Solo Swimmers

Hi Denise, I'm so sorry to hear about your frustrations. I agree with many of the responses here encouraging you to get a second opinion. Finding both a doctor who understands athletic needs AND a coach with a keen knowledge of his/her athletes' individual needs is very important to keep you active and practicing the sport that you love! Keep us posted on how things go!

Hi Denise! I actually moved to Florida in July, so I'm no longer in your area, unfortunately. However, if you are interested in spending a weekend in beautiful Saint Augustine, I will be giving a freestyle stroke technique clinic there on Sunday, February 5th! www.swimspire.com/swimspire-and-anastasia-fitness-present-freestyle-stroke-clinic-saint-augustine-florida/ Either way, best of luck with everything. Hope it all works out so that you can continue to pursue the sport you love!

Oh, dear.:cry: I've been to St. Augustine, years ago, and it's beautiful, so congratulations on your move, though I'm sad I didn't get a chance to work with you.

Hi, Julia: I am still interested in working with you. I sent you a pem a while back but didn't hear anything. I'm am seeking a second opinion with the doc who originally ordered my neck MRI and who seems a lot more in tune with the needs of people like me who just want to stay fit.

One of the more interesting parts of being a solo swimmer is I have had less aches and pains than when I was on my former team. I no longer have a limited time to get in my workout vs a team's schedule. I think the most important thing is I now have greatly extended my warm ups. While it is not just swimming slow I do almost a mile of swimming, kicking, pulling and drills before I do any hard sets. I try to do almost all my "warm up" sets in an each one faster or descend mode so I don't go all out on the first swim. After that I can do almost any kind of set and I feel ready for some hard swims. Now I have to force myself to equal this amount of warm up at my meets. Takes a while but I think it's worth it.

While it is not just swimming slow I do almost a mile of swimming, kicking, pulling and drills before I do any hard sets. I try to do almost all my "warm up" sets in an each one faster or descend mode so I don't go all out on the first swim. After that I can do almost any kind of set and I feel ready for some hard swims. Now I have to force myself to equal this amount of warm up at my meets. Takes a while but I think it's worth it.I do the same thing. I have a standard 1500 warmup that I usually do in much the same fashion you describe (or small variations thereof). I also do it at pretty much all meets except Nationals or big meet when I'm tapered and don't need that much to get ready to race. I find that doing the same warmup each day also acts as a good barometer for where I am in my training and what kind of workout I need to do (e.g., too slow and sluggish compared to prior days might augur a day of R&R).

I do the same thing. I have a standard 1500 warmup that I usually do in much the same fashion you describe (or small variations thereof). I also do it at pretty much all meets except Nationals or big meet when I'm tapered and don't need that much to get ready to race. I find that doing the same warmup each day also acts as a good barometer for where I am in my training and what kind of workout I need to do (e.g., too slow and sluggish compared to prior days might augur a day of R&R). I did a lot of underwater pulls which helped me in breaststroke in the 100 yard face. Now, on a team maybe not so much this. I do all the strokes even though I recently just swam the 50 and 100 yard breaststroke.

I'm a new solo swimmer. We have a lovely 50yd. pool at the gym I belong to, and while it's a half hour drive from my house (I live in the boonies in between two cities) it's only a 2 minute drive from my work. I started going to the gym to lose weight as 200lbs on my 5'3" frame is just too much, but quickly discovered the severe plantar fasciitis in my left foot meant bicycling was pretty much my only option for cardio besides the pool, and I just simply can't stationary bike long enough mentally to burn more than 200 calories. I hate it and get bored, so down to the pool I went. I love being in the water, it's like home to me lol, and I'm very comfortable there. I started out swimming two laps and being so out of breath I thought I was dying a month ago, to swimming 28 laps (100 yds. each lap) today. I alternate between breaststroke and backstroke. I wish I could get more into freestyle, I see all the other lap swimmers doing it exclusively, my form isn't horrible either (I had lots of swimming lessons as a kid and learned all the proper techniques for each stroke) but I just can't get into it like I do backstroking. I'd do it exclusively except I make myself do the breaststroke every other length just because it's more of a challenge physically and to avoid repetitive injury as well. There is a masters team there I'd love to join as well, but when you live in a different school district, your nine year old doesn't get on the school bus until 7:10 and all practices are at 6:30 am, it doesn't work for me right now at all schedule-wise. Maybe one day when she's old enough to reliably get herself up, dressed, fed, and on the bus on time every day, but until then I'm stuck with solo swims after work 4-5 times a week. I also walk a mile in the lazy river with all the old timers after each swim as well lol. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

FINIS Tempo Trainer Pro.

Breaststroke burns a bunch of calories - just ask ElaineK, one of the most fit swimmers I've ever met. It's her stroke and she's amazing. :D ​Thanks, Denise!