Swim times, stretching, and other silly newbie swim questions

First, congrats on putting your head down! That's half the battle well done on all the work you've put in.

As far as times/timing, it's a good idea to know what kind of a pace you can hold over the course of a workout. In other words, even if it's very difficult, could you hold the same time for a 100 toward the end of your workout as the beginning? Other than that, at this point, I really wouldn't worry too much about timing each part, the whole vs. the parts, etc. ... just swim. A lot. And it sounds like you're already doing workouts that are broken up into intervals, which is good. So just keep an eye on some of the repeats throughout your workouts to see whether you're falling off pace quite a bit or not.

Stretching is a very individual thing. There is no "supposed to." Do it after if you like it and it seems to help. Don't if not.

If it's logistically possible, better to add a fourth swim. You can go far and do a lot with three swims, but you're more likely to get more swim volume in if you add a fourth, and as a newcomer, you'll probably be able to hold and push your form better with four slightly shorter workouts than three longer ones. Also, for the long term, you'll plateau pretty quickly on three (maintenance) but probably be able to continuously improve on four. You'll figure out how much you can handle adding to the four, how often, and if you want more help structuring the workouts, you know to come back here and ask

As for swallowing water--definitely something going on with your form. I'd pay real good attention in your swimming lessons (when are they starting) and ask the instructor about this.

Thanks for the responses so far!!  I should clarify, that I swallow water when I'm talking a breath (when my head is out of the water), not when I'm breathing out underwater.   --Ali

After 4.5 months of swimming from pretty much no formal background, I no longer swallow (all that much) water when I breathe on my dominant side. I can't recall when it stopped happening, but I noticed the improvement a few weeks ago. It still happens on my weak side, but I've only recently started paying more deliberate attention to my bilateral breathing. I just tell myself that it'll improve just like my dominant side did. I think the muscle memory mentioned above is a great point. Eventually, your body knows it doesn't like that and the timing just works itself out.

Being a new swimmer, I need to spend a lot of time in the pool. My run takes care of itself and I can maintain a 35-45 mpw schedule pretty easily. I'm sacrificing bike time right now, but I really need the pool hours.

I find that if I swim 3x per week, I make consistent small gains. If I swim 4x per week (my preference) I notice more significant small gains ... just an overall flow between those gains. If I swim less than that, I really notice it when I get back in the pool the next week ... sort of a two steps forward, one back sort of thing.

I didn't really pay attention to time for about 2 or 3 months. I just focused on feeling the water and trying to get my head around what was working and what wasn't. I went at my own pace and finished whatever I could from the posted Master's workout. Eventually, I began starting the sets with the others in the group and keeping mental track of where my splits were. I currently swim about 2600-2700 per hour-long session. The longest I've gone in once continuous swim is 500yds, so I have that as my current benchmark with regard to time/100yds. Not the ideal 1000yd test, but it gives me a benchmark at least (about 1:48/100). My fastest 100 yd to date is right at 1:30 ... but I can't hold that for more than 2 or 3 splits with about 10 seconds of rest in between.

I don't know if this is helpful or not ... just another newbie's journey for your consideration.

ETA: I don't log a time/100 in the log. I put down total yardage covered through all sets and drills and note the time (usually 60 minutes, sometimes 65). I leave the pace blank.

IMO, swimming is more about being comfortable in the water, especially when it comes to breathing.  I am more of a 1-sided breather but if necessary I can breath on the other side.  I had the same issue of sucking in water when I tried to breath on the non-dominant side.  I fixed it by trying to exhale more forcefully as my head exits the water and dipping my chin down towards my armpit.  It works for me but maybe is not for everyone. 

As for timing your swims, get a cheap wristwatch that has a stopwatch feature at Target or Wal-Mart.  I use a Timex Ironman watch that cost me a whopping $20. Start the timer at the beginning of the swim and stop it at the end.  If you want to get fancy you can even use the lap timer and stop it everytime you stop for a breather.  Its much easier than the "big clock" at the end of the pool.  Use that when you start working on intervals.

Best of luck! It only gets easier!