First non stop Mile

Congrats on the mile. I believe I read somewhere that only 2% of Americans can swim 500 yards, so doing a mile puts you in even more "elite" company. You will need to shed the pull buoy eventually; I happen to believe that Total Immersion technique is an excellent way to go and has helped me greatly in longer swims. As to actual training, once you're confident in your technique, I'd suggest that you do a longer, slow work out once every 2 weeks and gradually build up the distance for same. I prefer to train by time on the longer workouts, since trying to keep track of that many laps makes me (more) psychotic. A typical progression of the longer workouts FOR ME (not you, but you'll see the pattern/idea) is: might be: Week 1: 1 hr Week 2: 1:30, Week 3: 1:45, Week4: 1:15 (a bit faster per lap than weeks 1-3) Week5: easy week Week6: 1:45 Week7: 2:00 Week8: 1:30 (a bit faster per lap than weeks 4,6,7) Week9: 1:45 Week10: easy week etc, etc Your program will be different to suit your life/abilites/experience/etc, but the principle of gradual adaptation, adeqaute rest and specificity of training applies to everyone. I also suggest that you only train seriously for 3 or 4 weeks at a time and then take an easy week to recover. Rob's advice about drinking is dead on and also applies to your workouts. I highly recommend Accelerade as a great workout drink. BTW, which 5 mile race are you planning to do? Due to the variable nature of open water swim courses, I suggest that you talk to people who have done it before and they can often give you tips to make it a better experience. Only 4.5 months until June! -LBJ

Congrats on the mile. I believe I read somewhere that only 2% of Americans can swim 500 yards, so doing a mile puts you in even more "elite" company. You will need to shed the pull buoy eventually; I happen to believe that Total Immersion technique is an excellent way to go and has helped me greatly in longer swims. As to actual training, once you're confident in your technique, I'd suggest that you do a longer, slow work out once every 2 weeks and gradually build up the distance for same. I prefer to train by time on the longer workouts, since trying to keep track of that many laps makes me (more) psychotic. A typical progression of the longer workouts FOR ME (not you, but you'll see the pattern/idea) is: might be: Week 1: 1 hr Week 2: 1:30, Week 3: 1:45, Week4: 1:15 (a bit faster per lap than weeks 1-3) Week5: easy week Week6: 1:45 Week7: 2:00 Week8: 1:30 (a bit faster per lap than weeks 4,6,7) Week9: 1:45 Week10: easy week etc, etc Your program will be different to suit your life/abilites/experience/etc, but the principle of gradual adaptation, adeqaute rest and specificity of training applies to everyone. I also suggest that you only train seriously for 3 or 4 weeks at a time and then take an easy week to recover. Rob's advice about drinking is dead on and also applies to your workouts. I highly recommend Accelerade as a great workout drink. BTW, which 5 mile race are you planning to do? Due to the variable nature of open water swim courses, I suggest that you talk to people who have done it before and they can often give you tips to make it a better experience. Only 4.5 months until June! -LBJ