While I live in Florida I am not close enough (within a 2 hour drive) to meet up with a group for open water swimming practice. I occasionally go out to Vero Beach and talk to the guards and then go swim up and down the beach in range of the towers, for the most part, but recent aquatic life issues (sharks) have made me a little skittish of long swims out in that direction by myself.
I am trying to compensate with extremely long pool workouts, in a variety of water temps and pools. In my last OW swim I did reasonably well (Swim Miami Beach) and hope to keep improving.
Any thoughts for the solo swimmer?
I found myself in the same situation. I have not been in the open water in a while, nor really lap swimming either. But finally got back in the pool. I have always had a hard time getting too used to the pool, since I spend most of my time in the open water.
The one positive side to the a lap pool is that the higher water temp will give you better conditioning. I am higher up on the East Coast, so I am a cold water swimmer. In water below 65, my heart rate in the water never goes into the good aerobic conditioning zone. But I suspect in FL, during the fall and late summer, the open water is probably about the temp of most lap pools? or is that a poor assumption?
Do you wear a heart rate monitor? I got a garmin a while back and found it very useful for tracking the endurance side of training, because of the water temp.. And it has been helpful. Especially when you get in the warmer water.. The heart rate differences in 83 degree versus 81 or 78 is major.
