Well done at Provincials! that's some good swims on a tough schedule. One thing to keep in mind is that it's almost impossible for us old guys to have really great swims (time wise) at every event in a meet. We just don't recover that fast. I typically just pick one event that I want to do really well at, the rest are just to have fun and swim, no pressure on times.

I'm back in NS, didn't swim once while I was in Bermuda. At least I'm over the flu now, so I can get back in the water tonight.

---

Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

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

Welcome back from the heat and from being sick.

3000 SCM this morning.

300 wu
200 pull
3 x (
4 x 50 IM order
200 IM
100 T-pace
4 x 25 IM order
100 IM
100 ez)
100 cd

How do you come up with a set appropriate to your training schedule? For example to swim sub 1 hour in the Ironman

With the limited time (on average 2 times 1.5 hours a week in a 50 m pool), I end up doing sets similar to todays:

1000 m Warming up @ 1.40-1.50/100m
1000 m Paddles/no kicking @ 1.35-1.40/100m
1000 m Steady pace @ 1.40-1.50/100m
500 m Paddles/no kicking easy pace @ 1.50/100m
500 m Cooling down @ 1.55/100m
0-500 m Kicking

On average in total 4000-4500 m

I understand doing intervals is helpful, but what kind of intervals? and why those?

I understand doing intervals is helpful, but what kind of intervals? and why those? //


Well it looks like you swim about the same pace for most of your workout, and in 1000 increments. Your warm up looks to be the same as your steady pace swim, so in essence you are just doing one long, same pace swim. You can do all kinds of intervals, 50's, 100's 200's, doesn't really matter if you do them correctly. Just make sure you are going a lot faster than that 1;40 to 1;50 pace, maybe 1;30 to 1;35 pace. In the beginning do 50's or 100's on that pace, and take whatever rest you need to hold that time, and as you get better you can drop the rest time and decrease the swim pace..

That is how swimmers get faster. The way you are swimming is just maintaining your steady pace, and you are wasting a lot of your time in the water..

6.7 mi run 60:50
775 yd swim

300 swim, 50 kick
200 swim, 50 kick
100 swim, 75 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

Just filled out my entry for Provincials.

50 fly and 100 fly. That's enough.....

---

Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

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

Maysel do the 1500 too

or not since it's right in the middle of those two - lol

yea, I'm just not feelin' it. It's a long race if you aren't where you want to be fitness-wise. Maybe in the fall.....

---

Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

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

SO today I did a workout where I felt my hands/arms, feet/legs against the water a lot, and at about 400IM race pace. Felt ok and had a really good set of 200 breast:

5x100s@1;40(1;24 to 1;20)
5x100IM kick@2;00(1;51 to 1;46)
6x200, odds breast@3;30/evens flutter kick@4;30( breast-3;07/3;04/3;03)(kick-3;48/3;39/3;34)
200dolphin(3;57)
5x50back descend@1;10(42/42/41/40/39)
100IM kick(1;54)
5x50 free descend@1;00(40/38/36/35/33)
100IM kick(1;55)
3000SCY in 60 minutes

Worked the kick a bit today

W/u
300 s
200 p
100 k (with an extra 50)
4x50 scull/drill
8x25 sprinters game

Main set
2x{
400pull (middle 200 strong) (with an extra 50 on each)
4x50 kick on 1:20 first 15m all out, then steady
4x25 sprint (work the legs) on :30 (alt fly /free)
}

W/d - only time for a 50 ez

2600 total

---

Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

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

Endurance today. 400 sets.

MS:
6 x 400
i) free (I pulled for most of them) @ 7:30
ii) 4 x 100 IM @ 8:30

Total came out to being 3900 SCM with W/U and prep set. We all agreed to do a an extra 100m to make it an even 4K SCM.
The IM really hurt, my fly remains a work in progress. But I'm off to go demolish a pizza right now.

Grrr....fell back asleep yesterday. No big deal. Slipping a day doesn't really matter M/W/Sa vs. M/Th/Sa

today? pool closed due to plumbing failure. They could have, at least, sent out an email...so I could stay in bed.

Sigh.

Monday, Friday, Saturday...is probably not the most optimal swimming schedule.

Showing up for an early swim and finding a closed pool is very high on my list of infuriating things!

Hey All! My first post on ST :) I have some questions and figured this is the most active swimming thread, but first I will post today's workout (only been back in the pool about a month, but grew up swimming and it's great getting back into it):

Run: 15 min run followed by 15 min walk (trying to do couch to 5k and not get injured, since my run is weak at the moment)

Swim:
WU: 500 (100 free/100 back/100 fr/100 br/100 fr)

Main Set:
400 (4x100 descend on 1:45) (1:17, 1:15, 1:15: 1:12) - definitely needed a bit more warm up before jumping right into this set, maybe do some 50's build prior next time
300 (3x100 kick, drill, swim all free on 2:00)
200 IM (drill/swim)
100 IM fast

300 warm down

1800 SCY total

I am looking to do a triathlon in June with a 300m pool snake swim (up and back in the same lane then flip turn into next lane, etc). I have to enter a self seed time and I have read that others guess times are shaky at best. I am worried about getting stuck behind slower swimmers by entering my accurate time, while theirs was just a guess. Have any of you done a pool swim in a tri before? What were some of the better swim times /100m? I will have 2 more months of training under my belt by then and should be in decent shape for the swim (thinking 1:05-1:10/100m). For reference, the last time that I did a tri it was a 1500m OWS, which I was also in decent shape and finished in 19:11. I would like to enter a time that will put me in the top 1/5 of the swimmers and avoid getting trapped in the middle group- not sure if this is possible. Am I being too optimistic?

