1-mile bay swim-help

II can not get to the event site to practice, so what should I do in the pool so I am ready? How many days should I swim? How far? I am clueless and can use any advice. Also, do you think getting a wetsuit is a good idea? Congrats on signing up for the 1-mile at the Bay. I did it last year, it's a fabulous swim. If you're going to do a 1-mile swim in open water, this is a great one to do! About training, here are my thoughts. I would definitely build up to the point that you are swimming continuously for at least the amount of time you think you'll be in the water at the swim. That will give you good endurance and also confidence. Do that a few times if you can just to feel comfortable. This doesn't mean that you have to swim continuously all of the time, but at least a few times so you'll know what race day will feel like. Have you done an open water swim? If not, a few things to think about: 1. Wetsuit: Some people are more comfortable in a wetsuit as it adds buoyancy. You'll see a lot of people in them at the 1-mile bay swim, but you'll also see people not wearing wetsuits. The water temp should be ok by June for either wetsuit or no wetsuits. You can rent them from some of the triathlon stores in the area. Bonzai Sports in Falls Church, VA (www.tribonzai.com) is the largest wetsuit retailer on the east coast and Mark the owner is awesome. I think I spent about two hours in there last time I bought a wetsuit and he let me try them all to see (out of water) what I thought. They are one of the sponsors of the swim. You can rent one for something like $25 per weekend, but you'll definitely want to try it out before race day just to make sure it fits and you're comfortable in it. It's fine to try it in the pool. Mark's great and knows SO much about wetsuits. I've bought several wetsuits, bikes and other things there. Maybe try one in April or May to see what you think. Then decide to either rent or buy. 2. Open water is NOT like the pool. You can't see the bottom. I work with a lot of first time open water swimmers and that is the one thing that freaks people out the most. There's no line to follow. Also, the start can get hectic and there is some pushing and bumping...never intentional of course, but with about 100 people starting at once and heading towards the same buoy, it's bound to get hectic. 3. Sighting. You'll want to develop some sort of strategy for sighting so that you make sure you're headed in the right direction. You definitely don't want to turn this into the 2-mile Bay Swim. The buoys will be either bright yellow or bright orange and there will be 9-10 of them along the course. Definitely scope them out before you start the swim. I didn't last year and had to go back a little to go around the one that I missed. Learn from my mistake. Let me know if you have any other questions! I started open water swimming at 13, I'm now 30 and still love it, and have learned so much! I will be doing the 4.4 mile swim this year so I hope to see you at the finish with a smile on your face and great story about your 1-mile swim :) Julie

II can not get to the event site to practice, so what should I do in the pool so I am ready? How many days should I swim? How far? I am clueless and can use any advice. Also, do you think getting a wetsuit is a good idea? Congrats on signing up for the 1-mile at the Bay. I did it last year, it's a fabulous swim. If you're going to do a 1-mile swim in open water, this is a great one to do! About training, here are my thoughts. I would definitely build up to the point that you are swimming continuously for at least the amount of time you think you'll be in the water at the swim. That will give you good endurance and also confidence. Do that a few times if you can just to feel comfortable. This doesn't mean that you have to swim continuously all of the time, but at least a few times so you'll know what race day will feel like. Have you done an open water swim? If not, a few things to think about: 1. Wetsuit: Some people are more comfortable in a wetsuit as it adds buoyancy. You'll see a lot of people in them at the 1-mile bay swim, but you'll also see people not wearing wetsuits. The water temp should be ok by June for either wetsuit or no wetsuits. You can rent them from some of the triathlon stores in the area. Bonzai Sports in Falls Church, VA (www.tribonzai.com) is the largest wetsuit retailer on the east coast and Mark the owner is awesome. I think I spent about two hours in there last time I bought a wetsuit and he let me try them all to see (out of water) what I thought. They are one of the sponsors of the swim. You can rent one for something like $25 per weekend, but you'll definitely want to try it out before race day just to make sure it fits and you're comfortable in it. It's fine to try it in the pool. Mark's great and knows SO much about wetsuits. I've bought several wetsuits, bikes and other things there. Maybe try one in April or May to see what you think. Then decide to either rent or buy. 2. Open water is NOT like the pool. You can't see the bottom. I work with a lot of first time open water swimmers and that is the one thing that freaks people out the most. There's no line to follow. Also, the start can get hectic and there is some pushing and bumping...never intentional of course, but with about 100 people starting at once and heading towards the same buoy, it's bound to get hectic. 3. Sighting. You'll want to develop some sort of strategy for sighting so that you make sure you're headed in the right direction. You definitely don't want to turn this into the 2-mile Bay Swim. The buoys will be either bright yellow or bright orange and there will be 9-10 of them along the course. Definitely scope them out before you start the swim. I didn't last year and had to go back a little to go around the one that I missed. Learn from my mistake. Let me know if you have any other questions! I started open water swimming at 13, I'm now 30 and still love it, and have learned so much! I will be doing the 4.4 mile swim this year so I hope to see you at the finish with a smile on your face and great story about your 1-mile swim :) Julie