I have been swimming for some time now. I usually do about 4000 yards four days per week. I have never done a long distance swim. I'm not sure why but I have been tossing the idea around in my head to swim a 30-38 mile Fresh water swim at the end of August. I'm not concerned about the time it takes. I'm thinking I would need a support crew, nutrition while underway, lights etc. etc. I would appreciate any feedback and insight you could lend regarding workouts to build up, experiences, recommended suit, food, etc. etc.
Lets hear it.
I did a 20 mile swim race after I was swimming about 20 miles/week the 2 months prior (I was doing significantly more than that before then though). It was a pretty intense swim - especially mentally.
There are so many factors that go into a marathon swim (especially one 30+ miles). If you are doing 4k a few times per week, I would say chances are very high that you wouldn't finish because your body literally just wouldn't be able to function for that long. The slower you swim, the longer it will take as well.
As for nutrition, one of the best tips I received was, along with my regimented intake of fluids and calories, to have treats as well. Whether it is candy, chocolate, or literally just anything you enjoy - it will be key to surviving the swim mentally. It is something to look forward to, because believe me, you'll need that. It can get real depressing halfway through a ten hour race.
As for regular intake, I'd say get some fluid and calories every 15 minutes.
You had one rule of thumb earlier about swimming the race distance weekly.
Another rule of thumb is that you should have swum 60% of the distance of the swim at least once.
Dover Solo is a good reference, Penny Lee Dean's book on open water swimming is also good in terms of seeing how much swimming you'd be looking at.
For my own part, I have gotten a lot of good out of two particular diametrically opposed workouts.
1. Long swims underfed. Something like 10k intentionally without any food or sugar before practice and then with only 100 calories pr so per hour during. This is to replicate the depletion, low blood sugar and low mental state you will inevitably feel on race day.
2. Long swims practicing nutrition exactly. I am continually surprised by how many people don't do this. mix up exactly what you will use on race day and drink it in exactly the amounts you intend to drink on race day and at the same intervals. Start with 1.25 calories per pound per hour as a first guess on how much will work for you. I use maltodextrin mixed into gatorade, others have their own favorites.
Good luck,come on out to some of the other open water races, it's fun.
You had one rule of thumb earlier about swimming the race distance weekly.
Another rule of thumb is that you should have swum 60% of the distance of the swim at least once.
Dover Solo is a good reference, Penny Lee Dean's book on open water swimming is also good in terms of seeing how much swimming you'd be looking at.
For my own part, I have gotten a lot of good out of two particular diametrically opposed workouts.
1. Long swims underfed. Something like 10k intentionally without any food or sugar before practice and then with only 100 calories pr so per hour during. This is to replicate the depletion, low blood sugar and low mental state you will inevitably feel on race day.
2. Long swims practicing nutrition exactly. I am continually surprised by how many people don't do this. mix up exactly what you will use on race day and drink it in exactly the amounts you intend to drink on race day and at the same intervals. Start with 1.25 calories per pound per hour as a first guess on how much will work for you. I use maltodextrin mixed into gatorade, others have their own favorites.
Good luck,come on out to some of the other open water races, it's fun.
A reasonable rule-of-thumb is to aim to swim your target distance every week for at least several months. For a 35-mile swim, that's about 61,000 yards per week. That's a lot of swimming; but then, a 35-mile swim is a very long swim.
that was good to hear. I am planning a "long" swim in aug. 21.5km. once the lake ice melts i will start swimming outside 3-4 times a week with 3-4 pool swims. from april through May I should be up to 20km a week. in june and july even longer if I can find enough swimming partners.
I probably swim less distance leading up to my swims than most. I do that because I have a compromised shoulder that puts a limit on it. (Actually I should say that it used to, because marathon swimming has actually improved my shoulder). However, I put a lot of hours on my bike trainer doing 2 hour interval workouts.
