I'd swim 5 or 6 times per week.

FTFY.

Congrats on your lottery win! GCBS is a great event.

Before we get too deep into training advice; a couple of questions for you;
-What is your swim background?
-How comfortable are you in open water?
-When you say (3000-4000 yds) is that per swim? or per week?
-Do you have major races/events around the bay swim?

General training advice:
3 swims/week is a good starting point; I would build to 4 or 5 swims/week as you get closer.
I would build your workouts to 6500-7000m with some long (1+ hr) continuous swims throw in
If you can get open water swims in, great.
If you don't have other important races close to the bay swim, I would pull back (slighty) on you bike/run to give you more time to get swims in.

See you on the beach

@ mhepp ... thanks for the feedback.

-What is your swim background?
I've been swimming recreationally ever since I was a kid. I'm not really built like a swimmer (short torso, long legs), and I don't think I'll ever get much faster, but I'm steady.

-How comfortable are you in open water?
Very. Regardless of whether a swim is wetsuit-legal or not.

-When you say (3000-4000 yds) is that per swim? or per week?
I swim about 3000 yards twice/week (usually some combo of technique and endurance drills) and 4000 yrs once/week straight through. All in a pool.

-Do you have major races/events around the bay swim?
I have a half marathon in mid-March that I'm taking semi-seriously. Then, I'm pretty open until the GCBS. I have two Olys in May, but those are 'C-type' fun races.

Any thoughts on how to split workouts between just adding yardage vs doing technique drills?


thanks again, I'm really looking forward to this!

While not being familiar with the swim or the conditions but based on your current training and background, I reckon you could swim 4.4 miles of open water next weekend if you had to.

With a couple of swims of about 6 km/4 miles under your belt you should be able to approach an event of this distance with a reasonable degree of confidence even without increasing your current swim training.

Of course like any endurance event, a larger training volume/frequency usually equals a better performance for all but the elite.

The distance and time you will be out there also means that you might want to consider some form of nutrition. Yes, you could tough it out, but your performance would likely benefit from supplementing those glycogen supplies at some point.

As someone who regards swimming as the weakest of their disciplines, I have always found it a small shift from being able to comfortably handle 4 km to completing 8 to 10 km with minimal difficulty.

Go for it and have fun.

(Please bear in mind that my comments are general, and I know nothing about the event's water temp, tides, currents, specific conditions or other variables).

I also think you could complete the swim next week if you tried. But 1:55 per 100 is pretty slow - are you working with a coach at all? Or a Masters group? If you're only interested in completing the swim then feel free to continue doing as you're doing, but if you want to swim faster, I would recommend working on your technique. Also try to join a Masters group - it helps to have people pushing you.

I do a lot of open water races in the summer and have always found it tremendously helpful to use a bunch of B-races to train for my A-race. There really is no substitute for swimming long distances continuously in open water conditions - it's just different than doing long swims in the pool (no turns, for one thing - the shoulder fatigue is very real). Plus the conditions are of course very different. Try Ray's Open Water site for a list of all the open water swims offered nationwide in the U.S.

Sorting out your nutrition plan is a good idea. You will probably need something since you'll be out there for several hours.

Good luck with the swim!

Congratulations on the lottery win! That's a great event.

I did the race in '95 and '96. I came from a swimming background, so I just applied that training to the race prep.

You need to prepare for a few things that you won't be able to replicate in the pool. Just be mentally ready for these. First, you'll have to drive east across the Bay to park at the finish area. Prepare for the sight of all that water. You'll see it going back west on the shutttle bus to the start. Prepare to know which way the tide is going that day, and adjust. If the tide is going out, swim on the north side so you won't get swept out. If the tide is going out, you will have to swim northwards to fight the tide, and the other way around. The current can be as fast as 1.5 to 2 fps.

Swim long practice sessions. Plan on days where you'll go 5000 or more straight, but, to replicate race conditions, throw in random fast 25s at least once every 400.

DO CORE WORK! Your back will hurt if you keep it arched in the freestyle posture for 2.5 hours without a flip turn or wall.

