Coming back to where I began

RE: Coming back to where I began

knelson — Tue, 10 May 2011 11:50:35 GMT

rather be training more for back/IM/200 free Great idea, but don't be too surprised if you gravitate back toward distance free at some point! When I got back into masters I had no desire to swim distance anymore, but eventually I realized that's where my talent lies. The beauty of masters, though, is you can do what you want.

RE: Coming back to where I began

Former Member — Tue, 10 May 2011 07:06:45 GMT

A college teammate of mine was from Milan: Mike Mancik. He's my age, so 6-7 years older than you. He was one of my idols when I was in Middle School. He also was on the school 4x100 record we took down my senior year :)

RE: Coming back to where I began

Former Member — Tue, 10 May 2011 05:57:46 GMT

Welcome to the madhouse!!! Good to be back, and swimmers are nuts for sure Great idea, but don't be too surprised if you gravitate back toward distance free at some point! When I got back into masters I had no desire to swim distance anymore, but eventually I realized that's where my talent lies. The beauty of masters, though, is you can do what you want. That would be really hard to do with the limited workout time that I have. He has considered it but, I'm in the same boat - distance & limited time messes up option. So, I work out on my own, mostly - and I think it can work. My daughter swims USS age group and I assistant coach her team. I also get in and swim with the top level swimmers - when I can. I have her coach critique my strokes, especially when I think I might want to change something. I don't know what your age group is, but I would be 50-54 (I'm not 50-54, just 'cause I've not joined Masters...therefore I'm not classified! :afraid:) I am registered USS swim and do compete with my daughter's team - when the hosting team sets upper age = open. I get up early and hit the pool, I usually put in 3500 yards and try to make it 6 days/week. I'm still moderately yardage driven & maybe even be a product of one of the same programs as you (if you did high school in Toledo)...I graduated from St. Fracis de Sales & coach Dennis "Butch" Graves. Still being that my psyche is yardage driven, if your goal is to feel better and have the swimmer's bod - then do what's fun and doesn't hurt! :banana::banana: Without more days/more yards - I'm not sure that there is such a thing as training for the back/IM/200 free...depending on what your goal is as far as performance level in those events. Just my opinion, but yards per week is still an important factor. I swim for exercise and an annual yardage goal, but not so much for training. I just had to remind myself of this after my last meet - I was all scheming about new fast sets to improve my race. I do want to see some improvement in my times, when I do race, but my goal is exercise. So, my thinking is mix your sets up. Have fun. Take care of your shoulders and watch your hand entry on free, back, butterfly. Rotator cuffs don't like over reaching on entry (I've been working on that for ever!) Put in your yards, keep track of your goals....and oh yeah - have fun! :bliss: Cheers! PT Thanks for the input. I was a swimmer at Milan, MI and well aware of the St Francis teams. Hard to not notice the Harms Brothers even when you are from a different state. I have upped my workouts to 3k 3-4 times a week and that is probably the best I am going to be able to find time for (still have to get some golf in). I now see why the 30-40 age group is a little less participated in, its when most are busiest with kids (I am 34). You definitely need to blog on the blogging site. Once you get established you will get comments about your workouts, or your life if you care to talk about that. Many bloggers establish a great following and get some good conversations going. If you are too busy to blog it's okay. I've only been blogging once a week or so cause I'm just crazy busy right now but I plan to get back in the habit as soon as things level out. Your blog will only show on USMS Forum blog site unless you choose to network it. Either way you will be able to take it to the audience you desire on the blog site. Have fun!! working up to getting one started. If for nothing else for me to look back on. Have you thought of joining a masters team? The coach will make the workout for what you need or the lane that you are in. I am going to go to workout tonight at the Y during lap swim and it coincides with when they have the masters workout.

RE: Coming back to where I began

Former Member — Tue, 10 May 2011 05:11:15 GMT

Welcome to the madhouse!!!

RE: Coming back to where I began

knelson — Tue, 10 May 2011 02:18:38 GMT

Thanks for the input. I was a swimmer at Milan, MI A college teammate of mine was from Milan: Mike Mancik. He's my age, so 6-7 years older than you.

RE: Coming back to where I began

Former Member — Mon, 09 May 2011 08:19:34 GMT

Have you thought of joining a masters team? The coach will make the workout for what you need or the lane that you are in. He has considered it but, I'm in the same boat - distance & limited time messes up option. So, I work out on my own, mostly - and I think it can work. My daughter swims USS age group and I assistant coach her team. I also get in and swim with the top level swimmers - when I can. I have her coach critique my strokes, especially when I think I might want to change something. I don't know what your age group is, but I would be 50-54 (I'm not 50-54, just 'cause I've not joined Masters...therefore I'm not classified! :afraid:) I am registered USS swim and do compete with my daughter's team - when the hosting team sets upper age = open. I get up early and hit the pool, I usually put in 3500 yards and try to make it 6 days/week. I'm still moderately yardage driven & maybe even be a product of one of the same programs as you (if you did high school in Toledo)...I graduated from St. Fracis de Sales & coach Dennis "Butch" Graves. Still being that my psyche is yardage driven, if your goal is to feel better and have the swimmer's bod - then do what's fun and doesn't hurt! :banana::banana: Without more days/more yards - I'm not sure that there is such a thing as training for the back/IM/200 free...depending on what your goal is as far as performance level in those events. Just my opinion, but yards per week is still an important factor. I swim for exercise and an annual yardage goal, but not so much for training. I just had to remind myself of this after my last meet - I was all scheming about new fast sets to improve my race. I do want to see some improvement in my times, when I do race, but my goal is exercise. So, my thinking is mix your sets up. Have fun. Take care of your shoulders and watch your hand entry on free, back, butterfly. Rotator cuffs don't like over reaching on entry (I've been working on that for ever!) Put in your yards, keep track of your goals....and oh yeah - have fun! :bliss: Cheers! PT

RE: Coming back to where I began

orca1946 — Mon, 09 May 2011 02:42:04 GMT

Have you thought of joining a masters team? The coach will make the workout for what you need or the lane that you are in.

