Cr@p Swimmers R Us

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  • Stretch your arms over your head, cross the wrists, push your elbows back so they are behind your ears and stretch upwards as far as you can go. Ease off, and repeat.

    Put left arm across in front of you, grab hold of your upper arm and push gently to the right as far as you can. Hold for 20 secs and repeat with other arm. Do five.

    Stand with left side against a wall and stretch your left arm straight out behind you along the wall. Try to raise the arm as high as possible. Repeat on other side.

    Stand up straight, drop your neck to your chest and hold for 10 seconds. Raise head and tilt it back on your neck, hold 10 secs. Now drop your head sideways towards one shoulder, repeat on the other side.

    And one for the legs - kneel with your legs out behind you and toes pointed backwards. Sit on your heels and lean gently backwards. (Don't do this if you have knee trouble)

    (Disclaimer - exercises are performed at your own risk.  The Staff)

  • Thanks Wolfy.  Duly cut and pasted to my swimming tips file. image
  • nice session this morning:

    first 750 metres non-stop and unaided (first time I've ever got that farimage)
    then, 250 metres with pull buoy and aqua gloves
    then 100 metres warm down unaided

    total of 1100 metres in just under 34 minutes (including a stop to chat to the lifeguard after 750m).

    That was a big milestone for me as the Newbiggin Bay sprint tri is a 750m sea swim so, at least, I now know I can swim the distance. I know it will be harder in the sea, but not as hard as it would have been if I hadn't managed the distance in a pool beforehand.
  • Wolfy - those stretches really helped to ease out my aches and I did a bit of icing too - thanks.

    DD - fab!  I'm definitely up to 400M but haven't pushed it further than that.

  • my tri club coach told me a few weeks ago that "if you can swim 400m, you can swim 1000m. The only thing stopping you from doing it is you"

     It made sense to me and the only reason I stopped after 750m this morning was because I was bored

  • @Durham Dawdler - that's the logic I applied to my swimming when aiming to put distance on, though I went from 300m to 1000m.
  • good going inter.

    I've gone from 10 metres to 750 so far, and am aiming to get to 1000 by the end of June image

    I just need to find something to keep me interested when churning away in the pool.

    I'm supposed to be taking part in a 500 metre swimming race in Derwentwater on Sunday, that's looking very unlikely at the moment - I just cannot get it togethe rin a lake!

  • @Durham Dawdler - dig in.  Boredom is a massive demotivator for me, too.  It helps that there's usually a svelt young hottie for me to follow up & down the pool image
  • the only svelt young hottie I get to see in the pool is my wife image

    (she made me type that!!!! lol)

  • Thanks DD.  I did feel fine after the 400M and probably could've kept going.  My incentive at the pool is usually to keep ahead of the other person in my lane, so that keeps me going.  If I pick the time right, there's usually only one other person in the lane (there are 2 fast lanes and often only 4 of us).  I'd prefer to plod in medium lane but it's much wider and too packed to swim at a consistent speed. 
  • Glad the stretches helped you, parklife.
  • I am hoping someone can help me in Soupy's absence.  She has a wonderful gadget that she clips on her swim cap that bleeps in time for her anticpated stroke count.  It is not the finger-worn lap count thingy from Active Planet.  Does anyone have any idea what I am talking about and where I can get it as I think it would be a useful bit of kit for me to try and slooooooooooooow down a bit (ok, a lot image)
  • Schmunks - I have a speedo aquabeat and have chilled out music on it - seemed to slow me down enough to improve my technique image
    I think you can also download some beepy things for it - I'm sure I had an email from swimsmooth about that and other stroke timer type things - I'll see if I can find it for you!

    DD - mp3 player was also purchased to stop boredom.  That said after 5months it doesn't seem to be working properly so I'm sending it to be replaced.

    Tri club swim for me tonight.  Really good session, swimming felt so much easier than in wetsuit at weekend.  The coach again commented how much I'd improved, and a lady who was in the same lane as us 4 weeks ago for the timed 20mins, commented that we'd speeded up and she ws struggling to keep up this week!

    So for those who are making notes of sessions....
    400m warm up

    8x 50m (alt fast/slow 10s rest)
    100m (20s rest)
    6x50m ((alt fast/slow 10s rest)
    200m (20s rest)
    4x50m (alt fast/slow 10s rest)
    300m (20s rest)
    2x50m (alt fast/slow 10s rest)
    400m

    50M Cool down

    Loved it - everyhing seemed to fall into place tonight image

  • Thanks for the reminder BM Becky coz I have an underwater mp3 layer and know what your talking about on the swim Smooth site,

    I shall nip over there now and see what I can find

    Thanks again

  • I am going to try again to get enough confidence in my OW swimming ability tomorrow evening, I have just found out that England are playing when I am in the lake so it could be nice and quiet down there.

    I am supposed to be swimming in an epic swim (500m) at Derwentwater on Sunday, but unless I can get rid of my fear of being too far away from the edge of thhe lake tomorrow, I'll not be doing it any time soon.

  • M.ister WM.ister W ✭✭✭
    You know you can swim the distance so the problem is just confidence and being comfortable in open water.  So why not spend the session just mucking about in the water to build your confidence?  Swim a little bit away from the side and float around on your back, then try floating on your front.  Dip your head under the water and see how far you can see.  When you're feeling good about it swim a bit further away and muck about some more.
  • DD - ditto what M.W says - it's all about the confidence!

