Potomac River swim

I'm about the same weekly yardage as you, which serves me fine for the "slightly" shorter 4.4mi Bay Swim. Honestly, as long as you don't overdo yourself during the first couple miles of the swim and do some backstroke and breastsroke here and there to loosen up throughout, you should be fine to make it across with that current yardage. That being said, 7.5mi is a long way, and if I were in your shoes, I'd try to get in at least once more a week, even if just to monkey around, doing kicking, sculling and lots of slow technique. If you're swimming with a team those three days, try swimming during an open swim for a 4th day. When you end up in a lane with two other (slower) swimmers, you have to do some navigation and passing - which are good OW skills to have, and tough to work on in a pool. Doing this on days where you're not trying to haul through the water is a lot easier on them and you. Also, if you can, swimming in a Long Course (50m) pool gives you a better feel for the distance. If the stars align, I may join you one of these years - I almost signed up 3 years ago. I promised Cheryl I'd attempt it at some point.

This looks like a cool swim. I've been meaning to try to get into the Bay Swim one of these years and I've got a list of open water swims I want to do. I'm definitely adding this one to that list. Definitely won't make it out this year, but someday ... CMonster, I don't know what your background is, but I was training about that level (probably closer to 12K per week yardage) for a 3 mile open water swim and I definitely was wiped by the end of it. Over the last few years, I've done 2 to 5 open water swims per year, ranging from 1 to 3 miles. If I was going to try for a 7.5M open water swim, I'd want to do the following: get my yardage up closer to the 25K per week in the ~4 to 6 weeks leading up to the event the way I would probably do that is: do three workouts at about 5K per workout that were more "traditional" but distance-oriented pool workouts one, long workout a week approaching 10K, likely doing things like 10 x 1000, 5 x 2000 and even 1 x 10000. I'd want to get used to how my body reacted to the longer swims and how my mind reacted to the boredom study "feeding" techniques for open water swimming. I haven't been in a swim race long enough to warrant this, but, seeing that the 2007 times ranged from about 3.5 hours to 5 hours, I think you're going to need to know what works for you nutrition-wise Good luck and report back to the forum.

It is long (duh!), and your kayaker is very important! Cheryl, the race director, is a teammate of mine, and she'd swum it for years before she started running it, and loves to talk about it. Her email and phone number are up on the PR Swim website. They do a great job of managing the event, from camping, food, boats, etc. I have spoken to her briefly thorough e-mail. I guess that I have made myself a little nervous. I'm accepted to swim it, and im sending the fee in soon. I swim a lot but, i'm not all that sure if it's enough since it is all in a pool. I have no choice here in ohio. And it's SCY. And 85. The colder waters don't bother me above 60 as long as i'm moving. Does anyone have any direction as to long sets and weekly/daily yardage? i am currently doing 3x5000 yds a week.

It is long (duh!), and your kayaker is very important! Cheryl, the race director, is a teammate of mine, and she'd swum it for years before she started running it, and loves to talk about it. Her email and phone number are up on the PR Swim website. They do a great job of managing the event, from camping, food, boats, etc.

This looks like a cool swim. I've been meaning to try to get into the Bay Swim one of these years and I've got a list of open water swims I want to do. I'm definitely adding this one to that list. Definitely won't make it out this year, but someday ... CMonster, I don't know what your background is, but I was training about that level (probably closer to 12K per week yardage) for a 3 mile open water swim and I definitely was wiped by the end of it. Over the last few years, I've done 2 to 5 open water swims per year, ranging from 1 to 3 miles. If I was going to try for a 7.5M open water swim, I'd want to do the following: get my yardage up closer to the 25K per week in the ~4 to 6 weeks leading up to the event the way I would probably do that is: do three workouts at about 5K per workout that were more "traditional" but distance-oriented pool workouts one, long workout a week approaching 10K, likely doing things like 10 x 1000, 5 x 2000 and even 1 x 10000. I'd want to get used to how my body reacted to the longer swims and how my mind reacted to the boredom study "feeding" techniques for open water swimming. I haven't been in a swim race long enough to warrant this, but, seeing that the 2007 times ranged from about 3.5 hours to 5 hours, I think you're going to need to know what works for you nutrition-wise Good luck and report back to the forum. I've been a competitive swimmer for 25 years. I am adding a 4th (3-4k)swim and will be will add 10% total yardage per week while upping one workout past 10k. I'm down to 12k a week right now because of the holidays and a nasty upper back/neck issue that seems to be resolving itself. I'm able to manage nutrition pretty well since I also race endurance running and ironman. Come april I am scheduled to swim around 30k a week.(my wife does sports massage so I recover well:) ) Lastly, with the food, I will probably stick with Hammer products, Heed and Gel. 350ca/hr.

