500 yd. race training

I'll be doing a sprint triathlon this coming June. My goal is to place as high as possible in the 60 - 65 Male group swimming part. That's it. I won't do much training for the running and cycling part.
I'm 61 yrs young, have been swimming regularly for only about 2 yrs now. Took private lessons and my instructor described me as 'advanced beginner'.
Yesterday I did 600 yds (lost count of laps, reason for extra 100) in 13:23 for a pace of 2:14/100.
What I'm looking for is a training plan to increase my speed at 500 yds.
Any suggestions of where I might find something like this?

Thanks

[CoachStuartMcDougal]

Hi aloysious,

Great that you are so active in your more senior years, improving your swimming and competing triathlon - awesome!

Training plans mostly address quantity/duration, building bigger lungs and strength - not working on balance and streamline skills. Swimming a 2:14 100m pace, there are issues causing imbalances in your vessel that increase drag profile and effort that goes with it.

Learn to stabilize your body from the middle/core, shifting positions to balance over your lings. When the human is out of balance we instinctively seek stability with turning arms and beating legs. With some fairly simple steps to balance the vessel and make your legs light(er) (without the arms and legs), drag profile reduces, effort decreases, and speed increases. Much like taking your foot off the brakes - that simple.

Pick up Effortless Endurance Self-Coaching Course. Balance is priority and addressed first in chapters 4, 5, 6. After a few pool sessions of balance focus and stabilizing your vessel first, drop an easy 10 secs or more off 100 pace - a pace that will be more sustainable than your current 2:14 pace you are swimming now. Continue to improve skills in every pool session, endurance will be more consequential.

Good luck and enjoy your journey!

Stuart

Originally Posted by CoachStuartMcDougal

Hi aloysious,

Great that you are so active in your more senior years, improving your swimming and competing triathlon - awesome!

Training plans mostly address quantity/duration, building bigger lungs and strength - not working on balance and streamline skills. Swimming a 2:14 100m pace, there are issues causing imbalances in your vessel that increase drag profile and effort that goes with it.

Learn to stabilize your body from the middle/core, shifting positions to balance over your lings. When the human is out of balance we instinctively seek stability with turning arms and beating legs. With some fairly simple steps to balance the vessel and make your legs light(er) (without the arms and legs), drag profile reduces, effort decreases, and speed increases. Much like taking your foot off the brakes - that simple.

Pick up Effortless Endurance Self-Coaching Course. Balance is priority and addressed first in chapters 4, 5, 6. After a few pool sessions of balance focus and stabilizing your vessel first, drop an easy 10 secs or more off 100 pace - a pace that will be more sustainable than your current 2:14 pace you are swimming now. Continue to improve skills in every pool session, endurance will be more consequential.

Good luck and enjoy your journey!

Stuart

Thanks. I'll certainly try that.
The guy in my age group who had the fastest 500 last yr. in one of the tri's had a pace of 1:44. That seems impossible to meet at this point. I'll keep trying though.

BTY, I had to reregister as 'landbarge' because of problems logging in with my other information.

[CoachStuartMcDougal]

Originally Posted by landbarge

Thanks. I'll certainly try that.
The guy in my age group who had the fastest 500 last yr. in one of the tri's had a pace of 1:44. That seems impossible to meet at this point. I'll keep trying though.

BTY, I had to reregister as 'landbarge' because of problems logging in with my other information.

Landbarge - lol, love the name. 1:44 is not burning up the track either, and you are much closer to 1:44 (and better) than you may think. Stabilize your vessel and find instant speed. Adding a bit to a quote from Bill Boomer, "Maintaining the shape of your vessel with every stroke matters more than the size of your engine". The 1:44 (or better) pace will find you much sooner than later :-)

Stuart

Originally Posted by CoachStuartMcDougal

Landbarge - lol, love the name. 1:44 is not burning up the track either, and you are much closer to 1:44 (and better) than you may think. Stabilize your vessel and find instant speed. Adding a bit to a quote from Bill Boomer, "Maintaining the shape of your vessel with every stroke matters more than the size of your engine". The 1:44 (or better) pace will find you much sooner than later :-)

Stuart

Well I got the material. This is going to be a leap of faith for me. Unless I'm gasping for breath at one or more points in my workout I don't feel like I'm getting any benefit.

