Member — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 07:16:42 GMT

RE: Mike's SwimBlog

Former Member — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 06:36:06 GMT

mctrusty ~ I was debating whether to do that this weekend vs. 25s from the blocks. I guess I could do both.

RE: Mike's SwimBlog

Former Member — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 05:49:43 GMT

So...I'm trying to set realistic goals for an October 11th meet. They're calling the meet a "Sprint Pentatholon". It is dual sanctioned. The session I'll compete in is Saturday afternoon and only has two age groups (13-14 & Open), and the events are 50s of each stroke and the 100 IM. I plan to swim all five events. Here are my recent 25 times from a sprint practice (from a push): Free 11.5 Back 15.0 *** 15.4 Fly 12.8 The last time I tested (August 15th), I could bench press 250 and squat almost 400 pounds. After 5 weeks of comeback training, I only started swimming "fast" in practice a week ago. I plan to spend the remaining 4 weeks (3-4 workouts per week) emphasizing speed in my workouts. Does anyone know a way to extract goals from these variables? Is there anything else I should take into account? I'll be doing timed swims over the next couple of weeks, but wondered if anyone has an idea of how fast I might be able to go based on my first set.

RE: Mike's SwimBlog

Former Member — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 05:11:44 GMT

500 Free 500 Pull 20 X 25s Kick (:30 rest between) 10 X 50 SDK Down - NB/Long & Strong back - 2 Breaths Lift: Arms/Legs Abs Swam in the indoor pool since morning temps are in the 40s and they've closed the outdoor pool for the season. The indoor pool is warm. Taking the next two days off due to kid schedules. I'll work on posting background information and goals over that time.

RE: Mike's SwimBlog

pwolf66 — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 02:43:04 GMT

Splitting? In a 50? /Tom Hanks There's no splitting in 50s /Tom Hanks A 50 is a pure all up sprint. Unlike 100s, where you want to hold something back, there is no real gain to be had by holding back on a 50 as most folks will not gain back on the 2nd 25 what they lost by holding back on the first 25.

RE: Mike's SwimBlog

mctrusty — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 02:05:44 GMT

forums.usms.org/showpost.php You might want to do some fast 50s and experiment with what kind of splitting will work for you.

RE: Mike's SwimBlog

Former Member — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 11:39:51 GMT

Had some bad luck the last couple of days...seems I lost momentum as soon as I decided to blog. EPIC center was closed last night too, so I had to wait until this morning to swim: 400 Free 200 Kick 400 Pull 200 Free Drill 3 X (4 X 25) Free 1-3 Worked on SDK and break out 0:30 Sec rest 4 Timed from push (:12.0, :11.5, :11.5) 200 Back Drill 3 X (4 X 25) Back 1-3 Worked on SDK/long strokes 4 Timed from push (15.0, 15.0, 15.3) 200 *** Drill 3 X (4 X 25) *** 1-3 Flutter kick/scull 4 Timed from push (16.0, 15.8, 15.4) 200 Fly Drill 3 X (4 X 25) Fly 1-3 SDK 4 Timed from push (13.2, 12.8, 12.8) 200 warm down Total 3200 yards Lifted: Chest/Back/Shoulders 3 X 10 Notes: Can't seem to get turnover going on breaststroke Fly feels really good This was my first time since I started back that I sprinted all out. I felt very tired afterwards and have a little bit of stiffness in my right elbow, especially during free sprints.

RE: Mike's SwimBlog

Former Member — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 15:07:32 GMT

Woke up to a wet high 40s morning Here in Colorado. Since the indoor pool is closed for renovation, I lifted wieghts and stretched. I'll swim this evening at the EPIC center instead.

RE: Mike's SwimBlog

Chris Stevenson — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 03:21:09 GMT

a survey of weight trainers showed the vast majority do ridiculous amounts of ab exercises, again, with no evidence this does much good. Jim, "good" in what sense? Brute strength?

RE: Mike's SwimBlog

Former Member — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 16:30:45 GMT

September 4, 2008 Slept in today after staying up late to watch the convention over a glass (or two) of wine. Needed the break anyway. Since I didn't start blogging when I started swimming, I've summarized my workouts below. Until now, I've focused on plenty of drills and a real emphasis on technique. I have trained alone for the most part. I'm still looking for a place to swim that has a deck coach that can critique my technique and instruct me on the finer points of all the changes that have occured in the last 18 years. Anyway, here it is since I started on July 24th: See attachment In addition to this, I lift 3 times per week. My wieght workout consists of at least two exercises for each muscle group, including legs. I can blast through 3 sets of 20 with little or no rest between sets in just over an hour. This has been a great injury prevention regimen for me. The exercises I do are: Chest: Cable flys Flat bench Incline bench Back: Upright cable rows Lat pulldowns Shoulders: Upright Military press Incline military press shoulder flys Legs: Press Extensions Curls Adductor Abductor Biceps: Narrow barbell curls Wide dumbell curls Triceps Dips Extensions Overhead extension (not sure what this is called) Finally, I have a killer ab routine that I need to do more often. I probably do this 3 times per week (should be 5) 100 feet flat on floor 100 crunches legs raised 100 crunches legs extended and flat 200 crossover (100 each side) 200 legs to the side " 200 laying on side " 100 lifts

RE: Mike's SwimBlog

jim thornton — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 12:43:29 GMT

I was just the American College of Sports Medicine conference in Indianapolis, and a researcher on weight training made a couple interesting points: no evidence that multiple sets accomplish much more than a single set to exhaustion little evidence that the number of reps makes much difference either, again, provided you go to exhaustion--i.e., three lifts of very high weights vs. 20 lifts of moderate weight accomplish more or less the same thing a survey of weight trainers showed the vast majority do ridiculous amounts of ab exercises, again, with no evidence this does much good. one set is enough. finally, and this was not from the conference but rather from my masters coach, swimming tends to train the same muscles that get tapped by overhead weight training exercises. She says the risk of injury from military presses, and in fact anything where the weight is lifted above the head, is just not worth it and strongly recommends swimmers who want longevity in the pool avoid these lifts. if you want to improve your swimming, i say do 2-3 strength training sessions a week maximum (once you get your strength back, the ACSM guy said that once a week is enough for maintenance), and spend more time in the pool. Just my two cents worth in inflation-adjusted currency

RE: Mike's SwimBlog

Former Member — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 06:06:34 GMT

I noticed that after I sent it. I tried to cut and paste from an excel spreadsheet. I've tried attaching it instead.

RE: Mike's SwimBlog

Former Member — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 05:05:04 GMT

Interesting... Thanks for the feedback. I've been doing variations of this weight workout for many years. The current high rep version is intended to incorporate an aerobic element into the weight workout. It also takes a good amount of mental toughness and endurance to get through these sets. Couldn't you apply the same concept to a swimming workout (i.e., one 500 swim to exhaustion accomplishes the same thing as 5X100s)? I've had shoulder problems in the past, but isolated it to upright rows. Once I stopped doing them, it healed. I find that I'm OK as long as I'm not lifting directly above my head. All my overhead stuff is done in front of my face. Mike

RE: Mike's SwimBlog

ande — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 01:47:46 GMT

hey alpha welcome to the swim blogo sphere edit that long string of dates and numbers it comes out as one long line maybe separate them by hitting ENTER pultting one date and distance on each line