why am i so sloooooooooow? i've been swimming since i was 21, i'm now 30. When i was 21 i basically taught myself to swim and with a few tips here and there from lifeguards, i was able to swim 3 miles in the pool at approximately 35 minutes a mile.
fast forward a few years, i would consider myself a much better swimmer now, i've gotten a few lessons with coaches and i've been told my technique has gotten better. but my speed has BARELY improved!!! i'm talking major changes in technique and training, and it still takes me 34 minutes to do a mile! that's a 1 minute improvement over the time when i had taught myself to swim! it's ridiculous. and i swim so much...i swim in open water and have been doing master's for 7 months now.
is it possible that i was just born slow, or do you think i need further refinement to my technique? none of it adds up--i work very hard in the pool, my technique sounds like it's decent, and i am physically in very good shape. i can swim 9 miles in open water, but i just cannot bring up my speed! it's ridiculous. i don't want to be fast, i just want to be somewhere near 30 minutes per mile!
Are you doing interval work? Having been a masters coach, I can tell you that you will find that you will drop time much faster by doing interval work at fast speeds rather than doing straight one mile swims. Rather than swim a straight one mile, consider doing the following:
300 warm-up - Your choice - try to put some kicking in there.
6 x 50 Pull with 15 seconds rest - keep heart rate in an aerobic zone
5 x 100 descend each 100 - get faster on each 100 - take 15 seconds rest between each 100
5 x 100 - 85% -90% efforts with 1 minute rest between each 100. Try to hold same time on each swim. Should be within 10 seconds of what you would do on an all-out 100 yard swim in a race.
100 recovery swim
8 x 25 on free on 1:00 - sprint hard on each one
200 easy cool-down
Try doing a workout like this a couple of times a week. On a third day, you could consider doing some easier longs swims, but make them drills. You could also do sets of 200s or 300s. Do your straight mile swim once a month to track your progress.
Are you doing interval work? Having been a masters coach, I can tell you that you will find that you will drop time much faster by doing interval work at fast speeds rather than doing straight one mile swims. Rather than swim a straight one mile, consider doing the following:
300 warm-up - Your choice - try to put some kicking in there.
6 x 50 Pull with 15 seconds rest - keep heart rate in an aerobic zone
5 x 100 descend each 100 - get faster on each 100 - take 15 seconds rest between each 100
5 x 100 - 85% -90% efforts with 1 minute rest between each 100. Try to hold same time on each swim. Should be within 10 seconds of what you would do on an all-out 100 yard swim in a race.
100 recovery swim
8 x 25 on free on 1:00 - sprint hard on each one
200 easy cool-down
Try doing a workout like this a couple of times a week. On a third day, you could consider doing some easier longs swims, but make them drills. You could also do sets of 200s or 300s. Do your straight mile swim once a month to track your progress.