This stuff looks so... ethereal.

Not sure how to get a "workout".

[andyinnorway]

With swimming it's a bit like running up a 10% hill pulling a pallet of fruit or learning to walk up that hill unhindered :) The TI approach is to learn/ imprint great aquatic posture and pick the unhindered walk method.

The biggest opportunity for you to place highly in the swim leg is to tuck in behind someone slightly faster than you, perhaps 2:00/100yds at your current level. this takes some practice but is a great tactic.

You get a big pull from them. This will make the swim feel even easier but it also encourages you to relax as you are following someone else's pace.

[CoachStuartMcDougal]

Originally Posted by landbarge

Well I got the material. This is going to be a leap of faith for me. Unless I'm gasping for breath at one or more points in my workout I don't feel like I'm getting any benefit.

This stuff looks so... ethereal.

Not sure how to get a "workout".

It's a perception shift and is counter to all the tri plans of do more and harder workout. With my masters group, I don't call it a workout, but rather a practice, improving skills. Some element of the stroke is being broken down and rebuilt at each practice, and then test how it holds up in longer sets at faster (or slower) tempos. I suspect you're a one speed swimmer at 2:14 pace and becomes hard to hold that pace the longer you swim. Changing tempos (rate of turnover), becoming aware of stroke length, errors that introduce instability and drag, focal points that affect your stroke and position are key elements to continuous improvement - avoiding those swimming plateaus.

You do have a choice: Continue to work harder holding a 2:14 pace plowing down the lane (or race), or modify positions and movement patterns that reduce drag, slip through the water and swim faster with 1/2 the effort. Save the glycogen for the bike and run legs :-)

You will begin to discover what your turnover (tempo) and stroke length ranges are given your height and *current* skill level. Here's a piece on that very subject and has a triathlete as an example: http://www.usms.org/articles/article...y.php?aid=3111

Stuart

Originally Posted by CoachStuartMcDougal

It's a perception shift and is counter to all the tri plans of do more and harder workout. With my masters group, I don't call it a workout, but rather a practice, improving skills. Some element of the stroke is being broken down and rebuilt at each practice, and then test how it holds up in longer sets at faster (or slower) tempos. I suspect you're a one speed swimmer at 2:14 pace and becomes hard to hold that pace the longer you swim. Changing tempos (rate of turnover), becoming aware of stroke length, errors that introduce instability and drag, focal points that affect your stroke and position are key elements to continuous improvement - avoiding those swimming plateaus.

You do have a choice: Continue to work harder holding a 2:14 pace plowing down the lane (or race), or modify positions and movement patterns that reduce drag, slip through the water and swim faster with 1/2 the effort. Save the glycogen for the bike and run legs :-)

You will begin to discover what your turnover (tempo) and stroke length ranges are given your height and *current* skill level. Here's a piece on that very subject and has a triathlete as an example: http://www.usms.org/articles/article...y.php?aid=3111

Stuart

I like that! Wish I could find an instructor in Anchorage with that philosophy. The guy I took privates from is a great swimmer, has a top ten time posted in USMS but I felt like I reached a plateau. He's was big on using the kickboard to strengthen my weak kick , but that took all the fun out of my 'workouts'. It was more like beating my head against a wall.

Just thought of an analogy.
I'm a lifelong golfer who rarely practices, sometimes I don't even warm up, yet I still shoot in the seventies.
I know that it's pointless for a high handicapper to whack ball after ball for hours on the driving range practicing the wrong swing, even it produces good results on the range because it'll never hold up on the golf course. Better to have a plan on the driving range and once too tired to execute the plan, walk away.
Understanding a good swing and having it ingrained is what allows lifelong golfers to go out and score a decent round.

[WFEGb]

Hello landbarge,

had to smile a bit sentimenal when reading your post.

Understanding a good swing and having it ingrained is what allows lifelong golfers to go out and score a decent round.

When I was young (many years ago), my father took me to watch a little local swim competition. (He just would like, me to learn swimming for survival in deep water...) I remember him telling me to observe the best swimmers without any splashes, not the fastest. I really doubted, when he said:"They'll feel much better for their lifes, even if they didn't win the special race..." Oh, he would have loved TI, when he'd knew it... And sure, you'll love it too when working some weeks with.

Go on, enjoy and best regards,
Werner