For those that started not long ago - a question that could serve as motivation

I remember when I "taught" myself the front crawl (otherwise known as the freestyle stroke) almost 8 years ago now. It was at Bally's Total Fitness in Chicago on Washington Street in the basement pool...YUK.

I was training to swim 500 meters for a military physical fitness test I had to Ace 3 months away. I swam M, W, and F for about 20-30 min. Ok, scratch that, I spent 20-30 min in the pool but not swimming the entire time, of course.

I would swallow water every stroke for the first 3 swim "sessions." Then the following week, swim "sessions" 4-6, I swallowed water probably every 3rd stroke. The strokes I didn't swallow water I found that "sweet spot" behind the wake that my head was making in the water.

The 3rd week I was able to hit that sweet spot and not inhale water almost every time I breathed.

Well I made it to my military physical fitness test, and I Aced that puppy. Then my friend tole me that if I could swim 500 meters I could swim 1,000 meters, because it's all mental after that.

I was a fool and believed him so the next week back in the pool I swam non-stop for 45 minutes and amazed myself!!

Hmm, lessee...

SWIM:

Started out, could breast stroke 25yd without a stop, could not crawl at all.

Today, I did 14x25yd crawl repeats, followed by 1x500yd breast in 11:57 (four minutes faster than my last 1x500 breast)
Timeframe: September 04 to present.

BIKE:

Not a really good way to measure here... I've been biking on and off for a long time. I can finish my Spinervals tape now! :-)

RUN:

Started out, could not run at all, though I have run in previous years. Today, I did 4 hilly miles in 44 minutes.
Timeframe: September 04 to present.

I started 4 years ago & 50 lbs heavier. I started w/20 mins 3x/week on the stationary bike which led to small runs 5ks, then a 15k and this year did a couple of 1/2 marathons. 4 years ago I could barely swim 100 yards, tonight will be a 1500 yard workout and I'm starting the 2nd week of training for the St Anthony's OLY in April.
Motivation - I have no choice but to continue training since I've spent so much money with the tailor having clothing refitted .

... I wished I had started being this active 10 years ago...

I hope you took a before picture. And if you did, I'm sure you smile everytime you see it. NICE JOB!

Sadly, the basement pool at Bally's here in NYC is where I go if I want to swim. The open ocean in January is not very appealing.

Edited by cobannero 2005-01-11 1:44 PM

i started running in sept 2003 and training for tri in April 2004

i could only swim about 500m without things going blurry - now swim around 3000m 3xpw

i couldn't bike infact i got on in and fell off infront of a lot of people - now i can do atleast 3hrs 50-60mile rides

when i started running i thought i was going to die - i remember txting my g/f saying 'why on earth am i doing this!' - now,in my last race i ran 5miles in 30mins, can run 10miles in 1:07 and can keep going for 16 or so miles

its all good, keep training and it pays off.....

Please keep your mouth closed! Any water will do for swimming... just try not to ingest!

There's hope for us novice mortals!

I can swim 100yd non-stop but then I gotta rest, or take a nap. Right now the thought of having to go 880, without a pool deck is daunting.

I’ve been running on & off, even did a marathon in 2003. Right now, I’m working towards a half at the start of April so my running program is taken care off, perhaps even overkill. I’d probably running faster if I didn’t run so many miles. Oh well.

The bike…haven’t a clue. I’ve spent 30 minutes on a stationary, but that’s not the same.

I'll keep logs though cuz I love seeing my progress!

cobannero: Sadly, the basement pool at Bally's here in NYC is where I go if I want to swim. The open ocean in January is not very appealing.

are you talkin about world wide plaza? that's my home base. Question for you guys: If you don't put an indoor pool in the basement where do you put it

always a lane available at 6:45 am , so i aint complaining!

Mark

Swim

I used to be heavily involved in swimming lessons and was on my way to becoming a lifeguard, when I found out that you had to be 15 or 16 to finish the training and I was only 12 or 13, so I put it on hold and never went back. After that I didn't swim seriously again until this past summer and although I remembered swimming being easy and doing 30 lengths was a warm up, after one I thought I was going to drown. I managed to swim 250m the first day and with some swimming (not as much as I would like) I've improved to being able to swim 750m continuously with little difficulty and my longest workout was 1750m.

