Training question

RE: The swimming. I can only talk about my experience. (But
I love to talk about me!) Just keep swimming. All of a
sudden it happened. People tole me "It's all about the
breathing" and it is. Do you just gulp air and fill the top
1/3 of your lungs? and then hold it and spit it out all oat
once, or do you begin to exhale as soon as you have finished
inhaling LIKE YOU DO WHEN YOU RUN, BIKE AND WALK AROUND, and
try to empty (pretty much) your lungs. I spent too much
energy kicking--it required more oxygen, which I didn't have
available, and at your stage, won't really improve your speed--
just use it enough to keep your legs near the surface. Also,
your arms/shoulders will get stronger, and it won't be as
much of an effort (which requires more oxygen) to stay
afloat and move forward. Please excuse my enthusiasm, but
two months ago I literally couldn't swim across the 20 yard
pool without hyperventilating, and as of yesterday, I
finished 1.25 miles in a pool, no wetsuit, in 42 minutes,
breathing hard, but not gasping. And I can do the same in a
rough ocean, with a wetsuit. See? Its all about ME! I swim
at least a mile three times a week. Also, laps in a small
pool are a pain, because you can't get a rhythm going, and
the first few strokes are spent trying to get your legs
horizontal again.

A wetsuit may give you more confidence (floatation and
much less drag) until your breathing and arm/shoulders are
where they need to be to start swimming effectively. Your
body will make adaptations by itself--e.g. your left arm
will find a way to "pull" in such a way as to lift your
body out of the water a little higher to get a clear shot
at a good lungful.

I am not a swimcoach and this is probably filled with bad
information/bad habits, etc. But at least I can swim, sort
of, now. Half-Iron in ten days!!!

[email hidden] (FFBSensei) wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Ok, newbie here again with a training question.

I am in the midst of the second week of my swim training
and its going a little better. I have certain laps where
I can actually "feel" like I'm powering through the
water and significantly better form. And then I'll
swallow some water and then I sink to the bottom! 🙂 I'm
going to try and go to a stroke clinic, since I can't
seem to do more than 6 lengths of the pool without
taking a significant break.

My wife was listening to my tales in the pool and thought
she would go out for a swim...she did 34 lengths in about
45 minutes. She hadn't gone swimming in years and this was
her first time doing laps in a long while. When we lived
in Hawaii a few years back, she was swimming a mile about
three times a week, so it seems that once you learn this
particulare skillset, it seems to stick with you.

I gave her the bug, so now she's keen on us doing a sprint
triathlon in 7-8 weeks...if I can figure out how to stay
afloat long enough to swim the requisite 400 yards.

My wife does have a bum knee (she got hit by a car when
she was in high school and its never been the same since -
she's had it operated on but she has to go easy on the
running). We have no illusions of winning, but after 11
years of marriage and 3 children...its nice to be able to
train together for a common race.

Anyway, my question has to do with training... I've been
running about 2-3 times a week and can run comfortably for
an hour...could probably run longer, but have been keeping
to an hour so far, and will look to increase my base by
10% each week up to about an hour and a half and then go
for a longer (2 hours+) every other weekend.

I had originally thought about training 2 days a week in
the pool, 2 days running and 2 days biking. I'm thinking
of just focusing on swimming for the next 7 weeks, like
3-4 days of Masters swimming and stroke clinic. Keeping
the running going, and throwing the occasional bike ride.

The Tri distance we'll be doing is 400 yard swim/11 mile
bike ride, 3 mile run. Currently, I can do the bike and
swim right now - I could probably run for 1-2 hours
comfortably and bike the same amount if not a little more
(again, no speed records).

Does it make sense to short shrift the biking that much?

And while I have your attention, how should my wife
train? It seems that she can do the requisit 16 lengths
required for the 400 yard swim, should she just swim once
a week and focus on the running/biking? Her difficulty is
training without straining her knee. She currently uses
an ellpitcal machine that we have in our home about 2-3
times a week for an hour...I suspect that she will
alternate between run/walk for the running portion to go
easy on the knee.

Anyone with bad knees have any suggestions for training
for a triathlon?

We're aiming for a triathlon in the third week of July -
its a 400 yard lake swim. In August, there's a
competitive sprint triathlon with a 500 yard open water
swim. What are the main differences between a lake swim
and an open water swim?

