Just a thought/request:
At some point in the future, it would be nice to have workouts posted by someone who specializes in LONG distance coaching with an eye on open water distances (1 mile "death sprints" to ??? miles). The workouts provided are generally excellent, but since open water distances basically start where pool distances leave off, it would be great to have something a bit more specific. This is especially true since there is a relatively small body of printed work on longer distance/open water training and coaches for LONG distances seem few and far between.
Would anyone else be interested and would this be possible?
-LBJ
Former Member
LBJ-
I think I could probably keep you in mind during some of my workouts. I was until last year in charge of the of Santa Barbara Beachguards and we used to do many open water swims as well as set many of the local open water courses.
You could also double many of the distances in our sets or even swim some of the sets with an open water stroke (with you head coming up to sight the wall), while it may look funny it could help bridge the gap. Keep in mind that swimmers who specialize in open water are still a minority in the sport, but I guess we should consider them more as they help coaches stay in business!
I second the motion for some long distance workouts that will help us open water swimmiers -- even it the distance isn't quite so long:) Periodic suggestions will be a great help. Simply swimming non-stop laps gets old.
Thanks, Nancy
When I first started back to swimming i couldn't even do the 'beginner' workouts. Newbies to this board frequently ask how they can increase their yardage and endurance. The advice is always the same, "start out slow and easy. Don't be to anxious and increase the yardage too quickly," but that doesn't really tell them WHAT to do during a workout. WHAT, is what I wanted most. Suggestions on how to modify even the beginner/slowest levels of a workout DOWN so Newbies could benefit, would also be great for them. Something simple, with an eye toward very low, to low yardage, like, "if you are a Newbie you would likely benefit most from doing 1/2 of the warm up, the first two swims of set 1, and 1/2 of the warm down. Adjust your intervals by (or some other specific modification)..." Then, when a newbie asked a question about how to begin doing workouts we could direct them to yours.
I think laineybug has a great idea. That way we would have direction from a coach rather than either being confused about what part of the workout to do, or feeling we need to try to completer the entire workout. Forget that!!! When I see these workouts I simply move on to another thread :rolleyes:
Guidance would be appreciated.
Nancy
Elaine,
As a member of USMS for many years who has been an active participant in both in the water and out of the water activities, I can tell you there is no agenda to discourage beginning/less proficient swimmers. The reality of the situation is that with our less then a handful of employees and almost total reliance on volunteers, USMS can not be all things to all people, in fact we can not be many things to most people. USMS employees no coaches, all of the workouts posted on this website come from folks who in many cases are volunteer coaches.
In the 20+ years that I have been involved with the national organization we have struggled with how “to promote fitness and health in adults by offering and supporting Masters swimming programs”. I can tell you that we have made many improvements in that time. Back when I started, there was no web site or workouts on-line, albeit there was no web back in the 70’s. My point is that we will continue to evolve and offer more services and programs. Just remember that these programs and services are being developed and administered by volunteers, so if you want something new it may take time and it may need you to champion the effort. That’s the reality of the situation.
And I apologize for further digressing from the “Request for LONG distance training” thread. But, hey, at least I feel better now.
Mo's workout on this site are way to advance for many Newbies.
Michael Collins' workouts with their different levels were closer to what I could do (but still wasn't even up to the lowest level).
I pulled myself up to the posted workouts by paying for private coaching session. The question to USMS, do you want beginning swimmers who does not have access to a coach/team and whose ability is below the posted workout? If USMS does then put yourself in their shoes and ask this question. Where is the money better spent? On USMS dues or private coaching session? You know my decision. Now multiply that decision by all the beginning and returning swimmers in the nation.
To attract the less than proficient swimmer USMS must offer them some other benefit other than a magazine.
Mo's workouts utilize cruise intervals and as such can be used by swimmers of all levels of ability. Emmett Hines' Fitness Swimmer has been mentioned previously and is a great reference, with color coded workouts beginning at a very basic level.
I have not had access to a team or a coach but have found USMS to be a great source of information and very motivating. The fact that any member can swim at Nationals has been a subject of debate on this forum but reflects the philosophy of participation regardless of ability.
The original topic of this thread was a request for workouts for long (and middle?) distance swimmers. No one is disputing the value of interval training, but repeats of 50, 75 or 100 yards are not going to be adequate for the longer events. Unfortunately, as Masters swimmers most of us are limited in terms of time available for training (10,000 yards/day is not feasible, even if our bodies were willing).
10K a day? i wish ;-) ...in any event you have a good point and as jeremy (kipp) mentioned he is going to keep that in mind for future workouts as will I. expect to see some more distance-centric workouts at least once a week in the near future at least from me but i expect from both of us.
