The blogs show swimmers throwing down the mileage on the One Hour Postal swim, to be completed by the end of January. (Thereafter one looks forward to the rest of the series, the 5k and 10k, the 3000yd and 6000yd.)
Any thoughts on your experience swimming this year's postals, or previous years?
For massive encouragement, here is a blog post from Throwmeintheocean on doing a 6-hour cold-water swim in Malta to complete a basic requirement for marathon swims:
throwmeintheocean.com/.../
:)
Any thoughts on your experience swimming this year's postals, or previous years?
I think the one hour postal is the hardest event in all of USMS. Even the postals that take longer than an hour don't seem quite as challenging.
I think the one hour postal is the hardest event in all of USMS. Even the postals that take longer than an hour don't seem quite as challenging.
After 4 full rehearsals (in costume), and knowing pretty well what yardage to expect, I still went home and crashed for 8 hours after the One Hour Postal.
:bed:
(The poet Donald Hall has an excellent article in current New Yorker on aging.)
Any thoughts on your experience swimming this year's postals, or previous years?
last year i did the hr swim twice, a 10k, a 5k & a 3k
Here's something I wrote on Postal 10k Planning on August 19th, 2011 and it includes links to blogs of several swims.
Sat Aug 20th, 2011 Postal 10k
Wed Nov 2nd, 2011 3K Postal Day
My suggestions for Postal swims are:
Get in great shape to prepare for your swim
Create a pacing plan, what are you going to hold per 100?
Shave
Rest a few days before
Wear a speedy suit
Lube any possible rub spots
Treat your gogs so they won't fog
Arrange for someone to count / time you
Warm up (if you can)
Caffienate
Start out easy / stick with your pace / building is better than fading.
Bring fuel and plan breaks for longer swims
Stay steady and relaxed
Hopefully you'll get into a groove and catch your 2nd wind
Swim where you can see the clock. Have a sense of pace and distance
Ask your timer/counter to signal 500's or 1000's & especially when you have 5, 2, & 1 minute to go
Keep going
Great push offs and turns
BREATHE often
I usually breathe the last stroke into a turn and the 1st 2 strokes off the turn & every 2 in the middle.
hope this helps
I think the one hour postal is the hardest event in all of USMS. Even the postals that take longer than an hour don't seem quite as challenging.
Agreed. It's definitely easier swimming a set distance than knowing you will swim for a set time no matter how hard you go.
Also, replacing flip turns with really long, relaxing, gliding open turns added over 20 minutes to my 10k time.
I think the one hour postal is the hardest event in all of USMS. Even the postals that take longer than an hour don't seem quite as challenging.
I'll take the one hour over the 10k any time. 10k is just a LONG way to swim.
Per the event director's email, 2,006 individual swimmers have registered their swims for the One Hour Postal so far (still a few days to go). That's a lot of swimming!
:applaud:
I expect the number to complete the series of 5 postals will drop about 1.9 orders of magnitude (and I don't see myself among the glory-bound; the 10k is a high barrier).
