This past weekend I competed in the Colony Zones Master Swim Meet at the Patriot Center of George Mason University. This was a standard swim meet with the same format as the ones put on for kids, high school, college and Olympics swimmers with every event from the 1650 freestyle to the 400IM. For those of you not familiar with how swim meets, let me paint a picture: imagine a host of swimmers ranging in age from 24 to 65, acting like college students and swimming like they were that age too.
There are many benefits of swimming in a master’s meet like this and reasons why—even though your event may not be followed by a bike or run—you may want to consider participating in one.
- It’s a great workout: While doing a 1650 time trial on your own is challenging, you can take your speed to the next level when you are competing against others.
- Pacing: Organized meets keep track of your splits with a touch pad and therefore when you are done you can see how well you paced yourself.
- Sets you up: you can take your times from your event and create split goals for the rest of your workouts
- Track your progress: If you compete at several meets over the course of the year, you can keep see improvements as your times get faster.
- It’s inspiring: At swim meets I see a wider range of athletes and abilities. Seeing swimmers who are twice my age race Olympic level times gives me hope that with time I can be just as fast.
- Picture perfect: Since these meets attract some of the best in the area, it is a great place to watch elite swimmers and pick up technique tips from the best.
- It’s stress free: Unlike many triathlons that I have competed in, the typical stress of competition and one-upmanship is virtually non-existent. No one here cares what time you do, as long as you show up and cheer hard.
- It’s fun: The environment is electric at these meets. There is nothing like seeing a sixty year old man bouncing up and down, slamming a kick board against the pool deck as he cheers on his relay team mates.
- Experiment: These meets have a full range of events from the 1650 to the 400 IM. If you are interested in trying something new, challenge yourself and throw yourself into an event that you have never done
- Team: Get your friends involved and do a relay or meet new people and join a team that needs an extra participant. Since triathlons can be a lonely sport, doing a team activity can be refreshing.
If you want to have a great time and get a great workout in, then find a meet in your area and dive in!
Have a great week of training!
Coach Chris and Kev
Workout of the Week:
Warmup: 300 freestyle, 200 kick, 200 freestyle (alternating drill 25/swim 25)
Main set:
600 steady consisting of 3 x 100 fist/100 swim
One but no more than two-minute RI
400 consisting of 100 race pace 100 relaxed
One but no more than two-minute RI
200 steady consisting of 100 fist, 100 swim
One but no more than two-minute RI
6 x 50 backstroke or butterfly (just for fun)
Cool down:
Swim an easy 100 to 200 yards, choice of stroke
Words of wisdom:
In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. -Thomas Jefferson