The last 100 meters into Hemingway's is sandy and only about 1m deep.

I did that swim in 2014. Conditions (tide, currents, etc.) vary from year to year. But it's a relatively straightforward swim, point to point, between the bridges, so sighting is not much of a problem. I'm guessing you'll be wearing a wetsuit.

Non-swimming background, with the simple goal of just ending well, and here's what I found that might be helpful:

- I contemplated not wearing a wetsuit, but since my goal was just to finish well, I did, and was very glad I did. You'll be in the water for 2.5 hours, give or take, so make sure you're comfortable in your wetsuit, apply bodyglide, etc.

- They have feeding stations, but unless things have changed, they weren't easy to spot until it was too late. Have a gel or two on you, just in case.

- I was swimming 3-5 times a week (avg. 2500-3000 per session) including one long session a week of about 6000-7000 - not continuously, broken down in 5x(10x100, 10 secs rest, etc.) Whichever way you decide to do it, just get a long swim in once a week. If you start building a weekly longer swim now that will give you several months to build it up.It'll be good physically and psychologically.

- I did that program for about two months. The long session was key. Looking back, I wish I would have done more of those. I finished comfortably, middle of the pack, but more long sessions would have helped.

- I couldn't do any open water practices in advance, but it would have been very helpful. If you can, go down to Sandy Point once the weather gets nicer and get some practices in.

Good luck and I hope the swim goes well. It's a great experience.

forever - train forever. It sounds miserable and I'm a swimmer.

Thank you all very much for the constructive feedback. I really appreciate it. I'll start working on nutrition once I start swimming longer, and yes, I definitely plan on doing core work. Thanks again!

Any thoughts on how to split workouts between just adding yardage vs doing technique drills?[/quote]

As other have said, it sounds like you are well positioned to have a great race.

My two cents on adding yardage/drills:
- As your workouts get longer I would keep your warm up and/or drill set(s) the same (or maybe a little longer) and build the majority of your volume in your main set(s)
- When you add that 4th or 5th (or 6th) swim per week, that could be a good opportunity to build in more technique work.Maybe your 4th swim becomes a technique (or active recovery) focused day. Still getting some work in but more focused on technique.

Figure out how long it will take you to do it. Then train for that via swimming the same amount of time and efforts you would train for a running race that would take you the same amount of time to finish. Don't overthink it.

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Zen and the Art of Triathlon. Strava Workout Log
Interviews with Chris McCormack, Helle Frederikson, Angela Naeth, and many more.
http://www.zentriathlon.com

I would stuff a gel pack under your cap. At 1:55/100, you'll be out there for a really long time. It'd be hard to get hydration in but you don't want to crash 2/3rd into it.

The current volume of 10K a week seems like a solid base to be ready. If you had said 2-5K total, I'd call you crazy.

Best of luck!

If you are local to the DC metro area, consider the Jim McDonnell Lake Swim events on Sat & Sun of Memorial Day Weekend as Saturday is a 1 mile practice swim, and Sunday is a 1 mile race followed by a 2 mile race. You can do all three and get 4 miles open water experience over 2 days in a well put on event.

Also, I'd suggest reaching out to Kevin in Md on this forum for swim training, event strategy and nutritional advice. He's a triathlon coach, masters swim coach and a pretty darn good swimmer himself, with experience from 50scy masters swim events up to at least 10 mile open water races, and he's raced the bay swim multiple times as well.

Hello Fishies ... I'm back, post-GCBS :). I did it and thought I'd share a few thoughts post-race. Bottom line: All the advice you gave me was spot-on.

I upped swimming volume and frequency in the the 2-3 months leading up to the race, adding technique and speed work early on, then adding volume, culminating in one 8,000 yd swim in the pool and several 6,000 and 7,000 yard swims. I got my 100 yd time to 1:51. I also got in about half a dozen OWS, some as part of triathlons, a few National Harbor swims in DC, and back-to-back 1 and 2 mile swims at the JMLS two weeks ago. I tried different wet suits and googles before finding what would remain comfortable for such a long swim. Bottom line, while I'm no fish, I felt well-prepared. Race week prep was sub-optimal and pretty high stress due to work stuff, but other than that I felt sufficiently rested and ready to go.

