Hi everyone-
I’m still pretty new to the forum and had a question specifically for someone new to open water swimming. Over the past few summers I’ve swam a lot of .5 to 1.0 mile open water pond swims. My main problem is breaking out of my routine and going longer distance like the 5k to 10k races.
I’ve been reading how some people train by jumping in and just doing non stop distance. It kind of appealed to me as I was reading about a swimmer who does a 1 mile pool swim (no breaks) 3 times a week.
Right now I’m sort of used to training on a pyramid 100,200,300, 400,500. However I’ve been thinking possibly the non stop mile swims may be better from the endurance standpoint?
Thanks again everyone. Let me know if your looking for a training partner in Massachusetts!
Parents
Former Member
Being an OW swimmer for some time now, I find that we all approach it differently which is a good thing. We all know our bodies and energy levels better than anyone else. I swim only in the ocean, no pool, so I sympathize with you who get that boredom associated with pool swimming.
But when I am home in Texas visiting, I do go to a pool. Because my swim will be a very long one, I always swim at least two hours in the pool. I don't count laps, etc., just time spent swimming. For many people, they swim a mile somewhere around 30 minutes, so you can judge it from there.
Training for a one mile swim is somewhat different than a 3 mile swim; not a lot, but some. What I have found for me is if I can swim 1 mile, then I can swim 3; I'm physically prepared for it from the 1 mile training. But a key for me is the feeding and hydration during training; it is crucial or I start getting leg cramps and then back spasms.
I have a place I swim OW that is exactly one-half mile around it. So every half-mile, I hydrate, every mile I feed, especially if I am trying, on that day, to swim 6 miles of training. Bad things can happen later on if one ignores what your body needs. I don't think for a 1 mile you need to do this, but for distances higher than this, your body will thank you, and your recovery later will be much faster so you can swim again the next day.
And every three days or so, I will have my sprint days whereby the yardage is decreased, but the energy output is intensified. An example is: easy half-mile, fast half-mile, until failure. This seems to build endurance so if I am racing, I have the ability to "change gears" to pass people when need be and my body will not suffer from that sudden outburst.
Just some of the things I do to train for long distances. And if you train for a slow mile, you will race a slow mile; you must incorporate some sprinting, say a broken 800 using each 200 for a different intensity. And unlike some others, I breathe every single stroke because I have found that my body needs oxygen more than anything else even though I also do hypoxic training.
Donna
Being an OW swimmer for some time now, I find that we all approach it differently which is a good thing. We all know our bodies and energy levels better than anyone else. I swim only in the ocean, no pool, so I sympathize with you who get that boredom associated with pool swimming.
But when I am home in Texas visiting, I do go to a pool. Because my swim will be a very long one, I always swim at least two hours in the pool. I don't count laps, etc., just time spent swimming. For many people, they swim a mile somewhere around 30 minutes, so you can judge it from there.
Training for a one mile swim is somewhat different than a 3 mile swim; not a lot, but some. What I have found for me is if I can swim 1 mile, then I can swim 3; I'm physically prepared for it from the 1 mile training. But a key for me is the feeding and hydration during training; it is crucial or I start getting leg cramps and then back spasms.
I have a place I swim OW that is exactly one-half mile around it. So every half-mile, I hydrate, every mile I feed, especially if I am trying, on that day, to swim 6 miles of training. Bad things can happen later on if one ignores what your body needs. I don't think for a 1 mile you need to do this, but for distances higher than this, your body will thank you, and your recovery later will be much faster so you can swim again the next day.
And every three days or so, I will have my sprint days whereby the yardage is decreased, but the energy output is intensified. An example is: easy half-mile, fast half-mile, until failure. This seems to build endurance so if I am racing, I have the ability to "change gears" to pass people when need be and my body will not suffer from that sudden outburst.
Just some of the things I do to train for long distances. And if you train for a slow mile, you will race a slow mile; you must incorporate some sprinting, say a broken 800 using each 200 for a different intensity. And unlike some others, I breathe every single stroke because I have found that my body needs oxygen more than anything else even though I also do hypoxic training.
Donna
