Hey, solo swimmers! :wave: Welcome to the thread for all of us who train solo. Whether you train on your own due to a lack of a Masters team in your area (or for any other reason), this is our virtual locker room. Please post training tips that you think would be helpful, or anything else you would like to share with the rest of us. Have a rant? Go ahead and vent here! :rantonoff:
I'll start with a tip:
The most frustrating thing for me training solo is not having a coach on deck to evaluate my stroke and keep me on track, so I bought a waterproof camera and enlisted the help of my husband to periodically shoot video of all four strokes. Shooting underwater video became a knee/back buster, so I bought a camera mount and attached it to PVC pipe, so my husband could stand up straight to shoot underwater video. The camera gets dunked underwater, and he twists the pipe to pan the camera as I swim by.
Today, I bought a 2-pack of 12-inch "Gear Tie" reusable rubber twist ties (available at Home Depot), so I can tie the PVC pipe to the pool ladder (located in the corner of the pool) and shoot video myself. (If I angle the camera just right and keep it on wide angle, I can video me coming and going.)
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After each video session, I upload the videos to my desktop computer and compare my stroke to my favorite Go Swim stroke videos to see what I'm doing well (or not). I also post them on the Forums for feedback.
Ok, solo swimmers, what's your tip?
I think this is a great idea for a thread and Elaine's ideas about video are helpful.
I find 2 things very important for consistency in workouts; a pace clock(or watch) of course and always counting strokes every length. If your pace is what you want and your stroke count is what you want then your technique is likely OK(but can always be better, hence the need video or knowledgeable observer.) If you count strokes every length it becomes second nature and you don't need to think about it.
I generally love the challenge of coming up with my own workouts and love the freedom to modify them any way I wish. Where solo swimming becomes tough for me is midway in my meet preparation cycle.I try to do 3 taper meets/year(SCY,LCM and SCM) and like to do a 15 wk cycle to prepare. The first few weeks are usually easy to motivate for as I either was satisfied with the last meet and am excited about carrying it forward,or I was not satisfied and that is more motivating.The last few weeks are also relatively easy as I get excited about the meet.The middle weeks are where I have trouble,especially if I get a little sick or hurt and feel like my conditioning is going backwards.How do others cope with this?
I think this is a great idea for a thread and Elaine's ideas about video are helpful.
I find 2 things very important for consistency in workouts; a pace clock(or watch) of course and always counting strokes every length. If your pace is what you want and your stroke count is what you want then your technique is likely OK(but can always be better, hence the need video or knowledgeable observer.) If you count strokes every length it becomes second nature and you don't need to think about it.
I generally love the challenge of coming up with my own workouts and love the freedom to modify them any way I wish. Where solo swimming becomes tough for me is midway in my meet preparation cycle.I try to do 3 taper meets/year(SCY,LCM and SCM) and like to do a 15 wk cycle to prepare. The first few weeks are usually easy to motivate for as I either was satisfied with the last meet and am excited about carrying it forward,or I was not satisfied and that is more motivating.The last few weeks are also relatively easy as I get excited about the meet.The middle weeks are where I have trouble,especially if I get a little sick or hurt and feel like my conditioning is going backwards.How do others cope with this?
