I really wasn’t feeling it today but I thought it would be silly to not to take advantage of the holiday for a workout. I also gave my son three options for a workout- swim, hike, or 100m intervals at the track. He chose swimming. About hallway through my typical 30 minutes of coaching him, a good swimmer arrives and starts stretching. He then starts his laps not long after, and to my surprise was joined by a swimmer I’ve never seen before trailing close behind. It was driving me crazy just watching these guys. I told my son to swim 50m breaststroke, then with no rest 50m freestyle. We ended our lesson a few minutes early and then I joined the swimmers in the adjacent lane. It was a good swim and I feel great after a big dinner and some beers waiting for me in the fridge.
Swimming behind someone to benefit from the slipstream. Same as in cycling. I swim 3-6 seconds per 100m faster than normal behind this particular swimmer, depending on how fast he decides to go that day.
On days like today, I have a much better swim than I would have if I did things myself. And I definitely swam longer today than I was planning. I almost never go past 1500m.
As for competition, I have done this in a triathlon and my swim time was great that day.
Finally, I have used this to time an eventual passing of a swimmer when doing laps in a pool. Draft for a while. Rest up. Then pass on a lap when you’re feeling brave and sure you won’t get passed in a subsequent lap by a swimmer who probably isn’t too happy.
My goal is to consistently swim under 28 minutes for the 1500m distance. I’m getting there. I need to do intervals but there are still too many people at the pools. I think with cooler temps that will change soon.
By the way, the distance on my Garmin is wrong. My locker key which was velcro strapped to my ankle came loose and was starting to fall off. I had to stop and take care of that. I ended up stuffing the key and strap down my swimming suit because I didn’t want to mess with the strap during my swim. It worked. It stayed there for the rest of my swim. Kind of gross for the next guy using that locker. Sorry dude whoever you might be.
Really crappy weather in Xizhi + lunch hour = few swimmers. I could do intervals for once. I need to work up to 15 of these but 10 today was a good start.
I’ve been experimenting with intervals and seeing what works with me. I’m not sure if it’s odd or not that I find a 2:00 pace (per 100m) works for my first 400m, but then a 2:10 pace works better for my second 400m (following 100m kick), when I’m going faster, and want a bit more time to recover.
On the other hand, on Thursday I did my once-normal straight-through 2km swim, and was mildly disappointed how slowly I did it.
My average pace here is a little embarrassing and misleading! There’s a bunch of kicking in here, and dolphin kick drills, and resting, especially towards the end when the main workout was done.
I’m quite happy with how the new Apple Watch OS update automatically records kickboard lengths.
Autosets below do continue, but one screenshot seemed enough.
Anyone know how to get Apple to change the spelling of “Danshuei”?
I’ve only just got back in the pool after a 4 month spell. I went a few times in that 4 months but never consistently. Have to say I’m sore. Takes 50 laps just to warm up. And I still can’t belt out laps like I used to before I caught Covid in May. On top of that I’m preparing one of my kids to start squad swimming in December. Hopefully I’ll be back up to 10km swims by the end of next week. 5km seem nice enough even if I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck for the rest of the afternoon.
I’ve found on longer consistent swims, my heart rate doesn’t change much at all: it jumps in the first length, and then basically stays the same. With intervals, obviously, I wind up with much more of a sawtooth pattern; more net time at the higher exertion levels; and often a slightly lower heart rate average.
The thing I’ve noticed most with the not-particularly-strict intervals I do is that I’m exhausted, in a good way, at the end of the swim. With “jogging” swims, sometimes I feel that way, but more often I feel like I haven’t pushed myself enough.
@JPMichaels1, I wonder what the other swimmers think about your long distances. At the pools where I swim, 1k seems about normal. Some guys swim more but not many. I know one guy who swims 3k.
My swims will be geared toward getting a good 1500m time for the most part. But I’m also looking forward to mixing things up a bit, such as doing 50m intervals with a rest in between. I like hitting a higher gear sometimes, and I know those type of intervals are very good for building up cardiovascular strength, losing weight, gaining some muscle, etc.
I’ve regularly seen people watching me swim. Sometimes parents of kids in swim classes. Sometimes staff. They’ll sit on a bench at the end of the pool and watch me smash laps.
I’ve also had people come into my lane to try to race me. They never last long. Probably because I’ll be swimming on pace and they’re trying to sprint. I even had a few of the Tokyo 2020 hopefuls training at the same pool that I was at. They’d do 2 hour sessions. By the end of their sessions I was generally around the same pace as them and often quicker. Then the staff would tell them I swam for another 2 or 3 hours after they left.
Mostly I get left alone in my lane. I do have injuries so it’s not uncommon for my shoulder to be strapped or to have kinesio tape on. I’m currently switching up my training. Gym sessions followed by laps followed by gym and cardio. With breaks in between. Just trying to sort food intake. Cereal and fruit might be an easy option elsewhere but it’s expensive here. And I’ve usually got swimmers cravings by the time I finish that I’ll chug a protein drink and some chocolate bars just for the sugar hit.
I’ve also had more than a few people approach me. Even in public. Most the pools I’ve swum at have been great. The teachers like using me as an example and point me out to the kids. Particularly for bilateral breathing and flow through the water. I also swim the same lace with it without hand paddles. I just find hand paddles use different core muscle sets in my back and shoulders. Whereas just using my hands makes me use my biceps and lats a lot more.
Can I ask what pace you are swimming at for, say, a 5k swim?
I’m not surprised at hearing people are trying to challenge you. I think that’s common in any middle and long distance sport. In the pool, I get people challenging me and I also initiate some races with others myself! If the swimmer is clearly better than me, then I’ll let him pass and then do some drafting for as long as I can.
