Starting swimming, any advice?
- Thread starter Scam
- Start date
Soldato
I suppose it does make sense. I'm usually the opposite though, I love going out for a bike ride in the sunshine or a run. Hate the cold and dark, it makes me want to hibernate until Spring
Soldato
I've been very lazy this summer too. Hardly done anything since the start of June. I had a couple of long OW swims and think I thought 'I deserve a break'.
I'm back into it now but actually dreaded going back. Once you pick up the routine it's ok, and as said above, I think it'll be easier when the winter rolls in, even though I'll be walking/cycling to the pool in the pitch dark in the morning!
I'm back into it now but actually dreaded going back. Once you pick up the routine it's ok, and as said above, I think it'll be easier when the winter rolls in, even though I'll be walking/cycling to the pool in the pitch dark in the morning!
Soldato
Only managed to get in the pool twice this week and both times it was really busy. It's hard to get a rhythm going when you're having to swim around people whilst focusing on your technique. I suppose it might be useful to get used to lots of other people around me if I want to do a Tri...
Soldato
Still swimming though only twice this week but I've managed to go 3 or 4 times a week regularly and still really enjoying it and seeing progress. I generally do 40 x 33m lengths freestyle or 50 x 25m lengths depending on the pool. Seem to be getting slightly faster though nowhere near some of the other regulars.
Don't worry about regulars. You'll only improve.
Soldato
Yeah as I said I'm seeing improvements so I'm happy enough
Yeah as I said I'm seeing improvements so I'm happy enough
That's all that matters then.
Soldato
Still going 3 or 4 times a week for the usual 40 or 50 lengths. Still enjoying it, still trying different things to improve technique. Need to try and improve my breathing, currently breathing on 1 side only every 2 strokes. I've tried changing to breathe either side or same side every 4 strokes and I just get in a mess or swallow water. Any advice?
Associate
Have you tried every 3 strokes? ie you alternate sides. Also for me it helps if I really blow and empty my lungs into the water between breaths.
Man of Honour
Just found this thread.... just started swimming after 6 year break so really unfit.
Week one started at 40 lengths * 25m breaststoke 5 times a week, now on week 6 and up to 70 lengths (over a mile a day).
The thing I hated was counting lengths, but just picked up Garmin Swim watch that does it all for me... see link of todays swim below (please excuse all the 'rests'). I highly recommend it... amazing gadget.
http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/960133463
It also tells me my 40 odd mins of swimming burnt 630 odd cals... which is roughly same as running for almost a hour
I think I'm officially classed as a slow swimmer... but can keep up with the distance guys going crawl just. In six weeks I've lost over 10lb of pure fat which I'm pretty pleased with. None of my jeans stay up any more
Only downside with swimming so far is I appear to have got swimmers shoulder... so during day joint in shoulder is crazy painful. It seems ok when swimming but is getting worse by the day
Week one started at 40 lengths * 25m breaststoke 5 times a week, now on week 6 and up to 70 lengths (over a mile a day).
The thing I hated was counting lengths, but just picked up Garmin Swim watch that does it all for me... see link of todays swim below (please excuse all the 'rests'). I highly recommend it... amazing gadget.
http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/960133463
It also tells me my 40 odd mins of swimming burnt 630 odd cals... which is roughly same as running for almost a hour
I think I'm officially classed as a slow swimmer... but can keep up with the distance guys going crawl just. In six weeks I've lost over 10lb of pure fat which I'm pretty pleased with. None of my jeans stay up any more
Only downside with swimming so far is I appear to have got swimmers shoulder... so during day joint in shoulder is crazy painful. It seems ok when swimming but is getting worse by the day
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Associate
It sounds like you need advice from someone who can watch what you're doing. Could you ask if there are any teachers at the pool who might be willing to help, or otherwise some lessons?
You're where I was about 2 years ago but losing the weight much faster than meJust found this thread.... just started swimming after 6 year break so really unfit.
...
but just picked up Garmin Swim watch that does it all for me
...
