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.
I'm hoping to do the Swim the Suck this year as well. For reference my typical per 100 yd pace in a pool is about 1:25-1:27. I just did the Chattanooga River Rat 4.5 race which is a little farther down stream and calculated an average of 1:20 per 100 yd.
While there was no current to speak of at the beginning of the swim, it started to be a factor during the last mile. Also, I'm not sure the course went a full 4.5 miles. Those that have done both said the current during the Swim the Suck in October is typically more substantial.
I'm hoping to do the Swim the Suck this year as well. For reference my typical per 100 yd pace in a pool is about 1:25-1:27. I just did the Chattanooga River Rat 4.5 race which is a little farther down stream and calculated an average of 1:20 per 100 yd.
While there was no current to speak of at the beginning of the swim, it started to be a factor during the last mile. Also, I'm not sure the course went a full 4.5 miles. Those that have done both said the current during the Swim the Suck in October is typically more substantial.