The race starts about 500 yards north of the bridge spans at Sandy Point and once the gun goes off, you kinda swim diagonally towards the entry point for underneath the bridge spans marked by two rainbow buoys. From there, it's a left turn into the channel, and you follow the bridge span for a wide sweeping leftish turn. The current was basically non-existent, no wind, water temps in the low 70s. Once the bridge completes it left swing (In all the years I've driven over the bridge, I've never paid much attention to its shape, but I googled tons of pics of it to prepare for this!), you are basically in your own personal swimming pool w/ a lane to yourself (I'm still slow, so barely anyone around me), and you just go straight down the middle ... It's really beautiful, and you don't have to worry about sighting, because you keep the the bridge pillars in view while breathing and can make sure you're on track. Orange buoy markers for each mile, nutrition boats at mile 2 and 3, and all you gotta do is swim ... Water started getting choppy the last 1/2-3/4 mile or so in the channel. I don't know how it compares to previous years, but I definitely struggled with getting thrown around a bit and was getting tired. I probably veered a bit too far south and came close once or twice to being swept south outside the bridge span. Fortunately, was able to correct, but it was getting tough. Plus, one thing I never thought about or expected: I could feel myself getting a bit nauseous from all that tossing around (should I have taken a dramamine before?) ... Shortly after mile 4, you come up to a yellow buoy indicating it's time to turn right underneath the bridge span, then you turn left and head straight for shore ... another 500-700 yards or so. It's pretty flat there and I saw several people walking the last 300 yards or so in. Boy, was I tired at that point! But, and I forget who advised me to do strength work for core/lower back: That was great advice, I never had any issues w/ my back, and that's saying something!

So, I made it, picked up my t-shirt, got showered off by the fire fighters and was off. All in all, a truly great experience, even though my final time was well slower than what I thought I could do. My Garmin is all screwed up (claims I only swam 7000 yds), so I don't know where I lost so much time, but I bet the last mile did me in, even though I paced myself early. You can only simulate so much in a 25-yard swimming pool...

Thanks again for all the advice, this was pretty epic for me. I won't rule out another attempt at some point, but I drastically cut back on running and biking the past few months and really miss it!

Kraut - Congrats on finishing this epic swim!!! Did your total time translate to roughly 9000 yd in the 25-yd pool, or 10,000??? IOW, if you swam for the same time in the pool, how many yards would you have covered???

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

@ericmulk. Well, the numbers have me all confused:

On 5/21, I swam 8,000 yds in the pool in 2:31, i.e. 1:53/100 yds - non-wetsuit, non-tapered, the day after an Oly tri.

On 5/25, I swam 2 miles OWS - w/ wetsuit, a bit of wind, some chop in 1:08, i.e. 1:57/100 yds.

On 5/28, I swam back to back 1 mile and 2 mile OWS in a lake - w/ wetsuit, zero wind, zero current, zero waves, average 1:44 and 1:46/100 yds, respectively.

At GCBS, I swam 3:06, which I believe is 2:10/100 yds - w/ wetsuit, zero current at the beginning, definitely a lot (that's what it felt like for me) of current and chop on last 1+ mile. My Garmin crapped out right as I made the right-hand turn out from between the pylons and said I stopped in the middle of the water, essentially .4 miles short.

If I translate the 5/25 swim to 3:06, I should have swam about 5.5 miles -- I doubt the waves pushed me around for an extra 1.1 miles, and I know I wasn't zig-zagging a lot - my sighting was spot-on, and the Garmin map shows me moving along dead-center between the pylons (except when swam to the fuel boat at mile 3, but that couldn't haven taken more than 1-2 minutes overall). The only conclusion I can draw from all this is that while I have become a stronger pool swimmer (and I really do enjoy it!), I can't translate this to the outside as soon as the elements pick up ... I've worked a lot on endurance and upper body/core strength, but it doesn't seem to be enough. I know I was lucky w/ the weather conditions yesterday. I think if the currents had been much stronger, I would not have made the time cut-off. That's a bit frustrating. I don't like starting a race fearing I'm going to be pulled from the course at any time ... that's what's holding me back from thinking 'next time...'!

