Great Chesapeake Bay Swim 2008

Sounds like a good tune up event. Where can i find the info for entry? I'll do it...

OK folks, Where are people swimming open water on the Chesapeake Bay? Can we go right under the bridge?

I'm swimming the GCBS this year and have never done an open water race longer than 2 miles so I read all that y'all have written and planned my work and worked my plan. Only thing is now I'm beat and have been looking for advice. I've worked up to doing 20,000-24,000 meters a week with varying workouts, distances and strokes. I've been taking 2 days off in a row. My master's coach says to only swim about 15,000 a week and focus on drills and speed. He said not to do the long (8,000 meter) swims. Others tell me to add weight training. I hate to give up doing the long swims. Any advice? Oh and by the way, I'm 50 - not that that make a difference! Lori

You are taking 2 days off on a row meaning you swim 25 k in two or three workouts? 8 - 12k per workout? No matter how you slice it, if you are overstressed from swimming 25k per week backing off to 16k a week for a while seems prudent. Adding strength training 3 weeks before the race is not something I would recommend. You are having a hard time recovering now, strength training takes much longer to recover from than swimming and could make it worse. I'm swimming the GCBS this year and have never done an open water race longer than 2 miles so I read all that y'all have written and planned my work and worked my plan. Only thing is now I'm beat and have been looking for advice. I've worked up to doing 20,000-24,000 meters a week with varying workouts, distances and strokes. I've been taking 2 days off in a row. My master's coach says to only swim about 15,000 a week and focus on drills and speed. He said not to do the long (8,000 meter) swims. Others tell me to add weight training. I hate to give up doing the long swims. Any advice? Oh and by the way, I'm 50 - not that that make a difference! Lori

Lori, I don't know that I've done much more than ~15,000y average a week when preparing for this event. Judging by your comments, your stroke is probably falling apart. You've trained enough and built enough of a base that a few days off won't hurt, nor will backing off the yardage. When you get back in, I recommend you focus on shorter swims, throw in some other strokes or different (challenging) intervals to mix it up and maintain good technique. One thing I like to do is to keep doing IM and sprint sets since the "pain" comes quicker, but with less yardage. I find that a 3500y workout with a lot of IM is 5x more draining (and rewarding) than a 4500y nearly all free workout. A 3000y sprint workout is 5x more draining (and rewarding) than the IM workout. Remember, most casual marathoners rarely do training runs of 26.2 miles when training for their races. They usually end training somewhere around 22-24 miles. It sounds to me like you're doing the equivalent of running 28-9 miles on a regular basis. My experience has taught me that as long as you have the base and can keep getting to a pool regularly, you'll do just fine. Your last 1/2 mile will be all adrenaline anyway!

Let see you only do 10,000 yards a week which is not quite 6 miles. So you could do this swim on what you do, but you will hurt like crazy and at the end may think you should have swam more and why are you swimming this. If I were to train for this race I would swim either 4 X 1000s kick a 500 and cool down, or 8 X 500s, kick a 500 cool down. Or better yet, start with a 1000 warm-up, rest 1:00, then swim a 1500 straight, rest 1:00 minute and followed by a 1000 swim. Next, rest 2:00 minutes and do either 5 X 100 kicks on a fast interval or kick for 500 yards straight. Finish with 6 X 100 Frees on a fast interval then cool down about 200 yards. If you can do this the next 4 weeks 4 or 5 or 6 times a week. The 4.4 mile swim will be fun and not pain. Animal

Let see you only do 10,000 yards a week which is not quite 6 miles. So you could do this swim on what you do, but you will hurt like crazy and at the end may think you should have swam more and why are you swimming this. Animal, to counterpoint, I'd say I'm more in the 11-12k range, esp when we start LCM, and to defend my 15k a few posts ago, that is when I get in more than 3 times, which for me is rare, even in Bay preperation. I finished 31st last year and passed someone while swimming butterfly in the homestretch, which should tell you how I felt at the end. :weightlifter: Your set is a good idea, and certainly something I'll keep in mind for my personal training, but if you go back to Lori's first post (and cry for help), she had been swimming similar sets already and is burnt out on them. The distance is good for what it is good for, but some folks need to change it up every once in a while. With a coach (which she has) and a good attitude, that change can be made with good results. Looks like Lori's making some progress after switching it up.

Thanks guys! I've cut back a bit and suddenly my 100's got 5 seconds faster! I could cut back more since I'm still a bit tired and sounds like I can get by on less yardage. I feel reassured that I'm somewhat on track for this event. So more IM's and more sprints. That works for me. Thanks! forums.usms.org/.../smile.gif

Hey MAC, You think 7 hours of swimming a week is sick? Maybe you don't enjoy it.

I swim with Lori, and SHE IS GREAT. I always have thought she did way too much swimming, though. I don't see how mileage really relates to being ready to do a long swim. I think the key is to develop techniques that will let you do the yardage, without killing yourself. Last year I made a change in my technique, and surprised Lori in a couple of swims. She was used to me being slower, and suddenly I was (almost) keeping up. As long as you are enjoying swimming it really doesn't matter how much you are doing. I read somewhere that Jim McConica does as much as 7 hours per day. It's not sick; it's all what makes you happy. Lori is going to kick butt at the GCBS. Ciao,