Catch a wave...Or the swimming thread

[Wahine]

This morning's masters' work out was officially a killer. the main set was 44 50s with every 4th 50 being butterfly... yes I meant 44, that wasn't a typo. I had to wear fins for half of the workout to keep up with the interval and even then I was only getting 5 sec rest after the fly and 10 sec on the freestyle 50s. The total workout was 3000 m with warm-up and cool down.

I'm starving to death and feel like falling asleep at my desk. Ugh.

[Veronica]

I haven't been in the water since my last tri in Sept. I have so much work to do on my running that I don't swim all that often. It's kind of the fun workout. When I go, I just do whatever I feel like.

Today was swim 1,000 yards. I kept track of my splits. The first one is always fastest and was 1:39. The next 8 were all between 1:47 and 1:50. I kicked it up a bit on 10 and did 1:43. Not bad for not having been in the water for four months.

Then I kicked 300, alternating between flutter, breast and dolphin kicks every 25.

Then I pulled 500. I was hoping to do it in under ten minutes but came in at 10:05.

100 warm down and I was done.

I probably won't swim again for another month. I wish I had a masters team locally.

Veronica

[eclectic]

Syndirelah

If I did the math correctly that work out is 4000 meters! how long does that take you? WOW

Wahine 44 50's sounds really intimidating! and every 4th the fly! They would be dragging me off the bottom of the pool.

After my swim today I decided I need to do more fly to help my freestyle. I have gotten lazy on my free and I am not pushing myself enough. I have developed a "good enough for a sprint tri" attitude - not worth the effort it takes to speed up - I can easily, w/o pushing, maintain a 1:50 pace for 1100 continuous yds and still feel great after so I figure "good enough"

Like you Veronica I need to concentrate on my running - I REALLY bite it there.

BUT today I did a couple of 25's of fly and thought "this is good for me"
I timed myself on 25 back and 25 fly. I am waaaay faster on the fly - now if I can just get my endurance up!

One more thing - I asked my coach about mixing up the sets w/ different strokes and correlating drills - it sounds like I am the only one on here who does that on a regular basis.
Her answer was "anything that helps strengthen your core is going to help you on the swim, bike and run; doing all the strokes helps balance out and strengthen all the muscles not just the ones used for that specific stroke. Also it prevents overuse injuries, AND prevents boredom"

I believe her. She is the coach who is training the 16 year old who is now being lauded as the fastest 17 and under female swimmer in the world - she does all the strokes.

[eclectic]

Syndirelah - that is an amazing swim! A lot of yardage in a short period of time

I didn't swim this morning so went down when I got to work to tell my coach that I went home and went to bed and not out for "adult beverages" like I alluded to during Parent teacher conferences last night.

Dagny was still in the water so of course I had to stand and watch her.
She was doing 10 x 100's on 1:15 and holding each 100 under 1:00 - she brought her final one in at :57

If it is any consolation she was breathing hard

[Urlea]

Swam a 1/2mile after Biking 20minutes at the Y today.

I don't have any real strategy to my training at this point. I'm slow & still have real difficulties finding a rhythm to my breathing that I can stick to so I'm not sure drills would do me much good until I get that stuff down.

On the upside I am feeling more confident about covering the distances I will need to, but I also know it may not be pretty. I'm working hard to gain efficiency so that I'm not fried going into the bike.

I should really take out my TE book and read it again.

Can one of you fill me in on what "pull" means?

By the looks of it, it seems as though we have a few ladies that are graceful machines in the water.

Keep up the good work!

[Veronica]

When I say I did a pull set it means I had a pull buoy between my knees and did a set with no kicking, just arms.

Veronica

[eclectic]

Urlea - try practicing the drills - they are what get you more efficient, help w/ proper balance and rotation so the breathing is easier.

My coach has everyone use a swim snorkel when they start out so they get the proper balance, alignment and roll - once that is mastered you take off the snorkel and the breathing comes naturally.

Doing the Popov drill really helps w/ roll, balance and you don't need a snorkel to do it. I found it on Youtube but can't preview it here at work. just google Popov swim drills

I googles total immersion drills and there are some great ones there. In a former post I think it was alpinerabbit who hooked me up w/ the videos

finger tip drag is another simple one to help w/ proper hand entry in the water.

I would strongly suggest hooking up w/ a snorkel - it makes the drills easier http://www.swim2000.com/product.php?pd_id=SNP100P

When we do Pulls - we use Hand paddles sometimes w/ the pull buoy and sometimes w/o
http://www.swimoutlet.com/product_p/1231.htm

Our coach likes "toys" so we have them all where I swim (also they use them for the high school swim program and classes)