Running out of gas....

Good morning all, and happy swimming.

I am a 64 year old distance swimmer, and I typically use flip turns during my freestyle, but I run out of gas after about 300 yards.  At times, I literally feel I am going to pass out.  When I revert to open arm turns, I have no problem completing 500 or 1000 yards.

Wondering if anyone else has had this problem.  I want to be able to maintain a decent speed throughout my events, but I also want to survive them!  Any suggestions are welcomed and appreciated.

Parents
  • 3URXX,

    I experience the same thing when I "forget" to exhale as forcefully as I should.  Like you, doing open turns eliminates the issue.

    It is important to remember that the time it takes to do a flip turn is likely equivalent to 4-6 strokes without a breath.  I count the turn itself as two strokes and a nice long push-off (past the flags) as another 2.  If you are holding your breathe for 2 strokes into a turn and for 1-2 strokes after surfacing, you are going a long time without breathing.  That pushes the CO2 levels pretty high creating the awful feeling you experience.

    As Kyle mentioned and I have found at our age, open turns might not be all that slower than flip turns - especially if we can swim harder between the walls.

    good Luck!

Reply
  • 3URXX,

    I experience the same thing when I "forget" to exhale as forcefully as I should.  Like you, doing open turns eliminates the issue.

    It is important to remember that the time it takes to do a flip turn is likely equivalent to 4-6 strokes without a breath.  I count the turn itself as two strokes and a nice long push-off (past the flags) as another 2.  If you are holding your breathe for 2 strokes into a turn and for 1-2 strokes after surfacing, you are going a long time without breathing.  That pushes the CO2 levels pretty high creating the awful feeling you experience.

    As Kyle mentioned and I have found at our age, open turns might not be all that slower than flip turns - especially if we can swim harder between the walls.

    good Luck!

Children