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Cr@p Swimmers R Us
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Thanks, Blisters. All sounds like a lot to think of, but good advice! I am not leaving the pool just yet, and I'm working on your theory from a while back 2xweek for 6 weeks and I'll be doing 400 m FC! Next target is NW sprint inSeptember - pool 500 m. I really enjoyed my first tri, but the swim was poor time compared to the rest.
so I bottled the medium lane as it was too full and the OAP area was nearly empty. I'm still trying too hard...I need to slow it down...I managed an extra 4 lengths in my 30 minutes, but there was a lot of gasping for breath at each end...the next planned swim is friday...I've got just over a month to my next triathlon...I hope I'll be better by then...
Blisters - thanks ever so much! It's a beach start so I'll let everyone run in and I'll amble down so I'll be starting last out of my wave. We then have to do a triangle shape right out in open sea
, I'm just praying that the wind gods will have be kind as I think I'll struggle if it's very rough.
How do you 'train' in OW? In pool I follow drills sets, vary speed but in the lake I just kind of chug round. What should I be doing or do I just splash round and do the rest in the pool?
Thanks
I'm no swim scientist, but apply a little bit of logic to my simple approach.
-I do exactly what coach says in our weekly pool based training session.
-On my other swim session during the week I am focussing on endurance. Try to keep the stroke consistent, and as efficient as possible. I usually time the distance, so I've got some marker for race day or for what sort of effort level I should be able to keep up.
-In the lake, there are 3 specific things to keep in mind. Sighting, sighting, sighting. After that, the vagaries of the day might mean a change in breathing pattern due to chop or swell. Of course, with a wettie you'll be in a different position in the water, so remember to adjust your head down or you'll get neck/back ache. I think that's right.
All those months of practising my technique ....then the half ironman seaswim gets shortened to 1km due to 4ft waves and strong currents! it was more suited to surfing than swimming and I was petrified. Quite a few were pulled out of the water after getting into difficulty. After 32 mins I managed to get back to the beach and was extremely relieved. After that experience I think my next one is going to be in a lake!
Oh crap, Molly, you're scaring me, I was already starting to get nervous about Challenge Weymouth half, that's a sea swim as well and living where I do, my first sea swim this year will be the day before the race!
BI - If I did it then anyone can do it! I can't even ride a bike properly and I stiil managed to do a half IM. I can't take my hands off the handlebars yet so I have to stop for food. When's Weymouth?
14 September, it's my celebration event as my birthday is the 16th. Do come and do it, I think there's still places available, it would be brilliant to meet up with you.
For eating and drinking on the bike - practice practice practice! One year doing a recce of the Frankfurt IM bike course I noticed a woman practicing taking a drink or food from a partner on the roadside, seemed a good idea so I got my OH to do the same for me.
A small measure of progress - more crawl than breaststroke this evening (and by choice)
I'm moving down south soon and will have to resort from a 25m pool to a 20m pool by the looks of things, not ideal but then again not the worst, maybe I should do a little research in to finding a 25m one
BI
I've never seen Weymouth sea being angry. You'll be fine.
Thanks! First OW swim of the year today, really enjoyed it, about 1km across the lake, OH and I swam there and back, and then I did another couple of hundred metres back out again. He is racing tomorrow in a tri relay team, is always in demand for relay swims as he can always be relied upon to come out in the first group of swimmers.
ps - I still haven't told him yet that I've entered Challenge Weymouth!
Hi guys, I have dipped in and out of this thread over the years.
My OW swimming is improved since I last posted (a good while back) and my breathing is not really an issue any more. It used to be the main one. I no longer panic and can comfortably swim 1500m. (I know that is still pretty rubbish)...
Anyway, my main issue now is sighting... I don't swim straight at the best of times and therefore feel I need to sight say every 8th individual arm stroke. However I find sighting really labouring. Is there a better technique to sighting to allow me to actually see where I am going (or supposed to be going) and/or keeping straight towards a target (ie the next buoy). I feel I am wasting so much time/energy zig-zagging and lifting my head to see and hence I am slower than the pool. I also must be one of few people who are slower in their wetsuit than out... I just find them restrictive and will happily go without where possible (especially in a tri to save a chunk of time in T1).
Any advice/comments welcome!!!
This is the easiest way I found with the least impact on the stroke.
UTC, sighting is an art. I wish I had it.
However, it's not all as bad as it seems. There's a few tips from a rank beginner:
- if you change direction because you are "off", double check your new alignment within a stroke or two. I always over-correct.
