The FAF AFAP Digest

Wed., Feb 5

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, February 5th, 2014 at 05:06 PM (464 Views)

Swim/SCY/Solo @ Pitt

Warm up:

600 various
100 scull
100 fly drills
4 x 25 shooters w/fins
50 EZ
4 x 25 burst + cruise
100 EZ

Main Sets:

4 x (4 x 25 @ 100 pace @ :30 + 100 EZ)
-- IM, breast, free, kick
100 EZ

5 x 25 shooter + 25 EZ w/fins @ 1:00
100 EZ

10 x 25 no breath free @ :45
100 EZ

Total: 2850

Rc/stretching, 20 min
Treadmill, 25 min

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Was pretty beat. This was my 6th workout in a row. I did a little race pace work, it wasn't very fast, and then shifted into recovery mode.

Swimming science article on masters swimmers: http://www.swimmingscience.net/2014/...ing+Science%29

There's a winter storm warning until 7. Really hoping that doesn't happen as I'm down to my rear wheel drive car ...

Updated February 5th, 2014 at 10:10 PM by The Fortress

Categories: Swim Workouts

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Comments

pwb - February 5th, 2014 10:19 PM
"whereas only age and height were predictors in middle- and long-distance events in both elite and non-elite masters swimmers. "

Glad I don't have to worry about grip strength.
StewartACarroll - February 5th, 2014 10:52 PM
The 0.6% drop off per year did not seem right but when I did the math from my best college 200 and 500s I am very close to the times I went at my last meet. The implication is I am swimming about as good as I can expect. How depressing!

I think I will keep telling myself I can be the exception and will swim much faster than I currently am swimming!!!
pwb - February 6th, 2014 01:50 AM
Originally Posted by StewartACarroll

The 0.6% drop off per year did not seem right but when I did the math from my best college 200 and 500s I am very close to the times I went at my last meet. The implication is I am swimming about as good as I can expect. How depressing!

First off, kudos to you. If I think back to my best 400 IM and 500 free in college (3:57.8 and 4:25+) and compare those with my Masters' bests done in 2012 (4:15.2 and 4:50.2), the average yearly decline for me has been 0.3% and 0.4%, respectively, from 1989 to 2012. Remember that averages are just that - averages -- and that you can easily drown in a river that averages 6 inches deep.

Originally Posted by StewartACarroll

I think I will keep telling myself I can be the exception and will swim much faster than I currently am swimming!!!

You can totally be the exception. I first got back into Masters swimming in 2001 and had a brief spurt of semi-serious training and attendance at Nationals in '01, '02 and '03. When I look at my results from that early era, my decline from my college bests was worse than the study would say -- in 2001 (4:25.7 and 4:55.7) my times both showed a 1% per year decline in the 12 years post college. Through better training lately, I'm now faster and have 'beaten' the average age decline.

The fact that you are already near or at your college times means that great things can still lie ahead!
StewartACarroll - February 6th, 2014 07:15 AM
Isn't the written word a funny thing. When I wrote my response about the 0.6% drop each year I thought it was crystal-clear what I was saying but in review I realize it was as clear as mud! Sorry. What I was trying to say was that my times in the last meet are very close to the .6% drop each year since my college days. My college bests were 1.36 and 4.20 on the 200 and 500 respectively. In my last meet I went 1.48 and 4.55 which is really close to the 13.2% drop the study indicates over the 22 years or so since the end of my college career. The depressing part is I will never be as quick as I once was.
The Fortress - February 6th, 2014 11:21 AM
Originally Posted by StewartACarroll

Ihe depressing part is I will never be as quick as I once was.

But why would you expect to be after 20+ years? Kids have boundless energy and can train like crazy; we can't. I think too many masters get stuck in the past. Way better to look forward. I never dwell on my college times. I can't even remember some of them! But off the top of my head, last year I was approx .58 off my 100 fly time and I was beyond thrilled. And the only reason for this is the adoption of the SDK; otherwise it would be a much worse %.

You're only getting started back really. You have room to improve if you train smart.
StewartACarroll - February 6th, 2014 07:08 PM
Originally Posted by The Fortress

But why would you expect to be after 20+ years? Kids have boundless energy and can train like crazy; we can't. I think too many masters get stuck in the past. Way better to look forward. I never dwell on my college times. I can't even remember some of them! But off the top of my head, last year I was approx .58 off my 100 fly time and I was beyond thrilled. And the only reason for this is the adoption of the SDK; otherwise it would be a much worse %. You're only getting started back really. You have room to improve if you train smart.

I don't think I was expecting to go as fast as my college days but rather I wish I could. Obviously wishing does not make a blind bit of difference to how I swim. In a funny way when I read the article my natural reaction was "no way", 0.6% drop per year seemed high. When i did the math it lined up with my performances. I know I am just getting back into it and agree I still have opportunities and time to improve my masters times. I do appreciate the advice, really!