Catch a wave...Or the swimming thread

[alpinerabbit]

Ye gods - you intend to say you swim 100 m in 1.20?



Want to know what it looks like in our city pool?

4 - 50m lanes. On any given night, 1-2 lanes are taken up by classes, masters, police squad, life guards-in-training, aqua fit, synchronous swimmers.
Then there is the 5th, broad lane with everyone going in whatever direction, aqua joggers, people stroll-swimming while gossiping and taking extended rests on the walls.

Monday it was 3 out of 4 lanes blocked....
Lane 4 was shared by an average of 10 swimmers going in circles. That’s what I deal with. After 8pm another lane opened up for tempo swimmers. That's why I joined the tri club, to have a lane of our own, but that's in a 25m pool out in the suburbs.

At least they are open now until 10.30 pm. Not that I ever go so late.

[firenze11]

Oh my goodness, I will stop complaining about my pool now! I can't imagine sharing a lane with 10 people. I was just surprised to see so many people there yesterday. Every other time I've gone it's been very very quiet. One of the pools in the town I'm moving to has a "Ladies Group Swim." I thought that was interesting. I guess it helps keep the social swimmers happy and the lane swimmers happy.

Ye gods - you intend to say you swim 100 m in 1.20?

Well I didn't actually swim the last 25m. So barring drowning or getting tired and slowing down (both of which are possible - well maybe not drowning) I guess theoretically I could have swum a 1:20 100m. I also could be wrong, maybe I swam a 2:00 75m. But I'm pretty sure it was 1:00. I'll try again Thursday and see what happens.

[alpinerabbit]

I went for an hour today. There were so many slow folks in the fast lane that I went in as well.

I'm sure a couple (say the only 2 "fast" guys) were p.o.'ed at all the rest. Actually the lifeguard suggested to one girl she did not belong in that lane. Lucky that girl was not me.

I did my cool down in the other lane and the real problem is the breast strokers who are difficult to pass.

[kelownagirl]

Oh my goodness, I will stop complaining about my pool now! I can't imagine sharing a lane with 10 people. I was just surprised to see so many people there yesterday. Every other time I've gone it's been very very quiet. One of the pools in the town I'm moving to has a "Ladies Group Swim." I thought that was interesting. I guess it helps keep the social swimmers happy and the lane swimmers happy.



Well I didn't actually swim the last 25m. So barring drowning or getting tired and slowing down (both of which are possible - well maybe not drowning) I guess theoretically I could have swum a 1:20 100m. I also could be wrong, maybe I swam a 2:00 75m. But I'm pretty sure it was 1:00. I'll try again Thursday and see what happens.

It takes me 30-40 seconds per 25m. I can't flip turn so it takes me about 1:15 to do 50m and 2:15-2:30 to do 100m. Of course I'm slow...

[rocknrollgirl]

100 in 1:20 would be pretty fast, unless you were a swimmer in school that is. For the average multisport athlete that would be fast. At least from what I have experienced.

[Wahine]

A 1 min 75m is fast. My best 100 m ever was a 1:24, I swim more like 1:40 in comp and that puts me among the faster triathletes for sure. (It sucks when you get on the bike and everyone starts passing you though).

[kelownagirl]

I went for a good swim today. Did about 1200m in 45 min. I swam about 400m in warmup and drills and then did 750m straight without stopping. It felt good to be have that feeling back again. And it only took me 3 swims to get back to where I was. Thank goodness. Oh and I bought my membership today so I got to use the cushy change rooms. Oh it was so nice. No one else was there either so I had the whole place to myself. And the towels are nice so I won't have to haul mine there any more. And since it's adults only, I don't have to
be careful when I change (I'm already running into students at the pool....)

[KSH]

(It sucks when you get on the bike and everyone starts passing you though).

HA! Yea it does!

[rocknrollgirl]

I thought that was a fast time. I am usually out of the water in the top of the pack and the fastest I have ever done it in the pool is about 1:35....1:20 would be smokin'

And just for the record, for me all of the passing happens on the run...such a bummer......

