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?
Hi f1refl1es! I sent a pm to you also .... would be happy to come and meet you for a session. I am in Baltimore often visiting my daughter, son-in-law and grandbaby. I usually have access to a car and could come to your town, which looks to be south of Baltimore but not far.
Thanks aguins, I wrote back. Yep, we could also consider identifying a meeting spot around Annapolis or in Anne Arundel County - both seem to have more possibilities than my specific neighborhood so far. It would be great to make it happen!!
Lesson learned today. Don't swim in the lane next to walkers or noodlers because chances are good they didn't shower before getting in the pool and have enough perfume on to fog up a bordello. And you will get an awful headache.
I learned a valuable lesson today. I went straight to the pool after work and only had a pair of board shorts on me in my swim bag...I've forgotten so many things over the years ... a lot of times any kind of suit, so even board shorts are better than skipping an entire workout for want of approved swimwear.
My favorite 'forget and make do with what you got' was when I showed up at a pool without a cap (which is typical for me, but a cap was required at this pool) and I had to swim with one of those 'shark fin' kiddie caps that was in the lost and found. My head's pretty darn large to begin with, so it was more like a shark-fin-yamulke than a shark-fin-swim-cap. (I still got in a good swim).
I learned a valuable lesson today. I went straight to the pool after work and only had a pair of board shorts on me in my swim bag. I had been to a water park with family the other day and forgot about them. I figured I would do laps in them since I couldn't be bothered to go back home and get my speedo. I'll never do laps in board shorts again. Biggest and stupidest mistake I could have made. The drag was unbearable and everyone was looking at me like I was an idiot. I'll be making sure I have my swim briefs in the bag from now on before I get to the pool.
Don't swim in the lane next to walkers or noodlers because chances are good they didn't shower before getting in the pool and have enough perfume on to fog up a bordello.
At my fitness ctr. there is a deep water aerobics class 9:30-10:30, maybe 30 women between 60 & 80. So a few times I arrived at exactly 10:30. I won't do that again. As soon as I jumped in I was overwhelmed. It dissipates fairly quickly though, by 11:00 it's OK.
... I'll never do laps in board shorts again. Biggest and stupidest mistake I could have made. The drag was unbearable and everyone was looking at me like I was an idiot.
No, they don't think you're an idiot, just a novice. There was a guy last spring who joined our masters team practices for several weeks in baggy trunks. A 30-something, he was barely keeping ahead of me twice his age.
Well, I had the funniest dream I was in the pool with Michael Phelps and said how I admired him. I would have dreams about swimming a better time than I did as a kid. I know I will not do that, but dreams are funny. I keep up with swimming each stroke and had a very light workout of only 900 yards today.
cinc3100 what a wonderful dream.
Well, it looks like it's back to the doctor for me. The pain in my arm hasn't gone away and I'm thinking it might be a shoulder thing, right side this time, and no way am I having another surgery. I'm still walking on all that sunshine the doctor blew up my skirt from the last one - oh, you'll be back in the pool in three months, blah, blah, blah.
cinc3100 what a wonderful dream.
Well, it looks like it's back to the doctor for me. The pain in my arm hasn't gone away and I'm thinking it might be a shoulder thing, right side this time, and no way am I having another surgery. I'm still walking on all that sunshine the doctor blew up my skirt from the last one - oh, you'll be back in the pool in three months, blah, blah, blah.
Sorry to hear the bad news, Denise. How about the McKenzie Technique PT exercises for that shoulder?
