Ask Ande

[shoalsswimmer]

How about this?

Ande,

I've been training 5-6 times per week (just swimming, no weights or anything else) 3-4K per workout. I'm in pretty good shape, but just got sidelined with a reallty nasty sinus infection (fever, headache, sore throat, cough, etc.)

It has put me out, today being the 8th day. I am entered in the Nationals in a couple of weeks and wondered how I can regroup and still perform well. BTW - I'm entered in the 50, 100 and 200 (free & fly).

What kind of sets can you recommend to guarantee my stamina for the 200 fly. Broken 100s, 200s, aerobic?I plan on getting a light swim in today to see how I feel. I want to swim everyday until the 16th or 17th. My 1st event will be on the 19th. May not be much to taper off of.

Anyone else with advice? Scratch the 200 fly and have a cold one instead?

[ande]

sounds like you've done a decent amount of work this season,
getting sick is no fun, but a reality. Mentally I know you're chomping at the bit to get back in shape. But Nats is really close like less than 3 weeks away. Don't take up your yardage, just proceed with your taper. Go 2,000 to 2,500.

Do some build swims, some sprints, and pace work.

Concentrate on easy speed and correctly splitting your races.

Trust your taper

good luck,

ande

Originally posted by shoalsswimmer
How about this?

Ande,

I've been training 5-6 times per week (just swimming, no weights or anything else) 3-4K per workout. I'm in pretty good shape, but just got sidelined with a reallty nasty sinus infection (fever, headache, sore throat, cough, etc.)

It has put me out, today being the 8th day. I am entered in the Nationals in a couple of weeks and wondered how I can regroup and still perform well. BTW - I'm entered in the 50, 100 and 200 (free & fly).

What kind of sets can you recommend to guarantee my stamina for the 200 fly. Broken 100s, 200s, aerobic?I plan on getting a light swim in today to see how I feel. I want to swim everyday until the 16th or 17th. My 1st event will be on the 19th. May not be much to taper off of.

Anyone else with advice? Scratch the 200 fly and have a cold one instead?

[LindsayNB]

Thanks Ande,
I usually swim either four or five times a week, I was just hoping I might be able to cut down on the driving or at least spend more time swimming than driving. The pool I swim at is the closest one to where I live. I do have an ocean just out front but there are only two months a year where the temperature is reasonable for swimming. I do try to avoid flopping around the pool too too much, although someone watching my fly as I get tired might disagree Since I am concentrating on improving my butterfly right now I usually work on that if I stay late as I find it tough to work on during a lot of the regular group workouts.
Getting some stretch cords to work with at home might be a good idea, and there is a gym nearby that I can go to if I can get over the idea of having two gym memberships (one comes with my pool membership). I may have to start with weights anyway as my weight is dropping more than I like.

[Scansy]

Thanks Ande.

I don't "compete" except with myself and the pace clock! Mostly, I want to improve my breaststroke time. Unfortunately I went through a down time with swimming for several months (some of those glass balls I was juggling became priorities) and my muscles are taking time to get back into it. Cardio is coming back more quickly than muscle strength and endurance.

I will only be able to lift weights with dumbells at home. If I do weights at the gym, it will eat into swimming time.

I have read a lot of Wayne McCauley's stuff on breaststroke and do follow some of his training tips.

I want to get my breaststroke time down, then work on fly then back. Ultimate goal is a decent IM.

[LindsayNB]

Hey Ande,

Is the importance of tapering dependent on the level of swimmer? As you know I'm still in the "lots of room for improvement" catagory, does that affect the appropriate approach to tapering? Canadian nationals are in two weeks and I'm wondering if I should be attempting some kind of taper. I've been told that tapering doesn't really matter at my level and that I only need to take a day off before the meet. Do you agree?

Thanks!
Lindsay

[ande]

yes you should definitely taper / rest more than a day.

Stop lifting weights NOW

Cut your yardage in half NOW
Cut next week by half again.

Do speed work in
3 practices this week and at
1 or 2 practices next week.
don't do too much
like

4 x (25 fast with great form, 125 easy)
200 easy
50 fast easy speed with great form

Put 2 days of rest before the meet begins
let's say you were doing 4,000 a day

ie
Mon FAST
Tue easy
Wed Fast
Thu easy
Fri Fast
Sat off
Sun off
Mon easy
Tue easy
Wed Fast
Thu easy
Fri easy
Sat MEET
Sun MEET

Concentrate on correct splitting, easy speed and excellent form.

your taper depends upon the work you did in the weeks and months before.

get a fast skin

get psyched

obliterate your previous best times

let us know how it went

ande

Originally posted by LindsayNB
Hey Ande,

Is the importance of tapering dependent on the level of swimmer? As you know I'm still in the "lots of room for improvement" catagory, does that affect the appropriate approach to tapering? Canadian nationals are in two weeks and I'm wondering if I should be attempting some kind of taper. I've been told that tapering doesn't really matter at my level and that I only need to take a day off before the meet. Do you agree?
Thanks!
Lindsay

[jean sterling]

When you are into your taper you might begin to feel real good and decide to sneak in one last "real" workout. Resist this temptation - something I learned through painful experience both in swimming and training for a marathon.

[ande]

Trust your Taper.

Resist the URGE to

Test your Taper or Blow your Taper
by training too hard when you should be resting.

That urge can be like an awful itch.

It happens at all levels. At the 1984 Olympics between the 200 back prelims and finals in work out Rick Carey swam an extra all out 200 back for time to make sure he still had it. I think that swim may have been faster than what he did in the 200 back finals.

