Learn How to Swim Training Group (Page 13)

I could sure use all the help I can get in the water.

I am 29 now and just took an intrest in swimming about a year ago and an intrest in tri's about four months ago. While I am faster on my quarter and half mile swims now than I was a few months ago I know I have a long way to go. I recently learned the value to using my hips to  help propell me through the water with my stroke and kick. However I question if I am holding my arms correctly to get all the power I have or if I'm kicking correctly.

I don't have an underwater camera but any typed information that can be provided would be greatly appreciated.

Beth

WOW!!!

Congrats on finishing the first week! Very excited for you as I know you will see fast improvements!

Bad news is the knee is hosed.  Reffed a couple HS rugby games Saturday, and could barely walk on Sunday.  So, back to the pool...

Monday I arrived late and all the lap lanes were full, so I barely got Workout 5.3 in before work.  Today I went extra early (4:30am) and did Workout 6.1.  Since I had extra time from arriving so early, I went ahead and swam another 2300 yards non-stop, to bring my total for the day to 2 miles....  

I like swimming, and I think I'm burning a few calories, but I'm still ticked off that I'm not losing any weight at this deal.....

That's a lot of swimming! If you want to lose weight, it's more effective to focus on nutrition than to just do a lot of exercise. Lots of new triathletes find that they don't lose a lot of weight because they tend to eat more because they are hungrier from all the exercise.

Set a little goal for myself last week, and swam 7 miles over 7 days.  Was able to do a mile per day Sunday thru Thursday, but a power outage made me miss my alarm on Friday.  So Saturday I swam two miles non-stop, a personal best for me.

With about 500 yards to go both calves cramped up big time, so I grabbed a pull-buoy and finished the 2 miles using my arms only.

I've just started Week #2.  I completed Week #1 last week after a partial start the week before.  I'm improving but slowly.  I am doing the full distances and all the various drills.  My pool is 25m and I always complete a full length even when tired and struggling (no walking or backstroking - yet).  However, I struggle to do 2 or more back-to-back lengths as the workout progresses (i.e. 100m or even a 1x50m).  I'm also stretching out the rest time in between sets as I go along.

My question is this.  Is it important to the success of the plan for me to be able to do a continuous 50m or 100m as the day plan states before I move on to the next week?  For example, today's workout called for a 200m warmup swim followed by 6x50m.  I could do 100m but then the next 100m of the warmup were brutal.  The next 2 50s weren't too bad but I could not do the remaining 4x50s in continuous fashion (i.e. 2 lengths of the pool back-to-back).  I hope I'm making my issue clear.

I don't want to plow on through Week #2 then #3 etc. if I should first repeat Week #1 until I can do the back-to-back lengths as stated.

In Week 2, the 6x50's are kick 25, swim 25.  So you shouldn't be swimming back-to-back lengths.

I use the kick segment to "catch my breath" so to speak....

And once you complete the first 25 kick, your kickboard will be on the wrong end of the pool, so you'll have to alternate:

1) Kick 25, Swim 25, rest

2) Swim 25, Kick 25, rest

3) Kick 25, Swim 25, rest

4) Swim 25, Kick 25, rest

5) Kick 25, Swim 25, rest

6) Swim 25, Kick 25, rest

 Which ends up with your board back at the starting end.

Then it's 8x25's, all swim, rest

My personal opinion is it's more important to get the laps done, rather than done in a certain time, or with a certain rest period.  Especially early on, you're just getting your swim muscles used to this exercise.  Your cardio is probably NOT the problem, if you've run or biked at all.  It's just a matter of getting your muscles ready and breathing down.

Good question. I don't think it is necessary to be able to do that 200 before moving on. It would be nice, but since you can do the broken sets just fine, I would continue on. If you get to a point in the plan where the whole workout is a challenge, I would repeat that week before continuing.

Cool, thanks.

(Thanks too to goettip.)

Weight lifters frequently have this problem! It's not a matter of building muscles, it's about learning proper swim techinque. When you are muscular, you can fight your way through the water and survive, but it wears you out really quickly. Learning to slow down and swim properly allows you to swim longer and with less energy because you aren't muscling your way through the water and relying only on strength. The only thing that will help you learn to swim better is to get in the pool as much as you can. Follow this plan and think about joining a masters swim group or hiring a coach to help you for a few sessions.

That is so awesome! It takes a lot of courage to jump into a Masters group like that and COME BACK the second day! Congrats!

Hi.

Going to try my first triathlon. The Denver triathlon on July 24th.

Using the Higdon 2 sprint plan to train. Give or take, anyhow. It has me swimming twice a week, biking twice and running 3 times a week. 3 days with a run/bike or swim/run or etc. Also doing 4 to 6 open water swims. One a week. I will do my open water swim this week.(first ever). Will stay close to shore! The plan wants me to do "strength or weight" training. Don't think will do the strength stuff. Never liked to.

I will be taking a tri specific open water swim class in early July.

Well, I did a little "personal" quadathon Saturday morning... 

Got up early and rode my horse 7 miles, then jumped on my bike (first time in 2 yrs) and rode 12 miles to the pool.  Ran inside the club and swam 900 yards, then went back to my bike and rode 12 miles home.  Then took a jog to the mailbox (1/8 mile).  All before noon.  

