I could use some direction

Well I survived 60 Laps today.... I did a bunch more laps pulling and even got up to 6 in a row ....I noticed a lot of people (much stronger than I am) using flippers while using the kick boards. I kind of see this as cheating, or does this make you stronger? I would think you are better off not using them but I am not sure. Heythorp, I just saw this thread and welcome back to swimming ... sorry you had to get here grudgingly off the bike, but I hope you'll find a lot of good advice scattered throughout the discussion forums. Here are a few thoughts on getting back into shape. (1) As you get back into the pool, spend A LOT of your early training focused on technique. This will not only make you more efficient in the water, you'll enjoy your training more as your technique improves and, I believe, will be able to focus more on your cardio/training once a solid stroke works its way into your muscle memory. There are a lot of posts here on technique -- check out the Ask Ande thread -- but also a lot of good technique books, videos. I'm a big fan of Terry Laughlin's Total Immersion (www.totalimmersion.net) particularly if you're focused on freestyle. (2) Although I've only ever swum, from watching my wife train for half marathons and talking with Ironman trainers, I think there is a fairly big difference in the way you train for those long distance events and the way most swimmers train. As you begin your workouts, think about discrete sets and think about interval training. This both reduces the boredom factor of staring at the black line, but also allows you to switch your focal points throughout the workout. Again, the workouts forum is great. (3) Once you've got a relatively solid stroke and are feeling more comfortable in the water, ratchet up the intensity. If I'm doing an 75 minute workout in the pool, I like to do about 15 to 20 minutes of warmup/technique work, followed by pretty high intensity sets for the next 45 to 50 minutes, followed by a 5 to 10 minute cool down. The message is that swimming longer and slowly, while comfortable, won't do as much for your heart and muscles as swimming hard. (4) I'd second the recommendation to find a master's team. If you don't, though, develop a weekly workout plan that makes sense for you. For example, on our team we typically do: Mondays: longer distance, but high intensity with short rest intervals Tuesdays: "yoga swimming" -- this contradicts my point 3, but this tends to be long swims at a moderate pace and is a good recovery after Monday Wednesday: sprints / all out -- tends to be shorter total yardage, but MAX intensity with relatively generous rest Thursday: generally "yoga swimming" but maybe a little harder than Tuesday Friday: I think our coach is calling this "Fanatical Fridays" or something like that ... tends to be high intensity, but not quite at max like Wednesday and mid-distance Saturday: tends to be more similar to Mondays, though we often add in more IM Good luck

Well I survived 60 Laps today.... I did a bunch more laps pulling and even got up to 6 in a row ....I noticed a lot of people (much stronger than I am) using flippers while using the kick boards. I kind of see this as cheating, or does this make you stronger? I would think you are better off not using them but I am not sure. Heythorp, I just saw this thread and welcome back to swimming ... sorry you had to get here grudgingly off the bike, but I hope you'll find a lot of good advice scattered throughout the discussion forums. Here are a few thoughts on getting back into shape. (1) As you get back into the pool, spend A LOT of your early training focused on technique. This will not only make you more efficient in the water, you'll enjoy your training more as your technique improves and, I believe, will be able to focus more on your cardio/training once a solid stroke works its way into your muscle memory. There are a lot of posts here on technique -- check out the Ask Ande thread -- but also a lot of good technique books, videos. I'm a big fan of Terry Laughlin's Total Immersion (www.totalimmersion.net) particularly if you're focused on freestyle. (2) Although I've only ever swum, from watching my wife train for half marathons and talking with Ironman trainers, I think there is a fairly big difference in the way you train for those long distance events and the way most swimmers train. As you begin your workouts, think about discrete sets and think about interval training. This both reduces the boredom factor of staring at the black line, but also allows you to switch your focal points throughout the workout. Again, the workouts forum is great. (3) Once you've got a relatively solid stroke and are feeling more comfortable in the water, ratchet up the intensity. If I'm doing an 75 minute workout in the pool, I like to do about 15 to 20 minutes of warmup/technique work, followed by pretty high intensity sets for the next 45 to 50 minutes, followed by a 5 to 10 minute cool down. The message is that swimming longer and slowly, while comfortable, won't do as much for your heart and muscles as swimming hard. (4) I'd second the recommendation to find a master's team. If you don't, though, develop a weekly workout plan that makes sense for you. For example, on our team we typically do: Mondays: longer distance, but high intensity with short rest intervals Tuesdays: "yoga swimming" -- this contradicts my point 3, but this tends to be long swims at a moderate pace and is a good recovery after Monday Wednesday: sprints / all out -- tends to be shorter total yardage, but MAX intensity with relatively generous rest Thursday: generally "yoga swimming" but maybe a little harder than Tuesday Friday: I think our coach is calling this "Fanatical Fridays" or something like that ... tends to be high intensity, but not quite at max like Wednesday and mid-distance Saturday: tends to be more similar to Mondays, though we often add in more IM Good luck