I will come back to these 1 by 1 as I can't focus on more than one item per stroke.

So let's start with backstroke with the part in bold. Your chin/back of the neck is lower in the water than forehead, but I assume you're still looking mainly up and not towards your feet/back of the pool?

I am going to work on what Jason said for breast stroke.....then I'll come back a few days later on the scapula lockin for free....not getting what that needs to feel like.

No complaining allow about swimming a lot and 100/100 run volume getting in the way....this is what Thomas Hellriegel told me to do when I met him at the 1995 World Military Games Triathlon. At the time, he has a relatively unknown German soldier, who won the olympic tri, beat Olivier Marceau, Dmitri Gaag and Norman Stadler (alll of whom went on to be either ITU champions or Kona champs). I asked Thomas what his winter training in German looked like and he answered something like 30+K per week of swimming and 100K+ of running and a few easy spins, with the plan of getting over to Lanzarote a few times per winter for 1000K bike weeks. But basically one of the original Kona uberbikers was not biking at all during the German winter....just lots of swim and run. I met Thomas 5 weeks before he basically destroyed the Kona 1995 field on the bike and left T2 13 minutes ahead of Mark Allen!

Thanks guys

Great story about "hell on wheels"! I love hearing that stuff.

To answer your head position on backstroke (my worst stroke!) take it w a grain of salt. ha
So, yes still generally looking up. But nature forces us to push our chins forward while we are on our backs. So I was just working on trying not to allow my chin to slide up (keeping that "neutral head position"), and then my hips sink. So managing my weight and head position was my focus while on my back.

And you are right, maybe I shouldnt complain about this 100/100 thing.. sorry, Ill HTFU.

hahaha

daved

Had a (short course yards) meet yesterday, swam the 100 free, 50 free, and 50 fly. From October through mid-January, my training focus was primarily aimed at 1000/1650 free, with a secondary focus on 200 fly, and just a bit of sprint work to keep from completely losing the feel for the water at higher stroke rates. I set a personal best in the 1650 at a meet a couple weeks ago, but had a poor 100 later in the meet as I was, understanbly, pretty knackered from racing the mile. My primary objective for the meet yesterday was to secure a National Qualifying Time of 57.10 or better in the 100 free. I hadn't been that quick since April of 2016. In the meet two weeks ago, I went 58.77.

The week before last, I did the full-boat 100 free USPRT set three different times. That would be 25's on a 0:30 interval at 100 race pace; rest an interval if you miss the target pace. Set is over when you miss three times total, miss two in a row, or get to 30 reps. My three attempts went like this:

1/23
25's on :30, target < :14.25
1st fail @ 17
2nd fail @ 21
set complete (30 reps)


1/25
25's on :30, target < :14.15
1st fail @ 12
2nd fail @ 20
set complete (30)


1/27
25's on :30, target <:14.10
1st fail @ 13
2nd fai @ 22
set failed @ 28



Before I took up triathlon and started focusing more on longer distance swim events, this used to be a staple set in my regimen. I haven't done it "by the book" (i.e. that short an interval, all the way to 3 failures or 30 reps) in about a year. Good God, I'd forgotten how much that set hurts! When I was primarily sprint/middle distance training, I was intimidated by the thought of training for the distance (800m+) events. Boy, did I have it backwards. This USRPT sprint set is far worse than any USRPT-style distance set I do.


Last week I worked a little on fly, did some long rest 25's (1:30 interval) to work on 50 free pace, and tried to consolidate the :14.10 100 pace without taxing myself as much by doing fewer reps (+/- 16) at longer rest (:40 interval). Swam fairly easy Thursday and Friday, rested Saturday.




Cutting to the chase, I went 56.43 in the 100 free, only .01 off my best SCY time. I'd call that very good correlation with the practice pace! (14.10 x 4 = 56.4). Truthfully, I should have gone in the 56.2's but I stuffed the turn at the 50y mark.


My heart rate was very slow to come down after that race. I'd been fighting the beginnings of a cold since the middle of the week, and that seemed to affect my recovery. After going out 27.27 in the 100, including the stuffed turn, I only went 26.27 in the 50 free an hour later. I was a little disappointed, as I'd gone 26.33 just ninety minutes after that 1650 two weeks ago.


My 50 fly of 29.18 was similarly mediocre, although the turn around from the 50 free was a little less than 20 minutes.


100 free NQT secured, It's time to circle back to working on the 1650. Last time, I missed an NQT in that event by ~ 20 seconds. I have another chance in 4 weeks. I hope to put that to bed so I can bring the 200 fly work to the front burner before Spring Nationals.

