Anyone up for a swimming challenge?

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  • mdagenb
    mdagenb Posts: 49 Member
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    Great Job! Isn't it crazy to think about what you used to be able to do and what you can do now! Its so easy to get out of shape! Ill do 4 x 100's today after work (I have a pool at home, too bad its not a lap pool, but i just have to do a few more flip turns....my time wont necessarily be accurate from that but oh well, a work out is a work out, right? lol)
  • emmabeckemeyer1
    emmabeckemeyer1 Posts: 298 Member
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    emswanson - I'm heading up to Seattle for the Emerald City Open Water Swim event on Saturday the 20th and I'm entered in the 1 mile class. It's my first open water event this year so we'll see how it goes. I've been swimming in 80+ degree pool water and the race site is around 70...burr.
    I did a triathlon in June and the water was 72...SOOOO cold. I am a strong swimmer and I was struggling the first 100 yards or so to get my breath. Are you using a wet suit?
  • emmabeckemeyer1
    emmabeckemeyer1 Posts: 298 Member
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    Great Job! Isn't it crazy to think about what you used to be able to do and what you can do now! Its so easy to get out of shape! Ill do 4 x 100's today after work (I have a pool at home, too bad its not a lap pool, but i just have to do a few more flip turns....my time wont necessarily be accurate from that but oh well, a work out is a work out, right? lol)
    I feel the same way. A couple weeks ago I found a workout that my swim coach had written for me to do in 2003! I was blown away.
  • emmabeckemeyer1
    emmabeckemeyer1 Posts: 298 Member
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    i did my 4x100s free yesterday. I did them on 1:30 and held 1:16s on all 4. Talk about being out of breath at the end. I also use to be a 200 butterflier so I did 8x25s butterfly swim on 30 afterwards. How in the world did I use to do that straight through?! My heart was beating out of my chest when I was through with all of that.

    All in all I did a 2100 yesterday in 40 minutes. I was proud of myself! :)
    1:16 good job!
  • boyflowerbird
    boyflowerbird Posts: 29
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    I will do my 4x100's tomorrow a.m. and I bet it'll be on the 2:00 mark. I am slow. I have been swimming consistently since April, but I have been focusing on long, slow swims b/c I started out very out of shape. I adopted the total immersion technique and it is very efficient and relaxing. I think, though, that is affecting my ability to kick it on these test sets. We'll see in the a.m. I did a test set of 50 frees on Tuesday and I was swimming 50 in like 50 seconds. . . Ugh, I used to be in the 20's.

    I am looking forward to the pool tomorrow for sure. I'll let ya'll know how it goes.

    Also - I am swimming an open water 1 mile race on Aug 27th. I am nervous about lake water, too, Em, but I guess that will make me want to finish faster if it freaks me out. I noticed the times last year weren't that all intimidating, so I hope I will at least feel like a part of the pack anyway. I think the water here will be warmer than in Seattle, thank goodness (I'm in NC).

    Happy swimmin'.
  • FitMama2013
    FitMama2013 Posts: 919 Member
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    mdagenb and jenrod1118 - welcome! we're glad to have y'all :) no worries if you just started swimming or haven't been in the pool for awhile - we're all trying to get back into swimming and this is a fun way to do it!

    boyflowerbird - I think it's great you started off with longer swims working on your technique. That will help you soooooo much in the long run! Now that you've got a base built up, these test sets should really help with your speed. Be prepared to feel like you're dying though - at least I do :) But it feels so good when I'm finished!

    TroyBa - good luck with your swim! It sounds like you're in great shape so I'm sure you'll have no problems with your mile. Just enjoy the different scenery when you're taking a breath :) Hahaha.

