I had an interesting experience this during a morning swim at our local YMCA. I am fortunate enough to have President's Day off from work, so I took my time getting to the pool today. Arriving at about 11 am, I knew in advance that only 2 of the 4 lanes would be reserved for lap swim. I don't mind sharing a lane at all (as long as no one slams into me) and I find that most people think the same way.
The pool was really busy today, probably because of the holiday. I had to wait a few minutes to get in the pool because both lanes already had 3 people in them. No big deal in my mind.
I got in a lane with a two very different swimmers - one woman who doing breast stroke pretty leisurely while her husband and kids played in the recreational swim area (she's ID'd as breast stroker in this post) and another woman who was a good swimmer and clearly swam quite often during the week (ID'd as superior female swimmer from here on out). I would put myself in between these 2 in terms of ability.
The three of us seemed to be managing our circle swim quite well until a fourth person, a male swimmer, jumped into the lane with us. It definitely became a bit of rush hour and the superior female swimmer was clearly not happy that there were 3 other swimmers in the lane who were serving as barriers to the completion of her workout. The male swimmer was staying out of everyone's way because he was a very fast swimmer. At one point, female superior swimmer asked if she could go ahead of me on a lap and I said fine, but she then proceeded to literally swim into the breast stroker.
Fortunately, the breast stroker and superior female swimmer ended up finishing their workouts shortly thereafter and the male swimmer and I were able to split the lane ourselves for the remainder of my workout.
Now I recognize that swimming is my weakest tri leg, which means I'm slower than many swimmers, and I have the added perk of being 7.5 moths pregnant. At this point I'm dragging 20 extra pounds through the water, so I am probably swimming slower than I had pre-pregnancy. But I don't got to the pool to break any world records; I was looking for a low impact, but high quality workout (which I talked about in my previous post about prenatal fitness).
My attitude is, if you're a faster swimmer than others in the lane, either figure out a way to pass them or discuss with them how you want to share the lane. It's no big deal and it's par for the course when you participate in a sport that is friendly to all ages and abilities, and you definitely get a wide range of swimmers at the Y. If you only want to be around fast swimmers, then join a swim club or a pool with more lanes. We were all doing our best to stay out of the way so we could all enjoy a swim.
I'm interested in others' perspectives on this issue. Thanks, as always, for reading.
Showing posts with label Swim. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Swim. Show all posts
Monday, February 15, 2010
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Conquering the Swim: Tri made easy (Getting Better)
During pre-race prep or just talking to other triathletes, I've heard various people say things that disparage the venerable sport of swimming, as it relates to being a brother of "Bike" and "Run." As a competitive swimmer, I can't say that swimming is simple, but I can offer some tips to that sub 25 minute 1500 meters. (Take these tips at your own risk)
Here's a strategy:
Step 1. Focus on technique: Just like Master Miyagi from Karate Kid taught Daniel to beat the Cobra Kai by teaching the basics first, most swimmers are taught technique before they learn to be medalists. There are many triathletes out there with poor swimming technique.
First, I think the fastest way to get better, technique-wise (if you're not a swimmer) is to find a swimmer friend or a master's team and get a few in-water freestyle pointers on head position, arm position (pull and recovery), FLIP-TURNS and BI-LATERAL breathing. Then, after getting some pointers (I don't think you need hours of lessons), focus on getting setting up a solid stroke by making it a part of your regular workout. It might slow you down a bit a first but your stroke will be more efficient AND you'll be able to breath on the left (or right) to avoid a mouthful of your nearest competitor's wake.
The aim isn't a perfect technique, it's about improving your stroke until you feel smooth in the water and so you're not thinking about maintaining some stroke count or pace. After you've got freestyle down, then you can challenge yourself with the other strokes.
Tip: Pool time won't always improve your performance. Doing some dry-land and cross training with your upper body with rubber stretch-cords to build up upper body strength and resistance training. I'd use a medium resistance (not too easy). Focus on time, rather than reps, but here's a good link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D37Ye_ADQ30 to get an idea. I'd recommend something like doing five different exercises for one minute each...in a few weeks, you'll start feeling the difference in the water and decrease the risk of injury at the same time.
Step 2. Focus on workout quality: A great 2500 yard/meter workout is better than the lame 4000-5000 workout. I see a lot of triathletes focusing in the pool on swimming lap after lap after lap continuously. By doing this you're focusing on the wrong goal (mindless distance) and not getting better at swimming. You'll gain distance rapidly with good technique and time. I'd suggest that during the tri season, swimming long distances during workouts probably are necessary to make sure you can go the distance and have the pacing down right, but you should be doing that maybe once a week or two. I'm not a big fan of fins, but throwing them into a workout every once in a while to focus on technique while at speed is sometimes beneficial. I'd suggest that if you're going to use fins on a regular basis get a pair of short fins, like these Zoomers. Yes, they're harder to use, but they will improve your kick and make sure you don't cheat the whole main set. For a 2500 freestyle workout (scalable to 1000 or 5000, if you know other strokes well enough work them in) try something like this:
WARM-UP (400-500)
Example:
400 Freestyle (straight and slow, focusing on technique)
Pull/Kick/Drill (400-600) - (essential for technique and muscle memory)
Example:
400-600 Drill/Kick/Pull (something like 10 x 50 or 6 x 75 yards, alternate by workout)
MAIN SET(S) (800-1600)
Examples:
8 x 100 Free or 2 x 400 on challenging intervals
or
6-8 x 125s on interval (trying odd lengths like 125s and 175s can really keep you off guard)
or
2-3x 500 on intervals
WARM DOWN (300-400)
Example:
300-400 warm down (take it slow and focus on technique)
Step 3. Focus on speed: But once you've got your arms, head, and legs moving like you want them, you can start taking your intervals down and doing longer distances.
