Books for returning swimmer (sans coach)

ok go for it pick specific goals events find a meet enter it train often swim fast in practice time yourself or have some one time you on fast swims in practice work on kicking faster ask yourself "what do I need to do to swim faster?" I'm a sprinter. In order -- backstroke, crawl, breaststroke. Or I should say, that's what I was. (Although I did win a state-level 500 once -- the only 500 I ever entered. They gambled on me when there was no alternative. I mis-paced it, coming out too strong early, but as it turned out I gained a lead no one else could close. Dumb luck.) We'll see if the years have made any changes. I'm not yet at the point of picking specific goal events. There's a lot of groundwork yet to be done. First, I have to get in swim-shape, rather than just general shape. I have to establish my training routine. Then, I have to judge my performance relative to current times. Once I've done that, then I can start to get more specific goals for competition. But I'm not in any hurry. I'm not going to slack off, either, but it will happen as I make it happen. As for training, right now I have an hour in the pool every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and an hour in the gym every Tuesday and Wednesday, and one weekend day I get 2 hours which I plan to split between gym and pool. One day a week I'll rest. I started with 2000 yard workouts, but this week I bumped it up to 3000 yards. After 3 weeks back in the water, that's comfortable for me in an hour. I'm still figuring out my workout pace. Unfortunately, I can't have anyone time me. I'm doing all this on my own. I have to keep track of it all in my head. A limitation, yes, but not one that I can't overcome. I've added more kicking to my regimen just this week. Leg cramps are turning out to be the bane of my existence. Any advice on stretching would be greatly appreciated. As for "What do I need to do to swim faster?", that's on my mind literally every second I'm in the water, and a lot of the time that I'm out of the water, too. I'm entirely focused on that. There's no way I can do what I intend to do otherwise.

ok go for it pick specific goals events find a meet enter it train often swim fast in practice time yourself or have some one time you on fast swims in practice work on kicking faster ask yourself "what do I need to do to swim faster?" I'm a sprinter. In order -- backstroke, crawl, breaststroke. Or I should say, that's what I was. (Although I did win a state-level 500 once -- the only 500 I ever entered. They gambled on me when there was no alternative. I mis-paced it, coming out too strong early, but as it turned out I gained a lead no one else could close. Dumb luck.) We'll see if the years have made any changes. I'm not yet at the point of picking specific goal events. There's a lot of groundwork yet to be done. First, I have to get in swim-shape, rather than just general shape. I have to establish my training routine. Then, I have to judge my performance relative to current times. Once I've done that, then I can start to get more specific goals for competition. But I'm not in any hurry. I'm not going to slack off, either, but it will happen as I make it happen. As for training, right now I have an hour in the pool every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and an hour in the gym every Tuesday and Wednesday, and one weekend day I get 2 hours which I plan to split between gym and pool. One day a week I'll rest. I started with 2000 yard workouts, but this week I bumped it up to 3000 yards. After 3 weeks back in the water, that's comfortable for me in an hour. I'm still figuring out my workout pace. Unfortunately, I can't have anyone time me. I'm doing all this on my own. I have to keep track of it all in my head. A limitation, yes, but not one that I can't overcome. I've added more kicking to my regimen just this week. Leg cramps are turning out to be the bane of my existence. Any advice on stretching would be greatly appreciated. As for "What do I need to do to swim faster?", that's on my mind literally every second I'm in the water, and a lot of the time that I'm out of the water, too. I'm entirely focused on that. There's no way I can do what I intend to do otherwise.