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January 6, 2006
Long Swim
I swam long this morning. Well, long for me anyway. It was 3000 yds total which is probably more like a short swim for real swimmers. But a real swimmer I am not, so I'm calling long. HA!
warmup: 400 yd easy, 200 yd kick easy, 200 yd easy
workout: 10x100 yd hard, 10x50 yd kick hard (everything had 10 seconds rest)
cooldown: 500 yd easy, 200 yd kick easy
Everything feels extremely heavy to carry, indicating that my arms are tired.
Anyway, I've been thinking about swimming lately. I think I'm pretty limited in the pool because I only know how to swim freestyle. Don't know any drills or other strokes or really what I would do with one of those things you put betweeen your legs so you use your arms only. I don't even know what that thing is called. I think I'll try reading up on swimming "stuff" in my triathlon books but it seems like learning how to swim from a book is probably not the best way to go about it. There is a masters swim team at my YMCA but I'm very hesitant to try it truthfully. I don't know why. Perhaps because I'm worried I may be lauged at? :) The good thing about running is, there is no real way to do it wrong - no technique - it's just a matter of doing enough of it to run fast. Swimming is more complicated. It's times like these that I wish I could run all the time!
So that's my story for the day. Now I must shower soon or the chlorine that has soaked into my skin is going to make me scratch my face off! Hope everyone has a great start to their weekend!
Posted by beth at January 6, 2006 9:40 AM
Comments
I'm in favor of joining the masters team. They'll help you with better (more interesting) workouts, give you drills to improve your form (thereby making swimming easier,) and generally motivate you to show up at the pool. It's so much easier to get the yards in with a team! And no, with 3000y/workout, you're right in the middle of the masters ability range--you might be slower than people *your age* (I am) but there's such an age range that the ability range is large, too.
Posted by: pjm at January 6, 2006 11:38 AM
I have to agree with pjm, joining the masters team would be a good idea. It also takes away the stress of trying to figure out a workout on your own. Coaches and other swimmers can help you with working on drills and the other strokes, which will make the workouts more interesting. I think that the masters group around here usually gets about 2500-3500 yards in a workout, so you are right in the mix.
Blondie
Posted by: Blondie at January 6, 2006 4:40 PM
I think you would be surprised at the number of novice swimmers you will see in a class. Since triathlons are so popular now, a lot of people want to learn. When I 1st started doing tri's there were people doing side stroke and doggy paddling on the swim, so as far as that goes your way ahead of the game.
Posted by: Dawn at January 6, 2006 5:06 PM