Are you able to lookup past results for the race to get an idea of the sort of times people are doing? As for avoiding getting caught up, it's a crap shoot no matter what. All it takes is one yahoo that puts in a fast time and things can get backed up.

Put in what you think will be an accurate time, maybe be optimistic by 10-15 seconds or so but you don't want to be the guy yourself that puts down an unrealistic time and cause your own backlog. At the pace you will be going, if someone is passing you they will be a decent swimmer and you may get run over. :)

Thanks for the idea to check out the prior year results! This is a really small local race that has only been going on for the past 5 years. The fastest time last year for the 300m swim was 4:37 and the fastest in the years prior was 3:55. I am thinking that I will go with a 3:45-4:00 seed time, which is 1:15-1:20 pace that I can maintain currently and should be a little faster on race day with a diving start and adrenaline. This puts my mind a little more at ease since this will be my first tri since 2012 and now I can focus a little more on my cycling and running!

I did one of those last year: snake swim, 300m in a 50m pool. Also a small local race. Decent swim times in that race were low to mid 5m. FOP swimmers were low 4m....I don't recall seeing any sub-4m times.

Rule #1: Everybody lies. Unless you seed yourself #1, you will be behind someone slower.

I seeded myself accurately, last year. I started around 80th out of 300 or so. While standing in line, we watched all those before us start swimming. There were LITERALLY side swimmers and breast strokers (slow, granny style) in the first 20 to hit the water.

We used 1 full lane per length. So, 6 lanes. That made passing pretty easy, even coming up on people 2-abreast you could swim between or around them pretty easy.

The biggest issue I had with that swim was how long we ended up standing around after warmup closed. I think it was 15m from close of warmup to the first swimmer in the water. It was probably another 10-15m before I got wet. The pool area was chilly that day, and I was shivering by the time I got in.

However, that was the warmest I was all day that race. Ugh it was cold...46F, in a tri-suit at speed on the bike was NOT fun.

WU: 10 x 100 on 1:40
drill/swim combinations

12 x 50 on :55
25 stroke/25 free IM order

10 x 150 free on 2:15
odd - pull (1:54-1:58)
even - swim (1:47-1:50)

200 CD

3300 scy

PS: check the start rules. We were not allowed to dive. Feet first only for me last year per rule.

Wow...I feel super embarrassed if that was me, especially because everyone else is still standing on deck watching you swim. Ugh, how is that acceptable? I think that would be like saying that you run a 6 minute mile, then start walking 10 steps into the race.

I will look into the rules about diving and also start to manage my expectations about the swim portion of this race. The race is in June, so I am hoping for warmer weather than you experienced (fingers crossed), especially because I would like to just jump out of the water and throw on shorts over my bathing suit and dry out on the bike/run. I haven't decided if this the best course of action yet, but only time and more training will tell.

That's the only pool swim tri that I've done. But, the guys I was in line next to, said it happens all the time. They actually were betting how far deep the first side-swimmer would be. I was busy shivering, but it was somewhere around 9th...not including the honorary Mayoral entry (1st).

As I said, with the full lane width available it was no big deal to pass people. Touch feet, swim around (or between if 2-wide), go. I think I passed 2-3 people per length.

If your race is anything like mine, I'd check the other splits of the fast swimmers (bike+run). None of the sub-5 guys in my race could ride a bike or run or both AT ALL. So, if you can ride+run you might consider just cruising the swim and have a good bike+run. Just a thought.

Today's session...yes the feel of a pool with lower volume is significantly different. Or I'm just a weirdo.

2300m planned, 2300m executed SCM.

2x50 (0:56, 1:15) 15 Sec rest
2x100 (2:22, 2:12) 20 Sec rest
2x200 (4:51, 4:41) 45 Sec rest
3x400 (10:00, 9:51, 9:43) 45 Sec rest
1x200 (5:13) 25 Sec rest
1x100 (2:39) 25 Sec rest
2x50 (1:21, 1:21) 15 Sec Rest

Felt pretty good. Tried to negative split my intervals, for the meat of the swim I did so, so that's cool. Have a Novice sprint next weekend (400m pool swim) so we'll see how I do there. Not expecting a PR, but it would be nice since this is the best structured swimming I've done consistently with triathlon in my four years in the sport. Overall my shoulder feels really good so that's a huge plus.

---

Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

Nope, you're kinda right. Shallow water, bottom is closer, so it appears that you are going by faster, so you're eyes trick your brain into "feeling" like you're faster. I think as you're more experienced that starts to go away.

Or maybe I'm just a weirdo too.

Definitely feels faster. I was in a long course pool last week that was deep in one end and 3 feet in the other and going from deep to shallow felt like I was going much faster. That said, I think deeper is actually faster. :)