So I'm nearing the end of my second season of open water swimming, and regardless of whether I ever get better or not, I'm hooked. I love the scenery, I love the challenge, and I love the feeling of being able to move freely in large bodies of water.
But. . . I would also like to get better. My race times haven't shown significant improvement. Where conditions are calm with little current, my 100 pace was at 1:28 for the first race I swam last year and 1:28 for the most recent such race I swam this year. I'm guessing my swim workouts need a change up to make progress here.
Initially my goal was getting over the mental barrier of swimming longer distances so my workouts (4-6 times per week) have been full of yardage, but little in the way of drilling or intervals.
Typical workouts include about 8 500's with an easy 50 in between each or sometimes I do a pyramid by 100 up to 500 and then back down with a kick set or pull set afterwards. At least twice a week, I do a long non-stop swim of 4K or so. Clearly, I haven't put much rhyme or reason into yet. What's worked for the folks who have improved in their 100 pace on long swims? I would love to get mine under 1:20.
My OW speed has improved significantly since I started focusing more seriously on pool races, specifically on the 100 back and the 400/500 free. My team has a lot of people who like mid-distance and IM races. I kick a fair amount. Aside from OW races, I do long-ish nonstop swims only about once a week, when I swim with my friend at a local beach. Our normal course is only about a mile.
If you can swim a long way at a steady pace without stopping, you won't lose that ability if you switch your focus more to working on your speed. To swim faster in races you have to swim faster in practice, which I think means that you need to use the clock and get your heart rate up out of the 4000-yards-without-stopping comfort zone. Use the "workouts" and "blogs" sections for ideas, and don't concern yourself about whether the workouts are for "pool" or "OW" racers.
Thanks to these suggestions and a couple others from another swimmer I share a pool with, I have been working in tougher set-type swimming and sprinting in with my usual regimen of long distances. My per 100 pace has dropped 3 seconds already. Thanks!!
I think ourswimmer's suggestions to try some stroke work and pool racing is spot on. Current world champion at 10k, Keri-Anne Payne, is a world class 400IM swimmer and much of her OW prep is pool medley work. Her strength, skills and agility in the water are impressive. You might find that doing some distance IM work complements your aerobic FS training.
PS If you are less comfortable with the form strokes, you could also try modified medleys eg 25 fly, 50 bk, 75 br, 100 free, or similar. It would add some variety and couldn't hurt your conditioning. (Trying to bring back the last 100 free at a good pace is always a challenge in an IM!)
I just finish up Madison open water swim and was sad that my time did not get much better. So I started doing some cross training. Running and ridding my bike. I guess I will see at the next one if it worked or not but I feel like I swim so much stronger. I can go a so much more distance then before. I know it sound crazy but I will swim a mile or two in the pool and then run a mile or bike some at home. My client that is a head trainer for a gym said that it would help. I would trust her because she dose half Ironmans she is a fast swimmer her self.So guess only time will tell if she is right or not.
