Tell me the truth: 500 yards, 30 minutes...

[channlluv]

embarrassingly slow?

My first day at the Y and my first time in a pool doing real laps in...ever. I took a swim class in high school in, um, 1980, I think. I don't imagine that counts for much now, except that I can still do a side stroke. Ha!

Seriously, I was actually laughing at myself at how slow I was going, which made breathing difficult. I may be a ways off from being able to compete in a tri, especially if they don't have those handy walls to rest on every 25 yards.


Roxy

[colby]

I guess we could do the math... 500 yards is about 457 meters or .28 miles. You could find a triathlon with 1/4 mi swims and see how you compare.

I loaded up the Danskin results for Seattle, since I know it's big and has a lot of first-timers. The slowest swim times - it's about 800 meters/.5 miles - were over an hour, some well over. There are a lot of swim times between 35-45 minutes. Considering you have 350 meters to add to get to that distance, you'd probably be right in there somewhere.

So, no, you're not laughably slow, and you have plenty of time to train. Consider a couple of lessons/coach sessions, or just stick with it for a while until you can swim the distance you want to swim essentially non stop (at least, no major rest stops). A friend of mine went from zero "real" swimming to completing an intimidating and not entirely newb-friendly sprint tri in 3 months. And she wasn't last out of the water either!

[channlluv]

You so totally rock. Thank you.

Okay, here's another little bit of information. I told DH when he came home what I'd done and he asked if I was sure the pool was 25 yards. Was it not 25 meters? Because it's a competition pool - they hold meets there, and he said he's never seen one of those measured in yards, it's always in meters.

So, um, I think I maybe swam 500 meters...I think...I swam there and back ten times, however far it is. And then I did it again with my daughter after I picked her up from school. She did a great job, too. We used kickboards a couple of times, and varied our strokes, and there was a deepwater swim class going on with some really great music playing, and we had to share a lane with a really fit woman and a really fit man who were literally swimming circles around us, but it was fun and we both completed ten more laps.

I need to ask how long the length of the pool is when we go back on Wednesday.

Roxy, who will get the hang of all this athletic stuff eventually, maybe

[colby]

Yeah, as you can see, the difference between 50 yards/meters does add up over 500 meters (457 yards) but it's less than 50 yards difference, so it's not hugungous. And, if you did that twice in one day, that's awesome.

I swim with said friend that completed her first tri after not really swimming to that point, and I'm sure she would exude maximum sympathy for you swimming with someone fast in your lane or nearby. She has used the "literally swimming circles" phrase before. You may be slow relative to THEM, but think about all those people who don't even get in the pool, or people you don't see because they don't swim in the pool at the same time you do. And, it's possible those two people were a) competitive with each other, or b) swimming fast laps on purpose, which makes you seem even slower. Also, when you do kicking or pulling drills or vary your stroke, you'll feel slower, too. I, too, use these tricks myself to keep from competing with people in nearby lanes, or getting down on myself for being "slow". Almost everyone is slow compared to someone!

[katluvr]

Were the lanes set up the LONG way (length) of pool and the the "width" of the pool? Then it is 50 meters (one length)--as that is how most competetion pools are set up.

I did my first tri...my swim time was almost 15 minutes for 1/4 mile.
I know when I timed myself in the pool I did 400 yds in a little over 13 min.
I am slow. But steady. And thus room for improvement!

[witeowl]

Almost everyone is slow compared to someone!

Momentary Threadjack! Yesterday I was prodding middle school students to hurry along to class. I told them, "C'mon. I've seen turtles moving faster than you. In fact, I've seen dead turtles moving faster than you." No, they didn't speed up, but I did hear echoes of "dead turtles?" from their lips and were giving me wider berth than they normally would have, otherwise.

Back on topic. That's not outrageously slow. Is it slow? Perhaps, but think about your goal. It's far better for your growth as a swimmer to go at a slow and maintainable pace now and build from that. Pay attention to the fact that endurance and the ability to recover quickly are in many ways more important in a tri than speed. At least, that's what I tell myself as swimmers left and right are zooming past me.

[tulip]

Who cares about speed? You're out there swimming! Congratulations on getting going!

[sfa]

That's about how I started last October, only there was no way I could have done that distance my first few times out! And I didn't get comfortable with swimming laps without resting between them until the spring, and I wasn't able to do the whole distance of my race without resting until about three weeks before the race! Give yourself time and don't worry about the speed.

Sarah

[channlluv]

Were the lanes set up the LONG way (length) of pool and the the "width" of the pool? Then it is 50 meters (one length)--as that is how most competetion pools are set up.

I did my first tri...my swim time was almost 15 minutes for 1/4 mile.
I know when I timed myself in the pool I did 400 yds in a little over 13 min.
I am slow. But steady. And thus room for improvement!

Good question. There were ten lanes, so it's a wide pool, too. I'll ask when I go back tomorrow.

Thanks for the encouragment, everyone. I do have room for improvement. Indeed.

Roxy

[Cataboo]

embarrassingly slow?



Roxy

Much better than I could do, or have ever tried to do. Great job!