The Masters Swimming Thread!

[Kimmyt]

I haven't popped in here for a while, so here's an update. It seems like all yall are doing really well!

We've been doing backstroke in the past few weeks, and I'm starting to hate it. I always like backstroke, but with drills... its really tiring and I really feel it on my run home. Very winded.

I actually took yesterday off from class, stayed home and watched a movie (Farewell my concubine, very good!)

RM, i recently discovered the similar thing. When I drop my head in the water during freestyle, push my forehead down a bit, i almost feel like i'm physically shoving that water around me. It's very odd. It feels really nice though, and powerful, and I think a bit faster. The only problem I'm having with that is that by dropping my head, I have to rotate more to get a breath, and I'm ending up with water in my mouth more often than not. It doesn't go down my throat, but I don't get a really awesome breath in like I used to when my head was further up towards the surface. Any tips on this?

K.

[Wahine]

Good job everyone.

Way to go MD. That is really a big deal!!

I'll spare you the boring details but I swam 3 mornings this week with Masters. I thought I was going to die all 3 mornings. 2 days had a lot of stroke work which tires me out and on the freestyle day we had a hideously hard set. I was even a bit pukey.

Good news is that I feel really good. Like I'm getting enough exercise but not fatigued. I haven't felt like that in a while. I'll start training for real again (ie running and maybe biking) in mid Nov or beginnig of Dec. I'm starting to get excited about setting up a program.

[teigyr]

Wahine - because you've used TI at times, do you do your Master's practice using that form? Since I've taken the TI course and am doing drills now, it's a bit frustrating. Can you effectively go back and forth between forms or do you just use one that you've modified that's all-purpose? There are some swim clinics up here that I'd like to go to but I wonder if that would conflict with the TI lessons. The winter is all about swimming but I want to see progress, darn it!

[Wahine]

I use TI now, pretty exclusively. Having said that, there's always individuality in form and my current form is not pure TI but a blend of TI and my pre-TI form.

From a PT point of view, to make the TI form automatic you have to commit yourself to always practicing it. If you switch back and forth and change your stroke significantly when you switch, you form will suffer at both ends. It have to do with imprinting the nervous system with the right motor commands.

I would try to do all TI, understanding that when you don't concentrate as hard you will be swimming a combination. You will be slower for a while.

[teigyr]

Wahine, thank you. It makes sense. I'm not so worried about speed but I really want distance. Being that my final lesson was last week, I know I need to keep doing drills. I've got months to go before another tri so I know there is time. I guess I'm impatient

[alpinerabbit]

Coach told me to use my legs a bit more in freestyle, tried that, I guess it's not going too badly. Sometimes I get into a rhythm. Sometimes not. I need a butterfly class.

We have a 1K time trial in December, I am dreading that one.

Last night they were talking about doing 100x100 on new year's day.

You get free entry to the pool, champagne afterwards and out for lunch (actually they were joking last year it was lunches as they visited several restaurants, they were so hungry)

Think I can do 100x100? as a one-off? They just do something different for every 100 and you have all the time in the world (that would amount to like 4-5 hours?)
if I don't feel too horrible after a 2hr/3.5K practice? Or is this madness. I guess I don't have to finish.

[KSH]

Last night they were talking about doing 100x100 on new year's day.

You get free entry to the pool, champagne afterwards and out for lunch (actually they were joking last year it was lunches as they visited several restaurants, they were so hungry)

NY Day? No thanks. That's the day you should be recovering from a hang over!