On those days off the bike......... (Swimming question)

RockyHopperShow

.....I have tried swimming to freshen my training up. The thing is just doing endless lengths of the pool gets boring. Any suggestions to vary a swimming session?

Ditch Witch

yes, do drills.

It will improve your technique and help pass the time.

www.beginnertriathlete.com has loads of useful stuff.

You can also get waterproof MP3 players now

blister pus

Blow bubbles in the water

(don't swallow though)

Ditch Witch

blister pus wrote:

(don't swallow though)

Those are words I live by, my friend.

punctureboy

i'm trying to learn to breath over my left shoulder as well as my right, so i alternate between lengths breathing over my right shoulder, my left shoulder, and both. i'm finding it hard to be honest, and not really enjoying my swimming as much, but i need to stick with it otherwise i'll end up with a huge right shoulder and a tiny left one lol.

blister pus

The only thing that alleviates boredom of length swimming is to get into a rhythm and just shut your mind down and go with the flow, it's easy to get lost in the rhythm, it can be really therapeutic in a quietening the mind way.

Kitty

Get a kick board and pull buoy, your center may give them out for free but where I lifeguard we don't. Oh and go with friends, having a race always makes things more interesting. Failing that if your local center is nice enough you could pay to train with the lifeguards we do all sorts of training in the pool, particularly stamina stuff.

mea00csf

go to the zoggs website and they're swim4fitness section. they have a HUGE range of training programmes incorporating sets/drills/ sprints that will improve you're stamina and speed immensely. I used to swim train with a triathlon club which used qualified swimming coaches, the setup of the sessions are very similar.

For instance, instead of just swimming 1000m at a steady pace, how about 10*100m starting on (for me) 2:30. The idea being that you sprint the 100m, have about 10-15 seconds rest, then when the clock hits 2:30 you sprint another 100m, when you get back you have 10-15 secs rest then start to sprint you're 3rd 100m at 5mins after you started etc. Improves you stamina and sprinting. First time you attempt you should be exhausted on about rep 7 (or you weren't pushing hard enough!). Once you can complete the full 10 sets in moderate comfort, reduce the time by 5 seconds, so in this example, 2:25, 4:50 etc

Thewaylander

Ditch lass, your mind is in the gutter... oh hold or is it me for thinking thats what you meant.. argh!!

Otherwise i found swimming with some friends is way more fn some racing and so on is good.

cirlam

grab yourself a wetsuit and start swimming in open water...much more interesting - 75% of the swimming I do nowadays.

beware the water monsters don't catch up with you though!

Surf-Matt

Agreed - open water swimming is SO much more fun.

I found this bit of open water a bit busy though in my tri:



Spot the kook with no hat, goggles AND a gay wrist...

That's me :oops:

TimesLikeThese

I'm with blister pus on your mind shutting down - very relaxing.
Try race training sprints over different lengths
practice race turns.
each lap change your stroke
get a float and jam it between your legs
then hold it in front of you
buy some blades do a long distance then take them off and laugh at how fast you can swim.
Time yourself.
Then train to beat your times.
Change your breathing pattern to experiment and find something more comfortable.
Train in an olympic sized pool and notice the difference
try to go at times when they have the lanes set up and local clubs are racing. If you dont join them then at least you can work towards pacing yourself against a competitive swim team.
Lots to do but constantly challenging yourself to improve is the most important mindgame.