Hi all,
Wanted to run my training plan by you guys and see if you think this is possible.
Entering the 12 mile "Dam" Swim Sept. 23. River swim in Alabama. Water temp and conditions not an issue. It's USMS sanctioned.
Been a swimmer since age 6 and am now 33. Swam USMS since 2002. Am considered a strong swimmer (placed in top 10 nationally as high up as multiple 2nd and 3rd place in all strokes and events.) Done some open water 5K swims and enjoyed them and placed in top 1 to 2 of women.
This summer, focused on triathlons (sprint and olympic distance) and there was little focus on swimming. Have been training 2 to 2.5 hrs/ day 5 to 6 days a week among the three sports.
I've got 2 months to train. Was thinking of swimming 6x/ week for 1.5 to 3 hrs per session at moderate pace (usually, I train at a very high intensity but my races are short - like 400 yds and less). I will be cutting out all the tri training to train for this race. Goal is to finish. If I DNF, I'll not be thrilled, but I'll be more disappointed if I don't even try the race. I'm someone who will wake up one day and say, "I've got to do this - whether it be compete and win a tri/ swim a 400 IM/ try a 12 mile swim, whatever. . ." And I always get up and at least try it.
Do you feel this is a good plan and reasonable to try?
Also, was planning on hydrating 6 to 8 oz of sports drink every 30 minutes during the 5.5 to 6 hr swim along w/ eathing some gu packets every hour or so. I've not done a swim this long. Should be very interesting to see if I can hack it. Just want to be safe though and stay hydrated and nourished. Will have own personal motorized escort.
Thanks!! I've loved lurking here for the past several years.
Not to rain on your parade, but 2 months is not enough time to develop a marathon distance base. In addition a huge increase in yardage/time in the water is more likely to tear you down instead of build you up.
But on the bright side, since you’ve been swimming for years, you probably already have a good enough swimming base to handle the time in the water.
For something this short, 6 days a week sounds good, however I’d only go 3 hours once or twice per week and get at least one of those in open water.
As for hydration, while your mileage may vary, I would suggest doubling your fluid intake. During most of my long swims I’ve gone with 20-26 oz every 30 minutes, which may be overkill but it works for me. And I personally stick with fluids only, for me I get all the carbs and protein I need in the drinks.
And on power boat escorts, make sure your boat can cruise at 2-3 knots. Most boats have trouble at low speed and will drift with the wind making it tough to be a close escort without a drag bucket and there can be a problem with exhaust fumes (many swimmers have DNF’ed sucking on boat fumes). For a calm course 12 miler, you are better off with a kayak and a good kayaker instead of a power boat.
And finally, if you are anywhere near Peachtree City and want to do some open water training, let me know. I’m usually up for a long swim.
Thanks Rob! I think your answer is very HONEST.
That tip on the motor boat vs. kayak was priceless.
I would never have thought of fumes or drift as being an issue. I'm now leaning towards the kayak and experienced kayaker (not my husband!) b/c the last think I want to worry about is sucking down fumes. :)
Your point on not getting worn down between now and the race is key too. I think I'll just take these next 8 weeks as a challenge but not kill myself as you just can't totally change your ability in that short of a time. I'm confident I can do half the distance for sure (hey, 6 miles is not too shabby). We'll just see what happens on the last 6 miles. And if I try my best and still DNF, that's okay. I'll just know to really plan for this the second time around.
I'm going to start to practice hydrating now as I usually go through my 1.5 to 2 hour workouts with a sip of water at most.
I'm sorry that I"ll be missing the Peachtree City Pentathlon in your area in Sept. as it is the same day as this race! But I would love to contact you if I'm ever in the area!
Thank you for your feedback. It is very appreciated and I'll take it to heart!
My $0.02:
Keep in mind that this is not a short race and, therefore, the same rules don't apply. To wit, if you start this at a very comfortable pace (i.e. not breathing hard at all), and just relax, you will stand a much better chance of finishing. The temptation is that if you are used to shorter races, you tend to push it too hard, too soon and then crash and burn. Just by keeping a steady, easy pace, you will do better than many others who are less cautious. Be aware of your technique at all times.
