Masters Nationals
Fast Friends, Aging, Female Supervets and Speed
Spent last week watching Nationals. Some thoughts that might interest.
Fast Friends
One of my wife’s training partners (Jenna Campbell) broke a world record.
Jenna tied the American Record for the 200 Free (2.02.06) and that time is faster than the world record. Given the era that the American record was set by Sheila Taormina (gold medalist, competed at 4 Olympics)… we think it might have been a supersuit record and, possibly, that’s the reason for the World Best being slower. Or…maybe someone forgot to submit?
As a result, Jenna will share the American record with Sheila and hold the World record individually.
Jenna (like Sophie Linn) is a speedy teammate with a full-time job. I should interview her for you. Her approach is different than mine. Clearly, it works for her.
Being able to hang around athletes who combine high-performance with the ability to get along with others is a gift. The two traits don’t always travel together.
Brad’s book, The Practice of Groundedness, has helped fast friends gain perspective.
The Ghost of Christmas Future
At a high-level masters meet, we are confronted with best case scenarios for healthy aging.
These “scenarios” are walking around in swimwear…
Aging can freak people out… …especially people who have shaped their identity around Vanity & Victory (links to a blog, you should read).
How might we deal with those feelings?
I sit with my feelings and acknowledge their reality. Someday I am going to be old.
What am I going to do about that?
Strength Train
Pull Down Less Sun
What’s the smartest way to play that game?
Keep Learning
Choose Mentors Wisely
I pay attention to the stand-out performers in the upper age groups.
What can we learn from them?
At some point, we will slow down. How will we deal with that?
Compete in new arenas?
Optimize aspects of ourselves that we’ve neglected?
Focus on me vs me (rather than me vs you)?
Healthy aging is a mix of process and epigenetics. Sitting in the stands watching a 60-year old female rip her events… I was reminded:
There are many different ways to age.
The best SuperVet athletes were not, necessarily, the best in their 30s and 40s.
We have no idea what’s possible for older athletes.
My assumptions about female aging need updating (see picture below).
Masters Swimming Is A Welcoming Environment
All types of people, bodies and abilities.
The shorter events are seeded by age group and the rest of the events are seeded by time. If you’re a slower swimmer then you’ll be swimming with others at your level.
Everyone can enter 3 events without qualifying times required, thereafter you need to meet qualifying times. Don’t let the times put you off. Many of the swimmers are slower than the qualifying times, plus the older swimmers are mixed in.
The oldest swimmer was 102. You are unlikely to be the slowest person at the meet.
Reviewing The Year
A big event…
Gives structure to the year.
Nudges good choices.
Disincentivizes poor choices.
Is fun.
Things I got right over the last year:
Supporting my spouse’s ability to train, lift and race.1
Monica’s “big event” was placed in the middle of my off-season.
Watching Monica & Jenna train:
Speedy collegiate swimmers can swim faster as triathletes. That’s counter intuitive. Many collegiate programs are sub-optimal for their athletes. Why? Julie shared ideas in our Cycling Chapter. My view: young adults have a lot going on. When their coaches train them like professionals, they end up overtrained and stressed out. Same deal for older amateurs.
Amateurs can be competitive on less volume than you (and them) think. This is also counter intuitive. Monica swims 6x a week, 25-27km. While that is a lot of swimming… it is NOT a lot of time. She is world class for her age.2
Hunch => Fast swimming requires a lot of mojo on key days. There is a trade-off between volume and mojo.
While elites have time for ample easy volume. Working athletes, parent athletes, amateur athletes… have other demands on their time.
The “easy” part of the program should not make the athlete’s overall life “more difficult.”
Go further… everyone’s health & fitness regime should not make their life more difficult.
Lessons From A Year Well Done
Monz had an overriding principle with her season…
I don’t want to be a nut.
Training should not become an additional stress.
Takeaways…
Strength training matters - I’m glad she started lifting again. She feels strong in the water and it’s one of the best things she can do for her longterm health.
The right crew matters - spend time with the best people who will have you, “best” does not mean fastest. Character counts when undertaking stressful and difficult tasks. She made, and strengthened, amazing friendships with her people.
Program structuring matters - thanks to Coach Julie Dibens. All credit to the athlete but… the right program is the difference between success and failure.
Be willing to rest - Monz is famous for her face-melting 3000-meter continuous sets. She did NOT do one (!) of those sets this year. She was willing to let go of a favorite workout and embrace a different approach. Julie had Monica swimming faster, and resting more.
Hunches…
Don’t kill the golden goose - be wary of pushing into staleness. As athletes age:
The tough sessions need to be spread out more and dosing reduced.
The penalty for maladaptive stress is greater.
In the context of elites, I wrote about this in my Dynamic Loading article. It’s a similar dynamic for aging Top Amateurs. Be more binary in approach.
Speed Frequency3 - If we moderate the dose then we can maintain the frequency.
Frequency is a proven technique for developing endurance. It’s less well known (in endurance circles) for developing speed.
Many endurance coaches like to keep the General Conditioning period restricted to Green Zone training.
High-velocity training can be structured in a way that doesn’t generate material fatigue.
Zero to Some => the greatest benefit comes from adding the first dose. There’s no need for elite dosing.
Consider…
How does “speed” impact your goal event?
What type of “speed” is most important?
For the next two Mondays on Endurance Essentials, I’ll explore these questions in more detail.
As I write over on True Wealth, ambitious goals get us to overcome resistance towards actions that might be extremely useful to our future selves. Getting strong is one of those actions.
There are implications of Monica’s performance for older endurance athletes. I’ll write about those after I introduce a few more concepts in the weeks to come.
Speed is contextual and there are different ways to generate velocity. I’ve been thinking about this in the context of 2-20 minute swimming events (Monica) as well as 4-9 hour triathlon events (myself).
Excellent - have you read Endure - an interesting read that dispels some tropes that persist to this day in sports - especially endurance sports