hey, i just wanted to ask everyone for their experience with over training and recovery.
i've put my whole heart into swimming since freshman year in high school (im a senior now), and trained as hard as i could since the spring of freshman year. at first i just swam the same practice everyday....then i started doing a lot of dryland, running, biking, and changed up my practices to faster intervals, and different strokes.
i never rested, until i realized that i get faster when i rest/taper. i realized this the summer between my sophmore and junior year. by then , however, it was too late. i broke my body down so much, that it would take a long time for me to recover. when highschool swimming started up again my junior year, i was so broken down, that i was swimming even slower than before my freshman year. i've been battling my coach trying to convince him to let me rest, and understand my situation, and he finally did.
this year, my senior year, im trying to feel strong in the water again.
im posting this on the forum to ask you guys if u know anyone who seemed like a slow swimmer for a while, then had one year where they suddenly started breaking records like crazy. i hope im not crazy, but i really think that with my body, if i get it back to full strength, i could pull off some crazy fast times. now, with this broken down body i can go a 1:10 in the 100 yard ***...and i haven't dropped anytime since my freshman year. this entire time i've been getting in so much better shape, yet dropping no time.
therefore i think once i taper, i will drop 10 seconds at least....am i crazy? or does what i think make some what sense....according to my situation.
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and lastly...i don't have a coach...i figured almost everything out on my self...and maybe thats the problem...if i had a coach i wouldn't be dealing with these problems and frustration...
Why don't you have a coach?
A full taper is usually 3 weeks. Have you had a physical and described your recovery issues with a doctor? Maybe one who deals with lots of athletes? Another possibility is that you are not getting enough food. If you workout 6 hours a day and eat 2400 calories, you are not even close.
If there is nothing medically preventing you from training intensely, you can train much harder than you currently are. It is not common for swimmers to train hard for 3 weeks and take it easy for a week, but it is common for the intensity of their workouts to vary and train 22+ hours in the water/week. But as a swimmer, you might not ever notice because your coach is trying to give you just enough rest that he can crank up the intensity again. Quite often you are too tired to notice that workout was easier than usual until taper time.
I think you need a coach, and you need to try listening to what he has to say about training and just do it. Listen to your body if you have a pain in your shoulder, not when you are exhausted. Let an experienced third party guide you down the appropriate and very painful training path.
Our state meet is in 8 weeks if I remember correctly, that would mean that districts are in 4. If districts is your taper meet, I don't think you can taper 10 seconds off your breaststroke time. Sorry. Crazy was the term you used, and I thought for a near taper meet, crazy was an appropriate term for a 10 second drop.
and lastly...i don't have a coach...i figured almost everything out on my self...and maybe thats the problem...if i had a coach i wouldn't be dealing with these problems and frustration...
Why don't you have a coach?
A full taper is usually 3 weeks. Have you had a physical and described your recovery issues with a doctor? Maybe one who deals with lots of athletes? Another possibility is that you are not getting enough food. If you workout 6 hours a day and eat 2400 calories, you are not even close.
If there is nothing medically preventing you from training intensely, you can train much harder than you currently are. It is not common for swimmers to train hard for 3 weeks and take it easy for a week, but it is common for the intensity of their workouts to vary and train 22+ hours in the water/week. But as a swimmer, you might not ever notice because your coach is trying to give you just enough rest that he can crank up the intensity again. Quite often you are too tired to notice that workout was easier than usual until taper time.
I think you need a coach, and you need to try listening to what he has to say about training and just do it. Listen to your body if you have a pain in your shoulder, not when you are exhausted. Let an experienced third party guide you down the appropriate and very painful training path.
Our state meet is in 8 weeks if I remember correctly, that would mean that districts are in 4. If districts is your taper meet, I don't think you can taper 10 seconds off your breaststroke time. Sorry. Crazy was the term you used, and I thought for a near taper meet, crazy was an appropriate term for a 10 second drop.