[firenze11]

Kelownagirl - Congrats on getting back to where you were after 3 swims. . .and on the awesome new cushy locker room. It's nice to have a locker room that doesn't feel like a germ factory!

I had my second workout in the pool today. I did mostly continuous swimming today which, for me, is a huge breakthrough. A few months ago I couldn't even do 25m without feeling like I couldn't breathe It was pretty exhausting though and I kept an eye on my pace just to see if Tuesday was a total fluke or me not timing properly.

I think Tuesday did actually happen. . .but but but it was the only really tiring thing I did during that workout. I was mostly doing drills and easy freestyle with a lot of breast stroking. I highly doubt I could have held that pace even in the remaining 25 m so I really doubt I can do a 1:20 100.

Today I was consistently doing 25 second 25m and did a 1:43 100 and at the end I checked again and was much much slower (and so tired) and did 1:50 100m.

I'm just happy I don't feel like the pool is going to eat me anymore. And I know OW is a whole other monster I have to learn to deal with. And then there's the being passed by the better cyclists and runners once I make it out of the water. What an adventure this all is.

[Starfish]

A 1 min 75m is fast. My best 100 m ever was a 1:24, I swim more like 1:40 in comp and that puts me among the faster triathletes for sure. (It sucks when you get on the bike and everyone starts passing you though).

OK. I gotta start doing Tri's.

But, here is a question from a total non-triathlete...bear with me...how important is the swim in how you finish a tri? If I am great in the swim, mediocre or average in the bike, and sucky at running...I am assuming I will not be great in triathlons...are the bike and run a lot more important than the swim?

ETA: Oops, I realize I might have just started a thread drift...please let me know if this belongs in a different thread.

[HillSlugger]

OK. I gotta start doing Tri's.

But, here is a question from a total non-triathlete...bear with me...how important is the swim in how you finish a tri? If I am great in the swim, mediocre or average in the bike, and sucky at running...I am assuming I will not be great in triathlons...are the bike and run a lot more important than the swim?

ETA: Oops, I realize I might have just started a thread drift...please let me know if this belongs in a different thread.

To make a grand sweeping generalization, swimming tends to be the hardest part for most triathletes. If you are a good swimmer you can really come out ahead from the swim. However, the swim is, time-wise, the shortest segment of a triathlon. So, it's easy to lose what you gained in the swim if you're weak at running or biking.

[Wahine]

Starfish - the swim is the shortest portion by time and therefore does not gain you a lot in terms of overall placing unless you are able to hold a decent time in the bike and the run. The bike is the longest portion by time, so there is a lot to be gained by being a good cyclist. The most important factor for the swim is effort level. If you swim well and finish decently, then you have a much better chance of biking well because you're not totally thrashed from the swim. There's a little saying that goes like this:

You can't win a triathlon in the swim, but you can sure as heck lose one.

Or something like that.

Numbers on an Oly:

Jane swims 2:00/100 = 30:00
Bikes 30 kph = 1:20:00
Runs 5 min km = 50:00

If she improves by 10% on each event what does she gain?

Swim = 1:48/100 = 27:00
Bike = 33 kph = 1:13:00 ish
Run = 4:30 min km = 45:00

So you gain 3 min on the swim, 7 min on the bike and 5 min on the run for the same percentage of improvement. And you might know from experience that gaining 10% in the pool is a lot harder than gaining 10% on the bike.

[Starfish]

This is quite helpful, thank you. I think I'm sunk. I can swim, but I have to admit, I find it quite hard to improve speed on the bike, to tell you the truth. And, even if my knee can handle running, I will NEVER be fast there.

*sigh* kinda got my hopes up!

[Wahine]

Starfish - you don't have to be fast, just tenacious and we all know that you're that!! You could totally do a tri. You would swim well and be comfortable in the water, get out and bike the best you can which would be just fine and relax on the run, enjoy the scenery, cheer people on and walk /jog your way in. Done. No problem.

Really you could do it. You need to read "Slow Fat Triathlete."