Does that count?  

It counts for awesomeness!

Switched up my diet and finally lost some weight... about 11 pounds since June 1st.  I feel I need to be around 180-185 to be at my best potential (and to fit into the wetsuit I bought on craigslist).

Saturday did the full sprint tri distances, plus a little extra

13 mile bike ride 

3 mile run on the track (knee didn't bother too much)

1/2 mile swim

13 mile ride home

Hello, sorry to barge in, but I'm not sure if this is the right area for this message.

I'm brand new at Triathlon and am having trouble with the swim.

I am a (somewhat) seasoned runner and biker and have followed training plans for those disciplines in the past. With my longest race being a 1/2 marathon this past March and many bike races interspersed with some duathlons (run/bike/run) sprinkled around here and there.

I am really a brand new (42 YO) swimmer...having never taken any formal training of any kind. So I'm trying to overcome 30+ years of bad habits, you have to hold your breath, etc.

I have already joined a master's group in the area and taken on a coach to assist ... but I have a question that maybe someone has worked to overcome.

I was looking at the Beginner swim plan (http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/cms/article-detail.asp?articleid=1945) but am rather intimidated by the first week. I mean, 100 yard swim...that's like an eternity for me because of my breathing...or lack thereof...

Exhaling seems to be awfully hard for me to get down. I mean...really, really hard. Borderline scary. It's like everything in my head says "whatever you do...don't exhale" Of course when I can't hold it any more...well, let's just say it gets a little tumultuous.

I can perform the basic mechanics of a head turn and every now and again I might actually get a good breath, but it's mostly hit and miss.. with most of the breaths being very very shallow..."chest breaths" not good, deep filling breaths. Needless to say once I flail my way down the lane I can barely get to 25 yards and it feels like I've been sprinting underwater.

I would love to work on that Month 1 beginners swim plan...and get over this.

Any good jedi mind tricks for someone afraid to exhale?

Thnx

You are exhaling with your face down, IN the water, right?  I struggled because someone told me to only take a breath on every third stroke.  Which meant, alternating which way my head was up to TAKE a breath.  That DID NOT work for me.

Humans generally favor one side or another, so me being a lefty, I just decided to breath on the left side only at first, on EVERY OTHER STROKE.  So basically, whenever my left arm is back and my right arm is forward, I'm drawing a breath in.  Oftentimes with a little water, too, but you learn to deal with it.  Now I can actually go every third stroke and alternate sides, which they tell me I'll have to do at Chicago because the swim is along a sea wall and you get rolls coming from both sides....

I would concentrate on BLOWING HARD with you face down, which will force you to take a shallow (or deep) breath on the next stroke.  The really good swimmers can breath in while barely turning their head.  As a beginner, I wouldn't try to barely turn, I'd turn my face clear up to make sure I got enough air... at least until you're comfortable with the mechanics.

As a runner and biker, you have PLENTY of lung capacity to swim 100 yards, right now.  You just need to learn how to move the air in and CO2 out.  Basically it's this (reverse if needed):

Left Arm pulling, face down exhaling down towards the blue line

Right Arm pulling, face turned up to your left, drawing a breath

Thanks goettjp...

Yes, I am making every attempt to exhale completely with my face in the water thinking "bubbles...bubbles..bubbles"... then turn and take in a breath. But the whole rhythm, timing magic just isn't there... kinda like "Master P" in dancing with the stars...

During the stroke, my mind is so busy trying to do everything else that sometimes .... "I forget" ... (literally) until it's too late and I make some kind of mad scramble to try and get rid of all this air and then get another breath. It's not pretty.

By the time I'm just over 1/2 way down the lane I've either held my breath the whole way and/or tried and only got a very shallow (if at all) breath... and I'm struggling just trying to make it back to the wall...sometimes finishing off with a nice doggie paddle to boot...

It's very frustrating...

I saw a video once of an instructor standing with feet on the bottom of the pool, bent over at the waist with his face in the water, demonstrating the basics of breathing out with his face down and turning his head to breathe in.  Some kind of drill like that where you're not actually swimming might help.

I too am a 40+ beginner and I struggled with the first distances.  I'm in week #6 now and looking back I've made a lot more progress than I imagined I would after that first week.  I'm not yet stringing together 25's into 100's or 200's yet like I'd like but I'll keep at it.

Perhaps do the timing of the breathing (as suggested above) while just standing in the shallow, bent over, moving your arms, til you get the rhythm.   Then once you've got the cadence down, slap a pull buoy between your legs and try a 25.  Sounds like you are panicking about the swimming part, and forgetting the breathing part.

I tended to panic until I realized that, no matter how tired I was, I could always roll over and float on my back to catch my breath.  In fact, I practiced that on the deep end of the pool.  Instead of completing the lap, I'd stop short and pretend I was out in the middle of a lake somewhere.  What would I do?  No sides to grab... no rescue.  So, just relax and tread a little, then flip back and recuperate.  Once I realized I wasn't "going down" the whole swim thing seemed easier.

Remember, I was basically a non-swimmer in March.  This morning I swam 2 miles non-stop.  You can do it.