Hey all,
The Big Day is coming... August 3... for my swim across the Great South Bay (www.greatsouthbayswim.com).
Today I swam the full race distance, 5.25 miles in a POOL with kids splashing around on both sides and once getting into my lane, but nothing like learning to focus, ha!
I know I should probably get in some open water practice, but I don't live near open water, hence the pool swim.
Donna's been excellent with lots of tips, schedule thoughts and suggestions, so I've made much more progress than I ever thought I would!
Now the question is what about a taper... what to focus on, what kind of yards, things like that. Last two weeks, except for weekend swims, the yardage was low per swim (maybe 2000-2500) but my focus was on trying to hold my form while pushing a bit more. I noticed that it paid off today as my "tired" mile times are what my "fresh" times used to be. (Not fast, I should point out, but less slow than before!)
I do both swimming and running, and I wonder about your thoughts on that as well. My bf wants to do a five mile run a week before my swim, and I figure that would be too soon before the swim for me to be in such a run, I am considering signing up and just jogging it. But I wonder if even that might be too much that soon before the swim. (Anyone who runs/swims who can speak to that?) Alternatively, I'd just go with him to cheer for him and do a shorter run along the trail near the race--really a nice setting, so I enjoy going with him, even if not to race.
My arms and shoulders are muttering darkly at me now, but if the pattern of my long swims holds out for this one, they should feel pretty good in a day or two. I seem to have a lot quicker recoveries from long swims than from long runs. What I may not have is as much time during the week as on weekends, but I can work things in if ppl feel they are vital.
So there you are... and if anyone thinks of suggestions in areas not covered by this post, please feel free to share them.
I'm excited about this swim, and a little scared too, but I figure both the excited and the scared feelings are part of the process and mean I'm a real live person. :)
In any event, thanks all for your help/suggestions/ and hey, cheers are cool too! :D
Hi Diane,
I am just so happy that you know you can complete the distance without too many problems and knowing this early on. I hope others, after the weekend, will step forward and give you their tapering advice before this swim. I do know that tapering is very individual and it depends upon how many yards/meters/miles you are swimming and running prior to the August 3rd swim event. I also know that because I am now much older, my taper has to be a bit more dramatic than the youngsters here.
But I do think that the one constant thing is to reduce the yardage by half the week before, maybe even 10 days. You can maintain your endurance by doing less yardge but higher intensity sets to a point.
I am amazed that you took what used to be a long swim (1,000 yds) and turned it into over 5 miles in less than eight weeks. This speaks volumes for your aerobic conditioning overall.
Let's see what others have to say after the weekend. Good going Innerfish!
donna
Thanks Donna--well, I would say it wasn't as much of a jump as from 1000 yds to 5 miles. I'd dipped down to about a thousand per swim after being sick--March had me kind of weakish but I'd reached over 4000 at the end of Jan. before getting sick, and then had a couple busy months with classes/teaching, but the yards gradually climbed to around an average of 2000 with some spikes of higher yards.
That said, I still was surprised at how much I'd been able to add on! I think those 800 yard repeats were really helpful for that purpose, since I was having to push at certain times and stay consistent throughout. Also the wisdom of having recovery days.... Not going full tilt every day... I was able to alternate with running which allowed me to keep the aerobic fitness and when I got in the water, I had a combination of both to back me up, as you suggest.
It's been quite a journey and it's not over yet!
Here's the scary part... I started to look at the MIMS web site and wondered what kind of swim I'd need to qualify... and then I said, "Self, you are SOOO not going there!" And I was about to type "yet" at the end of that last sentence. Do I need to be saved from myself? :eek: ;)
FMIF, I tend not to taper all that much for the 4.4 mi bay swims. I find that for me, the most important thing is to work out LCM beforehand, esp week of, so that I am fully used to getting into a groove and not having a lot of turns.
my recommendation is to get in LCM at least a couple times (if you're not already) and swim some sets that will get you trying to find a long distance groove, and then maintain that groove (mine was 8x200, 2x {easy, build, 2 groove pace}, ~20-30 sec rest).
on the day before, i never swim; just relax, and do NOTHING! eat something the night before you've eaten 100x w/o incident (same as morning of), I recommend watching Finding Nemo for inspiration (just keep swimming!!!) and then go git'r done!
its tough to taper for a swim of that distance, but as long as you put in the yardage ahead of time, you'll be golden!
Hi Diane,
I am just so happy that you know you can complete the distance without too many problems and knowing this early on. I hope others, after the weekend, will step forward and give you their tapering advice before this swim. I do know that tapering is very individual and it depends upon how many yards/meters/miles you are swimming and running prior to the August 3rd swim event. I also know that because I am now much older, my taper has to be a bit more dramatic than the youngsters here.
But I do think that the one constant thing is to reduce the yardage by half the week before, maybe even 10 days. You can maintain your endurance by doing less yardge but higher intensity sets to a point.
I am amazed that you took what used to be a long swim (1,000 yds) and turned it into over 5 miles in less than eight weeks. This speaks volumes for your aerobic conditioning overall.
Let's see what others have to say after the weekend. Good going Innerfish!
donna
FMIF, I tend not to taper all that much for the 4.4 mi bay swims. I find that for me, the most important thing is to work out LCM beforehand, esp week of, so that I am fully used to getting into a groove and not having a lot of turns.
my recommendation is to get in LCM at least a couple times (if you're not already) and swim some sets that will get you trying to find a long distance groove, and then maintain that groove (mine was 8x200, 2x {easy, build, 2 groove pace}, ~20-30 sec rest).
on the day before, i never swim; just relax, and do NOTHING! eat something the night before you've eaten 100x w/o incident (same as morning of), I recommend watching Finding Nemo for inspiration (just keep swimming!!!) and then go git'r done!
its tough to taper for a swim of that distance, but as long as you put in the yardage ahead of time, you'll be golden!
