re:swim fit

For me its different, if the swim starts tough for me, eventually I find a rhthym and it becomes easier.  The run, if it starts hard, it stays hard. At least for me.

Some days I'm into a smooth rhythm from the first stroke and never get to panting.
Some days I cannot get into a rhythm for the first 30 minutes or so
Some days I give up after about 40 minutes when I'm wheezing and cannot move my arms
Some days I can go for an hour and still feel like I've got something left.

Running just plain sucks no matter if it's 2 miles or 12. For me there's no such thing as getting into a rhythm for running.

Me too.

thanks for the reply's, i am off to the pool to try just swimming through my distance (250 without stopping is my aim), i quess i am lucky in some respects as i find my run easy, will let you know how it goes....

My shoulders often feel tight around laps 15 - 20, but I get loosened up and ready to push harder after that.

I am new to swimming and just kind of discovered by accident that I am able to swim more consecutive yards after about a 200-300 yard warm-up. A couple of months ago...the warmup was all I could do! I am putting 200 yards together after the warm up 3-4 more times. Which makes me realize that when I do my first race in October, the warm up is pretty critical for me.

I personally go through 3 stages.

When I first get in, the initial 200 to 300 yards (depending on how tired I am from the week) are fast and easy. Once fatigue starts to set in a little, I start to slow down and feel like crap until about 800 to 1000 yrds where I fully warm up and start feeling good again.

That's why I like to do a long warm up (500+) and then either ease into my main set or do another set of drills until I'm fully warmed up.

You might try doing something like 8-10x50 alternate drill/kick first length, swim second on an easy interval to shake out the cobwebs and see if that doesn't help.

Edited by VO2Matt 2009-08-07 1:17 PM

Yes.  For me the first few laps suck.  I just had my breakthrough, and I think this was part of it.  I just needed to push myself through the next lap or so.

I should be warming up before my work-outs.  I'm sure it would solve many of my issues.

it takes me 20-30min to warmup on the swim, bike and run.
after that something just clicks.

keep the swim warm up nice and easy till you feel like your shoulders have relaxed a little bit.  when you start swimming again it should be easier while being able to swim at a faster pace.