Bike

Again, something I did a lot in my youth but when I got back on a bike as an adult, I was barely able to bike for ten minutes without feeling fatigued. Now, my longest ride (MTB on trails this past summer) was something like 30-40km and over two hours. My longest road ride was 32.5km in October and I will be making big gains in that area this summer hopefully.

Run

This is where I have seen the biggest gain. The longest run of my life was 2.4km when I was in high school and all out I could do it in about 11:00. The next day I felt as though I had been hit by a truck and never wanted to run again. Following Ron's couch to 5k plan, I was able to become a runner and my longest run to date has been 40 minutes and just over 6km. Not breaking any speed records but just trying to build my base. I now love running and regardless of the conditions, rain, snow, ice, -15C, whatever, I'm out running - since August I have only missed two workouts - one due to illness and one due to moving.

I have only been training since August but the difference that I notice in myself, in terms of fitness, energy levels, motivation (to exercise and eat healthily) has only improved in that time. I hope when I finally get to enter a race that this experience continues to be as positive as it has been so far.

Shane

My biggest gains are in the runs as well. When I started training June of last year, I was running a 12 minute mile pace and I was only able to run about a 1/4 mile. Now I'm running 8.5 miles and I'm running at a 8.5 minute mile pace.

The best part is the pictures. I've lost many pounds and many inches from my waist. Looking at my photos from last year's races keeps me motivated because if I don't keep working out, I'm gonna look like the guy in those photos again!

Nope - You're on 50th Street. I got to Penta by Madison Square Gardenia. As for the location of the pool goes. It would be awesome if we could have one on the first floor surrounded by glass.

I couldn't swim an entire lap doing freestyle. Now although I have to take breaks, I can do about a mile freestyle. It's really hard for me because I've never had any swim training, but I just keep at it. Good Luck with your goals!

OK, here's mine-
Swim-
I started as a highschool freshman swimming in the local swim club. The first practice, I thought I would die! one practice, after a few weeks, from a combination of weight loss and suit stretching, I had the embarrasing problem that everytime I did a flip turn, my boob would pop out of my suit from the turn... got a new suit the next day. at the end of this summer I was swimming 2 mi workouts.

Bike-
I used to bike to the barn 10 mi round trip as a kid to take care of my horse, so not that big of a deal, but this summer when I got my first road bike I was so excited that I rode 25 mi (my longest ride to that point had been <10mi) without padded shorts and couldn't sit down without wanting to scream for days. (still didn't keep me off the bike!) did a century ride at the end of August, thought I might die, but I finished it!

Run-
Again, started running in HS, did a 1/2 marathon then, but screwed up my knees and couldn't run for 5 years. (a long time for someone who dreams about running). when I started running last spring to train for a sprint tri, I couldn't run for more than 2 min. I ran 5 mi easy this past saturday, and I'm doing another 1/2 marathon in May. The same one I did in HS, actually!

When I think back, some of my best and clearest memories are from those fantastic workouts. Like running across a cow field while on vacation in Wells, England and watching the steam come off the field, or swimming in lake MI and feeling the sun touch my face every time I turned to breathe, or biking to the barn in the rain to see my pony... Even though I've gotten into and out of shape a few times, I really want to stay fit this time, because those moments of clarity are precious.

Katie

I began triathlon in the late 90s, then had a hiatus of three years while I was overseas. When I left a hospital bed in August after being treated for a bleeding ulcer, I could not climb a flight of stairs without rest (and I am of slim build). I recuperated until November when I got back into triathlon training. My first run was literally one block from work and back. I spent more time in the locker room than on the run!! I'm now training for a half IM and I've worked my swim up to 2200 meters, my bike up to 23 miles, and my run up to almost 6 miles. The hardest part is always the first month. Then you start to notice the results. You feel and see yourself getting stronger and this provides even more motivation. So, any first timers out there, please stick with it. You'll also find that once you realize what you can accomplish, not even the longest distances will seem insurmountable.

My hat goes off to you. Keep it up.

;-)

I thought the front crawl had been renamed "freestyle" when I was watching the olympics but then they had a commentator explaining that the freestyle races were exactly that - freestyle. The swimmers are allowed to choose any stroke they want to swim the race. The front crawl is the fastest stroke so that is what everyone chooses but there is nothing in the rules that would prevent them from choosing the side stroke, butterfly, back stroke, breast stroke, trudgen or even the dog paddle.