    If it REALLY doesn't feel right/go to plan, then why not email organisers and see it you can transfer to last event in July?  That way you give yourself a bit more time to get used to it, but still have the challenge in a few weeks to keep you focussed!  If you go for the July option - I'm going to do the 1600m swim and will probably go for a splash the day before to get a feel for the lake/sighting.

  • Are you doing it in a wettie?

    If so, I think the idea of mucking about in the water, and getting gradually further from shore is a great one. I used to get pretty panicky (in fact i still do, and look out at a buoy, say 100m from the shore and think it looks a long way away, when I know I can swim well over a mile in parallel with the shore. I do find though that being in my wettie has given me more confidence. Just floating about in it has shown me that it's pretty much impossible to sink in it. If I had to stop swimming I could just rest for a bit, tread water, or even just float on my back, and then start again. It might not do much for my time, but would mean I could complete the swim.

  • I've been in the pool three times this week:

    Mon - 200m warm-up, 4x100/100m, 100m warm-down (34 minutes)
    Wed - 1000m continuous (29 minutes)
    Fri - 200m warm-up, 7x50/50m, 100m warm-down (32 minutes)

    I'm pleased that I can swim 1000m non-stop (I reckon I can go on to a mile, even 2000m, if I get to the pool early enough) given that it's all uphill, but I was alongside a bloke who was wearing a wet suit and was nearly twice as fast as me on my fast intervals. I'm sure I'm one of the most inefficient swimmers out there even though I've come a long way in the lsat few months, but I just can't figure out how to use less energy for the same distance.

    What's the trick then?  I don't float, by the way.  Really - I sink if I stop.

  • I'm going to bottle out of the swim on Sunday - even if I have a good swim tonight, I'm nowhere near ready for an open water swim race just yet (I've only swum open water 3 times) and I want to enjoy getting my confidence up in the lake rathe rthan feeling that it's something I have to do and put myself under pressure to do it.

     I'm disappointed, but I know it's the sensible decision.

  • M.ister WM.ister W ✭✭✭

    That's a real shame, DD.  There's nothing wrong with starting at the back and just making your way round the swim in your own time.  I did in my first OW race (having swum in OW just once before the race).  I was last out by a long way and even had my own canoeist looking after me.

  • @Durham Dawdler - really?  That's a shame.  Are you sure?

    Read the second point on this from Dan Martin.

  • Thanks Mister W, but I'm seriously dreading going into the lake (even tonight) and it's making me have to force myself to go so I don't think that's the right frame of mind two days before an event.

    I know I will conquer this - I managed to get over the same feeling when pool swimming, so I know I can do it, I just need time image

  • thanks Inter, it's all psychological with me, I'm not a swimmer (I only learned to swim in August last year) so I have 40 years of nerves and panic to overcome image
  • Well, if you think going will be more punishment that pleasure, don't do it.  That could put you back even further.
  • We didn't get to the lake last night, my colleague couldn't make it in the end and there was no way I was going on my own so I'm definitely not participating tomorrow.

    It's frustrating though as I managed my first ever 1000m unaided non-stop swim in the pool this morning!

  • Good job there DD, getting better. Not been in here much since Bala.

    Lovely this morning up the pool only 3 peeps up there did 3800mts in 90 minutes well chuffed followed by a big bike and a small run been a good day image

  • I haven't posted here in a while but thought I would add my tuppenny worth.

    I did the pre-Bala lake swim last Saturday and to say I had a wibble is a major understatement.  For some reason I just freaked swimming to the first buoy and could not get out quick enough.

    But after a kick up the jacksy from my mentor I was ready to face my OW demons during the week.  For some reason I cannot completely relax in the water and this is borne out by the fact that I cannot 'stand' still in the water - I have to gently scull and tread water.

    When I got to the lake earlier this week I set off far too fast (panic) and only got so far before I was out of breath. So with my mentor words resounding in my ears I tried to calm down and stand still in the water.  It prob took me about ten mins to get to that stage, but once there I set off again and managed to swim 200m image

    Bouyed by this achievement I went to the pool yesterday and managed 400m non-stop.  I could probably have done more but did not want to push it as I just wanted to see if I could do it. And I did image

    Went back to the lake this morning and before I did anything else, I got to the state where I could 'stand' without kicking or sculling.  Then, and only then, did I set out for a proper swim.  I managed to get to the first plastic buoy (200m) and back and then to the jetty (100m) and back. 

    I am conscious that this is being achieved without venturing too far from the banks of the lake and so when I go next week I am hoping to swim similar distances (in stages) but inwards of the lake.

    DD - like you, I am a late learner and I have no confidence in water at all and getting in a lake for the first time was rather daunting.  But I reflected on my OW attempts earlier today and am surprised at what I have already achieved.  I first went in April and in that first session I breaststroked and then doggy-paddled around a 200m loop.  My next session involved getting my face in the water and swimming front crawl alongside the lake edge.  Then, bit by bit, I have managed to lengthen the distance I have swum each time. 

    As the others have said, it is all about confidence - it's just that it comes quicker to some people than others.  And I am always in the 'slow' queue image

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