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
Parents
Former Member
Thank you all for the advice and suggestions pertaining to both training yardage and tapering. I do want to say to Solar that the vinegar thing does NOT WORK for jellyfish/sea lice stings. The reason it doesn't work is by the time I get out of the water (I may be a half-mile out), too much time has gone by and the stings are already working their harm to my skin. I get better results with Calamine lotion for afterwards.
We get large patches of jellyfish (clear ones and thimble ones (brown) in April and May, and the brown ones are horrible. But worse than jellyfish is the sea lice; the eggs of the jellyfish that look like little splinters in the water. When you see them, it is too late. But there is now a product on the market specifically for this so I will be the guinea pig next year and try it out and swim with these little buggers!!
This swim is being done solo, just me and an escort boat. This has been something I have wanted to do for 3 years so I made the decision. As Terry put it, I will be a marathon finisher all by myself. No one has ever done this swim, ever. My goal is to swim just under 3mph. Even at 58 now, I do swim 20 to 22 minute miles consistently and the air/wave flow will aid me to maintain this pace for at least 6 hours. And then the water conditions will change.
But back to topic, and if you all wouldn't mind, I would like to periodically update you with the mileage/swim times along the way so you can continue to inspire me and make suggestions.
We also have a triathlon down here March 18, 2007 if anyone is interested. It is the 5th ITC sponsored one, and Roatan is absolutely beautiful. If you want to go online and read about it, type in Bay Islands 2007 Triathlon and the website pops up.
Happy swimming!!
Donna
Thank you all for the advice and suggestions pertaining to both training yardage and tapering. I do want to say to Solar that the vinegar thing does NOT WORK for jellyfish/sea lice stings. The reason it doesn't work is by the time I get out of the water (I may be a half-mile out), too much time has gone by and the stings are already working their harm to my skin. I get better results with Calamine lotion for afterwards.
We get large patches of jellyfish (clear ones and thimble ones (brown) in April and May, and the brown ones are horrible. But worse than jellyfish is the sea lice; the eggs of the jellyfish that look like little splinters in the water. When you see them, it is too late. But there is now a product on the market specifically for this so I will be the guinea pig next year and try it out and swim with these little buggers!!
This swim is being done solo, just me and an escort boat. This has been something I have wanted to do for 3 years so I made the decision. As Terry put it, I will be a marathon finisher all by myself. No one has ever done this swim, ever. My goal is to swim just under 3mph. Even at 58 now, I do swim 20 to 22 minute miles consistently and the air/wave flow will aid me to maintain this pace for at least 6 hours. And then the water conditions will change.
But back to topic, and if you all wouldn't mind, I would like to periodically update you with the mileage/swim times along the way so you can continue to inspire me and make suggestions.
We also have a triathlon down here March 18, 2007 if anyone is interested. It is the 5th ITC sponsored one, and Roatan is absolutely beautiful. If you want to go online and read about it, type in Bay Islands 2007 Triathlon and the website pops up.
Happy swimming!!
Donna