Ha... my learning how to do the front crawl stems back about four years ago now.

I started just with knee rehab stuff in the pool, as i hated the pool at that time [it was also at a yucky Bally's pool in the burbs]. Then, I started trying for 10 M w/o choking... I did this for about a week... went up to 25M for another two weeks [of course there would be a lot of rest time in between each 'set']. I talked to many people and aksed them to help me out. I met an ex-olympic contender [swam competitively for U Michigan back in his day] who helped me out A LOT with my form when ever we met up.

After about a 1.5 months, I went swimming at the UIC pool with my cousin [who's in the military]. and we first did three laps straight. Then he said, lets do 4 laps straight it's only one more than three. So, we did this no problem and he continued with the "it's only one more than the last" statement until he got me to TEN STRAIGHT LAPS. I was exhausted but extatic.

From then on, my confidence grew in swimming, eventually a couple of years after this I joined a masters swim team, where i was working out for 1.5 hours intensively.

But am here now, just starting out, all over again due to injury. It's not a big deal the second time around. ;0)

Keep at it with the training!

You put it in the middle of the gym surrounded by windows- OF COURSE! This way anybody walking into the club, working out on the treads, stationaries, recumbants, weights etc can see your jiggly bum walking out of the locker room, into the pool, swimming your laps and think to themselves "DUDE IF THAT'S NOT MOTIVATION RIGHT THERE."

[don't laugh, I am pretty sure that's what they're thinking as i walk by- my paranoia is motivation enough for me... :0) ].

1st off, this week celebrates my 1 year anniversary of starting my training for Tri's. Biggest accomplishments for the year:

Swim -

My strongest event due to water polo and surfing in HS. Can't say I did much to improve, in fact, I didn't even meet my short-term goals yet and it's all due to a lack of training in this event. The one positive thing I can say is that swimming open water 1000m doesn't seem like as much a challenge as it used to.

Bike -

Well I started out this year on the stationary bike and was avg an easy 20mph. I spent the first two months of my training without a road bike and was expecting to easily handle 20mph once I purchased my bike. So naturally when I purchased my first bike and took it for a ride (18mph avg) I was thrown into reality. Now, although it's not showing in my training, I feel a 20-21mph average pace for a race should be do-able.

Run -

Ahhh the best improvement. My training partner Ronald and I started out with 1.5 miles every morning before work. It would take us somewhere from 13-14 min to finish it (roughly a 9 1/2 min mile). As of last week I ran my first half marathon at that same pace. When pushed hard I can now run 3 miles in just under 7 min per mile. Most of my race time that I've dropped this year would have undoubtedly come from faster running times.

Soon i will have a 1 year anniversary of my first start (when I discovered BT), but no event to celebrate. Still I can celebrate the fact that I found this wonderfull site!!!
I started and started a couple of times during last year, and become sick of so many false starts. Allways someting "happened". But I learned one thing here: a new day offers a brand new opportunity.
Well, at least I stayed injury-free.
I can count as improvement the reduction of time needed for a new start - it was approx. every 5 years before. ;-)
I could run 30sec straight when I first started to run and I started only thanks to this site, before that I was somehow convinced that I can't run. Get to 15min non-stop "run" on a local 5K league I joined (not so sure if I run more than walked). Now I again must work to get even there.
I swam a lot with fins long time ago, and without the fins I could swam only a 10-20 strokes in a row. (Without being chocked, that is.) And it was in sea water (I am born in Dubrovnik, it is near the Adriatic sea), in lake or pool I could swim very slow.
With a help of drills I managed to swim 400m non stop and usual workout was 850 m, I get used that it is the distance I can allways do. In sea water I now feel like I lie on top of it rather then swimming in it - very strange feeling!
A bike: I cut my commute-to-work time (6km) to work to half. But the real news is that I commute at all! (First time my mother-in-law called me to work wonderig that somebody has stollen my bike! LOL)
There were no structured training and lots of very, very long "rest weeks". Very restful, trust me.
I am a little bit sad how didn't I used last year better then that. That is, I didn't dare to do any sprint.

Well, it is all last-year snow now. I will still see what will I make to happen this year. I feel a sweet touch of promise and happiness in the air.
Love,