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?
Well, I try what is best for me which is a lot less yardage than the typical 10,000 to 15,000 a week for a masters swimmer. More like 5,000 yards a week and doing all the strokes with some sprinting. I want to prevent injury and worked more in a cycle with some weeks 5,000 and above and some more 4,000 and some when I very busy or need a rest around 2,000 to 3,000 a week. I swim every week. Doing lower yardage makes it possible for me to swim every week.
Thanks for this, I think I am a sprinter by nature :cool:, myself (and I'm saying that, because of my experiences in running. Distance just does not suit me and I don't think it was good for my health, either!). I like a close-by pool option because as I mentioned, until I get better stamina developed, I don't want to push myself to swim for over an hour, and then feel beat up, next morning. So far, I think I'm doing that pretty well. Maybe I'm not progressing as quickly as I could. However, with this problem of classes, I am also a little wary about learning BAD habits that I will then fight in order to break!
I can swim every week, and that's feels really good.
I think I caught a glimpse (figuratively speaking) of a good breathing rhythm, the other day! I am really puzzled with how to breathe. But, the other day it was quiet at the pool, and I tried very hard to concentrate ON my breathing. I think I did okay, at least, with breathing to my left side. I can't make sense of the fact I can breathe quite well doing a sidestroke, but when I go to the crawl, I mentally seem to "lose it."
Thanks to you all for the support. I will persevere with finding classes! And I really DO plan to check out the AA County pools! I thought I'd get there this week, but, it's not gonna happen, life is busy!!
Well, I try what is best for me which is a lot less yardage than the typical 10,000 to 15,000 a week for a masters swimmer. More like 5,000 yards a week and doing all the strokes with some sprinting. I want to prevent injury and worked more in a cycle with some weeks 5,000 and above and some more 4,000 and some when I very busy or need a rest around 2,000 to 3,000 a week. I swim every week. Doing lower yardage makes it possible for me to swim every week.
Thanks for this, I think I am a sprinter by nature :cool:, myself (and I'm saying that, because of my experiences in running. Distance just does not suit me and I don't think it was good for my health, either!). I like a close-by pool option because as I mentioned, until I get better stamina developed, I don't want to push myself to swim for over an hour, and then feel beat up, next morning. So far, I think I'm doing that pretty well. Maybe I'm not progressing as quickly as I could. However, with this problem of classes, I am also a little wary about learning BAD habits that I will then fight in order to break!
I can swim every week, and that's feels really good.
I think I caught a glimpse (figuratively speaking) of a good breathing rhythm, the other day! I am really puzzled with how to breathe. But, the other day it was quiet at the pool, and I tried very hard to concentrate ON my breathing. I think I did okay, at least, with breathing to my left side. I can't make sense of the fact I can breathe quite well doing a sidestroke, but when I go to the crawl, I mentally seem to "lose it."
Thanks to you all for the support. I will persevere with finding classes! And I really DO plan to check out the AA County pools! I thought I'd get there this week, but, it's not gonna happen, life is busy!!
