You seasoned open water veterans have any tips for a pool guy who is clueless without walls and a pace clock?
I did 2 miles in a lake with some friends this morning. It was the third time I've done an open water workout. I've also done 3 races (1994, 2008, 2009).
It was unpleasant to have no idea how much farther I had to go. We were turning around at the other side. At one point, I thought the shore looked around 50 yards away but based on stroke count it was 200+.
I knew it was around 700 yards from the last buoy on the way back. I just tried to go as fast as I could maintain, and hope the other side eventually showed up.
Unless you are in some kind of distress don't worry about "how much farther". You will get there when you get there. You may get better at estimating distances, but your distance and the time of the swim may differ drastically. For example, I have done open water ocean swims where I would swim for an hour one way along the beach then turn around and swim for 10 minutes to get back to my starting point.
If you want to vary your workout you can vary speed/effort by a number of strokes or by time or buoy to buoy.
Unless you are in some kind of distress don't worry about "how much farther". You will get there when you get there. You may get better at estimating distances, but your distance and the time of the swim may differ drastically. For example, I have done open water ocean swims where I would swim for an hour one way along the beach then turn around and swim for 10 minutes to get back to my starting point.
If you want to vary your workout you can vary speed/effort by a number of strokes or by time or buoy to buoy.
