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?
Such a fun thread. When I was doing long distance days alone, I'd use the workouts in the forum and modify them to add the mileage I needed that week. It's hard being alone, but if you start looking around, there's always someone you can "race" whether they know it or not. If you're going faster than someone, you can work to lap them at about the same point (like every 500) or if they're faster than you, you can make sure they don't lap you until a certain point.
Thanks for joining in, Fly! :welcome: I had to laugh at the last part of your post, because I do the very same thing! We are lacking good swimmers in our community, but, again, I give them credit for being out there and doing it. :applaud: When one of them is in the lane next to me, I challenge myself to see how many times I can lap them during a timed distance swim, or even when I am swimming an interval set. They don't have a clue, so it's our secret. Shhhh! :D
Such a fun thread. When I was doing long distance days alone, I'd use the workouts in the forum and modify them to add the mileage I needed that week. It's hard being alone, but if you start looking around, there's always someone you can "race" whether they know it or not. If you're going faster than someone, you can work to lap them at about the same point (like every 500) or if they're faster than you, you can make sure they don't lap you until a certain point.
Thanks for joining in, Fly! :welcome: I had to laugh at the last part of your post, because I do the very same thing! We are lacking good swimmers in our community, but, again, I give them credit for being out there and doing it. :applaud: When one of them is in the lane next to me, I challenge myself to see how many times I can lap them during a timed distance swim, or even when I am swimming an interval set. They don't have a clue, so it's our secret. Shhhh! :D
