The one hour can be the most painful thing you do. It is mind and body-numbing if you do it hard. For me, the hardest part is the 1000-2000 as you are getting into your pace (I also don't warmup more than 100). Then about 3500 my legs begin to scream/cramp even though I am not even using them. If I get motivated, I have my wife hold up a clipboard at like 2500, 4000, 5000 with red numbers if I'm behind and black numbers if I'm ahead of my goal pace. Usually, my pool fixes their heater too good the day before I'm going to do it and I have to do it in 86 degree water--definitely lose the cap as you want to be losing all that heat you are producing. It's also nice to plan on doing it about Jan. 22, so if the pool is too hot or you're sick then you have some cushion days to still perform. Don't bother eating or drinking during the swim as there is no way to get any significant calories in your gullet without losing major time. I think you may want to ask the true experts like Jeff Irwin and Mike Schaffer as they are like a hundred years old and still bust out about 1:00 pace for this beast. Good luck!:blah:
The one hour can be the most painful thing you do. It is mind and body-numbing if you do it hard. For me, the hardest part is the 1000-2000 as you are getting into your pace (I also don't warmup more than 100). Then about 3500 my legs begin to scream/cramp even though I am not even using them. If I get motivated, I have my wife hold up a clipboard at like 2500, 4000, 5000 with red numbers if I'm behind and black numbers if I'm ahead of my goal pace. Usually, my pool fixes their heater too good the day before I'm going to do it and I have to do it in 86 degree water--definitely lose the cap as you want to be losing all that heat you are producing. It's also nice to plan on doing it about Jan. 22, so if the pool is too hot or you're sick then you have some cushion days to still perform. Don't bother eating or drinking during the swim as there is no way to get any significant calories in your gullet without losing major time. I think you may want to ask the true experts like Jeff Irwin and Mike Schaffer as they are like a hundred years old and still bust out about 1:00 pace for this beast. Good luck!:blah:
