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.)
10687
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?
OMG Sumorunner that is hilarious. A friend was in a public pool in France and the lady in the next lane yelled at him for splashing her. I mean, what's the point of getting in the water, yeesh.
My rant for the day in the form of a one-act, flash script:
Doctor: you have an inflamed trapezius. I'm sending you to physical therapy. You have exasperated written all over your face.
Me: I just want to get my life back. I want to get back into the pool. I was swimming a mile when I had to stop and I just want to get back there.
(scene change)
Physical therapist: you can't swim for a month until your shoulder heals.
(scene change)
Me (standing in front of bathroom mirror): You have exasperated written all over your face.
OMG Sumorunner that is hilarious. A friend was in a public pool in France and the lady in the next lane yelled at him for splashing her. I mean, what's the point of getting in the water, yeesh.
That reminds me of the open water swim in Lake Placid last month. It started to rain as the two mile race was in progress and it was coming down even harder as the one mile was about to begin. Someone asked me, "Do you think they'll cancel due to the rain?"
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
wow. great. I love swimming. and this thread is so helpful. thanks a lot again
Welcome to our thread, Martinoz! :welcome: I see you are from Tunisia. It's great to see swimmers from all over the world joining us here on USMS Forums! :agree:
That reminds me of the open water swim in Lake Placid last month. It started to rain as the two mile race was in progress and it was coming down even harder as the one mile was about to begin. Someone asked me, "Do you think they'll cancel due to the rain?"
If that person had asked if the swim would be canceled due to thunder and lightning, it would have made perfect sense; but, canceling due to rain? :lmao:
Completely off the subject, but appropriate for this thread:
This is what I saw a new solo swimmer do at our pool on Thursday: She carefully unpacked her new fins, goggles, snorkel, water aerobics foam dumbbells, cap, and water aerobics shoes, and a plastic container of... wait for it... ROCKS.
I was on deck when she arrived, so I watched all of this while doing my post-swim 30-minute yoga and stretching routine. Most of my routine was finished by the time she actually got in the pool and DID SOMETHING; it took her that long to fiddle with her gear and get her act together.
Finally, she got in the pool! Her first 50 yards was the slowest I had ever seen (she had her water aerobics shoes on, and kicked without her fins), but she made it back alive! She then stopped, carefully picked up a rock out of the container, and placed it on the lid beside the container. Off she went again. Minutes later, she returned and repeated the process. The rocks were used to count her laps! :rolleyes:
Ponder this for a moment: She could have used anything to count her laps (I've seen it all at our pool!), but she chose to carry a heavy container of rocks to the pool along with all her toys. I hope she doesn't end up with a sore back from carrying around that heavy gear bag!
Having said all that, I have to give her credit for getting in the pool in the first place! :applaud: It sure beats sitting at home all day and watching TV...
She then stopped, carefully picked up a rock out of the container, and placed it on the lid beside the container. Off she went again. Minutes later, she returned and repeated the process. The rocks were used to count her laps!
I've used pool toys (fins, boards, buoys) to count laps. I count in binary, so don't need very many. :) Count to 16, start over.
The rock thing is an old runners trick for newbies running around a track or in a city, around the block. But it's a countdown thing. You put pebbles in your pocket and toss one out for each lap. Out of rocks, run is done.
