One Hour Postal

Our team is doing it. We did T30 in Nov and T45 in Dec in prep for the grand finale. I also did the 3K USMS in Nov. The physical part is bad enough but the mental aspect is what gets me. For me the key is starting out slower than you can possibly imagine. Wow! Wish the masters teams in my area did all that! Sounds like you've had some great preparation! Physical AND mental can get to me . . . I'm planning to take it out mod fast like I did two years ago and see if I'm in better shape to hold on. . . ha ha. What kind of suit are you wearing?

I am probably doing with a group next month in the Philly area. Geeh, I hope that I won't have a postal swim on Saturday and then a meet on Sunday because that would be hectic.

Elise, great job on your 4650 yards. That's very good for a sprinter or distance swimmer. Geek, I have yet to do this swim in anything other than a speedo poly. However, this year, I'm thinking about wearing something other than a drag suit. I would expect your FS to get beaten up (worn out a bit) by this swim. Not sure I want to wear a B70. I can hardly stand that thing for the mile swim. I may shoot for using an old FSII or old B70. Leaning more towards the FSII as I feel I have more range of motion in it . . . I do think it would be a huge disadvantage to not wear a tech suit of some sort for this swim. I train on occasion with the Swim Atlanta national distance group. I'll do a few more of their distance workouts this week as a final push. Then it will be back to SR I/ Mid Distance the week or two before the postal.

I am debating if I should give it a go this year and would truly appreciate some feedback... I do not swim freestyle-am I crazy for attempting to swim this all *** stroke? I usually swim 250- 1000y sets of BR and on average 3000y per workout, so I'm thinking that with 2-4 brief gatorade stops I can make it through 1 hour. Speed would obviously not be my goal, just making it to the end without giving up would be fine by me.....

"One Hour Postal" Why does that sound like a medically shunned, slow-acting anesthetic that hasn't been used since the Civil War? Like if a bunch of castaways were lost on an island and a doctor had to give someone surgery or else he'd die... "Oh boy, we gotta give him the One Hour Postal first..." Maybe 2010 for me. :D

Anyone swim this event at a quick pace. . . say 1:10 per 100 or faster - AND you felt fine afterward? I hope to feel better at the end this time around! The two times I've done it freestyle have been very very painful. What is strange is that I've never felt as badly in a 5K OW swim, which is approximately the same duration. For me the problem was that I would look at the clock at each 100 and try to be too ambitious. But all my benchmarks are for shorter distances, and the anvil would start to fall at about the 20-30 min mark. The one time I felt good was when I did it backstroke (part of a medley relay: one person for each stroke. It was a girls vs guys relay thing, with lots of trash-talking). I told the freestyler on my relay that I would pace him for the first 1000 -- his free is usually a little slower than my backstroke in practice, and I could easily see the pace clock while swimming backstroke. So the first 1000 was long and controlled for me, then I just gradually picked up the tempo on each successive 1000. (Plus, it was outdoors and I could look up at the sky for the whole swim...). This type of strategy is definitely the way to swim it, I think: you start out slower but end up much stronger at the end.

(S)he-Puff's experience vastly trumps mine on this. "(S)he-Puff"... I love it....

Whatever you wear, don't wear something too constricting. I had to stop my attempt at the 2003 hour swim because I was wearing a really tight suit and could not breathe well. Of course it didn't help that I was swimming in a hot pool either. Puff - Thanks for the compliment. I'll be routing for you to set a record on this one! Maybe in 2010, I can work up to doing it again. Fort - It's no worse than running 10 miles non-stop which I'm sure you've done. You could break it up into challenging smaller sets with little rest just to see how much yardage you could squeeze out in an hour. Or 60 50's on 1:00 OK you know your yardage but at least you're in!

Who is doing this in January? I really hope it goes better for me this time around. . . I rank this event 2nd in difficulty/ pain after the 25K OW swim I did. Anyone doing it as a group or team? Some pitfalls to think about (and I know they have been discussed on other threads). . . hydrate and fuel properly before the swim (beginning a couple of days prior). . . Don't take it out too fast! 1 hr is a LONG time to swim at a quick clip. Don't think you can train for it at this point. Anyone swim this event at a quick pace. . . say 1:10 per 100 or faster - AND you felt fine afterward? I hope to feel better at the end this time around!

The two times I've done it freestyle have been very very painful. What is strange is that I've never felt as badly in a 5K OW swim, which is approximately the same duration. I agree with the long pool swim being more painful than the same distance in an OWS. OW swimmers will often say that training in a pool must be easier because you can rest on the turns, but I'm always more tired after a 3K or a 5K in the pool than am after a 3K or a 5K in a lake. I think water temp has something to do with it. The Y pool I swim in has temps ranging from 79 to 85. The other day I swam a 3600 in what had to have been 85 degree water, and I almost couldn't finish it. The colder the better for me.