Madcow's mentor group -CLOSED! (Page 2)

Ok group, The best piece of advice I got was "work on your limiters".

I know lots of great runners and cyclists that have a hard time swimming. They enjoy running or cycling so that is what they do all of the time. They run 4 days a week, bike 3 days a week and swim every once in a while. They go into a race and all of the time they gained on the bike and run is lost on the swim. They should have been swimming 3 to 4 days.

So, seeing as swimming is the limiter for most of this group, our first challenge is to get into the water. I hope you all have access to a heated pool. We should try to spend AT LEAST one hour in the pool every time. You don't need to swim for one straight hour, but that time should include warm up, cool down, drills, main set and just general goofing around in the water (floating, swimming underwater, etc).

The best part about swimming is it is all about technique. You can be totally out of shape, but have great form and you will fly through the pool, likewise, you can be in great shape with terrible form and sink like a rock. Swimming comes down to 2 things, technique and comfort. So, being comfortable in the water is half the battle. The technique will come.

If you have a Master's swim coach at your pool, check with them to see if they can help you with your stroke. Most coaches will want you to join the group (for a fee), but will usually let you try it once or twice for free. Even if you don't join, they are more than like happy to help with your form.

If you don't have a master's program, you can also find someone at the pool who looks like they know what they are doing and ask them to look at your form and give you any tips. Most swimmers love helping others with their form. You would be surprised to know that they may have already watched you swim and know what is wrong with your stroke before you even ask! There really is nothing else to do in the water except watch other swimmers :)

A good website to check out is Swim Smooth. I am a pretty good swimmer and still think about what I saw in some of the videos from this website everytime I swim.

Another website that a lot of triathletes use for help with their stroke is Total Immersion. I have never used it, but I know lots that swear by it.

Swim Drills: This is something that some people don't do, but I think is very important. I try to spend a good part of one workout doing drills. They don't take very long and I use them as part of my warm up:

These are most of the drills I do. I add a catchup drill, but this is a good place to start 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nRCfeJNJkg

Good luck and have fun

Great advice Madcom.  I once read a comment that I try to use as my mantra when I don't feel like swimming.  Great champions work on improving their weaknesses; that's how they become great.  The example they gave was Michael Jordan.  He was a scoring machine that couldn't be stopped but ppl complained that his defense wasn't good enough.  He made that his focus and later won the Defensive Player of the Year.  Just one step towards greatness. 

It's a great point too that improvements in our strong areas will never be as great as the improvements can be in our weak areas.  (sadly for me, I'm weak at running and worse at everything else!!)

I wanted to add too that there are a lot of Total Immersion clips on YouTube as well.  You can start here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97b6XIntfcc) and work through all the additional clips.  I've actually watched the DVD before.  My problem isn't technique right now, it's BREATHING!! 

I'll tell you that I cannot relax in the water now, even when I think I am.  I know because when I roll to get a breath, I gasp for air.  That gasping continually puts air in my stomach and I get insanely bloated when swimming, painfully so.  I've only been swimming for ~3 weeks now so I'm still trying to work it all out.  I feel better pinpointing my problem though.  Identifying the issue is the first step towards correcting it.

Enjoy your lunch. Keeping the wife happy, will make you happier in the long run, especially if you want to go long in the future

Great video.

Taking in too much air is a problem for a lot of triathletes. That alone has ended more races than blowing up on the bike and run for some of my friends. At least you figured it out and can work that problem out, I'm sure

Same here..jumped to Bronze!!

Thanks for the swim workout videos.  I have seen a few before but this also helps.

Did a workout and ate well today.  I am off in a bit to a New Years Eve Party.  I will have a few beers but I have to work in the morning.  Tomorrow is my day off from workouts.  Anyways, Happy New Year to my new friends!! 

Well, we will get you from bad swimmer to good swimmer before you are through with this sport.

To find this thread, I just copy and paste the URL and add it to my long term goals section of my logs, so I can just click it and it will take me to the last page of this thread

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-post.asp?action=reply&replyto=2587435&quote=yes#s

Cool, I really want this group to stay together and keep posting. Together we can help each other reach our goals

I am of the mindset that if I am doing the first of anything (5K, marathon, sprint tri, Ironman, etc) That I want to set myself up to have the most enjoyable time possible. For some people, that means training to get on the podium, for me that means making sure I can do the distance comfortably. I leave the racing for the 2nd or 3rd time I do something.

It looks like you have the base already, so if you can find a training plan and safely ramp up your distances, then go for it. If you can find another marathon a month or so later, that would be even better.

The key here is being injury free. It's a long season.

And remember, endurance racing is hopefully a marathon (pun intended) not a sprint, so the marathon will be there next year. You don't have to do all every race you want to do this year.

Good luck and let us know what you decide.

Have fun in your swim.

I have done a spin class. I enjoyed it. The instructor was a triathlete, so sometimes she geared the class around what I was trying to do for the week (hills or intervals). The problem I had was the resistance wasn't great on the bikes at the gym and I felt like I was cheating myself. I wasn't getting the workout I could have gotten if I had trained outside. But, if it's cold where you are, then I would definitely do them. Great way to get the heart rate up.

I also tried yoga, but it kicked my butt, so I stopped going

Unfortunately, triathletes are notorious for being obsessive about buying speed. Manufacturers know this, so they look for any chance to get you to buy something.

Strength training and stretching were the first two things to go when I was training. Just not enough time in the day. I did try to get up early to stretch. That was the only time I could get it in.

 I feel sorry for you. it was 70 degrees here, so I went out for my bike ride.

Sounds like you have the marathon thing all figured out. Any chance of an injury and I would bail until you can do it right.