How To Improve Endurance
When do we need endurance? When we are going really hard? When we are going really fast? When we are going really far? There is great discomfort in any of these and that discomfort needs to be overcome to finish, Maybe we need endurance in all three, but a different...
The Challenge Of Going Slow
Three Zones There are two extremes that we are urged to avoid in training – going too hard and going too easy. If we go too hard, or go hard too often, something is going to break. If we go too easy, or go easy too often, we simply will not grow, and may even...
Dig Deeper Into The Fundamentals
Do you get bored with practice? Impatient to get past the basics and into the more advanced skills to raise performance higher? That might be what you need to do, but then again, you might still have a lot more to gain from refining the skills you think you’ve...
Who Is A Longevity Athlete?
For 10 years I’ve been publishing nearly every week on this Smooth Strokes blog, with more than 500 articles. This blog is dedicated to discussing the practice of swimming, mindfulness, fitness, advanced training and beyond. If you’ve been viewing this...
There Are Consequences
Recently, a coach friend of mine attended a seminar given by a swim coach somewhat well-known in the US triathlon scene. My friend told me she went with an open mind and heart to learn from this coach with a different approach to swimming and I supported her, looking...
Surviving or Comfortable or Competitive? Part 4
Continued from Part 3. Training In Cycles And, over the course of a few weeks, your fatigue accumulates. This is something you should expect and actually plan for. Through a process known as periodization, with cycles lasting several weeks, and changing emphasis at...
Surviving or Comfortable or Competitive? Part 3
Continued from Part 2. From High-Stress To Low Let’s say you want to move from 2 hours of swimming (about 5K) to 4 or 5 hours (about 10K). you When you get into swimming events that are more like 4 to 5 hours long, the average citizen athlete may have difficulty...
Delightful Swimming In The Dominican Republic
We just completed a week of delightful open water swimming in Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic, in the Caribbean Sea. The sea water was 79 F (26 C), with mostly sunny skies in the 80’s, a little wind, a little swell, a little rain all mixing in for an enjoyable...