You and I only make an N of 2 but my experience with Chessie is quite similar in that I swim slower in the bay than in the pool or McDonnell.

I didn't do it this year but typically they start the race near the end of flood tide. So you're swimming against the current for that first leg to the bridge. Then you're in that blessed bit of slack tide for a while before the ebb tide starts pushing you hard from the left. While it's true that you're in a wetsuit and it's not hard to sight, there are other factors that slow you down. One is the natural tendency for first-time swimmers to hold back on pace in order to make absolutely sure not to tire too much. My experience also is that the detour and stop at the feed boat at mile 3 takes more time than you'd think. Then at the end, when you're most tired, you have to swim hard against a current that tries to push you under the bridge. Plus you're doing that while fighting nausea. You're going to go slower than normal. Finally, some people also lose a lot of time walking that last bit, though it sounds like you swam it in.

So overall I wouldn't obsess too much with your time. You did great and it's a terrific accomplishment.

Yesterday was my 17th finish, and I had four athletes there as well.

First, congratulations - it wasn't easy, it's never easy matter of fact.

There things you need to know about open water in general and the Bay Swim in particular.

General:
1. Unless you are swimming quite close to a fixed object it is pretty much impossible to determine if there is current and where it is going. In the same way that you have no sense that the earth is rotating around the sun and we are hurtling through space at mind-blowing speed, you have no sense that the entire bay or ocean you are swimming in is moving northward at 1 mph.You don't experience it much in triathlon, but in open water swimming it happens more often. My personal most extreme example is floating on my back having some discomfort in a swim in New York Harbor and the garmin shows we were doing 30 minute miles. But out in the middle there is no sense of that at all.

There are a few unique things about the Bay Swim:
1. Chuck the race director says some things to please the crowd. this year he did get the direction of the current correct, but his comment about the current being low was incorrect. The full moon was Friday, so we were swimming in a spring tide. The tidal index, which is the %ile of how big the swings in tide height are for a given location was 91 or 92 yesterday. The current was quite strong.

I know in my own case when we were near the main shipping channel, I had to turn to the right quite a bit to stay in the middle. I was also trying to draft off of someone, and it was like drafting in a cross wind on the bike, had to stay off to the side.

2. The curve of the bay bridge is much bigger than it seems when you are in it. Once you are in between the spans, you still have to swim to the south (upstream in this case) for quite a ways. Then, once you are in the straightaway, you still need to maintain yourself inside the spans. This is a unique challenge, in most tidal swims you just time it so that the tide pushes or pulls you wherever and you keep swimming across the tide. Not so at the Bay Swim since you have to stay in that relatively small spot.

3. The Bay Swim also presents a nutritional challenge. Most folks forget to pack something to eat after you take the bus over. But at over 2 hours long, you really do need something to eat and probably some calories during the swim as well.

All in all, I am not all that surprised by your time.

Well, the numbers do look a bit confusing. I think I would use your wetsuit OW pace of about 1:45/100 though, which would imply swimming about 6 miles!!! In any case, good job!!! Kevin in MD obviously has huge experience with this event so his comments carry much more weight than mine. :)

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

I forgot to mention, look at the speeds recorded, somewhere in the middle, your speed will almost certainly show a trend toward a peak value then a slow descent. The peak is the speed you were doing when the tide was slack. You will probably find that speed approaches your normal swim speed for open water. The other times, you were slowed by having to deal with the current.

Congrats on a great race Kraut!
I won my third Chesapeake Bay Swim on Sunday, and if people are interested, I'd be glad to do a race recap and dive into what my training looked like leading up to the race and offer any advice to swimmers going forward (both in the pool and in open water).

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The Gram: @agyenis
My latest story on Swimswam: More than a title

@ agyenis: Congrats!

