As I've gotten more precise about measuring distances in open water, I've been shocked to find out how SLOW my open water practice pace is.
The problem is that I don't have a visual cue in open water for how fast I'm going. I swim with other people, but I don't have a consistent OW swim buddy who is near my pace.
A few data points:
In the pool, my long-distance cruise speed is about 1:50/100 yards. I can hold that for at least an hour.
My OW 1K race pace is in the 1:50s--high or low 1:50s depending on conditions and how the course is measured.
My OW practice pace is 2:00-2:10 (Yikes!)
Yesterday, I did an experiment:
OW practice swim with a friend who is close to my pace. We stayed together the whole time and varied the intensity of our practice. Our average pace was 1:55/100 yards.
After he left, I waited about 30 minutes for some other friends to arrive. I got back in the water with them. (We were all in the water together, but not swimming together.) I used the tempo trainer and set it at 1.1 sec/stroke (54 strokes/minute). In the pool, that setting would keep me in the low 1:50/100 range. The chop had died down, and I felt great. I was disappointed to find out that my average pace was 2:07/100 yards.
When I'm pacing off of someone, I can visualize exactly what it will take to pass them. I'm sure I get a little adrenaline boost from the competition, but that's not the main thing. When I see someone ahead of me, my body just knows what to do to pass them. I don't necessarily give it a big physical effort, I just concentrate on letting my stroke close the gap.
I wish I knew more people who swam at my pace and wanted to practice regularly in OW, but I have a hard time finding them. Most of the people who want to get out there regularly are slower triathletes.
So how do you guys pace yourselves if you don't have a buddy to pace off of? I'd be grateful for any suggestions.
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Former Member
Thanks so much for the replies.
My guess is you are getting some help in the form of drafting. On your own you don't get that and you swim slower.
I'm not drafting. I get behind and then a little ahead. My buddy tends to swim off course, and I stay straight. It's the visual cue that helps me. I know I'm a faster swimmer, and somehow I can just *see* what it will take to keep up or pass him.
When I swim alone or find myself alone in a race I pace by perceived level of exertion. It takes a while to figure this out but once you do have it figured out it works quite well. In other words, know your pain and suffering points.
Tell me more about how you use perceived exertion. When I'm fresh, my perceived exertion is 0, even if I'm swimming my fastest. In the pool, I increase my stroke rate when I feel tired. In OW, that doesn't seem to work. My stroke gets shorter, and I experience more exertion without getting faster.
When I'm swimming in OW, I perceive Happy vs. Unhappy far more acutely than I perceive exertion. In the beginning, I feel Unhappy, especially if the conditions are tough. Even though I *love* OWS, and I'm out there at least 1-2x/week, I usually feel scared in the beginning. The longer I swim, the happier I feel.
When I try to do sprint sets in OW with no one to pace off of, I definitely perceive increased exertion. But my times don't show it. If I'm pacing off of someone, though, I intuitively know how to relax into speed.
I would caution you against translating your times from the pool to open water. Walls and clear water and no currents/tide make a difference.
Agreed. But, don't you think it's strange that my OW 100-yd pace would increase by 12 seconds when I don't have anyone to pace off of? Or that I'd be off by my pool pace by :15/100 using a tempo trainer under easy conditions? My OW race pace is only about 5 seconds off my pool race pace. It's the non-pacing practice swims where I really slow down.
Thanks so much for the replies.
My guess is you are getting some help in the form of drafting. On your own you don't get that and you swim slower.
I'm not drafting. I get behind and then a little ahead. My buddy tends to swim off course, and I stay straight. It's the visual cue that helps me. I know I'm a faster swimmer, and somehow I can just *see* what it will take to keep up or pass him.
When I swim alone or find myself alone in a race I pace by perceived level of exertion. It takes a while to figure this out but once you do have it figured out it works quite well. In other words, know your pain and suffering points.
Tell me more about how you use perceived exertion. When I'm fresh, my perceived exertion is 0, even if I'm swimming my fastest. In the pool, I increase my stroke rate when I feel tired. In OW, that doesn't seem to work. My stroke gets shorter, and I experience more exertion without getting faster.
When I'm swimming in OW, I perceive Happy vs. Unhappy far more acutely than I perceive exertion. In the beginning, I feel Unhappy, especially if the conditions are tough. Even though I *love* OWS, and I'm out there at least 1-2x/week, I usually feel scared in the beginning. The longer I swim, the happier I feel.
When I try to do sprint sets in OW with no one to pace off of, I definitely perceive increased exertion. But my times don't show it. If I'm pacing off of someone, though, I intuitively know how to relax into speed.
I would caution you against translating your times from the pool to open water. Walls and clear water and no currents/tide make a difference.
Agreed. But, don't you think it's strange that my OW 100-yd pace would increase by 12 seconds when I don't have anyone to pace off of? Or that I'd be off by my pool pace by :15/100 using a tempo trainer under easy conditions? My OW race pace is only about 5 seconds off my pool race pace. It's the non-pacing practice swims where I really slow down.
