Does anyone have any experience with doing workouts in OW that aren't oriented toward distance freestyle?
I've got the ocean out my front door, and the water is warm enough July and August which happen to be the months my club is shut down for the summer, and the pool is a 45min drive away and closed on weekends so it seems to make sense, but I'm not that into distance free every swim, but I'm a little lost with no set distances or pace clocks...
Also, does anyone else's neck seem to get stiff and sore from OW swimming? Is that from exagerated movements to ensure I get air instead of a wave when I breath? Or perhaps holding my head higher than normal in hopes of spotting the jellyfish? Or some other stroke flaw? Anything I can do out of the water to reduce the problem?
Hi -
An interesting question, altho' I don't have specific answers. OW conditions are so variable from day to day one wouldn't be able to judge one's performance simply from comparing times across days, but there are water-resistant wristwatches with bells and whistles (and illumination) and stopwatch and timing functions to help. If you swim near a beach, perhaps a couple of brightly colored objects could set the general termini of a short-course swim, better than spotting would.
Or turn the question around: what can you learn from distance OW swimming that you can take back into the pool? The other day I noticed my FR stroke was changing slightly over the course of a mile OW and I was more "fishy" (in TI terms).
I had a stiff neck the first long OW swim of the year, but not thereafter.
OW swimming is a joyful experience; I am a better swimmer in all dimensions after a summer with lots of OW work. (YMMV) OW forces more definition into my stroke mechanics. And one is not limited to FR: a top flyer does 5k of fly during Chicago's OW Big Shoulders event, and BR swimmers do miles of that stroke! It would be interesting to try to devise ocean sets that answer your particular interest.
Regards, VB
Additional thought: If a beach is available, perhaps you could combine a beach sprint with a short ocean swim and time multiple iterations.
Hi -
An interesting question, altho' I don't have specific answers. OW conditions are so variable from day to day one wouldn't be able to judge one's performance simply from comparing times across days, but there are water-resistant wristwatches with bells and whistles (and illumination) and stopwatch and timing functions to help. If you swim near a beach, perhaps a couple of brightly colored objects could set the general termini of a short-course swim, better than spotting would.
Or turn the question around: what can you learn from distance OW swimming that you can take back into the pool? The other day I noticed my FR stroke was changing slightly over the course of a mile OW and I was more "fishy" (in TI terms).
I had a stiff neck the first long OW swim of the year, but not thereafter.
OW swimming is a joyful experience; I am a better swimmer in all dimensions after a summer with lots of OW work. (YMMV) OW forces more definition into my stroke mechanics. And one is not limited to FR: a top flyer does 5k of fly during Chicago's OW Big Shoulders event, and BR swimmers do miles of that stroke! It would be interesting to try to devise ocean sets that answer your particular interest.
Regards, VB
Additional thought: If a beach is available, perhaps you could combine a beach sprint with a short ocean swim and time multiple iterations.
