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?
Great tips, 'Tall2! You brought up some really good points. Making friends at the pool makes g to the pool so much more enjoyable! It always makes me feel good to return on a Monday after a meet and have my pool buddies ask how I did. We encourage each other, and it makes us both feel better. In one case, there is a woman with MS who uses a Fitbit to keep track of her steps in the pool. When she reaches 3000 (her goal each session), she always lets me know. She appreciates the "Congratulations!" from me, and I get a kick out of her enthusiasm when she asks me about my meets.
As for using a watch, I'm addicted to mine. One time when the battery died, I felt devastated! Replacing the battery became the first thing on my "To Do" list when I left the pool! I use mine for keeping track of ALL intervals as well as monitoring my heart rate, and I have become somewhat obsessed. (I also check my resting heart rate in the evenings to see how I am recuperating from the morning workout. Today, I ran through my ironman pentathlon races in our 84 degree pool, so my resting heart rate is elevated to 58 from the normal 49 or 50. This indicates to me I should make tomorrow a recovery and drill day.)
Thanks for the great post, 'Tall2! :agree:
Great tips, 'Tall2! You brought up some really good points. Making friends at the pool makes g to the pool so much more enjoyable! It always makes me feel good to return on a Monday after a meet and have my pool buddies ask how I did. We encourage each other, and it makes us both feel better. In one case, there is a woman with MS who uses a Fitbit to keep track of her steps in the pool. When she reaches 3000 (her goal each session), she always lets me know. She appreciates the "Congratulations!" from me, and I get a kick out of her enthusiasm when she asks me about my meets.
As for using a watch, I'm addicted to mine. One time when the battery died, I felt devastated! Replacing the battery became the first thing on my "To Do" list when I left the pool! I use mine for keeping track of ALL intervals as well as monitoring my heart rate, and I have become somewhat obsessed. (I also check my resting heart rate in the evenings to see how I am recuperating from the morning workout. Today, I ran through my ironman pentathlon races in our 84 degree pool, so my resting heart rate is elevated to 58 from the normal 49 or 50. This indicates to me I should make tomorrow a recovery and drill day.)
Thanks for the great post, 'Tall2! :agree:
