Suggestions on Tapering for LD Ocean Swim

Thanks so much, Leonard. I will heed your advice, as well as to determine how I am feeling as I start to pile on the mileage. I am sure I will be mixing and matches the distances. Donna

You will be swimming 20 to 25 miles a week more than I ever trained. I did however do lots of uphill running at the ski hills and lots of biking. I might mention no taper ever for me just long layoffs between seasons.

Thank you, George, for your insight. I am now reconsidering the mileage I had planned based on a lot of advice. I wish I could run, but I have a fake knee, it is out of the question, I have to wear a brace on it if I walk for distances past a mile. This is why I would rather use swimming as a mode of transportation rather than my feet (LOL). But instead of deciding NOW what I should do, I will decide as we go along, training distances that is. But the tapering has also benefited me in the past very much so, so I just wanted to get some thoughts from people who have trained for anything past 10 miles. We can never have too much information. And I know you have done swims past 10 miles. My body will probably be giving off lots of signs along the training route. Donna

Donna, I haven't done anything over the 4.4 mi Chesapeake Bay Swim, but I have two training tips I tell everyone for that one. 1 - as long as you get in the pool regularly, you'll be fine. 2 - watch finding nemo the night before. listen for Dori's song - JUST KEEP SWIMMING. :2cents:

I can't imagine that you need more than 40-50k YARDS per week for this, but to each their own. I'd also suggest something like 3 weeks of build-up followed by 1 week easy - training gains occur in the rest after the training is done, so recovery is critical. As to taper, for the last three weeks before the swim based on the 40-50k yards figure. 20,000 yards 10,000 yards 7,000 yards (really concentrate on technique/ relaxing) With the kind of volume you are talking about doing, regular massages are a good thing. -LBJ

Hi friends, I am trying to get information from any of you who have done some very long ocean swims. I have one planned that will be 18 miles. I am reasonably confident at the training required, although any suggestions for that would also be welcome. I plan on swimming upwards of 40 to 50 miles a week for it, regularly. I also plan on a long swim once a month (10 miles) and two weeks for recovery from that distance until my body understands that this will be a regular thing. On the 10 mile swims, one way will be with current, the return will be against it (can't wait!!). My biggest question comes to the tapering for the 18 miler. How soon, what distances, etc., etc. Any advice, other than seeing a mental counselor for my "temporary insanity" at choosing something like this at age 60, would be helpful!!! Donna Just to add my voice to the other's, this volume (60-80k) is fairly typical of the training regiment of the ld squad within our team. The 10mile swim too. We used to go even higher than than, up to 25k especially for those who had never done a marathon before. All our ld swimmers with no exception were former pool swimmers having trained and competed at a high level, for years and years. And they were swimming that volume not only to prepare for a 25k, but for multiple marathons ranging from 25k (amateur competitions) to 40k (professional competitions) even up to 64k (Santa Fe Argentina). 80-100k per week was required to be able to aliging 3-5 marathons in a row (every weekend). It may sound like a lot, but these guys are basically paying their studies with their racing season. I don't think that swimming 80k per week for someone that had not previously done 25k/week for many years, then 30, then 40 and so on, would be a good idea though. And 18 miles in good conditions (warm water, not too tidy) isn't that much of a long event to prepare for. You could probably get away with a lesser volume if you find out that your limit is lower than 50miles / week. The most important aspect, volume aside, is to prepare well for the conditions that will prevail during that race. You need to be comfortable swimming in big waves (if you expect some), and in cold water too (if you expect it to be cold). I remember ocean temperature lower than 60degrees in Atlantic City. So ocean doesn't mean warm water all the time. If you can bring a coach you know with you, it can make a big difference too, instead of relying on some unprepared teenager with no experience. As for the taper, remember that the longer the event is, the less you have to cut during the taper. Personally, I'd put you on a 1week (only) taper, and would not cut the volume all that much. Approaching the taper for a swim marathon the same way that you would taper for a 400, or even a 1500 pool event would be a serious mistake in my opinion.

