This thread is more of a frustrated vent than a request for advice, but input is appreciated.
I am talking fly. When I first got back into swimming (about 6 months), I timed myself for 25s. I went 15/16 from a push, but I could only do it twice before I died. After a few weeks, I could hit 14/15 for 2 or three. I continue to do timed 25s on my sprint day so that I can measure my progress. I have hit 13.
Last practice, I swam 14/15 for 8 25s. I have also added a 25 slow freestyle in between and now I do them on 1:30, which is just enough rest to feel fresh on each. It sure feels like I am a lot better, but If I am not faster, am I really? I am sure I'm a lot faster for a 50 or 100 (ie I can now survive 100) due to endurance, but shouldn't I be faster too? It doesn't seem to make a difference how fast I turn it over, either. If I am swimming hard, I swim 15.
Breaststroke is actually opposite. I can build those (actually, just by going all out, I build) as I am around 18 for the first couple and 16 by the 8th. I have improved 6 seconds in my breaststroke 25 since I started.
Total yardage is about 2000 3 times a week, which is all the time I can afford to get to the pool these days. Maybe I am getting impatient. I'd call it a plateau, but there was really no progress before it flattened out.
:rantonoff:
I hear ya. I've been swimming consistently for the last 20 months, and working hard on it. I've had some very nice drops (e.g. 13 seconds in the last year in the 500, much of it due to better race tactics), yet my time at nats in the 200 back, after 20 months of training, was 0.34 slower than I swam last July, after just 10 months of training.
Here's my current working hypothesis,
If you keep sowing the the same seed, you'll keep harvesting the same crop.
I'm still training pretty much the same way I trained last year, so I'm still getting pretty much the same results. I have made some improvements from additional race experience and maybe some minor improvements in stroke mechanics and conditioning. But nothing that would lead to an Ande major breakthrough.
So ... changes in the works ...
First, add more dryland, particularly weight training. I've done no weight training to date. None at all. So why would I be any stronger than last year?
Second, did you know kicking is propulsive? Apparently so! I have it on good authority, though I can't say from personal experience. I'm going to try Ande's program to see if I can make some improvements in the kicking department.
Obviously I'll have to sacrifice something, but maybe I don't need yet another set of 5x200 on 3, or yet another 1650. We'll see.
I hear ya. I've been swimming consistently for the last 20 months, and working hard on it. I've had some very nice drops (e.g. 13 seconds in the last year in the 500, much of it due to better race tactics), yet my time at nats in the 200 back, after 20 months of training, was 0.34 slower than I swam last July, after just 10 months of training.
Here's my current working hypothesis,
If you keep sowing the the same seed, you'll keep harvesting the same crop.
I'm still training pretty much the same way I trained last year, so I'm still getting pretty much the same results. I have made some improvements from additional race experience and maybe some minor improvements in stroke mechanics and conditioning. But nothing that would lead to an Ande major breakthrough.
So ... changes in the works ...
First, add more dryland, particularly weight training. I've done no weight training to date. None at all. So why would I be any stronger than last year?
Second, did you know kicking is propulsive? Apparently so! I have it on good authority, though I can't say from personal experience. I'm going to try Ande's program to see if I can make some improvements in the kicking department.
Obviously I'll have to sacrifice something, but maybe I don't need yet another set of 5x200 on 3, or yet another 1650. We'll see.
