Hi - I'm also typically faster with a pull bouy in the pool vs without so am also curious on the article/ link, saltwater swims in wetsuit with legs helps alot too, seems to keep the body a bit higher in the water. In my case though, I was a competitive swimmer in a prior life though, so not sure if same issues for me as Melissa. I don't remember this issue as an age group swimmer, only later in life after becoming a runner then as a triathlete and losing a lot of weight. I suspect that this might be for me a combo of being a 2-beat kicker during long distance freestyle and having very low body fat last year (11%) Low body fat not as big of an issue so far this year but in final weeks of OS plan so haven't been swimming to know for sure. I'll do the 1k TT in about 2 weeks when I start the 12 week SC plan and will post back...
Survived my 1,000 TT today even though the pool was waaaayy too hot. The water aerobics crowd is currently winning the temperature war at our pool. No pull buoy, just me, my watch and a swimsuit that I realized needed retiring AFTER the TT. Ug. As far as what I’ve been up to: I’m in the January OS and have been doing the OS swim hack.
My TT was faster that this time last year, though shy of my PR pace at IMC. And FWIW I don’t really consider IMC a fair comparison as I’m typically faster in open water in my wetsuit with a nice draft of 3,000 of my best friends. So, all in all I’d consider myself slightly faster than I was at this time last year.
The deets:
03/26/11 – 00:16:33 – 1,000 pool TT (about 1:39 pace)
08/29/10 – 01:05:xx – IMC Race (about 1:33 pace)
04/30/10 – 00:16:53 – 1,000 pool TT (about 1:41 pace)
I added my results to the spreadsheet as well. Hmmmmm…. I don’t see Coach Rich in there yet. Isn’t he the one who started all this madness?
Started Nov 1st doing the EN swim guide and drills. 1st 1000 yard tt was 19:01 2nd= 18:33 3rd = 17:22 thought for sure this would be the end for me, meaning not getting faster. Hired a coach whom filmed me underwater and we noted by right elbow was dropping before my hand and we worked on that along with some rotational drills. 4th tt = 16:33....I was very suprized and happy. I actually felt like I was just sailing along in the water......I guess that is how it is suppose to feel.
Did my 1000 meter TT last Saturday in 16:40. 1:40/100m pace - which is about where I was at at IMFL. That's 5 weeks into my IMTX plan. The first couple of weeks with a sore shoulder that is now just feeling okay. So, I'm back to where I was in 5 weeks.
Dialed up a sponatenous 1K yard pull TT yesterday.
3/4/11 TT - 17:16 3/30/11 TT - 16:10 (pull)
Only took swimming 3X/week for ~3weeks (mostly pull sets) to get very clsoe to PB from last year. I think my catch & pull is already way better (thx to eBook) as that was somehting I never really focused on last year...
Did a spontaneous TT this morning. I just dropped into the intermediate ironman week seven a week ago Monday.
First Test 20:10 or 2:01/100
This morning 18:44 or 1:52/100
I have only been doing the swim drills sets and only 4 times between the two. I knew there would be fast difference as the last three years I have been using the swim leg of my tri's as my only swims (of course Oly was the longest I was doing).
FINALLY got my initial TT done at the Rose Bowl, 50m outdoor pool. First swim on over a year, about my 5th or 6th swim since IMCDA'08.
16:05 for 1000m pull, 1:36.5 pace. 1:34-1:36 pace is about my default, get back to swimming pace: no matter how much time off I take, that's about where I start out at.
TT Today... 2 seconds slower than my 2nd test. I was a little suprised at my time. Rough week last week with a sick 2 year old may have had an impact. I feel my form is improving and Arms and shoulders don't hurt the way they used to after swimming but it just didn't translate into a faster swim time today. Below are my results from my 3 TTs. 2/25 20:33 3/02 17:13 4/01 17:15
2 seconds slower than my 2nd test. I was a little suprised at my time. Rough week last week with a sick 2 year old may have had an impact. I feel my form is improving and Arms and shoulders don't hurt the way they used to after swimming but it just didn't translate into a faster swim time today.
