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?
We do have some advantages being solo:
We are used to swimming without draft vs our friends in workout groups.
We can do more kicking and drills which often get under used due to time constraints in workout groups.
We can concentrate on strokes a bit more as freestyle usually eats up a high percentage of workout groups yardage.
We can blend in different types such as USRPT and high yardage types without a coach's bias towards one or the other.
We can control our taper better as we "know our own bodies".
The key to me as stated before is the pace clock and the log book. It's very important not to fall into the "plateau effect" which is doing the same thing over and over to the point you actually are able to accomplish it without straining and your fitness level "plateau's". I like to have a few different test sets to do regularly such as 5X100 on 1:30 for best average or 5X100 on 3:00 for best average. One is high aerobic and one is anaerobic. Writing down the results and constantly pushing those averages will keep you in more of a meet ready shape.
Lastly I feel one of the key elements of solo swimming is to go to a lot of meets. The camaraderie and seeing old friends will make you really feel part of a group. Swim different events including some fun ones where you do something with no pressure to excel such as a 50 of something you never swim or a 100 IM for fun.
We do have some advantages being solo:
We are used to swimming without draft vs our friends in workout groups.
We can do more kicking and drills which often get under used due to time constraints in workout groups.
We can concentrate on strokes a bit more as freestyle usually eats up a high percentage of workout groups yardage.
We can blend in different types such as USRPT and high yardage types without a coach's bias towards one or the other.
We can control our taper better as we "know our own bodies".
The key to me as stated before is the pace clock and the log book. It's very important not to fall into the "plateau effect" which is doing the same thing over and over to the point you actually are able to accomplish it without straining and your fitness level "plateau's". I like to have a few different test sets to do regularly such as 5X100 on 1:30 for best average or 5X100 on 3:00 for best average. One is high aerobic and one is anaerobic. Writing down the results and constantly pushing those averages will keep you in more of a meet ready shape.
Lastly I feel one of the key elements of solo swimming is to go to a lot of meets. The camaraderie and seeing old friends will make you really feel part of a group. Swim different events including some fun ones where you do something with no pressure to excel such as a 50 of something you never swim or a 100 IM for fun.