Hydration/feeding: The old advice is true - be sure you try it out in practice before the race. I like 12 oz of an Accelerade/GU mixture ("Jansenaide") every 30 minutes. I use 3 scoops orange Accelerade and 1 Gu Tri-Berry packet in 48 fluid ounces of water as a basic mixture. It is a bit less sweet then straight Accelerade and the taste is better, at least to me. I also take 12 oz of this or straight Accelerade about 10-15 minutes before the race.
Use sunscreen! You will be out there a long time. Unfortunately, I've yet to find anything that lasts well beyond 2-3 hours, but Bullfrog Superblock 45 has been the best of the lot for me.
Use vaseline under your arms, between the legs and at any other potential chafing points.
Rob's training advice seems spot on. You can always push a bit harder if you haven't overtrained, but if you are overtrained, you may not make it at all. Listen to your body.
Good Luck,
LBJ
The Peachtree City Pentathlon is a swim meet where the participants are encouraged encouraged (not required) to do a swimming pentathlon. This is broken down into 3 categories of 5 events:
Sprint – 50 fly, 50, back, 50 ***, 50 free and the 100 IM
Middle Distance – 100 fly, 100 back, 100, ***, 100 free and 200 IM
Iron Man – 200 fly, 200 back, 200 ***, 200 free and 400 IM
The events are run just like a normal meet, except the events are set-up for swimmers in each pentathlon group to have a couple of events between each swim.
Thanks so much Leonard! I look forward to trying the Jansenaide beginning on Monday. That's a new mix for me.
Great tip about starting out with a pace that will feel SLOW (you are talking to an ex-sprinter here). But with Masters, I've really been doing longer distances so I'm looking forward to it.
I use exactly Bullfrog Waterproof Sunblock for my triathlons and I do use that glide gel for chafing so I think I'll be set there. Yeah, I'm sure I'll still get burnt as nothing lasts 5.5 hrs.
Right now, it looks like I'm training 33,600 meters a week.
This is not killing me by any means. I feel good. Now, the swim is 12 miles or 20K. . . so, we'll have to see what happens. I don't want to overtrain. . . I've made a deal with myself in that if anything starts to hurt, I've got to cut back.
So far, so good for this first week. I'm tempted to do more (especially as I've cut out the running and biking), but my coach seems to think this is good. Think I should do more?
Thanks so much. Great advice.
In looking at my yardage for the week, it seems like it's very small compared to what the Dam swim distance is. . .
I can change my weekly yardage from 33K+ to 40K per week.
Should I try that and if things start hurting, cut back?
Or should I stick with the 33K per week?
Thanks!
Rob,
How does the Peachtree City Pentathlon work? There are some of that will either do that Dam Swim as a relay but if we don't, the meet in Peachtree City might be fun to do as well.
Thanks!
John
While I usually approach the iron man with good intentions, the 400IM usually takes a lot out of me, making the 200 free a bit more painful than planned. Since my 200 *** is horrible, I get a bit if a rest at this point (and with the new dolphin cheating turns I really only swim about half the race with real breaststroke). Then I try to pick it up a bit in the 200 back, usually to little avail, and finally ending with a 200 fly, which must be a real treat to watch.
Kristina
If you are going 35-40K per week now, I don’t see much reason to increase it.
When I was training for marathons (20+ mile swims) I hardly ever went over 30K per week. Some of this was due to personal time constraints (work getting in the way again…) It seemed to work for me. I know that others will recommend more yardage for a marathon distance, but for a 12 miler you are where you need to be.
Also, I found that instead of doing doubles, I was better off doing singles, with at least 1 long 3 hour workout per week. In the long workout I’d do things like 6 times 28 minute swim then 2 minute feed/break or 12X1,000 on 15 minutes, or 5K,4K,3K,2K,1K.
And I suggest you do a few sets that are time based instead of distance based (e.g 6 times 28 minute swim then 2 minute break). Long distance swimming is more about time in the water rather than distance traveled.
