I am a 28 year old High Tech worker looking to get back into shap & swimming. Its been 10 and 100 pounds since High School Swim team. I am looking to get back into shape, and back into swimming a the same time. Is joining a club and working out a good starting point or should I look into something else and joing Masters at a later point when I am a little more in shape? I am "medically sound". I really want to get back into distance stuff... Maybe someday make the anual alcatraz swim.
Joining a master's team is really the way to go, in my opinion. You'll probably find that masters swimming is a lot more easy going than high school--and the fellowship aspect can make swimming X distance a lot easier than attempting the same on your own. I tell people who join our little team here in PA to come to all the practices, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, for three weeks straight, and they will be amazed at the kind of shape they get into. ANd once you've made the first three week commitment, odds are good you'll find it so rewarding you'll become a lifer.
By the way, 28 is a great age to resume swimming. The longer you wait, the harder it is to get back into your younger grandeur.
Good luck.
I think you should swim for your interest in open water events. Maybe you can do some cross trainig too, jogging etc. Swimming is a great life style that I'm sure you will be glad you returned to.
Bill Feesh :)
Hopefully you've already gotten out there and put some yards in the pool. If you've seriously put on 100 lbs, I would recommend first training/swimming on your own for a couple weeks, and then seeking out a masters program. This will allow you to get a "feel" for the water and work through the sore muscles at your own pace. My concern about jumping right into a Masters program is that it's easy to get caught up in the moment and push yourself much harder than you should before you've built a base. This could cause much more pain than necessary and actually slow down your progress.
Once you've built a base, I strongly recommend a Masters program. I lifted weights and ran for 20 years, but never saw half the results that I've seen in 4 months of masters swimming.
However you approach it....keep it fun!
