For me, it's now going on four weeks since my last swim. We were in Turks and Caicos March 7-14 for spring break where I was doing daily open-water swims along the beach. My last swim was a 3-miler on March 13. When we got back to the U.S., we had to go into mandated 14-day quarantine so I wasn't able to get out to go to the pool before they all closed. Who knows when I'll swim again...either open-water warming up (I live in RI), or pools opening again. I am maintaining fitness with bike rides, and a run here and there. And I know I there is other 'dry land' training I could be doing. But my concern when returning to the water is injuring myself because of doing TMTS. I'm just that kind of athlete. Raise you're hand if you think you're a candidate for a TMTS injury too.
Dan
I did about 500M today. Just to get out there and see how it was, before working out an arrangement for the kids and some of their (club team) peers. I struggled a bit. Core temp wasn't bad, I had a sleeveless wetsuit on. But my face was stinging from the cold, and I had to do *** stroke until I could stop hyperventilating. But I had a really tough time breathing. Didn't force myself to exhale completely, so was breathing too often. And then I started holding my breath. I'd catch myself, and correct, but I need some more time getting used to it enough to get in a true workout.
If you're in Knoxville, I think Blaik has been holding o/w swims almost every day since pools shut down. And I don't think he owns a wetsuit ;)
That said, adjusting to cooler water (cooler than you're used to at least) does take a little time. I live in the Austin area, where we (usually) have Barton Springs, naturally kept at 70-72 year-round. The first few times I swam there it did take my breath away. But over time I adjusted, and swimming there nearly every week made it not so much of a harsh reality when I got in the water.
If I'm struggling to breathe, I'll start out with heads-up breaststroke, gradually get my head a little further down until it is somewhat of a real breaststroke. Then after I feel ok doing a few full strokes of ***, I'll switch to free.
I visited Australia in Oct 2019, and while in Sydney was determined to swim at Bondi Icebergs. Thankfully it was a sunny day, but the water was about 62-64F. I did my *** trick, heads-up for a 50, real for a 50, then switched to free. Before I knew it I was doing regular free, including flip turns. It got a bit freaky when waves would crash over the sea wall, but that's part of the experience.
I did about 500M today. Just to get out there and see how it was, before working out an arrangement for the kids and some of their (club team) peers. I struggled a bit. Core temp wasn't bad, I had a sleeveless wetsuit on. But my face was stinging from the cold, and I had to do *** stroke until I could stop hyperventilating. But I had a really tough time breathing. Didn't force myself to exhale completely, so was breathing too often. And then I started holding my breath. I'd catch myself, and correct, but I need some more time getting used to it enough to get in a true workout.
If you're in Knoxville, I think Blaik has been holding o/w swims almost every day since pools shut down. And I don't think he owns a wetsuit ;)
That said, adjusting to cooler water (cooler than you're used to at least) does take a little time. I live in the Austin area, where we (usually) have Barton Springs, naturally kept at 70-72 year-round. The first few times I swam there it did take my breath away. But over time I adjusted, and swimming there nearly every week made it not so much of a harsh reality when I got in the water.
If I'm struggling to breathe, I'll start out with heads-up breaststroke, gradually get my head a little further down until it is somewhat of a real breaststroke. Then after I feel ok doing a few full strokes of ***, I'll switch to free.
I visited Australia in Oct 2019, and while in Sydney was determined to swim at Bondi Icebergs. Thankfully it was a sunny day, but the water was about 62-64F. I did my *** trick, heads-up for a 50, real for a 50, then switched to free. Before I knew it I was doing regular free, including flip turns. It got a bit freaky when waves would crash over the sea wall, but that's part of the experience.