Ande

Originally posted by jean sterling
When you are into your taper you might begin to feel real good and decide to sneak in one last "real" workout. Resist this temptation - something I learned through painful experience both in swimming and training for a marathon.

[Leonard Jansen]

In the 1968 Olympics, my friend, Ron Laird, was the odds-on favorite to win the gold in the 20k walk. So much so that Golubnichy (USSR) had basically conceded it to him and had made up his mind to walk for second. Ron got nervous and did hard workouts until right before the race. Result: 25th place in a terrible time.

Trust your taper, indeed!

-LBJ

[Matthias]

ande,

you said one should rest one to two days before the meet or just swim easy. what about practicing fast turns (like 6 strokes into the wall - flip - gliding and taking 2-3 strokes)? would that be too much? I have my first meet this weekend (saturday and sunday) and thought to get into the pool friday to practice some starts and turns.

brgds

matthias

[ande]

You don't need to do much going into the meet

if you want to work on starts
fine

if you want to work on turns
fine

just don't do too many and get yourself too tired

when you're really close in it won't make much difference
let's say your meet is Sat and Sun

you could do the following:

Wed Fast
Thu easy
Fri easy
Sat
Sun

or

Wed easy
Thu fast
Fri easy
Sat
Sun

or

substitute skipping practice for easy ones

the key thing is be rested and ready
when you get up to race breastroke you want
perfect form, excellent splitting, fast hands and fast feet

go get 'em
let us know how you do

ande

Originally posted by Matthias
ande,
you said one should rest one to two days before the meet or just swim easy. what about practicing fast turns (like 6 strokes into the wall - flip - gliding and taking 2-3 strokes)? what that be too much? I have my first meet this weekend (saturday and sunday) and though to get into the pool friday to practice some starts and turns.
brgds
matthias

[Matthias]

thanks for your advice.

I decided to drop the idea of practicing turns and starts on friday.
so today would have been the last chance to get into the pool but as wednesday is usually endurance training where we only swim sets longer than 500m I guess I better skip it.
On monday I did a dryland cardio workout, on tuesday I did a core body strenght workout and I plan to do a flexibility workout on thursday so that I can rest as much as possible on friday and be rested for the two days of the meet.

[ande]

if you're that close to your meet
drop your dryland exercises

you can do the endurance sets just go really easy and get in late or get out early or shave yardage off each set and rest more

get in and swim easy
do a few sprints
use perfect technique
stretching is fine

cut your yardage and get some rest

ande

Originally posted by Matthias
thanks for your advice.

I decided to drop the idea of practicing turns and starts on friday.
so today would have been the last chance to get into the pool but as wednesday is usually endurance training where we only swim sets longer than 500m I guess I better skip it.
On monday I did a dryland cardio workout, on tuesday I did a core body strength workout and I plan to do a flexibility workout on thursday so that I can rest as much as possible on friday and be rested for the two days of the meet.

[hrietz]

The taper for me is one of the most frustrating things in swimming. It definitely is easier for me to train hard than to rest. After much trial and error and many years, I have found that a "sudden" taper is what works best for me. I do my running and lighter weights up until 9 days before the meet. I continue with my usual swimming workouts (4,000-5,000 yards/day) up until 1 week to 5 days before the meet. Then I drop my yardage to basically a meet warm-up. I also try to make sure I get enogh sleep. That for me is more critical than almost anything.

I know that this is not the best way to do it for most. The "traditional" 2 week taper works great for my male teammates but it just doesn't work for me!!!

[ande]

each person definitely has to experiment to discover what works best for them, in college we used to rest for 4 - 6 weeks

as a master i tend to rest a week to 10 days
I'd rather just train hard, but tapering really helps me.

ande

Originally posted by hrietz
The taper for me is one of the most frustrating things in swimming. It definitely is easier for me to train hard than to rest. After much trial and error and many years, I have found that a "sudden" taper is what works best for me. I do my running and lighter weights up until 9 days before the meet. I continue with my usual swimming workouts (4,000-5,000 yards/day) up until 1 week to 5 days before the meet. Then I drop my yardage to basically a meet warm-up. I also try to make sure I get enogh sleep. That for me is more critical than almost anything.

I know that this is not the best way to do it for most. The "traditional" 2 week taper works great for my male teammates but it just doesn't work for me!!!

[Matthias]

I think I will still cut out the endurance practice today. my quads still feel tired since the last weekend. well, they are not sore or anything like that but when I climb stairs I feel like I am in the middle of a 200reps squat set. so it's better when I get them to rest a bit. hopefully it will get better 'til the meet.

[knelson]

Originally posted by LindsayNB
I've been told that tapering doesn't really matter at my level and that I only need to take a day off before the meet. Do you agree?

I know this is "Ask Ande," but my opinion is your "level" doesn't matter. what matters is how hard you've been training throughout the season. Your body will be worn out from training hard whether you're swimming 3:00 100 freestyles or you're Michael Phelps. Anyone who's been training hard all season will derive a benefit from tapering.

[ande]

i concur

anyone got any more questions?

ande

Originally posted by knelson
I know this is "Ask Ande," but my opinion is your "level" doesn't matter. what matters is how hard you've been training throughout the season. Your body will be worn out from training hard whether you're swimming 3:00 100 freestyles or you're Michael Phelps. Anyone who's been training hard all season will derive a benefit from tapering.

[ande]

I'm still happy to attempt to answer your question
got one?

ande

[gull]

Hi Ande. I have two questions:

1. Is there any benefit to swimming sets with a pull buoy (no paddles)?

2. How important is it to include sets with the shortest/fastest interval you can make, instead of sets with, say, a 5:1 work:rest ratio?