Only downside with swimming so far is I appear to have got swimmers shoulder... so during day joint in shoulder is crazy painful. It seems ok when swimming but is getting worse by the day
Agree about the Garmin swim watch - it's a nice gadget. Seeing the totals and trends on the Connect site is quite fun, although I seem to have stopped getting any faster (or less slow depending on perspective). There's probably a few of us that might be interested in sharing/comparing etc.
That shoulder doesn't sound good, and I thought breaststroke was less likely to cause shoulder problems because of the arm movement and that most of the power comes from the legs. It might be worth getting it checked out.
Man of Honour
Might get shoulder checked then... but I suspect there is nothing to be done.
I've also cut out wine and eating better foods so have dropped my daily intake by around 1500 cal. The missus is a weight loss consultant so has those fancy scales that measure all your body stats which is handy
After 2 years what is your average time per 100m ? ....I 'thought' I was quite quick till I got the watch and then looked around on the web. Seems I'm strictly classed as sloooooow haha
I've also cut out wine and eating better foods so have dropped my daily intake by around 1500 cal. The missus is a weight loss consultant so has those fancy scales that measure all your body stats which is handy
After 2 years what is your average time per 100m ? ....I 'thought' I was quite quick till I got the watch and then looked around on the web. Seems I'm strictly classed as sloooooow haha
Associate
Regarding counting lengths, I simply click the bezel on my watch onward two places when I turn around every two laps (there are 10 'clicks' per 5 minute dial markings). I found this more reliable than the TomTom cardio multisport accelerometer!
Soldato
Yeah, it's something I'm seriously considering. I feel at the moment I can't get any better unless I get some lessons. Did 40 lengths without stopping last night in the 33m pool. I know the distance is there (training for my first Triathlon) but I do want to be faster.
Soldato
Is this the OcUK official swimming thread?
I figured I should post since I'm training for an Ironman next July and the swim is by far my biggest weakness! Wall of text...
I've always been a weak swimmer and pretty much never swam (outside of paddling in hotel pools) since I was at primary school. I started swimming last April in prep for a Tri in August. At first it seemed hopeless, I couldn't even swim 25m without being destroyed!
A couple of friends helped with technique a bit and I was then able to build up to 1500m but only in a wetsuit or with wetsuit shorts and very slowly (40mins for 1500m was my typical time). I figured, I'd always race in neoprene so what does it matter? Then I realised that there is a chance my Ironman could be warm enough for a wetsuit ban.
So now I'm trying to get faster and get less reliant on the buoyancy of neoprene. I will probably need to increase volume but at the moment to fit into my overall schedule I'm hitting the pool twice a week. 2000m in wetsuit shorts at the weekend and a short morning session of 1000m in jammers, splitting it 500m with finger paddles to improve stroke power and 500m without.
Improvement appears to be slow, my times aren't improving, so I'm wondering if I need some proper coaching or at least someone to film me and critique.
Hope sharing my swimming journey so far is helpful to others in some way!
I figured I should post since I'm training for an Ironman next July and the swim is by far my biggest weakness! Wall of text...
I've always been a weak swimmer and pretty much never swam (outside of paddling in hotel pools) since I was at primary school. I started swimming last April in prep for a Tri in August. At first it seemed hopeless, I couldn't even swim 25m without being destroyed!
A couple of friends helped with technique a bit and I was then able to build up to 1500m but only in a wetsuit or with wetsuit shorts and very slowly (40mins for 1500m was my typical time). I figured, I'd always race in neoprene so what does it matter? Then I realised that there is a chance my Ironman could be warm enough for a wetsuit ban.
So now I'm trying to get faster and get less reliant on the buoyancy of neoprene. I will probably need to increase volume but at the moment to fit into my overall schedule I'm hitting the pool twice a week. 2000m in wetsuit shorts at the weekend and a short morning session of 1000m in jammers, splitting it 500m with finger paddles to improve stroke power and 500m without.
Improvement appears to be slow, my times aren't improving, so I'm wondering if I need some proper coaching or at least someone to film me and critique.
Hope sharing my swimming journey so far is helpful to others in some way!
Soldato
Ironman? Sod that
I'm only training for sprint Triathlons at the moment, but may try a half Ironman eventually.
