OK I got in. The most I have swam is 2 miles open water. I swim about 10K yards a week with 2 masters workouts a week. Now what. This race is 4.4 miles.
The race date is June 8. I think I can answer my own question... double (or triple!) my weekly yardage, hold yourself back on the start, finally, grit your teeth and "enjoy" gutting it out.
Ideas for training?:confused:
I'm in too! No good advice for you, because I'm doing even less yardage than you are at the moment. Not sure what I'm going to do about that. I swam it in 1989 (while training about 60000 yards a week) and swore I'd never do it again. :shakeshead:
I've been thinking about this too . . . not for the Chesapeake but my 3 mile lake swim in June 2008.
I need to work up to
2500 yd Mon
2500 yd Tue
2500 yd Wed
2500 yd Thu
5000 yd either Sat or Sun
then go to
3K per weekday (M-Th) & 6K one wkend day.
For me, as I'm sure it is for most people who work, it is a time thing. I'll be pushing it to get 2500 in per weekday before the pool closes if I rush over after work.
I also want to get in a spring open water (1 mile) somewhere, just for the experience.
Nice to get the specifics down.
Thanks for making me think about this,
k
I can't recall having done any more than ~5100 or so yards/ 4500lcm at any point before the last three bay swims, and I seem to be doing just fine at the event. My thought is that as long as you are getting in consistently and doing a fair amount of yardage when you do get in, you'll be ok. I find it helps doing a bunch of long course workouts too (to prepare for long distances w/o turns).
Since you haven't done anything close to the distance yet, I suggest getting a 7,000M or 7,700 yard swim done as soon as you can. Mentally you'll have that out of the way and can go about the business of training.
As for training sets get your set swim times up over 30 minutes. That's 30 minutes of swimming without having your heart rate drop to recovery levels. Not more than 30 seconds rest or so.
Mostly you can just crack any swim training book and have a look-see and you'll be on course. The training for a 1500 swimmer isn't so different than what you would do for the Bay Swim.
Do the 1 mile this year and see how you like it. Then you can plan for the 4.4mile for next year. I love the 1 mile. It is great fun.
Swimmy
:cheerleader:
I can't recall having done any more than ~5100 or so yards/ 4500lcm at any point before the last three bay swims, and I seem to be doing just fine at the event. My thought is that as long as you are getting in consistently and doing a fair amount of yardage when you do get in, you'll be ok. I find it helps doing a bunch of long course workouts too (to prepare for long distances w/o turns).
Your words are encouraging. I too heard the voice saying "you gotta do this!" After moving to the area 17 years ago I've been toying with swimming the bay. This year after my daughter ran the Marine Corp and was so proud of herself, I said "I gotta do this!"
For an old guy who has been swimming for 27 years, 1,800 yards a workout, 4x a week, a 4.4 mile open water swim sounds intimidating. I've never done an open water anything before.
I'm going to look around for someone to help me get in condition because I too do not know how many yards I need to log and in what fashion, but in additon to that, how do you go straight when there's no line to follow?
Also, how much buoyancy do the wetsuits give you? Do they help a lot?:confused:
Sounds like you're in good position already with your base yardage. I approach training for this race like marathon training, with 2-3 midsize workouts during the week and then one slow, long one on the weekend. Gradually build up the distance on that long workout, being careful not to overdo it too fast - remember to keep to the 10% increase per week, and build in periodic "break" weeks where you drop your yardage to allow your body to recover. Being the dork that I am, I usually create an Excel spreadsheet to help me calculate the distance I should be covering on the long workouts throughout my training.
The long workouts can get boring, especially at the end when you're in the 6500+ range. String together a bunch of interesting 1000s; look on the internet for good long distance workouts; try lots of ladder sets; etc.
You're going to love this race - good luck!
OK. These are encouraging words! I swam a 1600 yd set last night with the masters group--on a 1:45 base time. I made the time no problem but it hurt a bit. Now mulitply that times 4...yikes. At that pace I will have my tongue hanging out of my mouth by mile 3.
What I usually do in open water races though is kick for say 10 mintues and then no kick for 10 minutes--on and off. The wetsuit lets me rest for those 10 minutes to recover.
I have also heard that depending on waves and wind, swimmers have to breath only on one side for a majority of the race. True?
Number 6 this year for me. Keep the training varied or you will be bored out of your mind. I continue to do interval training and tighten the intervals. Believe it or not, one of the best ways to get inshape is to do IM's. String together some 400 IM's and you'll be on your way. Getting acclimated to long swims doesn't take as much as you think.