    HonestyismyDiet - SUPER impressed with the 1:16s - you're a CHAMP! I guess you never lost that closing ability on the 200 fly :) It's funny you did the 8 X 25s fly on :30 because one of the challenges next week is 16 X 25s on :30 (or whatever interval you choose), so you're already ahead of the game! I did it this morning and it was rough, but I did better than I expected and was really excited I finished them all! Must have been that glass of white sangria I had with dinner that fueled me :)

    I'm so excited there are 9 of us doing this together!!!! Be sure and post when you've done the challenge for this week :)
  • DelightfullyWifed
    DelightfullyWifed Posts: 70
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    i did my 4x100s free yesterday. I did them on 1:30 and held 1:16s on all 4. Talk about being out of breath at the end. I also use to be a 200 butterflier so I did 8x25s butterfly swim on 30 afterwards. How in the world did I use to do that straight through?! My heart was beating out of my chest when I was through with all of that.

    All in all I did a 2100 yesterday in 40 minutes. I was proud of myself! :)
    1:16 good job!

    THANKS! It's just hard to get your mind in a place were you aren't like "That SUCKED!" haha! I was trying soooooo hard on those and to think that was a time I could do with trying any day of the week at practice just blows my mind. I need to figure out how to wrap my mind around that I am no longer a "swimmer" and someone that is swimming to work out now. It will come I know, just need a bit more time.

    Thanks Emily! How'd your 100s go? That's funny about the 25s! That's okay I will probably do that many freestyle. My arms were barely making it out of the water after 8 butterfly. Hard to believe that I would do that over and over again no problem straight through at one point. I was just feeling good Tuesday and decided to go for the 25s. :)

    Thanks for the motivation! :)
  • GladImTall
    GladImTall Posts: 65 Member
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    Argh! Arrived at the pool this morning and it was CLOSED for cleaning! I'll get some sets in this weekend fo' sho'...

    Thanks for explaining all the lingo to me :)
  • TroyBa
    TroyBa Posts: 57 Member
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    Awesome job everyone!
  • FitMama2013
    FitMama2013 Posts: 919 Member
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    GladImTall - I KNOW that had to be super frustrating this morning...nothing makes me madder than when the indoor pool closes for a little thunder outside. Don't they know I have a workout plan to follow? Haha

    Meghan - I made a last minute decision to wait until Saturday to do the official 4 X 100s for the week. I did them on Tuesday and wanted to wait a few days in between! I did the 25s fly instead as my test set today - I'll let you know how they go on Saturday!

    As a side note - if y'all haven't checked out Meghan's blog http://honestyismydiet.blogspot.com/ then you DEFINITELY should read her post today. VERY inspiring!!!!
  • Taraanne76
    Taraanne76 Posts: 111 Member
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    I have a swimming question...do you think it really burns as many cals as it says on here? Thanks!
  • emmabeckemeyer1
    emmabeckemeyer1 Posts: 298 Member
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    i did my 4x100s free yesterday. I did them on 1:30 and held 1:16s on all 4. Talk about being out of breath at the end. I also use to be a 200 butterflier so I did 8x25s butterfly swim on 30 afterwards. How in the world did I use to do that straight through?! My heart was beating out of my chest when I was through with all of that.

    All in all I did a 2100 yesterday in 40 minutes. I was proud of myself! :)
    1:16 good job!

    THANKS! It's just hard to get your mind in a place were you aren't like "That SUCKED!" haha! I was trying soooooo hard on those and to think that was a time I could do with trying any day of the week at practice just blows my mind. I need to figure out how to wrap my mind around that I am no longer a "swimmer" and someone that is swimming to work out now. It will come I know, just need a bit more time.

    Thanks Emily! How'd your 100s go? That's funny about the 25s! That's okay I will probably do that many freestyle. My arms were barely making it out of the water after 8 butterfly. Hard to believe that I would do that over and over again no problem straight through at one point. I was just feeling good Tuesday and decided to go for the 25s. :)

    Thanks for the motivation! :)