Thank you, Solar, for your suggestions and advice. I live in the western caribbean so the ocean temperatures are warm. But there may be waves, of course, if the wind blows a lot and it meets current which creates waves. But I swim in the triathlon here every March (only 1 mile), and when we have had more stormy seas, I seem to do better in that condition. I've done one 23 mile swim but back in the mid-90s and I basically only swam about 3 to 6 miles a day for it. It didn't seem to be much of a problem when I did it, but now another decade has gone by (aging), and I just wanted to gather more info and advice. I am now my own coach given my extensive background, but I think the most important thing is to, again, listen to my body and be on the lookout for any physical problems that may be creeping up. I am amazed that your LD crowd does that kind of mileage, lord, that is a lot. I am amazed that you think I may not need to taper much and I will certainly keep that in mind when the time comes (as well as probably re-write again about it for advice when I can give more accurate mileage numbers). Thank you so much for responding. After 3 months off of swimming, I am starting at the bottom again, but this time I will continue my conditioninig until the time of the swim. No more lay-offs; it is too hard to come back!! Donna

I recommend getting Penny Dean’s or Marcia Cleveland’s books on long distance swimming. They both address training for marathon swims. And I’m with Chuck, when I was doing my marathon swims I hardly ever exceeded 40,000 Yards per week. For the last 2 weeks before a race, I cut back to 2-3K a day, 7 days a week.

Thank you, Solar, for your suggestions and advice. I live in the western caribbean so the ocean temperatures are warm. But there may be waves, of course, if the wind blows a lot and it meets current which creates waves. Ocean waves aren't that bad. As you have probably experimented, they're so wide that they don't hit you. You play a surfing game with them. So the key of course is to play with them on a regular basis. Having no access to an Ocean here up north, our approach was simple. Get to the race course few days in advance (1 week before the important meets). It's been very helpful more than once. But strangely, the adaptation to jelly fishes or other sea "monsters", giant turtules, strange fishes has shown to be more of a concern (compared to waves). Little tip, if you think there will be jelly fishes, ask your coach to bring a mix of water/vinegar in a spray bottle. If you get burned, few spays of this mix and the pain is gone. I've done one 23 mile swim but back in the mid-90s and I basically only swam about 3 to 6 miles a day for it. Ah ! So you've been there. I'm not worried then. 'Course the ability to breathe every side may be important in open water races. I remember once a unilateral breather having to quit because of a major neck pain. I am amazed that your LD crowd does that kind of mileage, lord, that is a lot. I wasn't the one deciding on the weekly mileage or the content of the regiment. I don't know if it was really required. What I know though, is that we've had relative success. Have the result been better, equal or worse with less volume? I don't have the answer. But again, most males (3 of them actually) were sub-16min swimmers over 1500. 2 of them were top 5 contenders on the FINA world cup circuit; Jeff Roussy and Alex Leduc. The latter actually won an event (I think Chad Hundeby which you may happen to know as he was dominating the LD scene during the '90s, was not there). Between the marathon (done on a weekly basis), there was very few training sessions. Race on saturday or sunday. Dead until wednsday, few miles done on thursday and/or friday. Then an other marathon. Hence the huge volumes done in preparation for this summer punishment. I am amazed that you think I may not need to taper much and I will certainly keep that in mind when the time comes If I have an occasion (I might actually create this occasion), I'll get in touch with few folks and see how they do it nowdays, and what result they get. But I can already guess that the bottom line is to not get overtrained throughout the season. As the race approaches, you got to make sure not to overreach too much. Then you cut a bit the week before the race and that's it.

JS seems to do the over rest thing a lot......its one of the reasons i truly enjoy the last 50 of a 200 free with him swimming next to me....or rather; in front, then even, then behind me! :dedhorse: John...keep up those massage sessions and long naps on the couch for 3 weeks every taper!