-open water is murky, but sometimes you can see a little bit. Although there are no lines on the bottom, you can still get an idea that you are going in the same direction as you planned. It's all a bit peripheral, but seems to be more effective than if there is no visibility of the bottom.
-if you are swimming in a line feature such as a river or canal, your normal breathing rotation can be used to check if you are the same distance from the bank. Even Seren Nos manages to swim into the bank occasionally, so just join her club.
-keep practising
I swam in the Lancaster canal at Garstang today, frightening 2x boaters and 1x angler. About an hour, and rather pleasant if the truth be told.
Personally, I'm struggling with stroke timing. I have only recently started to get it into my head that I need to hold out my leading arm until my stroke arm is out of the water and on its way back. Think catch-up stroke. Accuse me of gliding if you want to, but it's working.
Took a day off work, and went to Cotswold Lake 32. 3 laps, that's 2250m in an hour. All focus was on long powerful strokes, rotating, and timing the recovery arm. At the club sessions we had been increasing the stroke rate, but this was becoming detrimental to the rest of the stroke, primarily because it isn't second nature yet.
There weren't many there, and at one point I could see that I was definitely catching up on the bloke who was without wetsuit. He must have been going steady. "AHA! I've cracked this" I was thinking. Right up to the point when 2 ladies just swam past me like I wasn't there. They weren't even using their legs.
Keep on keeping on.
Hubby doesn't use his legs to kick either, just for balance - doesn't slow him down any, he still did 36 mins yesterday for 2km in an OW tri swim.
BI - I would love to meet you but it's not going to Weymouth I'm afraid as I'm doing a marathon 2 weeks later and I'm hoping to have a go at getting a GFA. HAve you told Mr BI yet?
36 mins is amazing....I could do with getting some swim vibes off him
Blisters - sounds like you had a lovely day off work. When's your next race?
OH - out of choice more crawl? you must be getting good then, well done!
Ultratrichick -I've just about fathomed the sighting lark - apart from the fact that my goggles are all fogged up and I can just see blurred images
I went swimming in the sea yesterday without a wetsuit ...i tried swimming without a cap on as well but my hair was wafting about and getting on my nerves. It was a tad chilly at first. I'm just so slow though...how do I get faster?
Molly, a friend gave me a great tip which helped me a lot. Imagine a jar with just a little of your favourite left in the bottom, Nutella, marshmallow fluff, peanut butter, whatever. Use your fingers to scoop out what's left in the bottom of the jar. Helped me to a better pull.
Does that mean I don't have to leave the kitchen cupboards to do my technique work?
32 front crawl to 8 (heads up) breaststroke yesterday evening - the head ups were necessary to get rid of all the swallowed air!
Think I'm needing to calm breathing down rather than gulping (and ingesting) big breaths.
Hi UTC didn't realise you popped in here
Hi OH,
Well, hadn't been on any threads for some time but with tri becoming the dominant event now and swimming being my weakest discipline I need the help, have been lurking for a few weeks
Entering our 1st Half IM this yr (yikes!!) - Highland Warrior - at end of August. The cycling has been getting a lot of attention of late as has the swimming. Less so the running but ramping that up now.
1500m ish in a fresh water lake this morning (Bardowie on the outskirts of Glasgow near Milngavie)... gorgeous morning and my sighting wasn't as bad as it usually is/has been lately
Progress!! Today anyway... breathing is definitely 110% better!!
Still slow as a day in the jail but...
Hard turbo session and a short run today too. All good!!
Swim at Lake 32 this morning, and home again by 10 for some work (as you can witness). Gorgeous. Ever so slightly less slow today, because I had the opportunity to draft behind 2x 70 year old pensioners for part of it. Then they swam ahead of me and I was Hans Solo again.
Lake temperature was looking like 20 degrees. It could be 24 by the weekend.
Tried tumble turns for the first time this evening (after having read page in Swim Smooth)
Did manage to turn through 180°, not to knock my head against end and even manage a push off more times than not. Pool was quite quiet so not too many around to laugh at my puny efforts!
Certainly no speed benefit as yet.
Room for improvement, methinks
I've just been looking back through my training diary ... an i have only swam 3400m this year
OH, I wouldn't waste too much time on tumble turns as you won't get to use them in a triathlon, and in OW there's nowhere to push off from! Or maybe you are planning to do some swim races, in which case I take it back.
Hi all, just looking for some advice regarding sighting at the moment I tend to lift my head just before I start my pull and have started to think it might be causing a slight pause in my stroke just wondering what part of cycle others begin to lift their head.