What do YOU need to do to have a major swimming breakthrough?"

Ande, I've been trying for a while for a breakthrough. I got back into serious swimming when I convinced some coworkers to form a triathlon team, with me as the swimmer. I had been swimming about 1000 yards, twice a week. I upped it to 1800 meters (switched pools when I moved), 3x/ week. This was7 months ago. About a month ago, I realized that I want to start competing again, and started pulling workouts off the internet (swim2000.com). Went from 1800m to 3000m in a week, resulting in a pulled bicep tendon :rolleyes: oops. I've been re-working the workouts to incorporate more drills and less pulling (and have a great massage therapist who works on my shoulder, which is doing much better). Right now, I'm at 3200m, 3x a week, and an additional 1500m or so of drills on Sunday if I can. Anyway, my issues are: 1. I've been practicing drills from the Total Immersion book I got, and have problems with balance because by the time I get my body into the "sweet spot", my face is almost completely underwater, making it hard to breathe and very easy for water to go up my nose and down my throat. 2. The workouts I'm using often have intervals set at times I just can't make; I don't know what a proper interval would be for training. Also, the intervals given seem to be only applicable for freestyle, even when the workout specifies some other stroke. How do I adjust intervals for breastroke? 3. I'd love to swim with a team, but my schedule and finances don't allow it right now. Plus, I am extremely sensitive to the sun, and practices outdoors in Arizona year-round will probably wind me up back in a dermtalogists' office. 4. My freestyle seems to be pretty good. I average 15 strokes per 25m, about 18 when sprinting. I'm continuing to work on it. I swim alone, though I've met a number of other swimmers at my gym, and am trying to convince some friends to start joining me. Kae

Ande, I've been trying for a while for a breakthrough. I got back into serious swimming when I convinced some coworkers to form a triathlon team, with me as the swimmer. I had been swimming about 1000 yards, twice a week. I upped it to 1800 meters (switched pools when I moved), 3x/ week. This was7 months ago. About a month ago, I realized that I want to start competing again, and started pulling workouts off the internet (swim2000.com). Went from 1800m to 3000m in a week, resulting in a pulled bicep tendon :rolleyes: oops. I've been re-working the workouts to incorporate more drills and less pulling (and have a great massage therapist who works on my shoulder, which is doing much better). Right now, I'm at 3200m, 3x a week, and an additional 1500m or so of drills on Sunday if I can. Anyway, my issues are: 1. I've been practicing drills from the Total Immersion book I got, and have problems with balance because by the time I get my body into the "sweet spot", my face is almost completely underwater, making it hard to breathe and very easy for water to go up my nose and down my throat. 2. The workouts I'm using often have intervals set at times I just can't make; I don't know what a proper interval would be for training. Also, the intervals given seem to be only applicable for freestyle, even when the workout specifies some other stroke. How do I adjust intervals for breastroke? 3. I'd love to swim with a team, but my schedule and finances don't allow it right now. Plus, I am extremely sensitive to the sun, and practices outdoors in Arizona year-round will probably wind me up back in a dermtalogists' office. 4. My freestyle seems to be pretty good. I average 15 strokes per 25m, about 18 when sprinting. I'm continuing to work on it. I swim alone, though I've met a number of other swimmers at my gym, and am trying to convince some friends to start joining me. Kae