Allen, I hear you. I feel blessed that I live where there are fewer restrictions. I continue to feel very safe in my swimming environment.
Allen, I hear you. I feel blessed that I live where there are fewer restrictions. I continue to feel very safe in my swimming environment.
My only remaining goal is to swim the channel because my booked slot can't be postponed. This winter is probably my last chance in my life to get some serious training in (because I'm going to emigrate next April - it's very unlikely I can keep training in my target country if I have a full time job) but now nothing can be done because of COVID interruption. I'll not book anything afterwards before my channel swim because I'll need to decide if I'm going to quit swimming afterwards.
I realize as I read all of these replies that I am very lucky that I have been swimming regularly since late June in a military pool.
My signature lists 7 distances/PRs. I love this septet concept. For me, trying to swim certain times for this entire spectrum is precisely the point. I think I would be bored as “a sprinter” or “a long distance swimmer”.
I have a crazy schedule that I know that no swimmer/coach in the world will agree is intelligent!! I try to swim a minimum of 4x a week:
M-WU+50m+CD.
T-WU+200m+CD.
W-WU+800m+CD.
T-WU+25m+CD.
F-WU+100m+CD.
S-WU+400m+CD.
S-WU+1600m+CD.
The WUs and CDs can contain any number of drills and things, of course.
In 2021, I hope to be able to up my game and swim 5-6x most weeks.
And, if I do that, I hope that by the end of the year I can swim “the 59% level” for as much of the septet as possible. (ie Each WR x 0.59). That yields:
25m-16.1
50m-34.2
100m-1:16.2
200m-2:48.4
400m-5:59
800m-12:31
1600m-25:33
We’ll see what happens. 59% at age 59? 60% at age 60???
Last edited by Skuj; December 12th, 2020 at 08:53 PM.
PRs: 25m-16.0/50m-34.75/100m-1:17.0/200m-2:55.5/400m-6:14/800m-12:50/1600m-26:37
2021 dream: 15.8/34.2/1:16.2/2:48.4/5:59/12:31/25:33
That's why I'm an IMer - I like to race everything. One of my most proud accomplishments as a Masters swimmer thus far was getting in the 2019 SCY top ten in at least one event in every stroke + IM.Originally Posted by Skuj
I'll take regular pool time and possibly a meet in 2021, but if it's only one or the other, then pool time is it.
I'm with regular/consistent swim time. I joined the Y but haven't navigated their reservation system yet, and I'm not sure if they're being scaled back in the state's restrictions this week. Bit too cold for me to swim outside now, even wetsuited - that'll have to wait til spring.
Aside from that, I'd like to swim a 5k. I'd like to travel out if state somewhere for a race - I was going to go to DC for a race but it didn't happen. I'd like there to *be* races at all, but let's say there are.
Way out there goal that would take a ton of practice: swim one of the Alcatraz swims.
Be able to work out more than an average of 3 times per month. The ocean is looking pretty good, but is kind of chilly and takes an hour to get there.
The opinions expressed in the above post are mine, not those of U.S. Masters Swimming. But maybe they should be.
Gotta agree that a well-swum IM is extremely satisfying.
I had to resort to open water swimming. Are there any rivers or lakes or quarries closer than the ocean? I drive a half hour each way multiple times per day for my kids practice, so an hour doesn't seem too, too bad outside of other obligations.
That said, XTerra wetsuits are on sale right now. They are often, but they are like 70% off. Their top of the line full one is about $250. One step down is $160, the entry is $130. I got the mid one in a full suit, but have a top of the line sleeveless.
Overall, I've enjoyed it. I have to admit, my pool swimming suffered greatly, but my stamina improved. I'm a full minute faster on my mile now than I was before COVID, though my strokes are beyond horrible.
I've only made 2 goals for myself in swimming this year:
1. Get my 10 km time below 3:40
2. Swim the English Channel
Usually I go to the "swim happy" thread with such news, but this seems like a more logical place:
My new 50m PR is 35.0sec. I have nearly 12 more months to figure out how to be about a body length faster.
PRs: 25m-16.0/50m-34.75/100m-1:17.0/200m-2:55.5/400m-6:14/800m-12:50/1600m-26:37
2021 dream: 15.8/34.2/1:16.2/2:48.4/5:59/12:31/25:33
I hope I don't annoy people if I record new PRs in this thread. It's all about 2021 goal chasing, eh?
I'm at 1:18.5 for 100m now. I need to eat up 3m in the next 11+months!
PRs: 25m-16.0/50m-34.75/100m-1:17.0/200m-2:55.5/400m-6:14/800m-12:50/1600m-26:37
2021 dream: 15.8/34.2/1:16.2/2:48.4/5:59/12:31/25:33
(I'm at 1:17.5 100m now. I'll update monthly. Until end-Feb then.)
Last edited by Skuj; January 31st, 2021 at 03:59 PM.
PRs: 25m-16.0/50m-34.75/100m-1:17.0/200m-2:55.5/400m-6:14/800m-12:50/1600m-26:37
2021 dream: 15.8/34.2/1:16.2/2:48.4/5:59/12:31/25:33
Well, now that Spring Nationals are listed as going to run July 21 - 25 this summer, I might try to recover from foot surgery to try to qualify for some events.
My goals are probably the most simple in this thread: technique improvement, and if I make a meet, personal best times.
I'll almost for sure not be vaccinated in time for that, so I'm setting my sights on LCM Nats in October!
Follow my blogs at http://www.1001pools.com and http://forums.usms.org/blog.php?u=5013
My goals are just to do both SCY and LCM Nats if they happen. Age groupers have been having meets in my area since November but nothing on the Masters calendar around here, so I'm hoping I'll get to have a real meet before the hypothetical SCY Nats.
We had a mini meet during our Saturday morning practice this past weekend and I swam surprisingly well as far as times go. Swam all four 50s and the 100 IM and, despite being quite sloppy for the actual technique portion of racing since this was my first time really racing since last February, my times were quite solid. In season MPR in the 50 free and the rest all made my top-5 in season times list. Not bad for swimming them all within an hour in a practice environment!
No idea what races I want to train for this year. Each summer I pick an event lineup for the next three SCY Nats on a rolling basis and that guides my training for the next few seasons, but I'm way off my plan now. 2019 was all five 200s, 2020 was supposed to be two 200s and four 100s, and this year was supposed to be a mix of 50s and 100s. I don't want to skip my 2020 game plan and jump straight to 2021. So, with the assumption that I'd only get to race a max of 5 events at Nats this summer due to participant limitations, my potential lineup now would be 100 and 200 IM, 100 fly, and the 100 and 200 free.
Goal times for those events are sub-1:00, sub-2:14, sub-1:00, sub-:54.4, and sub-2:01, respectively. My current Masters PRs (well, from two seasons ago) are within a second of each of those and would give me three lifetime PRs if I hit those times!
I know for sure that my 2022 event lineup won't be the 50s and 100s that were originally supposed to be my 2021 lineup, but everything beyond this summer is TBD for now.
1) Swim in a meet for the first time since Spring 2019.
2) Not embarrass myself doing #1.
3) Get back in the same condition I was in pre-pandemic. Won't be easy at 62.
4) Be thankful for the small things. It'll be good to just get back to some semblance of normal.
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