Hi all,
I just joined USMS and have committed to doing my first open water swim (1 mile) in two weeks! I'm way out of practice and have just recently gotten back into it. I've been swimming just about every day, but it takes me nearly an hour to swim a mile at the pool.
Am I in over my head?!??! Should I be this nervous and scared? I've been told I can do it, but I worry that I can't!? Right now, my goal is to finish...? Haha. Is that reasonable?
Any tips from you seasoned (or not!) open water swimmers would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you thank you and happy swimming!
Parents
Former Member
Question for you. If I can comfortably swim 100's on the 1:15-1:20 pace, how realistic is it that I can do that in my first OW race? I have my first OW race coming up in early August. I am anxious and excited, and really have no idea what to expect. I figure I will wear my watch and try and keep track of some form of time for pace.
Thoughts?
Being that I've been a swimmer for so long (although I just came back last year) I know my pace/effort pretty well and can tell within a second or two what kind of pace I'm holding on 100's. Another way to know is stroke count. If you can figure out how many strokes you are taking over a given distance (LCM is more accurate than SCY) and a given effort then you'll have a rough idea of distance. You could count from each buoy you pass on your OW swim and have an idea how far you are from/to the next one if they are evenly spaced.
I'm more the type of swimmer that likes to just get in a rhythm and just zone out and not think too much...even close my eyes for brief periods (sound nuts?!).
Don't be anxious, be excited! I just always know that if I have the training behind me I'll do fine. Its generally not so much the race, but the journey to get there. Like others have said, the race is the icing on the cake. I KNOW that I've put in a good 2-3 months of solid training for this, my first OW event, so I'm confident I'll do fine....where I finish I'm not worried about, let the chips fall where they may on this one. I have two others lined up this summer where I can expect a little more maybe.
Good luck!
PS. Here is a link to my blog, just to give you an idea what I've been doing. I'm tapering this week.
jeffpalm-swimming.blogspot.com/
Question for you. If I can comfortably swim 100's on the 1:15-1:20 pace, how realistic is it that I can do that in my first OW race? I have my first OW race coming up in early August. I am anxious and excited, and really have no idea what to expect. I figure I will wear my watch and try and keep track of some form of time for pace.
Thoughts?
Being that I've been a swimmer for so long (although I just came back last year) I know my pace/effort pretty well and can tell within a second or two what kind of pace I'm holding on 100's. Another way to know is stroke count. If you can figure out how many strokes you are taking over a given distance (LCM is more accurate than SCY) and a given effort then you'll have a rough idea of distance. You could count from each buoy you pass on your OW swim and have an idea how far you are from/to the next one if they are evenly spaced.
I'm more the type of swimmer that likes to just get in a rhythm and just zone out and not think too much...even close my eyes for brief periods (sound nuts?!).
Don't be anxious, be excited! I just always know that if I have the training behind me I'll do fine. Its generally not so much the race, but the journey to get there. Like others have said, the race is the icing on the cake. I KNOW that I've put in a good 2-3 months of solid training for this, my first OW event, so I'm confident I'll do fine....where I finish I'm not worried about, let the chips fall where they may on this one. I have two others lined up this summer where I can expect a little more maybe.
Good luck!
PS. Here is a link to my blog, just to give you an idea what I've been doing. I'm tapering this week.
jeffpalm-swimming.blogspot.com/
