Racergirl

hello im maddie ,
i was wondering if i could ask you a question about swimming? :?: :!:

umm.....

do you normally train 3 times a week because i am training for this swimming thingo and yeah that is my question

thanks bye bye now maddie

I guess it depends on whether you are training to swim in a sprint, Olympic distance, Xterra or Ironman triathlon or whether you are swimming to be a swimmer

I personally feel that to actually swim well I need to get four swims in a week. I also feel that I need to improve my technique to ever really swim well. This year I have made swimming minimum three, mostly four days a week and have put lots of effort into stroke mechanics improvement. Many ITU swimmers swim six or more times a week but I feel that I stop improving significantly in the swim when I swim more than four and actually start suffering on the bike when I don't get enough bike mileage in. For my event, where the largest period of time is on the bike, the bike mileage takes priority. I do about 60-70% cycling and split the rest of my time between the swim and run.

If you want to FINISH the swim in a triathlon, I would put some time in with a masters group with a good coach who can take a look at your stroke and offer some advice. Start to build up your strength for swimming. Ideally you want to be able to AT LEAST swim the distance your race would be in the pool comfortably. If you are swimming in a triathlon there is the whole issue of sighting that needs to be addressed so some open water practice is very important as well.

All of this is imagining that you have some background in swimming as well. If you have no prior experience with swimming.... get some lessons. Of swim, bike and run, the most technical sport is swimming so I advise enlisting some experts.

Good luck!

How long are your runs usually? How often do you do "long" runs during the week ? How much time do you spend on sprint work or hill repeats?

I would like to preface this with the fact that this is the run training that is working for me and may not be the right thing for everyone.

Given that I have a history of injury from too much running, I don't run very much. That being said, I think a lot of people run too much and that is why they get injured

So, because the race is usually won on the bike, you need to ride a lot. Then you need to be able to run STRONG, not necessarily FAST. You cannot get a rhythm in Xterra runs so the important thing is to turn your legs over the fast you can while they get more and more tired.

I do four runs a week. I run sunday mornings long, about 90 minutes. I do three other runs a week, two off the bike, one with some pickups, one just shuffling while I am blown and the third as a long tempo run or a treadmill run.

I think running longer and harder is more important than short speed workouts which are good for speed on the road but don't prepare you to run strong when you are tired.

However, even this is a lot of running for me. Before this season (ie 2006) I ran two days a week and won the world championships, twice. Running was still my weakness, however. If you do not have a lot of _base_ for running, or you have limited time, do all your running as runs off the bike and you will be amazed at how much better you run in triathlons.

Good to know. Mine is more the opposite. My knee starts hurting if I bike a lot, but I can run everyday. Brick workouts are def. helpful...something I just started doing this year. Now I just need to get my coach to understand this and not have me do short, run interval workouts all the time.