    Yeah I know what you are saying! I did mine last night and man the whole time I was thinking I used to be able to do these easily on 1:10 and get 5-8 seconds rest! I have to remind myself that it was 7-8 years ago and I now have life and children meaning I don't spend 3 hours working out like I once did.
  • DelightfullyWifed
    DelightfullyWifed Posts: 70
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    YES! You are using ALL your muscles when you are swimming! there are times I think I should add some calories too it because I know I burned a lot. The thing that throws people is they don't see or feel themselves sweating so they don't think they are working out as much. You are I promis if not harder. Push yourself too to spike your heart rate from time to time with sets and intervals and you will see the difference too.
  • emmabeckemeyer1
    emmabeckemeyer1 Posts: 298 Member
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    I have a swimming question...do you think it really burns as many cals as it says on here? Thanks!
    I have a heart rate monitor that I use when I run and bike (it's not water proof). I always burn WAY more calories than this site gives. When I swim though I use what MFP says and only eat about half of the calories.
  • Taraanne76
    Taraanne76 Posts: 111 Member
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    Thanks for the answers! I know I feel my muscles the next day..and have adjusted the calories burned a little lower to be safe..b/c I may eat them all if they are left on my diary ;)
  • SoCalSwimmerDude
    SoCalSwimmerDude Posts: 480 Member
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    I threw out my back last week and haven't been able to do anything BUT swimming over the past few days. Very easy, long, stretchy 1500 to 2000 per workout. I'm doing most of it w/ a tube on ankles, pull buoy, and paddles to keep me from kicking (because kicking kills the back for some reason).

    Great to see so many people swimming :)
  • emmabeckemeyer1
    emmabeckemeyer1 Posts: 298 Member
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    I threw out my back last week and haven't been able to do anything BUT swimming over the past few days. Very easy, long, stretchy 1500 to 2000 per workout. I'm doing most of it w/ a tube on ankles, pull buoy, and paddles to keep me from kicking (because kicking kills the back for some reason).

    Great to see so many people swimming :)

    Hope your back gets better! I know your pain!
  • boyflowerbird
    boyflowerbird Posts: 29
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    I did my 4x100 Free test set on Friday.

    I am SLOW.

    My first 100 came in at 1:50, then 1:47, then 1:55, then 2:02. Ugh.

    I did them on the 2:30 because I was dying.

    Speed might not be my thing. Ha Ha. I did enjoy a longer workout on Friday thanks to emSwanson's training help!!!

    Looking forward to more challenges for the week ahead!
  • boyflowerbird
    boyflowerbird Posts: 29
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    Also - I timed my 4x100 IM and I was only slightly slower on that which surprised me. . . averaged about 2:20 for a 100 IM, resting 45 seconds in between.
  • FitMama2013
    FitMama2013 Posts: 919 Member
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    Y'all were awesome this week - everyone did the challenge and I hope you wrote down your results (either on this forum or on your own) so when we do it again in a few weeks you can see how much faster you are!!!

    I did the 4 X 100s yesterday and did them on 1:22. I went 1:16, 1:18, 1:20, 1:18. I'm hoping to make 1:20 next time we do it, but it's gonna be rough!!!!

    Here are the challenges for this week - if you swim once a week, you can either pick one or you can do both during your one practice if you're a beast!!!

    First challenge:
    16 X 25s fly on the fastest interval you can make - I didn't think I could make all 16, but once I made it to 8 I knew I'd make it to 16. Just keep pushing!

    If you know all 16 fly is too much too fast, try 3 X 25 fly and 1 X 25 free. If you don't do fly, do them another stroke! But push it so you're getting just a little bit of rest and repeating.

    Second challenge:
    10 X 50s - 25 no breath free, 25 easy backstroke.

    If you want to push it, do the 25s no breath fly (Meghan!! hahaha).

    An alternative would be doing 3 X 50s (25 free no breath and 25 easy) and doing the 4th one all easy to catch your breath. If you know you will not make the entire 25, then plan on taking 1 breath on all of them (or pick your own goal based on what you know you can do). Push through them!

    Also - I send my practices to a few of you already to give some other ideas for practices. Would anyone else be interested? If so, I can just post them on the forum and you can check and see if you don't have any ideas for your practice. Let me know!

    Have a great week and don't forget to post on here once you've completed a challenge and let us know how you did if you want to share!

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