I wrote before and got some great advice. I am doing a 1 mile swim in the bay on June 10th. I have not been in the pool regularly training. This week I got in 3 times. The first day I did 4 laps straight. The second day I did a 500, 400, 300, and 200. On the third day I swam 60 laps. I do all this in a 30 minute-40 minute time frame. Do you think I will be okay if I continue to do something like this? Any other training ideas. I am a teacher and have a 2 year old, so there is not much free time. I want to be ready, but can't spend hours each day training. Agin any ideas would be great. I am just looking to finish this event, I'm not trying to break any records. I just don't want to have to be pulled from the water.
Jaime
:cheerleader:
I will be at the Bay on the 10th for the 1 mile. It is a great event. Let the other more competitive people go ahead of you and enjoy yourself. It is a really fun day!
Swimmy :wave:
Being pulled from the water is OK! Not participating for fear of being pulled from the water is OK as well,....but not quite as OK ;^)
@ 55 years of age,..I compete against myself. Set goals for yourself that are challenges,..goals that when pondered ,....give you a hollow feeling,..goose-bumps,..that scary,.. pit-of-the-stomach feeling,..you know what I mean.
Better to be carried from the arena than no never have entered the arena. Life is short,..eat dessert first.
Ron %%%%%%%%%%% ><>
Jaime,
I think you will be fine. If you're doing 60 laps nonstop (I assume it's a 25 yard/meter pool?), that is almost a mile. In a one mile ocean swim I did last summer (the VBLA lifeguard challenge), one man entered who said he hadn't swum that distance since Boy Scouts (I guess he was around 50). He finished.
All I have to add to what others have posted is to start at a pace that is comfortable, even slow. You can always pick up speed later if you want to. There will be other swimmers there whose goal is to finish and enjoy the day. And remember, no matter where you finish, you're way ahead of all the people who never got in the water!
Good luck.
Sandra
Sounds like you should be able to do the one-mile. Don't worry about diving into the scrum at the start. Give yourself some space at the beginning so you aren't being jostled a lot. Try to sight the course so you know where you are going every 12 to 15 strokes--more if you are having trouble swimming straight. Don't be afraid to draft off other swimmers when you find your pace--you can conserve your energy by doing so.
Regarding your training, you are swimming far enough to do the one mile swim. My only advice would be that you consider doing some intervals rather than straight swimming. There are lots of workouts posted on this website. Try checking them out. Even if it is counter-intuitive that going shorter swims with some rest is better training for a one mile swim than swimming straight for one mile, it really does work better.
Good luck
Jaime,
The best thing about this event is that the homestretch is long and easy. You'll swim out into the currents, then against the currents for a couple hundred yards, and then you're adjacent to the roadway in water that is ~2 feet deep for the last ~1/3 mi. In the 4.4mi, you'll find a LOT of people taking a long walk at this point.
Your training sounds good. My advice is to watch Finding Nemo and follow Dori's advice - JUST KEEP SWIMMING! Good Luck!
:bouncing:
Thank you everyone for sending advice. I completed my first open water swim and really enjoyed it. I was scared to death and went out way to fast. I almost stopped, but I said to myself "Just Keep Swimming" and slowed down to my own pace. I finished in 44 mins 38 secs. Is that terrible? I am already looking forward to next year. I want to get my time down to under 40 mins.
Buffettfan-
Great job. The conditions were so much better than last year. The Chesapeake Challenge (1 mile) and Great Chesapeake Bay Swim (4.4 mile) are great events. The race director does a fantastic job juggling 2 events at once, considering all boat traffic is stopped in and around the race course. Now that you've got one under your belt, I bet future ones will become more fun and less stressful.
Tree