Below are my results from my 3 TTs.
2/25 20:33
3/02 17:13
4/01 17:15
Holy moley improvement in one week!?! What happened?
Got mine done this morning. First time in the pool since probably July. Got it done in 18:52, up about 1:45 from my best. Planning on getting some lessons in over the next 6 weeks or so, so looking for some improvement. Goal is to go <17:00! <br /> Nice job everyone!
First time in the pool in 7 months. I moved like a barge initially. Shoulders this way, hips that way. Started to regain form after 750m. 1000m "TT" in 19:25. It certainly was not a TT effort like the bike or run tests. I bet I can get it down to 16:30 - 17:00 in 6 weeks or so. I am eager to see what the EN style hard short stuff will do to the 1000m TT
My MWF grand plan of interval run in the AM, ride to Rose Bowl, swim, ride home during a late lunch didn't quite get off the ground today. I "decided" to stay home and work today vs riding to the pool. With gas at $4.15/gal in LA, 10mi drive to the Bowl and 16mpg in my truck...the bike is a better alternative.
Too friggin' funny: so, I haven't swam since August. Not only did I feel like a hyperventilating barge, but I also apparently lost the ability to do math! Instead of doing a 1000yd TT, I did a 2000yd TT. Well, I was working on my mental six pack, I guess.
Not sure I'd have gone any faster in a 1000yd version. Last year's T-Pace: 1:42 Today's: 2:02. Can only get faster - and hopefully smarter!
1000m in 21:24 today. Only second swim since Sept. I don't really have anything to compare against since most of my tri swim splits include a bit of running. My guess is I'm about the same as I was when I left off in Sept. My swim training in the past has pretty much just making sure I could do the distance so maybe this year I can focus on technique and some speed and actually get a little faster like I have on the run!
Jumped in totally cold and just started swimming. 17:15 1000y after my PR last season was 16:50! I think if I warmed up a little I could have almost matched it!
April TT done (pull again). Went from 16:04 in March to 15:17. Only had one swim workout since March TT. Must be extra buoyancy from giant Macadamia Turtle Pie at lunch.
1000 TT in the books. Did it at Masters this morning with the group, started 5th back in line cruised in the draft for the first 500 or so then passed two people and tried to catch up to leaders, caught up with about 200 left and tried to hang on. 15:57 for a 1:35 pace. A post on the dashboard had me thinking that I may have screwed up my yards and meters thing but I checked the pool website and it says meters so who knows. I by no means consider myself a fast swimmer as there are about 4 or 5 lanes ahead of me at Masters but I will take the time and see what happens over next few months. Pretty happy as I have only been back in the pool 2 times a week since March 3.
didn't do any formal swimming since last Sept, but in honesty no structured swim training since my tri group went outdoors last June. During 2009-2010 OS I joined a newly formed local tri group for tri swim sessons, Nov 2009 swam 17:02 1,000SCM for 1:41/100m~1:33/100y, in March 2010 did a 1,500SCM TT in 24:35 for 1:38/100m ~ 1:29/100y after spening a ton of "going out points" which came back to haunt me BIG TIME when I needed to get those going out passes later in the spring and summer. Had an unexpected chance to jump into the 87F Y pool during my daughters swim lesson last night just to see where I was with 0 training. Managed 15:28 for 1,000 Yards or about 1:33/100y without working very hard. Am taking coach's macro thread advice and skipping the swim training until 3 weeks out from my A race. I'll post back in June with how that goes but in the meantime I'lll be immensely enjoying being able to sleep in a bit Mondays and Fridays vs 5AM swimming which am thinking will help me stay a bit fresher for those brutal bike and run wo's!
Linda, that's awesome! Most importantly, you're now aware of the costs and relatively small/zero benefit of just doing what everyone else does vs stepping back and thinking critically about your training. That's a very valuable lesson that can be applied to all three sports!