You are *literally* twice as fast as me ... I'd love to read a race recap and more about how you train (year-round vs. specifically for GCBS and how you balance this training w/ bike and run (I assume you do that too?!). I'm plotting ahead for 2018! Thanks

I hate swimming in the Chesapeake. I'm doing several races down there this year and dreading the swim. I spend a lot of time fishing down there and the s*** I see grosses me out

So I got a couple of PM's with questions, so I can respond in three parts: general background, training specifics, and race plan/execution.

My main message that I want to send is that competing at a high level and enjoying the process of training and racing can still be done while working and balancing other parts of life. I've been working full-time for the last few months in a sales director role and have been traveling for work every other week (I was actually helping out at a triathlon store before I started working full time and talked to Dan Empfield for a while when he came for his roadshow). The week leading up to the race I was actually in Trinidad all week speaking at a conference and trying to get in short swims at the hotel pool or doing gym workouts late at night after the conference was over for the day. I've had to make major adjustments to my training, but I love swimming and working out, and want to continue finding as much time as possible to stay fit and still compete.

I would say I've averaged roughly 12 hours of working out a week since starting my job, mostly in the pool with some gym workouts/runs mixed in. I'm from the Northern Virginia area and train with Machine Aquatics, and my coach and I have been on a good cycle where if I am in town, the workouts have been really high quality and intense, and then the weeks where I have been gone have been more relaxed and just trying to get whatever workouts in that I can. I only did one open water training swim this year, just because it's tough to get access to open water in the Northern Virginia area.

I have been a "semi pro" swimmer and triathlete since high school, where I competed on the whole USA Triathlon junior elite circuit, and then went to Stanford for college and graduated last year. I've always been better in open water than in the pool, and have been focusing exclusively on swimming for the last couple of years (but I still follow the sport of triathlon and Slowtwitch).

This was my fourth time doing the GCBS and third win. I first won it when I was 15 years old (youngest ever winner), and I think it is one of the best run events in the country that has kept me coming back whenever I am free.

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The Gram: @agyenis
My latest story on Swimswam: More than a title

The key component of my training that is essential to be successful in open water at the elite level is changing your speed. I think that's a common misconception at the age group level; it's really tough to get faster if you just practice at one consistent speed. Sure, that might get you in decent aerobic shape, but you have to be able to separate yourself from the pack in a race or respond to moves being made by other competitors. I might be a "distance" swimmer, but in some form or another I will be working on my sprint freestyle in every workout as well.

Example of main set (long course meters):
8x50 free on :50 seconds (hold :30 sec per 50)
200 free cruise on 3:00
4x100 free on 1:30 (negative split the 100)
200 free cruise on 3:00
2x200 free on 2:45 (negative split the 200)
200 free cruise on 3:00
400 free for time on 6:00 (went about 4:14)
200 free cruise on 3:00
Total of 2400 meters

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The Gram: @agyenis
My latest story on Swimswam: More than a title

In terms of having a race plan and executing it, last Sunday was probably the best that I've done in my athletic career. I'm the type of racer that likes to lead the whole time; make it a race of who is in the best shape and not just leave it for a sprint at the finish. I got out pretty quick and settled into the lead by the time we got under the bridge. Around four other guys settled into a line behind me, and it stayed that way for the first half of the race. I would occasionally make short bursts of speed for :15-:30 seconds, and then roll over on my back and relax; I was usually able to separate from them in those short bursts, and that gave me a lot of confidence for when I was planning on making my big move just past the three mile mark. The three mile mark is when everyone starts getting those mental struggles, it starts getting hot, the end doesn't seem like it's getting any closer; it's the perfect place to make a move. I quickly moved diagonally and then took off, keeping my head down for what I would guess was five minutes at an all out sprint. When I looked back, I couldn't see anyone else, and knew in that moment I had won, even though there was still a mile left. I kept pushing all out until I exited the bridge, and then played it safe into the finish because I was starting to get extremely hot and didn't want to risk anything. It was nice being able to walk up the beach instead of sprinting across the line, and I think I chugged about three Gatorades immediately; it was a hot and humid day by the finish.

