We are pleased to announce that as of March 4, 2025, an updated Rich Text Editor has been introduced in the MyFitnessPal Community. To learn more about the changes, please click here. We look forward to sharing this new feature with you!
Any tips to get faster?
SwimmyD
Posts: 96 Member
Hi everyone! I'm hoping to get some ideas on how to improve my speed. I'll give you the story so you've got a bit of background.
I have always been able to swim pretty well, but never competitively as a kid/teenager. I started swimming seriously at age 30, to control back pain. I was inspired by the fast people around me at the local Y, so I started reading books, emulating their strokes and got lessons on how to do fly and to flip turn. I didn't have the back to do good fly, but my free and especially breast were my fastest. I swam four to five days a week, and was able to get about 3300m of mixed sets in about an hour when I was in my late 30s. I joined a masters team for one year and had a blast. I wrote down every workout so I'd have a record of stuff to do when I wasn't swimming at a team practice.
Then all hell broke loose and I wasn't able to swim for over ten years. Husband was seriously ill for a very long time, and I had two kids plus him to take care of while working full time. Things settled, my kids have grown up, and now I'm 50. I returned to the pool in September and thought I'd give it a try. Over the course of six weeks I worked up to 4K for endurance and then scaled back to approx 3.5k so that I could work on my speed. I was using all those saved workouts from ten years ago for my workouts. Then I started trying to change up my speed by concentrating on my 100s.
So for the last while I've been doing the same 3400m mix:
600 warm up
400 KI IM order
10 x 100 FR with 15 s rest and 60s rest after #5
4 x 100 BR alt PU/KI
4 x 50 BR
2 x 200 1) SW choice 2) Choice
2 x 200 1) KI FR 2) PU FR
I takes me 1.5hrs to complete this. I find this really frustrating. I also find that my 100FR is not getting easier or faster. It takes me 1:45 to 1:50 to complete each one. Even slower if I'm dodging people lined up like ducks on the walls. I feel like I'm going to die by the 5th, so I take a 1min rest. My kick is slower for sure, although I kick my hardest. I was never a pro with flutter kick (60s per 50m in my 30s) - now 1:30!!
However, I have the added difficulty of swimming in a community pool in a double wide lane with eight to twelve people at the same time. It's like swimming in the Niagara River. I usually have a lot of dodging to do, as many are slow wide breaststrokers who take up the middle of the lane. There is no lane etiquette to speak of. It is highly frustrating, but this is what I have to work with. Sometimes I change up my workout and just kick or breast stroke pull when it gets insane. Backstroke is not something I can easily do with this many people in the lane. Same with breast stroke. And fly- we won't even go there (I suck anyways).
So I realize I'm older now, and also 10 pounds heavier. My body (esp my back) is not nearly as strong as it was in my thirties. I'm also trying to lose this tummy so I've been restricting calories. Not sure if that will affect my speeds ... I guess a little. My question to you folks is - what am I doing wrong here. What do I need to do to speed up my pace? Any ideas?
Thanks so much!
I have always been able to swim pretty well, but never competitively as a kid/teenager. I started swimming seriously at age 30, to control back pain. I was inspired by the fast people around me at the local Y, so I started reading books, emulating their strokes and got lessons on how to do fly and to flip turn. I didn't have the back to do good fly, but my free and especially breast were my fastest. I swam four to five days a week, and was able to get about 3300m of mixed sets in about an hour when I was in my late 30s. I joined a masters team for one year and had a blast. I wrote down every workout so I'd have a record of stuff to do when I wasn't swimming at a team practice.
Then all hell broke loose and I wasn't able to swim for over ten years. Husband was seriously ill for a very long time, and I had two kids plus him to take care of while working full time. Things settled, my kids have grown up, and now I'm 50. I returned to the pool in September and thought I'd give it a try. Over the course of six weeks I worked up to 4K for endurance and then scaled back to approx 3.5k so that I could work on my speed. I was using all those saved workouts from ten years ago for my workouts. Then I started trying to change up my speed by concentrating on my 100s.
So for the last while I've been doing the same 3400m mix:
600 warm up
400 KI IM order
10 x 100 FR with 15 s rest and 60s rest after #5
4 x 100 BR alt PU/KI
4 x 50 BR
2 x 200 1) SW choice 2) Choice
2 x 200 1) KI FR 2) PU FR
I takes me 1.5hrs to complete this. I find this really frustrating. I also find that my 100FR is not getting easier or faster. It takes me 1:45 to 1:50 to complete each one. Even slower if I'm dodging people lined up like ducks on the walls. I feel like I'm going to die by the 5th, so I take a 1min rest. My kick is slower for sure, although I kick my hardest. I was never a pro with flutter kick (60s per 50m in my 30s) - now 1:30!!