Did my TT today. Haven't done any swimming in many many months (lost count). Jumped in without a warm up and just went for it. Pulled out a 17:00 in a lane that people just kept jumping in and slowly breast/back stroking WTF?! Ended up with 5 people in the lane with only one person in the lane next to me doing a slow back stroke. Would have been able to cut some time if I didn't have to swim around so many people. Hopefully I can swim around that many people at my IM
No "real" swimming at all for almost 4 years (save a Sprint tri in Summer of 2008). Have had 3-4 pool sessions working on the position progression and also some of the catch drills over the last 2 weeks.
Don't quite have 1000yds in me yet but did 500 this morning in 8:45.
How best to progress to 1000tt - do 2x500 with a recovery or try tacking on 100-200 every 7-10 days to the 500. Starting the Int HIM plan Monday and not sure when the first official 1000yd TT happens...
@Jeff, just do the swim workouts in the plan. Fine to dial down the distances so that you're swimming most of your laps with good form. I'm currently only doing 100s and 50s because I don't feel I have the strength and endurance yet to maintain the form I want to do anything much longer.
Swim test today went as planned and took a few seconds off of it. I did the OS swim hack and really worked on my stroke and technique cause I was a mess stroke wise in the pool. Looking at my numbers in the data tool I started in Nov with :
* Nov. 26th 19:01 * Dec 24th 17:35 * Jan 21st 17:22....Note after this TT I hired a coach and spent several weeks with him which included underwater taping analysis.... * March 18th 16:32 * April 15h 16:30
My goal is sub 16 minutes by Kansas 1/2 on June 16th. I would love to swim 35 minutes for my swim in Lawrence!!!!
@Jeff, my improvement from first test to second test was most likely caused by simply finding my rhythem again after 6 months of not swimming as well as some muscular endurance coming back...The first test was taken on my first time back in the pool. The swimming eBook and some dry land drills really make a difference;especially if your not a good swimmer.
My March TT (1000 swim scy) was 17:03, and today was 59 seconds faster (16:04).
In between, I've been swimming 3x week and got two very productive coaching sessions. While my record in this pool is ~15:31 (a few years ago), that was after 5+ solid months of swimming, and this is more like 6 weeks. Last year, I started swimming in mid/late March and didn't get down to 16 minutes until the July TT, so I think this improvement is real.
I'm optimistic I'll get down to that PR range again and be a lot smarter about racing with it.
Comments
Hi - I'm also typically faster with a pull bouy in the pool vs without so am also curious on the article/ link, saltwater swims in wetsuit with legs helps alot too, seems to keep the body a bit higher in the water. In my case though, I was a competitive swimmer in a prior life though, so not sure if same issues for me as Melissa. I don't remember this issue as an age group swimmer, only later in life after becoming a runner then as a triathlete and losing a lot of weight. I suspect that this might be for me a combo of being a 2-beat kicker during long distance freestyle and having very low body fat last year (11%) Low body fat not as big of an issue so far this year
but in final weeks of OS plan so haven't been swimming to know for sure. I'll do the 1k TT in about 2 weeks when I start the 12 week SC plan and will post back...
Hola!
Did my first 1000 yard TT this am. 19:46. 1:59 pace. I was happy to beat 20 minutes. Lots of room for improvement.
1st 1000 yard tt was 19:01
2nd= 18:33
3rd = 17:22 thought for sure this would be the end for me, meaning not getting faster. Hired a coach whom filmed me underwater and we noted by right elbow was dropping before my hand and we worked on that along with some rotational drills.
4th tt = 16:33....I was very suprized and happy. I actually felt like I was just sailing along in the water......I guess that is how it is suppose to feel.
Thanks everyone for playing! I'll do my best to get to the pool tomorrow
3/4/11 TT - 17:16
3/30/11 TT - 16:10 (pull)
Only took swimming 3X/week for ~3weeks (mostly pull sets) to get very clsoe to PB from last year. I think my catch & pull is already way better (thx to eBook) as that was somehting I never really focused on last year...
