I'm flirting with the idea of training for either a sprint or Olympic triathlon and am currently trying to get a base in each discipline. I had no delusions that swimming would be easy but after going to the pool today I feel blown away with its difficulty. My real question is how discouraged should I be from my initial performance today.
Swimming 50m without stopping seemed to be just about my max. So I ended up just doing 25m at a time trying to focus on doing proper technique but even this felt very uncomfortable, short of breath etc. So for someone who has never taken swim or swam laps is this normal and how long would it take someone in my situation to develop the requisite amount of ability to start a tri training program?
This is what alarmed me the most the triathlon training programs I have looked at I can definitely perform the first week of suggested training for running and cycling but swimming has 2x200m sets that I can't perform and certainly not comfortably. Even the 100-200m warm up seems too hard if it is without rest because as I said even when I tried to do lengths at a very slow focused pace I had trouble. The slow pace made me feel as though I was sinking I think.
The book I am looking at has some base levels of ability before starting the program which for swimming is being able to swim for 20 minutes. I am assuming this means 20 minutes straight without rest which seems very difficult for me. So sorry for the long post but how long should it take me to improve to this level and what would be the best way to go about it? I have plenty of free time at the moment and can practice swimming as many days a week as is optimal. Any advice would be appreciated.
:delurk
I wouldn't be discouraged at all. I began my swimlife barely able to do 50m. For me, it wasn't so much that I couldn't get all the arms and legs going into something resembling a stroke; it was because I was out of breath and felt like I was having a coronary. I was in quite good shape and at a loss as to why this was happening.
Well, I figured out many months later that it is all about breathing. This was my breakthrough in swimming.
1. don't hold your breath at all as you swim; keep exhaling constantly. most people's instinct in the water is to hold their breath. keep exhaling constantly. keep exhaling constantly. something about lactic acid in the blood due to anaerobic activity, i believe.
2. and once you exhale it all, get some air as often as you need it. as often as you need it. at no point during a nice, slow swim should you feel like your chest is going to explode.
Once I got past the whole pesky "oh-dear-god-my-lungs-are-dieing" I was able to start focusing on my stroke technique. I am pretty much self taught, thanks to USMS forums and YouTube videos. Every time I went to the pool I would focus on whatever new swim thing I had learned about/read/seen that day: hand catch, body rotation, six- and two- beat kick, high elbows, SDK, etc.
Practice a lot. And don't forget to exhale! Hope that helps; I wish I had learned that a lot sooner.
:relurk
:delurk
I wouldn't be discouraged at all. I began my swimlife barely able to do 50m. For me, it wasn't so much that I couldn't get all the arms and legs going into something resembling a stroke; it was because I was out of breath and felt like I was having a coronary. I was in quite good shape and at a loss as to why this was happening.
Well, I figured out many months later that it is all about breathing. This was my breakthrough in swimming.
1. don't hold your breath at all as you swim; keep exhaling constantly. most people's instinct in the water is to hold their breath. keep exhaling constantly. keep exhaling constantly. something about lactic acid in the blood due to anaerobic activity, i believe.
2. and once you exhale it all, get some air as often as you need it. as often as you need it. at no point during a nice, slow swim should you feel like your chest is going to explode.
Once I got past the whole pesky "oh-dear-god-my-lungs-are-dieing" I was able to start focusing on my stroke technique. I am pretty much self taught, thanks to USMS forums and YouTube videos. Every time I went to the pool I would focus on whatever new swim thing I had learned about/read/seen that day: hand catch, body rotation, six- and two- beat kick, high elbows, SDK, etc.
Practice a lot. And don't forget to exhale! Hope that helps; I wish I had learned that a lot sooner.
:relurk