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"They're made of latex, not nitroglycerin"

I had kind of a lazy morning swim after yesterday's 12 mile/3000 feet of climbing trail run (hike)
500s
250 fly kwf
250 pull
250 back kwf
250 pull
250 br kick
250 pull
250 fr kwf
250 pull

2500 yards

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Proud member of FISHTWITCH: doing a bit more than fish exercise now.

today 5 mi run, 925 yd swim, 3.1 mi run

still working on pulling w/ lats and fixing my right armstroke (Stronger pull, faster recovery)

500 w/u
50 kick
3 x 100 on 1:30
50 back
25 kick

---

maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

Some fast 50s this am. Finally a great set to let er rip on:

10 x through
2 x 50 on :45scy #1 was to be "pretty" and #2 "fast"
1 x 50 on 1:00 recovery

Goal was by rounds 1-3 to do 35s on "pretty" and 30s on "fast"
actuals 32s and 29s ** effort on 29s was exponentially more ugh

round 4-6 to do 33s on pretty and 29s on fast
actuals 31s and 28s ** still killing myself to go 28

round 7-9 to do 32s and 28s
actuals 30s and 28s ** the "pretty" ones were so easy that i was frustrated by the effort on the "hard ones" for the delta in time i was getting

round #10 goal 30 and 27
Actual 29 and 26 but that last one was all i had.

*Feedback: today was all about TENSION in my body. The "pretty" ones where I took the focus off the clock and locked down my scapulas and quality streamlines/breakouts felt amazingly easy. The tension when I would try to step on the gas would skyrocket and the ROI on energy output was not effective for long term swimming.
Paying attention to the TENSION or TONE in your body/energy output and movement can really help you to maximize your efficiency.
DaveD

well done.

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

Starting to ramp up average swim pace times;

5x100s@1;40(1;25 to 1;23)
8x150p@2;15(1;59 to 1;52)
3x100 breast@2;00(1;35/34/31)
2x150p@2;15(2;02/59)
2300SCY

3.3 mi easy run 30 min
925 yd swim

4 x 100 on 1:30 w/u
50 kick
3 x [100 fast + 50 kick] 1:13, 1:12, 1:13
25 c/d

---

maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

5.6 mi run, 525 yd swim, 3.1 mi run

swim 150 yds, fixed goggles, swam 350 yds, kicked 25 yds

---

maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

Congratulations on the NQT !

so now we know your age group.. ha.

went poking around, the USMS qualifiers are much faster than the Fina World AG qualifiers were last year.. seems odd.
The FINA times are for LCM but even after converting are much slower. In 55+ AG, 50 SCY is 27.3 for USMS and FINA is 33.66 for LCM which converts to 29.2 SCY. I can swim a 50 in 29 with a push..

My son the sprinter tried a 500 at last weekend's meet, 5:47 for stone last. I tried a 500 thinking I could get 6:45 or so, wound up 7:11 oh dear.

The entry criteria are different.

For USMS Nationals you can swim up to 3 individual events, other than the 1650, without an NQT. You need an NQT to swim the 1650, and/or for any individual events beyond 3 up to the entry limit which is usually 6.

For FINA Worlds, you're supposed to have a qualifying time for any event you enter. If your finish time is higher than the qualifying time, you will be listed as "N/T" (No Time) in the results.

FWIW, If you do the conversions, you'll probably find the LCM USMS Summer Nationals NQT's are typically a fair bit "softer" than the Spring Nationals NQT's for the equivalent SCY events.

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"They're made of latex, not nitroglycerin"

4.6 mi run
.5 mi w/u, 3 mi progressive 6.8, 6.9, 7.0 mph, some walking + .1 mi easy, 1 mi free speed


625 yd swim... notes for Dev: maintaining feel for the water. 600 swim (8:20), 25 yd kick

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

complicated.. thanks..

Hey Dev, where you been, were you having some sort of surgery this week, how did it go?

Back up to the mountains and a smooth pool, getting that IM ready for you too Dev;

5x100s@1;40(1;24 to 1;18) 2x100IM kick@2;05(1;53/51)
4x200p@3;15/100IM@2;00(2;38/38/37/37//1;22/21/22/21). 3x100IM kick@2;05(1;57/56/55)
300 steady pull (4;04)
2500SCY

I did a 300 warm-up and then I think 8 x 25 choice on 3:00 - 5:00 talking rest with an old friend and adviser.

500...it's a workout!

6.6 mi run, 425 yd swim to maintain feel of the water, 3.1 mi run

---

maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

Hey Monty, they did nothing on my foot last week. I am going in for the back MRI on Sunday, shot in the disc in 12 days and then Surgeon consult some time after (or maybe before) in our communist system

Mainly I have been busy getting my startup going (http://www.bluwave-ai.com) which has been a full throttle ride, but quite rewarding (any VC's on this thread, feel free to join our investor syndicate :-), but I have been swimming every day other than Wed when I was in a hotel and did weights only as the pool was 10m long and I just did not feel like a zillion turns.