RE: Coming back to where I began

Former Member — Sat, 07 May 2011 11:15:27 GMT

Sorry was looking for workout advice and since this was posted in the workout section thought that was the proper spot and obvious. After reading before I posted I realized that i needed to tag my USMS membership to my forum account and that opened the coaches section. Where I found Scott's Workouts and found those to be very helpful and what I was looking for. Active on a forum is typically easy for me and I realize that others are busy with RL and not always on but I just saw a counter ticking up and not a single post. Figured I did something wrong so I :bump:ed it. I am off to do one of Scott's workouts now, hope you all have a good swim as well.

RE: Coming back to where I began

Bobinator — Sat, 07 May 2011 09:27:14 GMT

You definitely need to blog on the blogging site. Once you get established you will get comments about your workouts, or your life if you care to talk about that. Many bloggers establish a great following and get some good conversations going. If you are too busy to blog it's okay. I've only been blogging once a week or so cause I'm just crazy busy right now but I plan to get back in the habit as soon as things level out. Your blog will only show on USMS Forum blog site unless you choose to network it. Either way you will be able to take it to the audience you desire on the blog site. Have fun!!

RE: Coming back to where I began

Former Member — Fri, 06 May 2011 14:55:53 GMT

RE: Coming back to where I began

Former Member — Fri, 06 May 2011 08:58:12 GMT

People on this forum are out swimming more than they are typing, so sometimes replies are slow ;) I have almost the same weekly training regimen as you... 3 times a week, 2000m-2500m in 45 minutes at the Y on my lunch hour... but I'm a sprinter. I' have no idea if 45 minutes is enough to gain any kind of 500 endurance because I no longer train for quantity and I focus on sprint free/fly. One thing I noticed about your sample sets though... All your sets are rest based rather than interval based. I've always believed in interval training. Set the interval so that your rest is the correct length. Setting rest after each swim doesn't enforce any kind of quality to the swim. Instead of "100s with 10 seconds rest"... do them on 1:30 and hold 1:20 on each (1:30 is an example... adjust that time for your individual pace). It will keep your swim to swim more consistent and maybe help you to push it a little more if you tend to slow with each one. With rest based training, it is hard to keep track of effort unless you swim on round numbered times automatically, and it doesn't reward you with a few extra seconds if you're pushing harder than normal speed-wise. Also don't forget to work on turns every so often. Its something that I think many masters swimmers ignore, and you stand to gain 19 times whatever time you can cut off your current turn for a scy 500 :) You may surprise yourself though what you can do when writing your own workouts especially if you feel like you were trained improperly in the past. Don't be afraid to exceed your comfort level in practice, and enter some meets to make use of that membership. You don't need to go 4:43 to make your masters meet worthwhile :)

RE: Coming back to where I began

Former Member — Fri, 06 May 2011 08:36:07 GMT

70 views and not even a hello, weird for a forum. Maybe like ande suggested, there wasn't a specific request for feedback? Well, now that the hazing period is over...Welcome to masters swimming. And yes, get used to the fact that as an adult swimmer (and parent), you might be putting in less yardage in a week than you did by comparison with one or two days of your youth. :) A couple of things I might add when one has limited pool time...quality is important and so is technique. The body reshaping may not come about from 3 days at the pool...and may require some gym work. But it sounds like you've got some good motivation to make improvements and enter some meets.

RE: Coming back to where I began

Elaine Krugman — Fri, 06 May 2011 05:24:57 GMT

Wow I showered and everything after my morning workout and still no reply. Guess I will just continue on my own as the nearest masters workout seems to be a 30 plus minute drive at $4 per gallon. So far that $32 has not paid off, hopefully the magazine shows up. 70 views and not even a hello, weird for a forum. :welcome::wave: Hey there, 'trax! The previous posts were excellent and I concur. I would like to add one thing, though: If you are interested in getting your stroke critiqued, have somebody take some video and post it on YouTube. Post the link on the forums and you will get some great, worthwhile feedback. Also, make sure to check out Ande's threads; the links are in his post above. Although you will find a few bad apples here ( :worms: ) like in any discussion forums, most of the "Forumites" are a great, very positive and inspiring bunch! I met several of them at SCY Nationals last year and at Mesa, this year, and they were very positive, helpful, and encouraging. Good luck with your swimming! :cheerleader: Cheers! :chug:

RE: Coming back to where I began

ande — Fri, 06 May 2011 04:05:31 GMT

hey trax, Did you ask a question? People tend to reply to threads when someone asks a question Consider beginning a blog: www.usms.org/.../blog.php Consider participating on other threads. There's many nice swimmers here. Welcome to the USMS forum. Ande Wow I showered and everything after my morning workout and still no reply. Guess I will just continue on my own as the nearest masters workout seems to be a 30 plus minute drive at $4 per gallon. So far that $32 has not paid off, hopefully the magazine shows up. 70 views and not even a hello, weird for a forum.