In October, there is an Olympic distance triathlon with a
mile swim in the pacific ocean...that's 4 months off.
Seeing as how I can't swim more than 6 lengths without
almost having a heart attack 😉, is a mile swim in 4
months out of the question? I'm willing to put in 3-4 days
a week in the pool, but I'm just not sure about the
learning curve...

I would be interested in input from others who started
swimming later in life...is it a skill that just "clicks"
and then you can swim a mile? Or is it something that
requires building up over years?

I'm excited that my wife now wants to do this with me!

Even if you are a poor swimmer you are going to be in the
water for only 10 or 12 minutes in a 400 meter race. 2 or 3
swims per week is probably enough to get you through this
race with relative ease. You will spend a lot more time on
the bike and running, so you might want to concentrate your
efforts there. Specifically, get used to running right after
a bike ride.

My biggest suggestion is to focus your training on the
length of race you will be competing. There's no need to run
2 hours if your race is three miles. You can do a lot more
speed work and probably decrease your chance of injury.
"FFBSensei" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Ok, newbie here again with a training question.

I am in the midst of the second week of my swim training
and its going a little better. I have certain laps where
I can actually "feel" like I'm powering through the
water and significantly better form. And then I'll
swallow some water and then I sink to the bottom! 🙂 I'm
going to try and go to a stroke clinic, since I can't
seem to do more than 6 lengths of the pool without
taking a significant break.

My wife was listening to my tales in the pool and thought
she would go out for a swim...she did 34 lengths in about
45 minutes. She hadn't gone swimming in years and this was
her first time doing laps in a long while. When we lived
in Hawaii a few years back, she was swimming a mile about
three times a week, so it seems that once you learn this
particulare skillset, it seems to stick with you.

I gave her the bug, so now she's keen on us doing a sprint
triathlon in 7-8 weeks...if I can figure out how to stay
afloat long enough to swim the requisite 400 yards.

My wife does have a bum knee (she got hit by a car when
she was in high school and its never been the same since -
she's had it operated on but she has to go easy on the
running). We have no illusions of winning, but after 11
years of marriage and 3 children...its nice to be able to
train together for a common race.

Anyway, my question has to do with training... I've been
running about 2-3 times a week and can run comfortably for
an hour...could probably run longer, but have been keeping
to an hour so far, and will look to increase my base by
10% each week up to about an hour and a half and then go
for a longer (2 hours+) every other weekend.

I had originally thought about training 2 days a week in
the pool, 2 days running and 2 days biking. I'm thinking
of just focusing on swimming for the next 7 weeks, like
3-4 days of Masters swimming and stroke clinic. Keeping
the running going, and throwing the occasional bike ride.

The Tri distance we'll be doing is 400 yard swim/11 mile
bike ride, 3 mile run. Currently, I can do the bike and
swim right now - I could probably run for 1-2 hours
comfortably and bike the same amount if not a little more
(again, no speed records).

Does it make sense to short shrift the biking that much?

And while I have your attention, how should my wife
train? It seems that she can do the requisit 16 lengths
required for the 400 yard swim, should she just swim once
a week and focus on the running/biking? Her difficulty is
training without straining her knee. She currently uses
an ellpitcal machine that we have in our home about 2-3
times a week for an hour...I suspect that she will
alternate between run/walk for the running portion to go
easy on the knee.

Anyone with bad knees have any suggestions for training
for a triathlon?

We're aiming for a triathlon in the third week of July -
its a 400 yard lake swim. In August, there's a
competitive sprint triathlon with a 500 yard open water
swim. What are the main differences between a lake swim
and an open water swim?

In October, there is an Olympic distance triathlon with a
mile swim in the pacific ocean...that's 4 months off.
Seeing as how I can't swim more than 6 lengths without
almost having a heart attack 😉, is a mile swim in 4
months out of the question? I'm willing to put in 3-4 days
a week in the pool, but I'm just not sure about the
learning curve...

I would be interested in input from others who started
swimming later in life...is it a skill that just "clicks"
and then you can swim a mile? Or is it something that
requires building up over years?

I'm excited that my wife now wants to do this with me!