I've always been a weak swimmer and like you have been really happy with my progress since starting in July, but now like you have hit a bit of a wall. I think the answer is definitely some coaching for us
Did you do a Tri in august then? Which one, how did it go?
I'm only training for sprint Triathlons at the moment, but may try a half Ironman eventually.
I've always been a weak swimmer and like you have been really happy with my progress since starting in July, but now like you have hit a bit of a wall. I think the answer is definitely some coaching for us
Did you do a Tri in august then? Which one, how did it go?
Soldato
It was the London Triathlon, Olympic distance.
It went alright, I didn't quite get the sub-2h30m benchmark though, thanks to a slow swim. I was rank 569 of 3773 with times:
Total 02:34:02
Swim 00:39:11
Bike 01:03:36
Run 00:43:53
So swimming was the weakest but also neglecting brick training of swim-to-bike meant I had jelly legs once I got on the bike.
It went alright, I didn't quite get the sub-2h30m benchmark though, thanks to a slow swim. I was rank 569 of 3773 with times:
Total 02:34:02
Swim 00:39:11
Bike 01:03:36
Run 00:43:53
So swimming was the weakest but also neglecting brick training of swim-to-bike meant I had jelly legs once I got on the bike.
Is this the OcUK official swimming thread?
I figured I should post since I'm training for an Ironman next July and the swim is by far my biggest weakness! Wall of text...
I've always been a weak swimmer and pretty much never swam (outside of paddling in hotel pools) since I was at primary school. I started swimming last April in prep for a Tri in August. At first it seemed hopeless, I couldn't even swim 25m without being destroyed!
A couple of friends helped with technique a bit and I was then able to build up to 1500m but only in a wetsuit or with wetsuit shorts and very slowly (40mins for 1500m was my typical time). I figured, I'd always race in neoprene so what does it matter? Then I realised that there is a chance my Ironman could be warm enough for a wetsuit ban.
So now I'm trying to get faster and get less reliant on the buoyancy of neoprene. I will probably need to increase volume but at the moment to fit into my overall schedule I'm hitting the pool twice a week. 2000m in wetsuit shorts at the weekend and a short morning session of 1000m in jammers, splitting it 500m with finger paddles to improve stroke power and 500m without.
Improvement appears to be slow, my times aren't improving, so I'm wondering if I need some proper coaching or at least someone to film me and critique.
Hope sharing my swimming journey so far is helpful to others in some way!
Definitely very interested in your progress. I think I am where you were in April.
I cloud swim but was bad at it and didn't really like it much, something about being put of breath while being in the water is really off-putting for me. I don't have a fear of drowning or the water, in fact I love being in the open sea with big overhead waves etc., I'm just not a fast swimmer and not very good at it. As I get out of breath my already bad technique goes out the window and I make a load of stupid mistake like trying to get my head as high as possible, tilting my body.
anyway, 5 years ago after doing a load of training for a ski mountaineering race I got the idea of doing some triathlons and ultimately building up to do an Ironman. That idea quickly faded but last Saturday I dd my first marathon in 3:27:27. I'm looking to continue my fitness and endurance training but with more cross training. This week I went out on may new bike, a first in maybe 10-15 years. Yesterday I went swimming, managing 30 laps in about 30-35 minutes, mostly breast stroke. And I'm watching endless ironman videos on youtube, its scaring me, I might do something stupid like train for one soon.... First I just want to get my swimming and biking up to scratch.
I'm happy with my 30 laps in 30-35minutes since I'm not a swimmer, but I have a long way to go. I really hate front crawl and can only do 2 laps at a time while I was happy doing 10 laps of breast stroke. the difference for me is breast stoke keep my head high, I really hate swallowing water and choking. Front crawl just seems to make that happen within a few laps.
Next time I will try to do front drawl a little slower, keep my n=body flatter, legs straight and rotate my head instead of lift. If I go slower and with better technique then i hope I am not so out of breath, and it will make it more pleasant to do maybe 5 laps before going to breast stroke for 2 and then back to front crawl etc .
Long way to go and if I do an iron man it wont be before 2017 at the earliest, too much happening in 2016.