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.
Kirk:
I would be very surprised that you would not be able to achieve 5000 Yards in an Hour
I know. I should be able to do it easily.
I've done the event twice. The first time was in 2003 and I went 4960 yards. That was my first year in masters and I had started back swimming in September, so really that was pretty decent. I wanted to do 5000, but fell a little short.
In 2004 I was in much better shape and knew I could easily go more than 5000 yards. Unfortunately I got bad calf cramps on about three different occasions during the swim and that really slowed me. It's actually funny to look at my splits because it's glaringly obvious where I cramped up. I "only" did 4,900 yards.
I haven't done it since then. I think it's time to give it another shot. I've done 5K open water swims in just over an hour, so it sure seems like I should be able to do it in a pool. I'll definitely take it out nice and easy, because I think I paid the price both previous times by going out a little fast.
Kirk:
I would be very surprised that you would not be able to achieve 5000 Yards in an Hour
I know. I should be able to do it easily.
I've done the event twice. The first time was in 2003 and I went 4960 yards. That was my first year in masters and I had started back swimming in September, so really that was pretty decent. I wanted to do 5000, but fell a little short.
In 2004 I was in much better shape and knew I could easily go more than 5000 yards. Unfortunately I got bad calf cramps on about three different occasions during the swim and that really slowed me. It's actually funny to look at my splits because it's glaringly obvious where I cramped up. I "only" did 4,900 yards.
I haven't done it since then. I think it's time to give it another shot. I've done 5K open water swims in just over an hour, so it sure seems like I should be able to do it in a pool. I'll definitely take it out nice and easy, because I think I paid the price both previous times by going out a little fast.