However, I have the added difficulty of swimming in a community pool in a double wide lane with eight to twelve people at the same time. It's like swimming in the Niagara River. I usually have a lot of dodging to do, as many are slow wide breaststrokers who take up the middle of the lane. There is no lane etiquette to speak of. It is highly frustrating, but this is what I have to work with. Sometimes I change up my workout and just kick or breast stroke pull when it gets insane. Backstroke is not something I can easily do with this many people in the lane. Same with breast stroke. And fly- we won't even go there (I suck anyways).
So I realize I'm older now, and also 10 pounds heavier. My body (esp my back) is not nearly as strong as it was in my thirties. I'm also trying to lose this tummy so I've been restricting calories. Not sure if that will affect my speeds ... I guess a little. My question to you folks is - what am I doing wrong here. What do I need to do to speed up my pace? Any ideas?
Thanks so much!
0
Replies
-
Oh, forgot to mention I swim three times a week. I walk 5k three days, and I have a home strength routine three days a week. Thanks!0
-
Sounds like you're really fast already!
And those look to me like some pretty hard intervals you're pushing already! Wow!
Emma B on here is one of the ones that just zings along winning medals and she may be better placed to give you some tips given your pedigree!
My two cents:
1) Give it time - you've. Been away for awhile and your body needs time to adjust. The times may not be coming down just yet, but the muscles are building up to where they will be in a position to push the limits even more
2) Give it time - rush it too early on and you'll be looking at injuries that will have you out for awhile, which is counter productive - remember, you're not 30 anymore, Jo matter how much your brain may be telling you that nothing's changed
3) Technique - you've read the books and so on, so just keep reminding yourself what you used to know. If you've been out that long, it's almost certain technique has suffered especially in the latter stages when the stamina is not there. So just revisiting the technique issue!
4) Technique - have someone film you as you swim. If you don't have a coach, some things may have changed that you don't realise until you actually watch a video of yourself swimming (especially when fatigued)! Having that perspective really helps deal with your blind spots!
5) Calorie deficit - running a calorie deficit definitely has an effect on the power available to you during the swims. So perhaps concentrate on getting the swims in, even as you lose the weight, and then as you approach goal weight, the emphasis can be more unforgivingly focused on swim speed! It will also give your body and muscles the time to adapt!
6) Training regimen - for this I'll defer to other who do interval training a whole lot more than I do!0 -
Great answer AQ.
You are clearly an accomplished swimmer - with a huge back knowledge to help you regain your past performance. Lucky you. Great you can be back in the pool - I wish you lots of pleasure from it.
You seem to be in a (very understandable! ) rush to get your 'old' self back - but maybe less is more...? Less rush could be more sustainability - injury and enjoyment wise?
I've no idea what realistic speeds are for someone with your pedigree, but lots of Masters publish their race results - so look at range of results for your age category?
Calorie wise - frankly, if you are burning off that much in the pool maybe you can up the cake/carbs/Chianti and still lose the tummy.... No need to make this too hard on yourself, and surely nobody excercises well on low blood sugars.....
So it seems to me - you are doing nothing 'wrong'. You are just impatient for results. Quite understandablr. But give it some more time....
Happy swimming.0 -
Thank you both for replying! Yes, I know I'm impatient. I guess I'm just tired of not seeing my times improve like I want them to. I definitely know I'm older! I feel it lol!
I think you are right AQ, my form probably deteriorates as I continue to get tired on those 100s. I really don't have anyone to watch or film me- it's a crazy busy public swim time, no coach. I might ask one of the better lifeguards if she sees something that I need to fix. I wonder if separating out my 100s by doing pull only or kick only would help? Then I concentrate on one thing while keeping form at a pace? I don't really know how to go about it. Maybe my rest periods are too short. Not being a coach, and having limited experience on a team, I'm not sure of appropriate interval times to get maximum bang for my effort.
Yes, thanks GG and AQ, I'm very careful to avoid injury. I've been working on a rotator cuff strengthening set for years (on and off) in the hopes that one day I could return to the pool, and it's paid off. But I'm not taking any chances. It seems that my old breast strokers knee is my biggest swimming hindrance now, so I have to be very careful with how much I do, and how hard. Sadly it's my fastest and favourite stroke, but the rotation through the tibia just strains my MCL too much.
As for my diet, not to worry. I still get my treats!! Just less of them! Beer on weekends, cake to celebrate!! I'll hopefully lose this ten pounds quickly and then work hard on getting myself faster.
Overall I'm very happy to have returned to the pool. I never thought I'd be able to swim again. It's been a dream. I am getting stronger and fitter. I truly missed it all those years I was out. When I smell the chlorine on my skin I'm actually really happy about it. I love the smell of chlorine!
Thanks again!0 -
Sounds like you are taking the right approach. Intervals, whether 100 or 50s will definitely help you get faster. Your times are pretty fast to begin with for someone who just got back in the game!
I shared your frustration swimming in crowded lanes with all kinds of levels. That's why I ultimately rejoined a masters team. I am so happy I did that, I am loving it. I had been away for 5 years and really missed it. I had my first swim meet this weekend and my times were only 1 second off from 5 years ago, so maybe they can get even lower by the summer! That would be so awesome.
0
This discussion has been closed.