Pretty much in your boat.
I am getting much better on the bike quickly and for some reason the run is coming very easily - i.e. will likley go sub 19:00 5k or sub 39:00 10k by the end of the season on 30 km / week of run training.
It is strange, because similar to the swimmers that suggest they don't see how people can swim so slow, I can't really see how running can be as hard for people or that you need 50, 60, 70 + mpw to get to certain times...
Put me in a pool and I am like the little dog your dad (or friend's dad) throws in the pool each year at the family barbecue for fun - Horrible!!!
I believe my 1.5 km times in Oly last year were 37:39 and 34:43....Does that count as swimming.
That said, I had a fear of the water, didn't train it hard and it showed.
This November I took a TI like course and I think it will help me - I haven't been swimming enough (still fear it a little) but am picking it up. The biggest thing that it helped me with was comfort in the water (somewhat) and body positioning...That said, when I go to the Masters workout, I do the workouts the coach says, on the times he says, with the technique he suggests, which is closer to what Gary Hall Sr. was suggesting than TI, so we'll see what happens this season.
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holy shit.....I don't really subscribe to the TI methods, but this thread is hilarious.
So, a bunch of "triathletes" that can ride a 40K in 1:00 and run a 5K in 18:00, but cannot swim for shit think their limiter is fitness??
If you cannot swim a 1.5K in under 24 minutes you need SERIOUS help with technique.
Actually, I fall into that category. (Oly 5k about 19:xx and bike spilt about 1:03xx. Swim = terrible!)
I learned to swim 2 years ago. Zero swim background. Spent an entire year on technique and nothing but technique, and only started working hard recently.
I'm sure I have some technique problems, but I've been going to a good masters program of late, and the good coach there (locally respected) agrees that at this point, I'll only make minor gains with technique. Definitely nothing like 20-30sec/100 off.
It all comes down to background. I've been running for over 15 years, and ran 8 marathons, two under sub-3. Add my genetic big legs, and it's no surprise that I can run/bike at a respectable clip.
But on swimming, the limiter is clearly my swim-related endurance and power. There simply aren't enough capillaries built up in my swim muscles to function efficiently, and I can feel it. Even though my cardio might be capable of a good bike/run, my arms/lats/back are weak, and force my heart to pump super hard just to keep up. It feels exactly as I do when I do a one-legged bike drill - HR will still spike extremely high since your heart is trying to pump more blood through your entire body to supply a fast-fatiguing area.
It took me years to go from a 25min 5k to a sub-18, and a huge amount of work. (I'm not one of the gifted ones who did it with <35mpw). There's no reason to believe that it won't take similar work to get similarly fast in swimming, years, possibly.
If you doubt this is true, consider the fact that at least two guys in our local tri club who started triathlon several years ago (earlier than me) nearly qualified for the Olympics in swimming in their prime but aren't even close to FOP on the bike/run despite focusing on bike/run now. (Granted, they are almost definitely not training as hard as they did on their swim days, but still, point remains.) Swim fitness and run fitness do not necessarily overlap.
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"Chrissie wins because she trains really f'ing hard and races really f'ing hard and was blessed with a huge f'ing motor" Jordan Rapp