Hi all,
First off, my 100 free is such that Michael Phelps could do a 200 and towel off before I finshed my 100. And good on him!
But I am planning to swim this event in my local Senior Games meet next week--and just want to break 2 mins. Yes, I can swim long--but not fast. That sub-2 time has been an elusive goal (granted I put more time into running last year than swimming, so got somewhat sidetracked... a running injury, however, has served to refocus my attention on swimming).
Fortunately, my 100 times have started to improve, so that in recent workouts, I have them down to 2:01-2:02. My thought is that with a dive start, I can drop a couple seconds.
My masters' coach said maybe I might even consider aiming for 1:50. But I've been known to over-reach at the start and blow up in the last 25, so I want to be careful about this.
I'll see how I feel on race day, of course, but I welcome any tips you might have.
Again, admittedly, this is modest. Discreet laughter permitted along with tips. ;)
Former Member
Fish,
Yes...I was a runner for 25 years...My first few years I a steady stream of breakthroughs, but alas, I actually had talent. In swimming, I have had to fight for every single second I get.
Funny thing, sad thing is, I have not lowered my 50 free time (38) in 8 months. All improvement has been on the endurance end of it. I have scrutinized Ande's tips,
I am game for most of them...just not the press on nails.
FIsh (Again)
Can I ask what your 5 mile time was? I considered myself too slow to swim that distance, but I guess not. I love endurance stuff, but have to figure out how to swim 4 hours without having my shoulders fall off.
Are we talking meters or yards? Short course or long?
I found that my 100 SCY times really started improving when I worked on all-out 25s and 50s and on attacking the turns with tight streamlines. The 6-beat kick is crucial.
If we're talking about LCM, I don't know. I find it really hard to hold onto the "explosive speed" feeling in a 50m pool.
Hey Eric--definitely come east and do the bay swim! You won't regret it! They do such a great job with organizing it! When I did it, I got a long sleeve shirt, a cap, a beach towel, a finisher's medal, and later a HUGE free lunch spread! Also to my great surprise, I got an award for 1st female over 50--of course, honesty compels me to say that I was the ONLY female over 50! :) They really are wonderful people, the organizers!
TS, it's SCY... the local h.s. pool--so I'll keep in mind your advice about turns/streamline.
Orca, with the running on ice due to foot injury, I NEED to push hard in swimming to keep myself SANE!
As for the 25s/50s... I've been doing various sets of those. Today I did (as part of something longer) 12x25 with decreasing rest between them. The last four, I stopped just long enough to look at the time and then keep going, and then instead of resetting my stopwatch after each 25, I'd simply stop it and start it again when I resumed swimming. (Pace clock was off, but then even when it's on, I can't see it very well.) The total time for these 4x25 just pausing in between was 1:53. But for some reason, when I did 100s in the same workout, I couldn't get them below 2:05, no matter what I tried.
The race is on Tues. afternoon. What do you folk recommend for tomorrow? (I have a PT appt. in the evening related to the aforementioned running injury and likely a busy day w/ a noon work related deadline.) I'm thinking no swim tomorrow, just the PT session.
Ha, probably overthinking all this, given the distance/goal, but it's one of those stubborn barriers that has given me something of a bee in the bonnet... or a bee in my swim cap? Whatever...
