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My new swimming philosophy.
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1. No pain, no gain... find the edge of my fitness where a side stitch is an annoying pain in the gut and my feet start to cramp.
2. Failure is an option, it's better to go too hard and crash than just go through the motions since just getting the work done isn't working.
3. No more excuses, it doesn't matter if I'm tired and slept like shit. Caffeinate, warm up, and find my limits of that day. What I think I can do is less than what I can actually do.
4. If I don't question my ability to get to the wall during at least one interval, I didn't go hard enough.
5. Swimming with reasonable technique is always faster than thrashing. Get those elbows up!
6. Ignore #2. Failure isn't an option. If I fall off my leave... get my wits and go again.
7. When the workout says go easy, go easy. That means 2:00+ for my sorry ass. Warm ups/downs are not done anywhere near race pace.

Hopefully my mental breakthrough will mean a fitness breakthrough... or how long until I'm injured? I've never had a proper swimming injury...
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Re: My new swimming philosophy. [owen.] [ In reply to ]
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This is a lot better then the mentality of my swim training.

I am more along the lines of meh...I'll swim when the season gets closer.
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Re: My new swimming philosophy. [owen.] [ In reply to ]
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Seems like a good philosophy overall. As a former 50 guy I like #7, but you do need some "race pace" type warm up depending on the workout/event.
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Re: My new swimming philosophy. [owen.] [ In reply to ]
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one tip of advice that I see everywhere, but I'll echo it here - swim hard in every workout. Doesn't matter if you're slated for a 2000 yard easy pull day because your legs are wrecked from yesterday. Put your head down and stroke out some hard 25's, 50's, 100's or whatever. Doesn't have to be many, but keep reminding your body that this is what racing feels like. It's akin to doing strides at the end of an easy run.
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Re: My new swimming philosophy. [owen.] [ In reply to ]
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Back that up with swimming 5x a week.

owen. wrote:
1. No pain, no gain... find the edge of my fitness where a side stitch is an annoying pain in the gut and my feet start to cramp.
2. Failure is an option, it's better to go too hard and crash than just go through the motions since just getting the work done isn't working.
3. No more excuses, it doesn't matter if I'm tired and slept like shit. Caffeinate, warm up, and find my limits of that day. What I think I can do is less than what I can actually do.
4. If I don't question my ability to get to the wall during at least one interval, I didn't go hard enough.
5. Swimming with reasonable technique is always faster than thrashing. Get those elbows up!
6. Ignore #2. Failure isn't an option. If I fall off my leave... get my wits and go again.
7. When the workout says go easy, go easy. That means 2:00+ for my sorry ass. Warm ups/downs are not done anywhere near race pace.

Hopefully my mental breakthrough will mean a fitness breakthrough... or how long until I'm injured? I've never had a proper swimming injury...
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Re: My new swimming philosophy. [owen.] [ In reply to ]
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owen. wrote:
1. No pain, no gain... find the edge of my fitness where a side stitch is an annoying pain in the gut and my feet start to cramp.
2. Failure is an option, it's better to go too hard and crash than just go through the motions since just getting the work done isn't working.
3. No more excuses, it doesn't matter if I'm tired and slept like shit. Caffeinate, warm up, and find my limits of that day. What I think I can do is less than what I can actually do.
4. If I don't question my ability to get to the wall during at least one interval, I didn't go hard enough.
5. Swimming with reasonable technique is always faster than thrashing. Get those elbows up!
6. Ignore #2. Failure isn't an option. If I fall off my leave... get my wits and go again.
7. When the workout says go easy, go easy. That means 2:00+ for my sorry ass. Warm ups/downs are not done anywhere near race pace.

Hopefully my mental breakthrough will mean a fitness breakthrough... or how long until I'm injured? I've never had a proper swimming injury...

The only point I agree with is #5. Your technique is more important than some type of splash and dash. Go hard, but under control. Keep your heart rate stable or everything else is going to crap anyways. I really disagree with #3. Sleep is one of the most important factors to good swimming. You have to get rest and go hard when you are in the pool. Listen to your body. Swimming like a madman is not necessarily going to get you where you want to be. Rest, technique, and swim fitness are the most important factors to improvement.
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Re: My new swimming philosophy. [owen.] [ In reply to ]
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swim 'til you puke.

___________________________________________
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2020 National Masters Champion - M40-44 - 400m IM
Canadian Record Holder 35-39M & 40-44M - 200 m Butterfly (LCM)
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Re: My new swimming philosophy. [mwanner1] [ In reply to ]
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mwanner1 wrote:
owen. wrote:
1. No pain, no gain... find the edge of my fitness where a side stitch is an annoying pain in the gut and my feet start to cramp.
2. Failure is an option, it's better to go too hard and crash than just go through the motions since just getting the work done isn't working.
3. No more excuses, it doesn't matter if I'm tired and slept like shit. Caffeinate, warm up, and find my limits of that day. What I think I can do is less than what I can actually do.
4. If I don't question my ability to get to the wall during at least one interval, I didn't go hard enough.
5. Swimming with reasonable technique is always faster than thrashing. Get those elbows up!
6. Ignore #2. Failure isn't an option. If I fall off my leave... get my wits and go again.
7. When the workout says go easy, go easy. That means 2:00+ for my sorry ass. Warm ups/downs are not done anywhere near race pace.

Hopefully my mental breakthrough will mean a fitness breakthrough... or how long until I'm injured? I've never had a proper swimming injury...


The only point I agree with is #5. Your technique is more important than some type of splash and dash. Go hard, but under control. Keep your heart rate stable or everything else is going to crap anyways. I really disagree with #3. Sleep is one of the most important factors to good swimming. You have to get rest and go hard when you are in the pool. Listen to your body. Swimming like a madman is not necessarily going to get you where you want to be. Rest, technique, and swim fitness are the most important factors to improvement.

I agree with number 3. However, sometimes the limits are the warm-up. If I'm still feeling really shitty after 500-1000 yards I'll get out and sit in the hot tub and then nap instead (deck chairs next to the pool!). That way I've done the full duration of the session but it's targetting recovery ;)
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Re: My new swimming philosophy. [owen.] [ In reply to ]
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All very good but I'd add one more to sum it all up: The pace clock is your best coach.

Always remember, you're doing this to go faster. Yes, you have to work very hard, but that is a means, not an end. So, time very single repeat you do. If its not timed, it does not count and if you are not getting faster, you are doing something wrong.
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Re: My new swimming philosophy. [STP] [ In reply to ]
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Welp, at 60 I agree about technique.

Dr Jay
http://www.Tri-Pod.net
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Re: My new swimming philosophy. [owen.] [ In reply to ]
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I raised my weekly swim goal to 10,000Y / week about 2 months ago; to get there I was swimming (on average) 5 days per week. This effort netted me a bad shoulder, which was an aggravation of an earlier injury. This was my own damn fault, as I decided to throw some paddle workouts in there when I don't have the basis for them.

I took 10 days off to let that recover, then jumped back in - along with my new nemesis, the Tempo Trainer. As my local pool has no pace clock, this is my new swim experience with racing that bloody little beep. Within two weeks of ownership, I had "tennis elbow" on one side and I could feel it creeping in on the other. Then I took another week off.

Be careful. I might be older than you so you might have better durability, but if you're injury hunting hard enough you'll find them.
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