Hello...I love swimming b/c you can always work on your technique each time.
I started enjoying swimming watching the sunset in the ocean, then I swam 5 minutes before sunset, then 10 minutes, next thing I'm swimming a mile. The ocean taught me bi-lateral and swimming strong. A year in, I took a deep look at my technique and realized the ocean forced me into a very good technique for someone with zero teaching.
I feel like I haul serious a__ in the water and I've run into many swimmers in the ocean that cannot keep up with me. I just timed my mile swim and it is about 30 minutes so I looked that up and was surprised how freaking fast others are swimming a mile, wow! I can't imagine swimming a mile in under 25min but it looks like that can be achieved. I don't compete I just swim for fun, but love it.
I do a 2 beat kick, and have recently read a 6 beat could speed me up. I feel like when I do a 6 beat I am swimming slower unless I really work the 6 beat kicks hard to which I get exhausted really fast. Even a casual 6 beat seems to be much more taxing on my breathing, abs, and hip flexors than the 2 beat.
Can I get under 25min with a 2 beat? Should I start doing a 6 beat? Any suggestions to remove 5 minutes from my time? I'd really like to continue the 2 beat, but if the 6 beat removes minutes I will explore that.
Thanks.
In terms of your kick, I would suggest not focusing as much on whether you have a 2-beat or a 6-beat kick, but rather placing more emphasis on building an efficient and consistent kick that helps you stay balanced in the water. You can use your kick strategically during long swims - picking up the pace when you need to pass another swimmer, for example (as you can see in the video that you linked to) - but in order to be able to do this, you need to develop the strength and speed of your kick during workouts.
Regarding your second question asking how you would improve your speed, you need to think about developing workouts that combine drills to improve your technique with interval sets. Building up your technique through drills that are geared specifically towards your needs is of vital importance, just as increasing your endurance is essential through interval sets or longer swims.
All of this need to be done both in the pool and the open water. Nature is a great teacher, but in order to get the extra edge, you will need to work with a competent coach who can help guide you towards the improvements that you desire to have.
Here's a recent article I wrote for Ironman that may help answer some of your open water training-related questions: www.ironman.com/.../tri-coach-open-water-swimming.aspx
Best of luck!
In terms of your kick, I would suggest not focusing as much on whether you have a 2-beat or a 6-beat kick, but rather placing more emphasis on building an efficient and consistent kick that helps you stay balanced in the water. You can use your kick strategically during long swims - picking up the pace when you need to pass another swimmer, for example (as you can see in the video that you linked to) - but in order to be able to do this, you need to develop the strength and speed of your kick during workouts.
Regarding your second question asking how you would improve your speed, you need to think about developing workouts that combine drills to improve your technique with interval sets. Building up your technique through drills that are geared specifically towards your needs is of vital importance, just as increasing your endurance is essential through interval sets or longer swims.
All of this need to be done both in the pool and the open water. Nature is a great teacher, but in order to get the extra edge, you will need to work with a competent coach who can help guide you towards the improvements that you desire to have.
Here's a recent article I wrote for Ironman that may help answer some of your open water training-related questions: www.ironman.com/.../tri-coach-open-water-swimming.aspx
Best of luck!