I noticed that because of my disc injury I have not been using my core in a fish/dolphin mode, in that right around where the injury was/is, the spine is like rigid plank (imagine a bike chain with kinked links that is not wanting to bend properly around the cogs). So when I get to that "link" in my spine, I have been stiff and not rigid. The outome is that from my sternum to my hip, the spine is like a rigid rod, rather than supple and "creating a wave" when under water or "riding the wave" when under water. There is not a ton of energy being transmitted to the hip and legs from here and I am just generating energy hip downwards.

The thing is that I am not in pain in this part of my spine. I have been bracing my entire core like a rod because there "used to be pain" through there. There is none currently, but I did not realize I had been bracing with this type of compensation rather than using my body as a whip in fly, dolphin kick, and to some extent in freestyle.

I doubt a coach on dryland would be able to eyeball and spot this. Maybe they could. They would likely see that something is wrong and to some extent, the timing is imperfect (not off, just imperfect).

I discovered this during an underwater 25m sprint set with fins on.

Here is the problem. When I am on dry land, walking I am constantly bracing this part of my body, so it never really gets relaxed. This compensation from dryland is carrying into the pool, and I did not know it. Now I do.

So last two swims, I have been really trying to relax the area and let my entire core work like a whip and it's been really positive. On the underwater dolphin 25m where normally I was kicking 23-25 times, per length, now I am down to more like 20 since I am using a "longer whip". Fly feels easier as I am generating more force per body undulation/kick. But the best part is when I swim 2 beat free (half body fly in some ways). Less of that spasm/dragchute with my left side as the entire body stays more aligned like a normal person....YAY.

So the other day this was my main set:

10x150 as 25 fly-25 breast-25 back-75 free. The goal here was to empty the tank by the 75th m and then recover on the first free leg and push hard for the final 50m. I was trying to increase the cadence on the breast and a harder tighter pull

100m kick, then

2x400m IM as Twice (50 fly-25 back-25 breast - 100 free) with no rest between the 200's and make the second 50m fly really hard so I am jello going into the second group of back and breast.

In terms of your IM kick is there a flutter board involved (I assume so) in which case, where does it go for the back kick? Just above your head?

I am also thinking that I need to start doing some sets that are 10x50 with half of those back and half of those breast. Just focus on my 50m in each of those "sports" (to me they just feel like a completely different sport LOL!!!!....kind of like the diff between sprinting and race walking given my relative race walking skill at these two). If I could get from 7m under water dolphin and croaking from that last year to sprinting 25m underwater with or without fins, then these other legs of IM should be possible to learn with enough persistence (and I have no shortage of persistence, related to my above post about investors, one of the VC's said that his money was down to going into my company and another one, and multiple times, they almost chose the other, but can't make the decision because I'm too persistent LOL).

Dev

Good luck with all your upcoming body work. I saw this in your last workout;

10x150 as 25 fly-25 breast-25 back-75 free.

Is there a reason you do breast before back? Seem like we have an order cemented in the IM, so practicing the actual transitions might be more effective.


And when I do most of my IM kick it is with a board, but most of the time I dont do back flutter, just front. But when I do I just put the board behind my head with arms outstretched. I should do more back kick and underwater dolphin, soon...

Sorry, I swim in the correct order....I typed in the wrong IM order!!!!

I find it difficult to kick on back with board above my head. I suppose if you just do 50s oof IM kick you can just ditch the board for the back kick leg.

Dan and I did the hour drive to the low pool, man what a difference a few thousand feet make. Wish I felt better to take advantage, but got in a pretty good set anyway;

5x100s@1;40 (1;23 to 1;16). 3x100IM kick@2;00(1;53/51/50)
2x500p/100IM@7;00/2;00(6;33/1;20--/6;32/1;22)
5x100IM kick@2;05(1;57 to 1;49)
100SD
2600SCY

Pre Swim
30 minute upper body workout
60 minute Spin focused on ftp

Swim
1x2200 yards (calf muscle then cramped beyond relief and recovery... 1st time that ever happened.)
1x300 Pull Buoy
1x800 Freestyle, kicking with just one leg.

Longest total yards in a pool.

I don't use the board on backstroke kick so I usually do 50s but I'm not afraid to kick a 25 breast w/o a board if I need to get to the other end. On the "sport" of breaststroke I wish you luck trying to improve....I sometime feel like I can swim it decently but the clock always reminds me that I suck at it.

yesterday 13 mi bike

today 8.6 mi run, 1675 yd swim
run: 1 mi w/u, 2 mi (7.0, 7.1 mph), walking + a few tenths easy, 2.1 mi (7.1, 7.2 mph), walking + a few tenths easy, 2.1 mi (7.3 mph)


swim:


600 w/u
50 kick
100 swim
50 kick
200 swim
50 kick
100 swim
50 kick
goofed off swimming breaststroke and sidestroke for a bit
100 free
50 kick c/d

---

maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD