Solo Swimmers

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.

I have aspergers and like to swim alone but there are always other swimmers at the rec pool I used. The master's team in the area is about 15 miles away and two rec pools that do lap swimming are 3 to 5 miles away. There are three times from 6-8:00 am and then 10 to 3:00 pm and 6:30 to 8:00 P,pm. I semi-retired now and can go at different times but prefer the 10 to 3:00 p,m. During the weekends, Saturday and Sunday its 12:00 to 4:00 P.m. On sunday I usually swim at the apartment pool, saved some money. I swim 6 days a week if I can. I get ideas for workouts from online workouts-100 swimming workouts and another group of workouts posted by a Ruth I think. I changed some of these workouts for my needs.

I have aspergers and like to swim alone but there are always other swimmers at the rec pool I used. The master's team in the area is about 15 miles away and two rec pools that do lap swimming are 3 to 5 miles away. There are three times from 6-8:00 am and then 10 to 3:00 pm and 6:30 to 8:00 P,pm. I semi-retired now and can go at different times but prefer the 10 to 3:00 p,m. During the weekends, Saturday and Sunday its 12:00 to 4:00 P.m. On sunday I usually swim at the apartment pool, saved some money. I swim 6 days a week if I can. I get ideas for workouts from online workouts-100 swimming workouts and another group of workouts posted by a Ruth I think. I changed some of these workouts for my needs. That's a HUGE advantage of being a solo swimmer: We get to swim whenever we want to swim, and we don't have to work our schedules around a team workout. I like to swim in the morning, but "morning" can mean jumping in the pool at 8:30 or 11:00, depending on when my husband and I (both retired) roll out of bed, or when we finish taking care of filling orders for Bruce's hobby business (he makes art glass jewelry and sells on Etsy). I love that flexibility! There are so many great resources for workout ideas, but I have found the best right here on the USMS website and in the Forum threads! :applaud:

Great comments, Dan, THANKS! :applaud: You made so many excellent points, and I agree with them all. The last one made me sad, though, because the frequency of meets here in Georgia has dwindled each year since I joined Masters. We were just discussing it at our LMSC meeting, yesterday, after the SouthSide Pentathlon (I was one of 8 of 80 who opted for the Ironman :banana:). I learned at the meeting that our only SCM meet that I love going to will be at a different time this year, and we have a major commitment that conflicts with the meet. :sad: I love going to meets for the reasons you mentioned, and I really enjoy racing a bunch of different events. The Ironman was the 400 IM and 200's of each stroke-- all in about 2-1/2 hours. It was a blast! Thanks again for your great contribution to the thread! :groovy:

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.

Physical therapist: you can't swim for a month until your shoulder heals. You need a different PT. When I had horrible pain in my shoulder, besides giving me exercises to do, the PT asked to see my stroke there on the table. I turned over and showed him the best estimation of my stroke and recovery. He immediately pointed out a flaw in the recovery that was the reason for my pain, At the time, I was swimming a lot at the Rose Bowl Aquatic center with their Masters club and never once got any feedback from the coach (a former COTY, even), even though I did ask on occasion. So having a coach is not always a remedy, but having someone who understands muscle and skeletal mechanics is a great deal of help. BTW, I went into the pool the next day and got immediate relief from the pain. It took a few weeks to strengthen my shoulder muscles, but I was never told to stay out of the pool.

You need a different PT. When I had horrible pain in my shoulder, besides giving me exercises to do, the PT asked to see my stroke there on the table. I turned over and showed him the best estimation of my stroke and recovery. He immediately pointed out a flaw in the recovery that was the reason for my pain. Michael, this is an excellent idea for the rest of us, even if it might not pertain to Denise's situation. A suggestion for the rest of us: If you end up in a situation where you need to consult a physical therapist for your pain, show them your stroke! One way to do it is to have somebody shoot video of ALL of your strokes, and then send the YouTube links to your therapist to review. If I end up back in physical therapy, I plan to do just that. Until then, I will be a good patient and continue doing my exercises. :angel: It seems this is the way they're building in the over 55 communities nowadays, calling them a "lap fitness pool." Unless you're in a big community (like yours, ElaineK), which they're not building in the Washington, DC area. Denise, it depends on the builder. All Del Webb Communities nationwide (including Sun City communities) are all built with 25-yard pools. :applaud:

Hi, Michael: I am recovering from an inflamed trapezius caused by over use after having shoulder surgery last year. I think she just wants me to take it easy until the inflammation goes down. She says I can do *** stroke but I swim it like a one-legged frog. A question for those of you who may have experience swimming in less than optimal conditions. Our over 55 community has a 50' pool and that means I'll have to swim 1 1/2 lengths to equal one lap of a 25 yard pool. I think it's going to mean an awful lot of wasted time turning (don't do flip turns) and I won't get optimal exercise. Anyone have experience with swimming in a shorter pool? Do you find you don't get a good workout? There's a standard size pool about 20 min. away, but I'm thinking in bad weather I'll have to stick closer to home. It seems this is the way they're building in the over 55 communities nowadays, calling them a "lap fitness pool." Unless you're in a big community (like yours, ElaineK), which they're not building in the Washington, DC area.

He immediately pointed out a flaw in the recovery that was the reason for my pain, Micheal, do you recall the flaw?

Hi, Michael: I am recovering from an inflamed trapezius caused by over use after having shoulder surgery last year. I think she just wants me to take it easy until the inflammation goes down. She says I can do *** stroke but I swim it like a one-legged frog. A question for those of you who may have experience swimming in less than optimal conditions. Our over 55 community has a 50' pool and that means I'll have to swim 1 1/2 lengths to equal one lap of a 25 yard pool. I think it's going to mean an awful lot of wasted time turning (don't do flip turns) and I won't get optimal exercise. Anyone have experience with swimming in a shorter pool? Do you find you don't get a good workout? There's a standard size pool about 20 min. away, but I'm thinking in bad weather I'll have to stick closer to home. It seems this is the way they're building in the over 55 communities nowadays, calling them a "lap fitness pool." Unless you're in a big community (like yours, ElaineK), which they're not building in the Washington, DC area. If you don't want to do breaststroke you can do dogpaddle with a snorkel. I did a lot of that when my shoulder was hurt. It is a good way to practice EVF. As to the short pool; if it is OK on your shoulder, short pools are great for working on turns. Even if you only do open turns they can get better. Doing a turn without pushing off will give you more strokes/length. You can do vertical kicking,which is especially good for dolphin kick and breaststroke kick. When your shoulder is healed you can do 50' sprints if you like,that can be a very good sprint set.