I was registered for this swim in 2006 but sadly the weather didn't cooperate the day of the swim so we just swam around the adjacent lake for 3-4 miles. I did feel completely prepared for the swim, if not too prepared, and I had only been in open water once that season before the swim. I wasn't planning on wearing a wetsuit, which makes things easier from a chaffing perspective, but I guess having the extra buoyancy can help. For training, I usually went to practice 4-5 days/week and stayed after on one of the weekend days and got in a few 1000s or 2000s. Most weeks I trained 15,000-22,000 yards and my longest week was 26,000 where I had set a goal to swim 12000 one weekend day. I ended up doing the team workout (5000 yards) + 1 x 3000 and 2 x 2000 on my own. The long straight 1000, 2000, and 3000 yard swims were good to get a feel for just swimming straight for long periods of time. Also, practice nutrition when you're at the pool. I always had a bottle of my energy drink and some snacks. And then there are things you just can't really train for...sea sickness. I get it bad in open water, but fortunately know that a coke can work wonders for me and usually makes me feel better, so on the long swims that I have done, I gave my kayaker a coke or two as a last resort. Good luck! Hope this helps :)

I am considering this swim too but for next year 2010. I am a little freaked out about the distance. I think I can make it. Masters swimmer for 10 years and I am doing the Bay for the second time this year--fast wave. Folks also tell me that a month of open water in the potomac river also helps...but where do you work out? DC?

I have no idea where people are getting their OW swims this early in the year. I will likely ony have about 4-5 OW workouts in before the event. Everything else is a pool. The distance will be fine, I feel like my pace will suffer though. Living in ohio makes OW's tough. How many people go into events like this w/ mostly pool training I wonder.

I did this race in 1998 and had a blast. It was run by the previous race director but I've heard great things about Cheryl running the race now. I got a great draw for my kayaker/guide. He had escorted swimmers previously and knew the tides & currents. Drink more than you think you need to, I got behind the hydration curve. I ate bananas and drank watered down Gatorade. Wear good sunscreen. I use Bullfrog. That year, Potomac was the first of 3 consecutive weekends of OW races for me. The next weekend was the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Swim and I was toast. Too close together. I'm doing the Bay Bridge this year but hope to pick up another OW race sometime this season. No wet suit this year. If I plan for it now, I figure it won't be a big deal on race day. Good Luck, Tree

Right now I do long straight swims every other wed. For example; 1500 WU, 4k on 52:00, 2x2k on 26:00, 2 x 1k on 13:00, 2x 500 on 6:30. 250 wd. I feel good that these days will set me up fine. It's not the distance, it the pace right? Given that type/intensity of training, you are going to have NO problem with this. Distance, not just intensity, counts for something too - keep in mind that teaching your body to supply continuous energy for a long time is a necessary skill also. It also teaches pacing. If you throw in a few 1.5-2 hour continuous swims, you will roar. Trust me, you will do fine. My main issue this year has been getting these damn colds. the take me out of the pol for 3 days. I'm also training for cleveland marathon on 5-17 and then IMKY in august. I would be willing to bet that you are getting sick so much because you are overdoing it and are slightly rundown. (Unless you work in a daycare center or similar.) Regardless, you need to go look up some of the articles on overtraining and check to see if you are having any other symptoms of overtraining (e.g. sleep problems, swollen glands, etc) and, if so, adjust your training accordingly. You can always go harder in a race if you are slightly undertrained than if you are slightly overtrained - especially if you are sick or injury as a result. -LBJ