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
That is almost exactly my scenario. Since i don't have a pace clock, I have used a Timex Ironman to help with intervals, and a lap counter (finger attached thing). That's it. But when I had to switch to open water, and started thinking about a 10K in September, I thought it might be wise to eliminate any guessing. I'm so ingrained with what I do in the pool that I found it hard to resolve how much different, and how much SLOWER open water is. A mile in the pool? 1:22 100's. Open water? 1:40's are really fast. So yeah, the watch is helpful in making sure I don't underestimate what I'm doing.
Skuj
I know you described yourself as luddite, but I just want to offer a few other suggestions for measuring your swim distances. As a devoted open water swimmer I've used them all from time to time. If you're swimming along shoreline, and there's a road running parallel to it...you can drive between the corresponding land references to measure it on the car's odometer (or use a bicycle with an odometer). If the beach permits...you can walk the measurement along the beach with a distance measuring app on your cell phone. Or, you could use the online pedometer at this link --
www.gmap-pedometer.com/.../ and 'click' off your course before/after your swim. It's really meant for runners and bicyclists as it will automatically route you from point A to point B via roads. Obviously that doesn't work on the water. So, click on CONTROLS -> ROUTING TYPE -> and select "Manual." That will allow you to measure your straight line swimming course. Lastly, if you do have a GPS watch but don't like it on your wrist as you swim...I have strapped my watch on my head so that the watch sits just at the crown of my head for constant GPS satellite view...then put my cap on over it. OR...if you're towing an inflatable safety buoy like many open water swimmers do (www.swimoutlet.com/.../) you can strap the watch to the top of the buoy. That's what I do because my GPS watch is designed for runners and doesn't work in the open water. Many of those buoys come with a dry compartment, and some swimmers carry their cell phone in it and run a distance measuring app while they swim. Hope this helps. Good luck.
Dan
That is almost exactly my scenario. Since i don't have a pace clock, I have used a Timex Ironman to help with intervals, and a lap counter (finger attached thing). That's it. But when I had to switch to open water, and started thinking about a 10K in September, I thought it might be wise to eliminate any guessing. I'm so ingrained with what I do in the pool that I found it hard to resolve how much different, and how much SLOWER open water is. A mile in the pool? 1:22 100's. Open water? 1:40's are really fast. So yeah, the watch is helpful in making sure I don't underestimate what I'm doing.
Skuj
I know you described yourself as luddite, but I just want to offer a few other suggestions for measuring your swim distances. As a devoted open water swimmer I've used them all from time to time. If you're swimming along shoreline, and there's a road running parallel to it...you can drive between the corresponding land references to measure it on the car's odometer (or use a bicycle with an odometer). If the beach permits...you can walk the measurement along the beach with a distance measuring app on your cell phone. Or, you could use the online pedometer at this link --
www.gmap-pedometer.com/.../ and 'click' off your course before/after your swim. It's really meant for runners and bicyclists as it will automatically route you from point A to point B via roads. Obviously that doesn't work on the water. So, click on CONTROLS -> ROUTING TYPE -> and select "Manual." That will allow you to measure your straight line swimming course. Lastly, if you do have a GPS watch but don't like it on your wrist as you swim...I have strapped my watch on my head so that the watch sits just at the crown of my head for constant GPS satellite view...then put my cap on over it. OR...if you're towing an inflatable safety buoy like many open water swimmers do (www.swimoutlet.com/.../) you can strap the watch to the top of the buoy. That's what I do because my GPS watch is designed for runners and doesn't work in the open water. Many of those buoys come with a dry compartment, and some swimmers carry their cell phone in it and run a distance measuring app while they swim. Hope this helps. Good luck.
Dan
