Hi everyone! I am BRAND new to the site. but in no way new to the sport. I am a collegiate swimmer at the moment, and actually my questions which are to follow are a little out of character as I am definatly a sprinter versus a distance swimmer.
However, having said that, I am currently planning a long distance swim for charity. I currently swim 5-6days a week around 5000yards day. How much should I increase this? Is there any training schedule out there for yardage leading up to a distance event?
I also have taken interest in Martin Strel, the ultra-marathon swimmer, who set the world record of 84 hours 10minutes consecutive swim. HOW the HECK did he do that? :dunno: I have had a hard time contacting him as he is planning his 70day swim of the Amazon river, but obviously he must have been getting supplements some how during that swim, so if it was a consecutive swim, how did he manage that? If anyone has any information regarding that topic I am DESPERATE to be informed :D
thanks in advance for everyones help!
Morgan
Parents
Former Member
In a way, I think you may have answered your own question especially since you can't divulge the distance, you are only interested in how long you can survive a swim, comfortably I presume.
24 hours would probably be for sure 48 miles depending upon the speed. So since I now know that you aren't interested in distance, but time, this opens up a new crate of oranges.
The best news about this is that your swim won't happen until about May of 2008. My swim of 18 miles will happen in August of 2008. And you say that you can comfortably spend 12 hours in the water.
And your concerns seem to be on feeding/nutrition for those 24 hours. This is the year to find that out; that's what I will be doing. People can tell you this and that about it, but you have to find what works in the way of carb replacement/electrolyte replacement, etc. this year, so when your swim comes to be, you will KNOW what your body needs.
As your training increases this year as a "test", this is the time to experiment with nutrition/feeding. I plan on doing this as I start with 4 miles and work my way upwards to 14. A person only needs to be able to comfortably perform 80% of the desired distance. What may work for a swimmer you admire, may not work for you. This is the year to discover those replacements that will keep you swimming for 24 hours. For some people they go the GNC route of pre-packaged replacements, but I will tell you this: apple juice, oatmeal cookies (limited sugar), bananas and Gatorade have always seemed to fare really well with the marathon swimmers we have heard about. They rarely used anything very "special." Many of them found that more natural food sources served them very well in miles and miles of swimming.
Donna
In a way, I think you may have answered your own question especially since you can't divulge the distance, you are only interested in how long you can survive a swim, comfortably I presume.
24 hours would probably be for sure 48 miles depending upon the speed. So since I now know that you aren't interested in distance, but time, this opens up a new crate of oranges.
The best news about this is that your swim won't happen until about May of 2008. My swim of 18 miles will happen in August of 2008. And you say that you can comfortably spend 12 hours in the water.
And your concerns seem to be on feeding/nutrition for those 24 hours. This is the year to find that out; that's what I will be doing. People can tell you this and that about it, but you have to find what works in the way of carb replacement/electrolyte replacement, etc. this year, so when your swim comes to be, you will KNOW what your body needs.
As your training increases this year as a "test", this is the time to experiment with nutrition/feeding. I plan on doing this as I start with 4 miles and work my way upwards to 14. A person only needs to be able to comfortably perform 80% of the desired distance. What may work for a swimmer you admire, may not work for you. This is the year to discover those replacements that will keep you swimming for 24 hours. For some people they go the GNC route of pre-packaged replacements, but I will tell you this: apple juice, oatmeal cookies (limited sugar), bananas and Gatorade have always seemed to fare really well with the marathon swimmers we have heard about. They rarely used anything very "special." Many of them found that more natural food sources served them very well in miles and miles of swimming.
Donna
