I think of myself as an Open Water (OW) swimmer who uses Masters pool meets as helpful tuneups while waiting for the next OW season. This weekend (it’s Thurs May 17, as I write) I’ll swim my first race of the 2007 OW season. This race and season bring special challenges, which I expect to enjoy solving. In this article, I’ll outline my “problem-solving" approach to OW.

Most people who enter OW races think of them as endurance tests; few see them as problems to solve. But I find problem-solving far more creative than simply training for endurance. And this season brings some problems that will require as much resourcefulness as I’ve ever employed.

As my trip chronicle relates, I separated the AC joint of my right shoulder 10 weeks ago in a mountain bike race in Taupo, New Zealand. At the time I feared that my OW season might be lost, or perhaps much compromised. Following doctor’s orders to rest it for a month (I cheated a bit), I began swimming again in late March though still feeling considerable pain – which raised concerns that I’d torn something in addition to the separation, I swam very light mileage, mostly gentle drills. By late April my shoulder finally showed improvement and on May 11 I received an encouraging diagnosis. My lingering pain was due to an inflamed radial nerve, nothing that sound training would aggravate.

So here are the stimulating challenges I face. After being honored as the 2006 USMS Long Distance All-Star for the 55-59 age group, easily the most distinguished swimming award I’ve ever earned, my goal this season is to win it again – by scoring better than any swimmer in my age group in a series of five USMS OW championships. Two fall on the final two weekends in May – the 5K in Fort Myers FL May 19 and the 1-Mile in Reston VA May 27. Having championship events at the very outset of the season is unusual.

The obvious complication for me is swimming high stakes races just a few weeks after resuming normal training after a 2-month recovery from injury. The second complication is that, to retain All-Star honors, I’ll need to swim well through all five races including a 10K July 14 in Huntington Bay NY, a 3K Aug 4 in Pend Oreille ID and the 2-Mile Cable championship Aug 18 in Lake Placid.

Under ideal conditions I’d prepare for such a demanding season by building a fitness base during May, giving no thought to being race-sharp. I’d be doing longer practices and repeat sets to develop a foundation of general fitness for more race-specific practices to begin in early July. At the same time, I’d concentrate just as much on technique development, using the longer sets to more deeply imprint elusive or subtle aspects of awareness or coordination.

This year I must not only build a fitness base, but regain fitness lost while also trying to approximate championship form for two key races on consecutive weekends. Well, it’s definitely a balancing act, but one I enjoy tackling.

General Fitness
I consider my stroke efficiency a “lifetime work in progress” and expect that each year, it will be measurably better than the year before, balancing the effects of also being a year older. Still, when I elevate my competitive goals, I also feel compelled to improve my physical makeup. Some people are “born athletes.” I’m not. I tend to put on weight with dismaying ease and lack natural power or speed. Last year, to give myself a realistic shot at breaking national records I lost 15 lbs. and am sure that helped. I did no weight training, as I remained leery of injury, after rupturing a biceps tendon while doing bench presses. My weight drifted back up over the past eight months, about half of that since my recent injury. So I’m trying to include as much land fitness activity as I can while resuming water training. And while combining all this I have to be mindful of how much activity a 56-year-old can tolerate without exhaustion. Here’s how I’m doing it.

Cycling
This is as much for environmental concerns and pure enjoyment as fitness. Once the average daytime temperature reached the high 40s, I stopped using my car for local transportation. I’ve outfitted an old mountain bike with road tires, a basket and rack with bag. I ride it to the pool where I train, the TI offices and Swim Studio, the gym and yoga studio and local stores. Such errands require a daily or twice-daily 30- to 60-minute round trip, some of which is hilly – with the flat parts along a scenic rail trail. Cumulatively – though I haven’t done any cycling purely as training – I’m riding 50 or so miles a week. I don’t know how many calories consumed or “aerobic points” that earns me, but I’ll take whatever I get. Besides which it’s fun and saves a couple of gallons of gas a week.