Thanks for your thoughts, Muppet! I actually like doing 200s, so this is a good thing to hear. I'm not really near any LC pools--did have a chance to do a meet in an area LCM pool and loved it! But other than that, my swimming has been SCY. Not the ideal prep for something like what I'm doing, but gotta do whatcha gotta do.
However, I'm going to do a little searching around and see what I can find LCMwise in my area for maybe at least a couple swims.
Someone who's doing my upcoming swim said he was thinking of--but decided to skip--taking antibiotics before the race b/c he said he didn't feel right afterward last time he did the race. I can understand both why he considered antibiotics and why he decided against them.
He said bacteria levels in the bay could be high. I'm thinking just make sure I'm taking my vitamin c to boost my immune system, but I'd rather not take antibiotics unless I have a specific condition that needs them.
How do you folks deal w/ boosting the immune system? I also wonder if it's simply a matter of the body being a bit broken down after that long a swim, b/c sometimes after a running marathon, I'm a little on the edge of coming down with whatever's going around.
I have some thoughts on a mini-taper for you so I will email you. I wouldn't worry so much about any antibiotics for this swim. Now if you were doing the Nile, I'd say run to your doctor for all kinds of injections (LOL). Unless you have a cut on your body which could cause a staph infection, I'd put all my energies into swimming the race of my life. So far, so good for you; keep doing what you are doing. We'll email!
Great, thanks much! I'll be on the lookout! Kind of went light the last couple days... just a matter of being able to get to the pool during the hours available as much as recovering fr/ my swim, but I am glad I went light b/c I could feel some clicks/tightness in my left upper arm yesterday (1200), better today, though (1600 yards)... did some 200s and was pretty happy w/ my pace today--easy to maintain a pace that used to be hard. Nice! But of course too short!
Ran tonight w/ my group, and we did a hill workout. I felt great and lots of energy, was in the lead a couple times in my ("less fast") group (as our coach tactfully says) and easily could have kept on going.
I have some thoughts on a mini-taper for you so I will email you. I wouldn't worry so much about any antibiotics for this swim. Now if you were doing the Nile, I'd say run to your doctor for all kinds of injections (LOL). Unless you have a cut on your body which could cause a staph infection, I'd put all my energies into swimming the race of my life. So far, so good for you; keep doing what you are doing. We'll email!
Thanks for the good wishes, Sandra! I think the MIMS would be another lifetime or two away for me as well... Funny, though, how the mouse clicking fingers misbehave on occasion. ;)
Sounds as if you're really doing great with the distance swimming also!
As for antibiotics, well, guess what! Since I last posted, I developed a toothache, and have to have a broken wisdom tooth removed tomorrow. The dr. said it would be (I hope she's right) only a couple days' recovery. Fortunately, no root canal... and I need to get rid of what's causing the toothache--no good swimming five miles w/ that! Anyway, as it happens, I was prescribed antibiotics--preventively for the extraction, but I should be done w/ them in a few days. How ironic really that I mention them and then find myself getting them prescribed for something unrelated to my original reason for considering them.
Oddly, the two activities that give me relief are... running and swimming! Did 3 miles yesterday, despite the toothache. Gotta love those endorphins! :groovy:
That run/swim/run event sounds like fun! I did a swim/run two years ago and was thinking of coming back this year to do it, but realized that the price had gone way up for anyone who wasn't registered early enough--and I'm trying to hold on to money b/c of traveling in August after the swim.
I wish there were more run/swim only events in the Philly area... most are triathlons, and the bike part doesn't interest me. I don't even own a bike!
I likely will run that five mile race next Sat. but pretty easy, just to enjoy the scenery. Given the five year age groups and the sometimes low turn-out in my a.g., who knows, I might even still win something! But either way, I'll enjoy myself... it's more a social race than competitive for me this time.
Good luck on your swim! You have really trained for this and will do fine. I don't have anything to add to what others have already posted about tapering - seems to be sort of an individual thing.
On using antibiotics, I'd hesitate about that, because the one that's usually used (Cipro) can be fairly hard on the liver, so it's not good for endurance athletes, and I've read that widespread use of antibiotics is contributing to the epidemic of really nasty, drug-resistant bugs. I use Emergen-C immune defense powder in my water - it has vitamin C, zinc, and other supplements.
A runner friend who knows a lot about natural health and healing suggests eating a clove of raw garlic a day. She cuts it into pieces and swallows them like pills, so as not to drive everyone away. She hasn't been sick in years, so maybe this really does work!
On doing the five mile run, I think either taking the run at a slower than usual pace or doing a shorter run would be fine (it would also give your arms and shoulders a break). I also run (slowly), and just started last year, so I'm hardly an expert! I did the Run Swim Run at Virginia Beach yesterday - it's a 1K beach run, 1K ocean swim, and 5K run on the boardwalk. Didn't place but it was a great day. I think the runners were afraid to swim out too far - the water was rough (I actually like it that way) and I came out ahead of runners who passed me on the boardwalk as if I were standing still. Have you done any combined events like that?
I also looked at the MIMS website - maybe next lifetime for me... or maybe That Dam Swim or the race around Key West next year...