Step 4. Focus on open water: As a pool swimmer for all my life until last year, open water is new to me. I guess practice is the most important thing here. The same principle applies to a pool swim...swimming as fast as you can without draining yourself for the rest of the race. I think the most advanced things that apply in open water would be learning how to draft and locating buoys. I think swimming in a variety of conditions is also helpful (i.e. clear vs. murky water or placid vs. choppy).
Caveat: I would say throwing yourself right into swimming back and forth in open water isn't going to make you a better swimmer. Crappy techinque in open water endangers not only yourself but others...and competitors who float on the swim are annoying to those who want to get on to the bike :)
I hope these tips spark some ideas.
Thanks for reading.
Here's a strategy:
Step 1. Focus on technique: Just like Master Miyagi from Karate Kid taught Daniel to beat the Cobra Kai by teaching the basics first, most swimmers are taught technique before they learn to be medalists. There are many triathletes out there with poor swimming technique.
First, I think the fastest way to get better, technique-wise (if you're not a swimmer) is to find a swimmer friend or a master's team and get a few in-water freestyle pointers on head position, arm position (pull and recovery), FLIP-TURNS and BI-LATERAL breathing. Then, after getting some pointers (I don't think you need hours of lessons), focus on getting setting up a solid stroke by making it a part of your regular workout. It might slow you down a bit a first but your stroke will be more efficient AND you'll be able to breath on the left (or right) to avoid a mouthful of your nearest competitor's wake.
The aim isn't a perfect technique, it's about improving your stroke until you feel smooth in the water and so you're not thinking about maintaining some stroke count or pace. After you've got freestyle down, then you can challenge yourself with the other strokes.
Tip: Pool time won't always improve your performance. Doing some dry-land and cross training with your upper body with rubber stretch-cords to build up upper body strength and resistance training. I'd use a medium resistance (not too easy). Focus on time, rather than reps, but here's a good link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D37Ye_ADQ30 to get an idea. I'd recommend something like doing five different exercises for one minute each...in a few weeks, you'll start feeling the difference in the water and decrease the risk of injury at the same time.
Step 2. Focus on workout quality: A great 2500 yard/meter workout is better than the lame 4000-5000 workout. I see a lot of triathletes focusing in the pool on swimming lap after lap after lap continuously. By doing this you're focusing on the wrong goal (mindless distance) and not getting better at swimming. You'll gain distance rapidly with good technique and time. I'd suggest that during the tri season, swimming long distances during workouts probably are necessary to make sure you can go the distance and have the pacing down right, but you should be doing that maybe once a week or two. I'm not a big fan of fins, but throwing them into a workout every once in a while to focus on technique while at speed is sometimes beneficial. I'd suggest that if you're going to use fins on a regular basis get a pair of short fins, like these Zoomers. Yes, they're harder to use, but they will improve your kick and make sure you don't cheat the whole main set. For a 2500 freestyle workout (scalable to 1000 or 5000, if you know other strokes well enough work them in) try something like this:
WARM-UP (400-500)
Example:
400 Freestyle (straight and slow, focusing on technique)
Pull/Kick/Drill (400-600) - (essential for technique and muscle memory)
Example:
400-600 Drill/Kick/Pull (something like 10 x 50 or 6 x 75 yards, alternate by workout)
MAIN SET(S) (800-1600)
Examples:
8 x 100 Free or 2 x 400 on challenging intervals
or
6-8 x 125s on interval (trying odd lengths like 125s and 175s can really keep you off guard)
or
2-3x 500 on intervals
WARM DOWN (300-400)
Example:
300-400 warm down (take it slow and focus on technique)
Step 3. Focus on speed: But once you've got your arms, head, and legs moving like you want them, you can start taking your intervals down and doing longer distances.
Step 4. Focus on open water: As a pool swimmer for all my life until last year, open water is new to me. I guess practice is the most important thing here. The same principle applies to a pool swim...swimming as fast as you can without draining yourself for the rest of the race. I think the most advanced things that apply in open water would be learning how to draft and locating buoys. I think swimming in a variety of conditions is also helpful (i.e. clear vs. murky water or placid vs. choppy).
Caveat: I would say throwing yourself right into swimming back and forth in open water isn't going to make you a better swimmer. Crappy techinque in open water endangers not only yourself but others...and competitors who float on the swim are annoying to those who want to get on to the bike :)
I hope these tips spark some ideas.
Thanks for reading.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