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The Gram: @agyenis
My latest story on Swimswam: More than a title

As mentioned by the OP one of my concerns would be getting nauseated if there are swells. Our local group trains in Lake Eire and a few times with a 2-3 foot swell I have had to swim in to beach and take a break. We usually swim parallel to beach about 100 m out for safety. What do open water swimmers do to mitigate that. Other than train in it.

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They constantly try to escape from the darkness outside and within
Dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good T.S. Eliot

Andrew,

Thanks so much for chiming in here!!! A few more Qs:

1. You mentioned getting hot. What was the water T??? Did you wear a wettie??? Sleeveless long-john or shortie???
2. The main set you posted was 2400 lcm but surely your total workout is more like 6000-8000 lcm??? I've heard that top swimmers are swimming less these days than say 15 yrs ago, but still I'd think a D swimmer would want at least 70,000 meters/week???
3. Did you swim for Stanford in the pool, or are you more of a pure OW swimmer??? What are your best times for 500, 1000, and 1650 free??? We always wonder about these things. :)

Thanks very much,

Eric

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

i notice you FINALLY got yourself an account here! your voice will be welcome.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

Haha I'm a longtime "lurker," but I'm ready to be a regular contributor to conversations and I'm looking forward to it! (especially if it's a topic related to swimming)

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The Gram: @agyenis
My latest story on Swimswam: More than a title

Thanks for the question Len, as I think knowing how to manage different open water conditions is a topic that doesn't get talked about enough. The idea of dealing with swells and wake in open water is actually a bigger mental battle for me then it is physical. I find myself getting very negative in my head when I'm dealing with rough water because it messes up with my rhythm, feels like I'm using more effort than I should, etc. So the biggest advice that I can give is to stay positive mentally, and know that everyone else is having to fight through the same conditions as you.
At the elite level, guys do actually change their technique in rougher conditions. I will make my stroke more short and "choppy" in rough water (higher cadence) to ensure that I'm not missing as much water in my catch in the troughs of the waves. I also practice bilateral breathing when I'm in the pool (even though I am naturally more comfortable breathing to my right side) because you always want to be breathing away from incoming waves in rougher water. This is less precise, but I try to adjust and mentally prepare for the "rhythm" of the swells once you get a sense of the timing of the waves, so it's not always a big surprise when a wave hits you.

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The Gram: @agyenis
My latest story on Swimswam: More than a title

Thanks for the questions Eric!
1. Water temp was around 71 degrees. Normally I'm a traditionalist and wouldn't wear a wetsuit at that temperature, but I saw essentially all of the top guys in wetsuits so I decided it would only be fair to wear one too (I considered that my handicap since I've been working full time haha). The air was also very warm and humid that day, which is why I mentioned starting to feel hot towards the end. Blueseventy has always "sponsored" me, so I wore their full Helix suit.

2. Honestly, and this is something that I really want to emphasize and inspire others with, I maybe did two workouts in the last three months that have been over 6,000 meters. Yes, I recognize that I do have a lot of natural talent and a big aerobic engine from years of hard workouts in the pool, but you can win a 4.4 mile swim race on a budgeted training schedule. Like I said in my last post, with work and travel I have maybe averaged 35,000 meters in the pool per week. But I am incredibly motivated every time I jump in the pool because I have such limited opportunities nowadays, so everyone of those workouts is very high quality and high intensity. Not all training groups are this way, but I would definitely say it is a trend around the country of decreasing overall yardage and ramping up the intensity.

3. I didn't swim for Stanford and was my own coach throughout college. The Stanford facilities are incredible and as a student it was never an issue to get access to a pool at any time of the day. Was there likely a downside that I didn't train with an elite group of other athletes and had to come up with my own workouts and motivation? Probably. But I also got to make my own schedule and tailor my workouts specifically to my goals, so there was some upside as well.
I've never been as good in the pool as open water, but my best times are 4:05 for 400 LCM, 8:30 for 800 LCM, and 16:00 for 1500 LCM.

