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.
Parents
Former Member
Kristina -
The total yardage is (more than) enough to get you through a carefully paced and well-though-out 12 miler. I would urge you to consider two things:
1) Make sure you have some variety in the distances/types/efforts of training. If you start dreading some workouts you probably are doing too much/too soon (overtraining) or are getting into a rut. If you are overtraining, you will find that you have specific symptoms that may (or may not) include things like: Trouble sleeping, listlessness, irritable, low level health issues (sore throat, colds, etc). If you are in a rut, you probably won't have overtraining symptoms, but just don't want to do the workout. This is often because, by doing the same thing over and over, you tend to try to push yourself to surpass what you have done before all the time, which can cause anxiety. The days have an ebb and flow to them and so should you. I suggest that you look at Marcia Cleveland's site and lookup some of the workouts she recommends and then adapt them to your own level/speed/distances. Her site:
http://www.doversolo.com
2) Keep in mind that you DON'T improve while training. Rather, it is getting adequate rest between training sessions that causes the actual improvement. Therefore, be sure that some of the variety includes easier/less distance days. You MUST recover adequately to avoid injury/burnout. As I said in my previous post, better to go into the race slightly undertrained than slightly overtrained.
Also, a rough rule of thumb for distances that has worked for me both when I was a racewalker and now that I am swimming, is that during an "average" training week, whatever I could sustain for X distance, I could sustain for about 2X distance when rested and tapered to race.
Good Luck,
LBJ
Kristina -
The total yardage is (more than) enough to get you through a carefully paced and well-though-out 12 miler. I would urge you to consider two things:
1) Make sure you have some variety in the distances/types/efforts of training. If you start dreading some workouts you probably are doing too much/too soon (overtraining) or are getting into a rut. If you are overtraining, you will find that you have specific symptoms that may (or may not) include things like: Trouble sleeping, listlessness, irritable, low level health issues (sore throat, colds, etc). If you are in a rut, you probably won't have overtraining symptoms, but just don't want to do the workout. This is often because, by doing the same thing over and over, you tend to try to push yourself to surpass what you have done before all the time, which can cause anxiety. The days have an ebb and flow to them and so should you. I suggest that you look at Marcia Cleveland's site and lookup some of the workouts she recommends and then adapt them to your own level/speed/distances. Her site:
http://www.doversolo.com
2) Keep in mind that you DON'T improve while training. Rather, it is getting adequate rest between training sessions that causes the actual improvement. Therefore, be sure that some of the variety includes easier/less distance days. You MUST recover adequately to avoid injury/burnout. As I said in my previous post, better to go into the race slightly undertrained than slightly overtrained.
Also, a rough rule of thumb for distances that has worked for me both when I was a racewalker and now that I am swimming, is that during an "average" training week, whatever I could sustain for X distance, I could sustain for about 2X distance when rested and tapered to race.
Good Luck,
LBJ
