Reply To: Cramping between sets (45 Y.O. Master)
Thought I’d post with an update. I took the advice and am keeping the workouts to one USRPT set for the time being. I did increase my frequency from 3-4 times a week to 5. I still have some issues with cramping towards the end of a set or on the cool-down exercise, but it is diminishing in frequency and intensity. I’ve also had some success at recognizing an oncoming cramp and “swimming out” of it by relaxing my foot, reducing the kick intensity slightly, and easing up a bit on any push offs.
I swam a SCM meet in early October, went 1:10 in the 100 free, and 2:47 in the 200 free. After 8 weeks of USRPT training, I did a “mock race 200” AFTER my regular workout and swam a 2:23 200 SCM Free….from an in-pool start…with the onset of a cramp in the 2nd 50 that I successfully swam out of.
That time correlated almost perfectly with my then-current USRPT 200 training pace times (50’s @ 36.0 on :55 interval and 75’s @ 55.0 on 1:20 interval).
I can’t believe how much progress I’ve made in this short a time swimming just 5-6 hours a week. Today, I dropped my 200 practice pace another second per 50 and made it to rep 19 before failing the set. My original goal was to get to 2:20 for the 200M free by Masters Long Course Nationals in August, 2015. Looks I’m gonna make it 8 months early and have to seriously recalibrate. I know there will eventually be some flattening of the progression, but so far the time keeps coming off in chunks. Can I get under 2:10 in the LCM 200 Free by August? That would be a “Top 10” time in the 45-49 age group most years. Jeez, this beats the hell out of the “swim until you’re exhausted, then swim about another 5000 yards; repeat daily” regimen I was on in high school.
