That Old Pain Threshold Again

Long, long ago in a pool far, far away, I began swimming.

Rather than taking lessons, I just jumped in and kept swimming toward my dad (who had tricked me into the dive) as he backed up and backed up until I swam 25 yards. The next Monday I was on a summer swim team at Memorial Pool in Euclid, Ohio. Years of early-morning practices, Saturday-morning meets and off-season training followed. And then I turned 17 and I stopped.

A couple years later I thought about swimming in college, so I bought a new suit, dug out the old cap and goggles, and headed to the pool. I swam four whole laps, hurt so badly I wanted to cry and I didn't return until late last year. About 8-9 years later.

Why the Gina history lesson?

On my recent swim post, Jason commented:

You are swimming 2500m and I am sweating 500m in about 1 hour (remember fat out of shape). I read the books and all that, but I cannot see how I can go from 500 to 3000m. How did you do it?

It's all about the pain threshold. Anyone who has talked to me about swim-conditioning has heard me say talk about the threshold.

You know that point while you're swimming when your arms are burning, you're breathing too hard and you just kind of want to die? Yeah, we've all been there. The secret: nirvana lies on the other side of that pain.

When you reach that point of exhaustion (assuming, of course, that it's relative exhaustion and nothing serious), don't stop.

At first, push yourself an extra lap past that point. Next time, go two or four. You're going to be tired. But when you push yourself past that threshold you'll eventually reach a state in which your muscles are warmed, your tightness loosens and it's all smooth sailing from there. I feel a similar relaxation after my first mile of running. Like warming up.

If you keep pushing yourself and still have trouble improving, take a look at your stroke. The problem most people close to me have had is breathing. They just can't get it right. Whether they don't understand the positioning, movement or frequency, they just don't do it.

If you're a troubled breather, check out the plentiful breathing resources available on the Web. I won't dole out general breathing advice, but I'm always willing to supply customized feedback. I may not be able to provide expert guidance about the other two legs of the triathlon (yet!), but I have a handle on the swimming gig.

So, that's my advice, Jason! It's probably not what anyone wants to hear (you know, that whole 'wanting to die' thing), but if you keep going, keep pushing, I think you can hit 2,500 yards in a month or two. Maybe less! Just beware of the desire to stop swimming, skip swimming days and slack off. Those are my biggest weaknesses. Next to chocolate.

Jason recently joined the triathlon community. Be sure to welcome him and visit Jason's training blog.

The Return of 'Flipper'

It may not have been easy to go today, but swimming felt much better this time. I began tightening up around 400 yards, but loosened up pretty quickly to swim 2,800 yards:

1,800 yards free
1,000 yards IM (4 x 200 yards each stroke, 50 yards kick)

I've been slowly extending my no-rest distances, and almost considered swimming the full 2,000 yards in that first set, but I wanted something to work toward. Yeah, that's what it was.

At one point I began to get a little tired, so I picked up my kicking and it was smooth sailing from there. It's incredible what a little kicking can do! But kicking seems to be a problem with many people: some have trouble remembering, others don't do it enough, and even more just do it wrong.

I'm not sure what your feeling is about using flippers for swim training, but I think it's all wrong. Call me a swimming purist. While flippers ("fins") can be useful for increasing your leg strength, improving ankle flexibilty and just swimming faster, most people I see aren't using them for much more than vanity swimming. Case in point: Flipper.

Flipper is a middle-aged hotshot who frequents the Kent State rec. center pool from time to time and uses flippers to pump up his ego. His arms flop limply in the water and he smirks at swimmers as he goes by. I shouldn't be so concerned with someone else, he's the guy who gave flippers a bad name. I can't stand for that.

So, what can I do? Out-swim him, of course (hey I warned you of this problem). There's some thrill in beating a guy who like to intimidate others, but it's also kind of fun to out-swim a decent swimmer while he's wearing flippers and I'm not.

My badge for the 'Flipper Police,' by the way, should be arriving in the mail sometime this week. Just don't be that guy.

But if you would like unbiased information about flipper use, read "Swimming with Flippers" from the Endurance Coach.