FF 300m swim trial from a slow guy

Triathlon Forum
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I’m a slow guy, and not the “slowguy.” I’m slower than he is by far, so I really think he should consider giving up his name. I’d gladly do like John Kruk did for Mitch and fork over a case of beer.

Anyway, tonight I finally made it to the gym for once this week. I did get in a Monday evening run, but after the ice storm hit DFW I’ve done nada. So tonight I hit the pool after work, but I forgot my training plan for FF week 5, main workout.

So I did something I definitely should not have done until next week. I did a 600m warmup doing various FF drills. Then I rested 90 seconds and swam a 300m TT just to see if I had improved any.

Suffice it to say FF works for slow people too. Just like anything that will help, it actually works better for slow people. Face it if you are slow, you have more to gain from technique, base period training, losing weight, or aerodynamics.

It is clear that my hydrodynamics and pulling in particular are making huge gains. For others it might be kicking, but I was a good kicker before. I am also sort of figuring out the whole kick timing thing, but I know I don’t have it down at all yet.

So my first ever TRI last June was a 300m swim. I was 3:10 per 100 for it. My next TRI was a 750m open water swim from hell, and we won’t discuss it. My 3rd TRI in November was a 350m pool swim and I was about 2:50 per 100.

Tonight I swam harder than I’ve ever swam before. I wasn’t saving for the bike ride or run after, so that was some of the gain. It still doesn’t account for the fact that I swam my 300 TT in 6:10 tonight or 2:03 per 100. It’s still slow, but for me it’s miraculous. I know during this season’s TRIs I won’t be last coming out of the water anymore or even in the back pack. I couldn’t have held that pace much past 500 I feel. Maybe after a full 12 weeks I can hold the pace for a full sprint TRI and cruise to 2:20ish for a full 1500m. My initial goal for the evening was to break 8 minutes… well that happened and then some.

We shall see.

I will do a week 6 TT, but don’t expect it to be a lot different than tonight. Heck I wouldn’t be surprised if it were a bit slower actually. Of course on runs and bike rides I am faster in the morning so maybe I’ll get to the pool in the morning and have at it.

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Are you being coached on a regular basis? You will see more gains by improving technique than gains based on improved fitness. Why 300 metres?

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Are you being coached on a regular basis? You will see more gains by improving technique than gains based on improved fitness. Why 300 metres?

  1. Sort of. FF is finding freestyle which is an online coaching program with feedback from two coaches. I wish I had the means to get to Virginia and take their course. Time is the limiting factor. If I knew of a reasonably priced swim coach in Dallas that could and would actually help me, then yes I’d hire a coach.

  2. Your comment. I agree. I don’t recall denying this fact either.

  3. 300m because the plan calls for a 300m TT every 6 weeks. It’s an arbitrary distance. Why not 3m or 3000m? You tell me…

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Re -300 m

Just asking… I figured it was a testing protocol. Call me old school but I would have designed it to be a standard race distance (200/400m, 200/500y).

Are you doing any balance/body position drills? I recommend pulling with the PB between the ankles (teaches you to engage your core to improve body position)
Do you hands cross midline ?

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I think the point of the program is to gauge improvements in technique specifically; its completely technique driven. Testimonials on all the boards seem to indicate it’s pretty effective at teaching non-swimmers how to be significantly more efficient, allowing them to really start swim training.

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1st, congrats on the improvements and meeting your goal!
2nd, keep with it and keep working on form. Swimming seems to be one of those things that after a while of hard work, something will click and you will have weeks where everyday you get faster.
Keep us updated!

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i was thinking slowtwitch should have some sort of image we post as a reward every time someone sets a PR

I mean really that is why many of us DO this, is those PRs we get. They are the best!

good job, keep it going!

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Congratulations, AnthonyS - that is wonderful progress!
You now officially swim faster than I do, so I guess I need to get the beer…
I think I’ll change my name to “drowner”.
Then later, maybe “duathlete”.

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You can still run circles around me. So I might get out of the water first, I’ll still be finishing after you.

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Keep updating! Its fun to watch people progress.

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After the last couple days, this is a really nice thread to see. For anyone who saw my last post, Rob is doing well and we expect a full recovery.

Just wanted to address one thing that Quantum mentioned about beginning (non) swimmers. We certainly are helping many folks who can barely make one length of the pool on day one. But one of the biggest surprises as we are starting to roll larger numbers through the program is that much faster swimmers are improving as well. We have many like Anthony around the 3:00 / 100 range. The average is probably around 2:15 / 100 to begin, though we have a handful in the 1:30 range and even a few down in the 1:00 - 1:15 / 100 speed.

The program is working for everyone.

There was also a question somewhere above regarding why a 300 time trial? We feel it is a good distance to give an indication of aerobic technique improvements, while taking into consideration that some of our swimmers cannot complete an uninterupted 50 on the first day. Which is also why we do not even schedule a time trial until week 6. We would expect even greater gains if we were actually testing on week 1.

Anyway thanks for the kind word here and keep sending out the positive vibes to Rob.

Last thing, as I mentioned, anyone who is having any sort of issue with access, please contact me here or through my email. cveluscan@gmail.com Rob was (and will be) handling a lot of this and we were caught without a “hit by a truck” plan.

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Hey Dave, was really suprised to hear about Robert, as I’m sure you and all his family was. I only know him from the forum here, but he is a young guy is’nt he? I see his swim times he posts and he seems like he is very fit, any guess as to the reason for the stroke? I have known great athletes to have strokes after hard races or efforts, and then get on a plane and sit for a long time, or get in a car and drive all day. Could it have been anything like that?

Whatever, glad to hear he is on the mend and will make a full recovery. He seems like a great guy and helps a lot of folks out here on ST. Let us know if there is anything we can do for him, and definately keep us updated.

Monty

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Yep, Rob is 42 and very healthy. The know a blood clot caused two small strokes, but they don’t know what caused the blood clots. Nothing obvious like what you mentioned. My understanding at this point is some folks are prone to clots for a variety of factors, some genetic. This may be the case with him, though I don’t think they are done searching for the cause.

Thanks for the kind words. I would pass them on but he has probably smuggled a laptop into his hospital room by now. Rob is my oldest friend. He was my swim coach when I was 13 and he was 17 or 18. Another ocean lifeguard as well.

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Congrats AnthonyS!

I did an extra 300 yd TT in week 8 and had exact same time as you.

Can’t wait to hear how you after the next 7 weeks!

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Dave,

Thank you for the kind words, and please send Dave my best. I’m just shocked to hear about what has happened to someone who is clearly so fit and healthy.

I know the best thing about you two is your availability and willingness to answer questions. It is your answers to others’ questions, and clear demonstrations and explanation that are helping me.

Most coaches give verbal instruction, but don’t go to the effort of demonstrating repeatedly or explaining nuances nearly as well. That is one of the key reasons you are enjoying success. It’s the effort you put into making sure students understand each concept thoroughly.

I won’t go into the particulars of different drills or techniques, but I will say I am definitely swimming better and am more aware of my weaknesses now. That gives me things to improve on and work through.

Prior to FF, I could swim 1500m, just very slowly. Distance was not an issue but speed was a huge issue. During this test I expended more effort than usual while swimming but through refinement and improvements in technique it actually paid off in speed. This is definitely a new development for me in the water. Previously I didn’t have any clue how to swim harder to go faster.