Pacing for 5K Postal Swim

So, I know of two ways to manage this: Go by feel. Start out easy and build intensity after each 1,000m. Go by the clock. Hold myself to 1:52/2:02 for the first 3-4K and then give whatever I have left for remaining distance. What do you guys think? I like the first one better especially if you have a good feel for what pace you think you can maintain. Definitely start out easy. You can always pick up the pace, but if you start too fast you'll regret it later. Good luck!

I like the first one better especially if you have a good feel for what pace you think you can maintain. Definitely start out easy. You can always pick up the pace, but if you start too fast you'll regret it later. Good luck! Good advice. I tend to go the slowest in the first 1K, establish my pain point and then hold that for the next 4K. Clock watching makes for a mentally challenging swim. I only look at the clock every 1-1.5K and usually that is a mistake.

Hi Katie, I'm a sprinter but I also do longer swims sometimes, I did 2 1 hour swims in Jan 2011. You might not think you have the conditioning to do a 5k but you do. You'll be fine. I bet you could even do a 10k. in the weeks approaching your swim keep going 7 days a week Pick up your yardage and do longer swims you can shift to sprints as meets approach in Oct, Nov & Dec 7, 6, or 5 days away from your swim reduce your yardage and intesity especially 2 & 1 days away don't do much at all When you're doing the swim Wear a fast suit if you can warm up a bit before you start though many people just use the first part of their swim as warm up put petroleum jelly on parts of your body where you're likely to chafe, Like along your shoulder straps, i have rub spots on my right shoulder when I do long swims and haven't shaved my face. shave your arms and legs the night before if you're hard core cut your hair, if you're hard hard core shave your head wear a thin cap or no cap what's the pool water temp likely to be? if it's too warm ease up your planned pace even more hydrate & fuel up, before your swim but not a big meal, drink water with electrolytes eat some glucose which is also called dextrose (Dextrose is the main ingredient in Smarties candy) have a water bottle and GU gels near your lane, so you can grab and go Definitely pace it right on pacing swim long smooth and easy, think about minimum effort good head position, small kicks, hold a pace you can handle the entire way, it should feel way too easy at first, swim at 65% or 70% effort maybe start out even easier so you can (slightly) pick up your pace each 1000 breathe often, like every 2 sometimes on turns I breathe on the 1st & 2nd stroke off each wall take big breaths, FILL Up your lungs it's OK to stop but don't stop much, maybe 5 or 10 seconds every 1,000 have a rest strategy like 2000 then 10 sec rest, 1000 5 sec rest, 1000, 5 sec rest 1000 those little breaks can do wonders for you stay calm and relaxed and steady, don't do too much too soon, if you can, pick up the pace on your last 500, 200 & maybe even sprint your last 50 or 100 have your counter signal each 500 or 1000 you can also switch strokes, it might help you to switch between freestyle and backstroke. I did 2 postal 1hr swims one Sun Jan 23rd, 2010 Went Postal but I wasn't happy with it and felt I could do better so on Sat Jan 29th, 2010 I wrote in my blog: Thinking about taking another crack at the hour swim again tomorrow instead of asking myself "what do I need to do to go faster?" I should ask what do I need to do to go further? + begin and swim at a smoother easier pace + stop fewer times + maybe I'll attempt 10 x 500 starting on 5:40 then drop a sec each round after each one. Here's how my 2nd attempt went Sun Jan 30th 2011 HR Postal Swim take 2 let us know how you do, Good luck Ande Hi All, I'm going to be doing the 5K Postal Swim in about 3 weeks, and I need some advice about pacing. A little background: I'm kind of a newbie. Last year, I participated in a bunch of open water races, but my focus was on participation rather than racing. I did some long distances, (1K, 2K and 4K events with a few minutes rest in between), but I didn't have any goals related to speed. This year, I've been focusing on speed. My coach told me to stick to short events (except for postal swims). So far, I've done three races this year (all 1K OW), and I've treated them like races. I want to do the 5K Postal Swim, but it's just an extra little adventure, not a main event for me. As such, I haven't really been training for it. I swim my normal 3,000 yards per day (7x per week), and add in a longer distance (usually 4,000 yards) when I have time as long as it doesn't interfere with my other training goals. In the next two weeks, I'll do a 4,500 yard and a 5,000 yard practice. I rarely do long distance time trials in the pool, so I don't have good data about how fast I should expect to be able to swim 5K. My 1-Hour Postal Swim pace from January was 1:52/100 yards (2:02/100m). This week, I did a near-race-pace 1000 yards in the pool at a 1:47 pace (1:56/100m) I should be able to hold my 1 hour postal swim pace (1:52/2:02) for the 5K. The speed gains I've made since January should make up for the extra distance and the long-course pool. I actually think/hope I should be able to come in a little faster than that. So, I know of two ways to manage this: Go by feel. Start out easy and build intensity after each 1,000m. Go by the clock. Hold myself to 1:52/2:02 for the first 3-4K and then give whatever I have left for remaining distance. What do you guys think? Katie

Definitely Feel for the first time. Build as you feel able. That's how I got through my first one last year.

Thanks for all the great advice. (Ande--I will not be shaving my head. I'm pretty driven, but that's just not in the cards.) I swam 4,500 yards in the pool today. I was cracking up while I was swimming it, thinking about my Lofty Pacing Goals. There is NO WAY I could do it by the clock. It was hard! Blah, blah, blah, I've had an intense week of practice, the pool was hot, the air temp was 110, etc. But still! I did not break any speed records. In fact, I did not come close to a pace I'd be happy with for the 5K. The good news: My splits were slightly negative. I swam a 900 warmup, focused on technique. The main set was a 1-2-3-4-5-6-5-4-3-2-100-yard ladder, :15 rest for for anything under 400 yards, :20 for the rest. My 600 pace was no slower than either of my 100s. A year ago, I remember tearing up under my goggles when my coach had me try to swim a negative split in practice. I purely did not know how to do it. It's gratifying to see progress on that.