Weight Training
The American College of Sports Medicine recommends two sessions of resistance training and three sessions of aerobic activity per week, for all adults after age 35, to counter the loss in fitness and increase in fatness that accompany aging. These recommendations are simply for quality of life, not athletic ambitions. I had not done weight training since injuring myself in Oct 2004. In April I rejoined the local gym and have since done a 20-minute weight training workout three times a week. I do nine exercises, alternating four lower body with five upper body stations. I choose activities that combine several major muscle groups, rather than those that isolate muscles, to emphasize muscle-integration. I also include as much “unstable” exercise as possible. For example, rather than barbell bench presses – which I was doing when my biceps tendon detached from the bone – I do dumbbell alternate-arm-presses, while balancing my shoulders on a large ball. I can’t lift nearly as much weight, but activate much more muscle, because I have to use core muscle to remain aligned and stable – just like in swimming. I do one set of 10 to 15 reps at each station and try to increase the amount of weight or number of reps in each exercise. When I can complete 15 reps, I increase the weight.

Yoga
When asked why I swim, I often say “So I can be strong, supple and graceful at age 85.” I feel yoga is the ideal complement to swimming in this pursuit. It’s also had a significant impact on the swimming as well, teaching me the satisfaction mindfulness and practicing with intention can bring. I was unable to do yoga for nearly two months after hurting my shoulder. When I resumed regular practice in mid-April, my lack of yoga fitness made me tired – and I felt that fatigue affecting my swimming. But on May 1 I had a revelation, and my practice has been stronger and free of fatigue ever since. Yoga creates a powerful synthesis of whole-body strength, suppleness and injury resistance. In yoga my muscles work against natural resistance in ways that are remarkably similar to how I use them in swimming, while also providing a great balance to the physical stresses of intensive swim training. As well, it has done more than anything else in accelerating the healing of my shoulder. Initially I couldn’t do certain poses that include pushup-like movements, but my shoulder strength and freedom of movement has progressed much faster since I resumed yoga practice. I attend two to four 75-minute classes per week. And because 75 minutes is pretty close to the time it takes me to swim a 5K, it nicely approximates the work-duration of my first race. If I could make the time to practice yoga every day I would.

Swimming
In some ways, though my fitness is still compromised, I feel it will be easier to prepare for the 5K race – which should take 75 to 90 minutes, than the mile which should take about 25 minutes. During the 5K, I’ll take nearly 5000 total strokes – i.e. 5000 opportunities to save energy or use it more effectively. While my potential competitors train to tolerate long bouts of hard work, I train to find the easiest way to attain goal paces. Thus the longer the race, the more I can potentially gain through economy.

On the TI Discussion Forum, the topic of the “Opportune Injury” has received much attention. I’ve treated my latest injury as another opportunity to improve my stroke efficiency. Having to swim gently is an altogether healthy influence as its effects will directly benefit long distance economizing. Prohibited from putting pressure on my shoulder, I’ve concentrated on four focal points:

1) Light-pressure catch. Reducing the pressure on my catch not only promotes healing, it also helps keep my elbow higher and more stable as I begin my stroke. This results in a firmer catch and stronger link to core power. In training, whenever I reduce pressure on my hand and forearm at the beginning of the stroke, my pace improves – as does my ability to sustain it while feeling relaxed.

2) More leisurely catch. I also focus on taking a bit more time for my hand to pass under my elbow at the beginning of each stroke. The more leisurely my catch, the more I seem to get out of each stroke. Naturally, taking more time also contributes to relaxation.

3) More parallel ankles. My 2-Beat Kick (2BK) delivers more power by synchronizing better with my stroke, when I keep my feet closer together. The focus on parallel ankles forces me to maintain more lateral stability in body position and seems to concentrate the power produced by the kick – more effect for the same, or less, effort.

4) Kicking from the core. In the last three years I’ve gotten unprecedented power from my 2BK. But I’ve also found my legs fatigued near the end of several pool races, cramping on pushoffs. I realized gradually that this was a result of overdoing the power of my leg drive. Only in the last few weeks have I begun learning to temper that power. While focusing on relaxation and energy conservation during the last two months I’ve also discovered that by feeling the 2BK originate in my core, rather than my thighs (which comes easier when I keep my ankles more parallel) I also generate just as much power with less muscular force.

I’ve not swum a single stroke in the past two months without thinking about one of these focal points, and during my 5K May 19, I’ll focus on one or another during each of my approximately 5000 strokes.