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The Gram: @agyenis
My latest story on Swimswam: More than a title

Do you wear ear plugs? Wearing them can be helpful in reducing the chance of nausea by not letting water into your ear canals, which can throw off your equilibrium.

jake

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Get outside!

1. Wow, a FULL wettie at 71, no wonder you were getting hot at the end!!!

2. 35,000 meters is still quite a bit but understand your point about the trend to quality over quantity.

3. But surely you COULD have walked on at Stanford if you wanted to, right??? OTOH, as you said, you had much more flex by training on your schedule. JOOC, what did you major in at Stanford??? Did you find it hard academically??? I swam my frosh year at Johns Hopkins and found it tough to get all the studying done plus swim 12-16 hr/wk.

Thanks again for your insights!!!

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

My daughter is a very good triple jumper and we are struggling a bit with deciding if she will continue in university. She wants to go to professional school so doing alot of training to detriment of academics might not be best. She is already being recruited but we are likely going to stay in Canada and if she wants she can do track hopefully on her terms. I have alot of respect for agyenis in chosing to not swim varsity when it looks like by talent level he could have. Sounds like you stopped swimming after frosh year was that to concentrate on school?

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They constantly try to escape from the darkness outside and within
Dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good T.S. Eliot

Ya, basically, although I did play on the tennis team my soph year. I never could study 4-5 hrs straight through the afternoon, have dinner, then study 4-5 more hrs. I always went to gym around 4 pm to clear my head out, just as I would've if I had continued swimming. Biggest diff was I was doing a fair amount of diff stuff: b-ball, weights, running, swimming, tennis, etc, so not as grueling as 2 hr of swimming every day, plus no morning workouts 3 days/wk.

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

Not sure if this will resurrect an old thread of if I should start a new one re: 2020 Chesapeake Bay Swim?!

Looking for input as I am a first timer to the GCBS. I have many oly tri's in my background but this is my first distance open swim and I'm super excited!

Wondering about training - weekly distance recommendations, pointers to useful sets to break up training sessions in the pool? How many days/week? I had been regular 5-6 days, but with my distances going up, I'm feeling it a bit in my shoulder and wonder if fewer days to allow recovery is a better approach as distance goes up?

Reading through the older thread and suggestions to eat during the race. Where do you put a gel/how do you eat during a swim race?

Curious about what is a "slow" vs respectable time for a 50-55 AG female? First priority is of course completion, but what is a reasonable time to finish?

Finally on logistics - I haven't seen anywhere the actual time of day for the start! I know it is coordinated with tide/current, but in general is it a early morning start or could it end up being in the afternoon (I run a dive meet that afternoon so maybe I'll have extra incentive to swim fast to get to my team :-)

Thanks so much!
Ramona

The GCBS starts depending on slack tide, when the current is lightest. That’s usually about an hour before full tide, so that the tide turns an hour into the race.

As for training: it’s about 7800m, so do some long swims that peak about 8200m. You should do at least three of those long swims at 8200, a week apart, building the entire time from now to then. You should swim 4-5x/week. Basically, train it like a marathon, but slightly shorter, time wise. Your AG “solid times” are in the 2:05-2:25 range, but really good times are under 1:55-2:00, depending on conditions that day. The good thing about swimming training is that you can go hard day in, day out, and build lots of volume, unlike running. Do some breaststroke work, since you’ll do some in the race.

Your sets can be lots of things like 3 x (500-400-300-200-100), 4 x (200-400-300-600), 2x (8x50, 6x100, 4x200, 2x400, 1x800), descending 800’s, etc).

Also, do plenty of core work. Your back will thank you for it. Since you won’t have walls to give your back that short stretch break, you could get some soreness.

Take 2 gels, put them in your suit, either down the front, under the elastic at your outer hips, or in the leg holes of your wetsuit, if you decide to wear one. Consume your gels at :45 and :90, and you’ll be fine. There’s a water station halfway. Take a third gel right before your start.

Consider NOT wearing one, bc even at usual CB temps at that time of year, low 70’s, ANY wetsuit you wear will overheat you-unless you wear Lava shorts. Wear two swim caps, and that will keep your head plenty warm.