Gull mentioned the one hour postal swim in the Elite vs. Fitness thread and rather than go further off topic over there I decided to create a new thread.
So one thing I've been wondering about is what is the best way to swim it? The obvious strategy is to just start out with a pace you think you can hold for an hour and go for it. Past experience has told me this isn't always easy, though! Has anyone tried it using repeats? For example, to swim 5,000 yards you need to hold a 1:12 pace per 100. What if instead of trying to swim straight you did 100s on the 1:12? Maybe I'm crazy, but I feel like maybe I could hold 100s on the 1:12, going probably 1:07-1:08 the entire time easier than I could swim for an hour straight at a 1:12 pace.
Another strategy might be to have a goal pace in mind and keep swimming until you fall off the pace, then rest some amount of time and continue. The question is whether this approach would actually allow you to swim farther over the course of an hour. It seems a little counterintuitive, but maybe it would work.
In my very humble opinion (there are people on here with far better advice) I'd be better off doing sets of 100s or 200s with a slight break. That's just how I swim - it's the sprinter. If I can get a bit of rest here and there then I can push harder. I think mentally it's easier ...
Again, just my opinion but I try to breathe 2/3/2 ... this way I'm still getting the bilateral breathing that evens out my stroke, but also getting more oxygen. Kate Ziegler does 4/5/4 if I'm not mistaken. It's pretty easy - 2 breaths left, 2 right - an old coach of mine recommended this way to me, sometimes I do every 3, sometimes I revert back to every 2, I try however, to hold 2/3/2 ... it feels good
My right arm always falls asleep at lap 54 on long distance swims so I think I will do sets of 54, take 20 secs to regain blood flow and then repeat.
Nah, just skip that 54th lap and you'll be fine :)
I think I would set a breathing rate I could maintain for an hour (frequency/depth) and just swim comfortably/aerobic, then bring it home the last bit non-aerobic. But I haven't swum anything for time longer than a T-30.
About three months ago I switched to bilateral breathing (every third). I can hold this pattern throughout a workout, even repeats of 400s. In November, when I swam the 3000 Postal, I managed 2000 breathing bilaterally, then went back to every other for the last 1000. It was fairly "painful." I'm thinking I should breathe every other for the one hour swim. Any thoughts?
We are fortunate enough to have a bright digital clock visable at the end of our pool, so keeping track of pace is easy. I set a goal pace for the 6000 postal of 1:15 (an easy interval to keep track of). Goal time of 75 minutes.
I fell off a bit in the middle but finished 75min 43sec.
I will try to hit 5000 for the 1 hour (got 4 weekends/attempts)...
My strategy will be to try and swim the first 20 minutes on pace as easily as i can at 13spl and then add 1 spl for each third (20 min @ 14spl and 20 min @15spl). I will probably warm-up with a couple of 200's (free/back by 25) and 5 100's on 2:00 (13spl)to dial in the pace I want to start with.
I am fairly new to masters swimming.... Is the 1 hour postal swim something swimmers do on their own...... for the self-fullfillment of being able to do it?
