Goal this year was to do an organized 4.8 mile OWS, but they moved it from Oct. to Aug. As in this Sunday. Just need a little input from those that have done longer swims (and those that haven't). I've done about 200K yds this year,mostly at masters at 3K a pop. Just getting over an ear infection killed the last couple weeks.
Did our 2 local 2 mile pier to pier without a wetsuit in about 59 a couple weeks ago, but have only swam two miles straight twice this year. Can do 4K in a pool in about 1:15 without too many issues, including some IM and kick work, but that's about only halfway there. My 1.2 half ironman time is 30.
The swim would be in a wetsuit and the format (strange) would consist of four 1.2 mile legs where you have to come in to the beach (and the last two are loops, so we only start a couple miles down the beach). that's good and bad, I can rest, get fluids, etc., but getting in/out off the beach is where the effort comes in. But I can also bail every 30 minutes or so
There's a 2.4 mile option that I can fall back on, but I wanted to do the 4.8....
Just looking for objective advice whether this is stupid? go for it? It's not a typical safety open water question with the leg format. If it were a straight 4.8 I wouldn't consider it.
Former Member
I think currents do a play a bit of a role. But I was never good at readng them, so..... The prevailing current in this area at the time of year is a south to north current. This race is about 10 miles north of the 2 mile pier to pier. Both days were reported to have some current.
Of all the things from this race, i am most happy about the consistency of the splits. It tells me I paced well (thanks to your guys' advice), my effort level increased, but all that did is allow me to go about the same speed as I fell apart. I took a page from other long course training I've done, the issue at any given moment isn't how fast can I swim "now" but how fast can I swim so I am still swimming well at "X" miles. It takes concentration to back off, even if getting passed. I also mentioned it in the report, it's not always about who goes the fastest, but who slows down the least.
And I agree about the running analogy, though opinions differ I've always run half marathons in a similar way, i.e., easy 5K, steady 5K, build 5K and then hang on 5K, and want my 1st and 2d half splits to be about the same.
There was also a mention at the end that the course might have been a little short (I don't believe in short courses :) ). I have a friend that used a garmin and have asked if he took splits (for what it's worth, as it may not be totally accurate at swimming speeds).
I think I just might have to try a 10K next season!
Excellent job, and thanks for the race report.
I'm not surprised that you were able to do the distance, but I'm amazed at your time. I would have expected you to be slower than your 2-mile pace (1:32/100 yards), but you were actually faster (1:29/100 yards).
Can anyone explain that? Do most people expect to hold a fast pace for longer distances than they've trained for?
I'm doing the 5K Postal Swim this Sunday. I've been concentrating on shorter races this year (1K), but I log plenty of yardage during the week (usually about 20,000).
I want to get a shockingly good time too--is ChrisM's wild success an anomaly or would you have expected it?
Congrats to ChrisM on a great swim! It sounds like a lot of fun.
Not to take anything away from that, but I wouldn't pay any attention to the per yard rate. There are a lot of things in the open water that make it virtually impossible to compare speeds from one race to another. Between current, inaccuracies in measuring distance, etc., a per yard rate can vary wildly from one race to another.
For instance, I did two 2.4 mile races in the ocean this year, exactly one week apart. One took me 62:41. The other took 47:30. These were both point to point races, so there was little difference in the actual distance swum. There was a big current assist on the second, while the current was actually against us a little on part of the first.
Excellent job, and thanks for the race report.
I'm not surprised that you were able to do the distance, but I'm amazed at your time. I would have expected you to be slower than your 2-mile pace (1:32/100 yards), but you were actually faster (1:29/100 yards).
Can anyone explain that? Do most people expect to hold a fast pace for longer distances than they've trained for?
I'm doing the 5K Postal Swim this Sunday. I've been concentrating on shorter races this year (1K), but I log plenty of yardage during the week (usually about 20,000).
I want to get a shockingly good time too--is ChrisM's wild success an anomaly or would you have expected it?
Cool link! 7 am yesterday, 1/2 hour after the start, shows a north to south current
That means you probably did speed up on the last two legs. Your splits are only a little slower, and you were swimming part of those loops against the current.
map of surface currents (with historical data too)
server is slow, so it can take a while before the maps refreshes
www.sccoos.org/.../fullpage.php
Cool link! 7 am yesterday, 1/2 hour after the start, shows a north to south current