Did a spontaneous TT this morning. I just dropped into the intermediate ironman week seven a week ago Monday.
First Test 20:10 or 2:01/100
This morning 18:44 or 1:52/100
I have only been doing the swim drills sets and only 4 times between the two. I knew there would be fast difference as the last three years I have been using the swim leg of my tri's as my only swims (of course Oly was the longest I was doing).
R&P you rock!
FINALLY got my initial TT done at the Rose Bowl, 50m outdoor pool. First swim on over a year, about my 5th or 6th swim since IMCDA'08.
16:05 for 1000m pull, 1:36.5 pace. 1:34-1:36 pace is about my default, get back to swimming pace: no matter how much time off I take, that's about where I start out at.
Let's get those April TT's in!!
2 seconds slower than my 2nd test. I was a little suprised at my time. Rough week last week with a sick 2 year old may have had an impact. I feel my form is improving and Arms and shoulders don't hurt the way they used to after swimming but it just didn't translate into a faster swim time today.
Below are my results from my 3 TTs.
2/25 20:33
3/02 17:13
4/01 17:15
Holy moley improvement in one week!?! What happened?
Nice job everyone!
First time in the pool in 7 months. I moved like a barge initially. Shoulders this way, hips that way. Started to regain form after 750m. 1000m "TT" in 19:25. It certainly was not a TT effort like the bike or run tests. I bet I can get it down to 16:30 - 17:00 in 6 weeks or so. I am eager to see what the EN style hard short stuff will do to the 1000m TT
Nice work!
My MWF grand plan of interval run in the AM, ride to Rose Bowl, swim, ride home during a late lunch didn't quite get off the ground today. I "decided" to stay home and work today vs riding to the pool. With gas at $4.15/gal in LA, 10mi drive to the Bowl and 16mpg in my truck...the bike is a better alternative.
Not sure I'd have gone any faster in a 1000yd version. Last year's T-Pace: 1:42 Today's: 2:02. Can only get faster - and hopefully smarter!
April TT done (pull again). Went from 16:04 in March to 15:17. Only had one swim workout since March TT. Must be extra buoyancy from giant Macadamia Turtle Pie at lunch.
@ Brian - Wow! And thanks for the tip; I'm eating ten of those before my next TT.
Linda, that's awesome! Most importantly, you're now aware of the costs and relatively small/zero benefit of just doing what everyone else does vs stepping back and thinking critically about your training. That's a very valuable lesson that can be applied to all three sports!
No "real" swimming at all for almost 4 years (save a Sprint tri in Summer of 2008). Have had 3-4 pool sessions working on the position progression and also some of the catch drills over the last 2 weeks.
Don't quite have 1000yds in me yet but did 500 this morning in 8:45.
How best to progress to 1000tt - do 2x500 with a recovery or try tacking on 100-200 every 7-10 days to the 500. Starting the Int HIM plan Monday and not sure when the first official 1000yd TT happens...
@Jeff, just do the swim workouts in the plan. Fine to dial down the distances so that you're swimming most of your laps with good form. I'm currently only doing 100s and 50s because I don't feel I have the strength and endurance yet to maintain the form I want to do anything much longer.
* Nov. 26th 19:01
* Dec 24th 17:35
* Jan 21st 17:22....Note after this TT I hired a coach and spent several weeks with him which included underwater taping analysis....
* March 18th 16:32
* April 15h 16:30
My goal is sub 16 minutes by Kansas 1/2 on June 16th. I would love to swim 35 minutes for my swim in Lawrence!!!!
In between, I've been swimming 3x week and got two very productive coaching sessions. While my record in this pool is ~15:31 (a few years ago), that was after 5+ solid months of swimming, and this is more like 6 weeks. Last year, I started swimming in mid/late March and didn't get down to 16 minutes until the July TT, so I think this improvement is real.
I'm optimistic I'll get down to that PR range again and be a lot smarter about racing with it.