Greetings,
This is my first post and I'm preparing for my first race so forgive me if I'm asking common questions that are already answered elsewhere in this forum: i missed them. To organize this thread I'm going to give a little history about my swim background, tell you where I'm at now, my goals, and then finish with a list of questions. Thank you in advance to anyone who takes the time to answer any question.
History:
I grew up swimming a lot as a child. Partly on various swim teams, and partly in open water (lakes and oceans). I'm very comfortable in the water. I stoppped swimming around 10 and didn't pick it up again until I was 16. I swam competitively my last to years of HS and was good considering my experience (probably due impart to the fact that I'm 6'5"), specializing in sprints--mostly butterfly and freestyle.
Now:
For the past few years I've swam OW with a friend 2 or 3 days a week for the duration of the summer. These swims have been pretty relaxed and span distances of a half mile +/- 0.25 miles. We usually take a rest around the middle of the swim, 30 secs-5 minutes depending on daily BS levels. I live across the street from both the beach and a 25m (maybe yards actually) pool but I don't use the pool since the ocean is free and more enjoyable.
The Goal:
I quit smoking cigarettes 2 weeks ago and I need a reason to stay quit. I found it: a 5k OW swim on Sept 29 (about 18 weeks). They are also offering 1k and 2.5k events.This week I started my serious training. 3 swim days alternated with 3 cross training days, followed by 1 day off. Swim training consists of 2 OW distance days and 1 speed day in the pool. Crosstrain day will be Run/Core days (I'm at about 2 miles now barefoot beach running and have body weight resistance exercises for core training after the run. These exercises were taken from a strength training for swimming speed book I found at a book store. I have extensive time to train.
Questions:
1. Is my goal of a 5k race achievable in 18 weeks? This is a jump from .5 miles to 3 miles. Or should I aim for the 2.5k?
2. Can anyone recommend some good OW books to get me focusing better on technique, diet, training plans?
3. Suggestions for tweaking my current training plan? Or completely changing it?
Honestly, I'd rather avoid the pool entirely.
4. I haven't measured my stroke rate yet, but I'm sure it's pretty low compared to OW swimmers. Should I focus on shortening my long smooth pool stroke?
5. Any tips from the veterans out there?
6. Should I join the local masters swim club. Note: I hate pool swimming but could probably use some stroke tweaking.
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Former Member
Questions:
1. Is my goal of a 5k race achievable in 18 weeks? This is a jump from .5 miles to 3 miles. Or should I aim for the 2.5k?
3. Suggestions for tweaking my current training plan? Or completely changing it?
Honestly, I'd rather avoid the pool entirely.
4. I haven't measured my stroke rate yet, but I'm sure it's pretty low compared to OW swimmers. Should I focus on shortening my long smooth pool stroke?
5. Any tips from the veterans out there?
6. Should I join the local masters swim club. Note: I hate pool swimming but could probably use some stroke tweaking.
I train each year for a 2 1/4 mile race. Usually I start from near scratch 8-12 weeks before the race. That's isn't really enough to do my best, but it's ok for doing the distance.
If you increase your distance by about 300 - 400 yards each week, that should get the distance under your belt.
I do (or...uh...WILL do) 3 swim workouts a week 1) distance 2) race pace, and 3) sprints. Along with two or three bike or running workouts a week. That worked out pretty well. For me, in my 50's, every other day swimming works a lot better then every day and is more enjoyable, too.
When I'm increasing my distance, I switch between crawl, *** stroke and backstroke. This increases my endurance more than it increases overuse problems.
I suggest being careful about pushing your limits in open water. Minor trouble is quite rare in open water.
If it were me, I would look for a shallow beach where I could swim some distance like 100 to 400 yards straight and have the water waste-level shallow.
That way you can do the last 1000 yards of a new distance for you, most of your pacing, and all of your sprints in water you can easily stand up in. (You can still drown in that water, though, don't kid yourself).
When you start increasing your distance, really, REALLY increase your stretching. After I've done a few weeks of distance (over 3000 yds) swimming, I seem to need the stretching less. Do the stretching as soon as you can after you get out of the water - or else do some shoulder calisthetics for a while to warm up before stretching.
Getting some kind of coashing for your stroke can make a big differnce. You might be able to convin$$$e a coach to come to your open water space to do that, but if not, it would be well worth a few visits to a pool.
If you do decide to follow Geog's advice and just go for the 3 miles in open water without preparation? I suggest you ride your motorcycle very fast in the rain to get to the water, smear yourself with seal fat, smoke a joint, then wait for lightning to start flashing before you go in. Gives the program a certain unity.
Questions:
1. Is my goal of a 5k race achievable in 18 weeks? This is a jump from .5 miles to 3 miles. Or should I aim for the 2.5k?
3. Suggestions for tweaking my current training plan? Or completely changing it?
Honestly, I'd rather avoid the pool entirely.
4. I haven't measured my stroke rate yet, but I'm sure it's pretty low compared to OW swimmers. Should I focus on shortening my long smooth pool stroke?
5. Any tips from the veterans out there?
6. Should I join the local masters swim club. Note: I hate pool swimming but could probably use some stroke tweaking.
I train each year for a 2 1/4 mile race. Usually I start from near scratch 8-12 weeks before the race. That's isn't really enough to do my best, but it's ok for doing the distance.
If you increase your distance by about 300 - 400 yards each week, that should get the distance under your belt.
I do (or...uh...WILL do) 3 swim workouts a week 1) distance 2) race pace, and 3) sprints. Along with two or three bike or running workouts a week. That worked out pretty well. For me, in my 50's, every other day swimming works a lot better then every day and is more enjoyable, too.
When I'm increasing my distance, I switch between crawl, *** stroke and backstroke. This increases my endurance more than it increases overuse problems.
I suggest being careful about pushing your limits in open water. Minor trouble is quite rare in open water.
If it were me, I would look for a shallow beach where I could swim some distance like 100 to 400 yards straight and have the water waste-level shallow.
That way you can do the last 1000 yards of a new distance for you, most of your pacing, and all of your sprints in water you can easily stand up in. (You can still drown in that water, though, don't kid yourself).
When you start increasing your distance, really, REALLY increase your stretching. After I've done a few weeks of distance (over 3000 yds) swimming, I seem to need the stretching less. Do the stretching as soon as you can after you get out of the water - or else do some shoulder calisthetics for a while to warm up before stretching.
Getting some kind of coashing for your stroke can make a big differnce. You might be able to convin$$$e a coach to come to your open water space to do that, but if not, it would be well worth a few visits to a pool.
If you do decide to follow Geog's advice and just go for the 3 miles in open water without preparation? I suggest you ride your motorcycle very fast in the rain to get to the water, smear yourself with seal fat, smoke a joint, then wait for lightning to start flashing before you go in. Gives the program a certain unity.
