yeah I think his estimate is a little aggressive...

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Eric Reid AeroFit | Instagram Portfolio
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Was that a non wetsuit swim Eric? If so, which race?

I was trying not to drop this, but the 58-high was at Kona in 2013, the old long course. Lots of good drafting there of course. Previous to that was a couple 58s at IM CdA with wetsuit, and a 59 at CdA with skinsuit.... less drafting at CdA obviously at that pace.

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Eric Reid AeroFit | Instagram Portfolio
Aerodynamic Retul Bike Fitting

“You are experiencing the criminal coverup of a foreign backed fascist hostile takeover of a mafia shakedown of an authoritarian religious slow motion coup. Persuade people to vote for Democracy.”

So 5 years ago what would have been your best time for that set on 1:20? And nice swim. (-:

I could come in on the 1:17 if I was leaving on the 1:30

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Eric Reid AeroFit | Instagram Portfolio
Aerodynamic Retul Bike Fitting

“You are experiencing the criminal coverup of a foreign backed fascist hostile takeover of a mafia shakedown of an authoritarian religious slow motion coup. Persuade people to vote for Democracy.”

So here is the deal when I post up a set like this, it is an over/under type of benchmark. As you know, nothing is guaranteed on race day from what you do in a pool. So many other factors in play, how you sight, draft, float, and just different abilities once you leave the pool.

So with that in mind, yes there will be people that dont make that set(like you) that can swim an hour or under. Conversely there will be people that beat that set and don't swim that hour. I put that out there as kind of a median for most people to achieve if the hour is their goal. I'm very much like you in this regard, I could not come even close to the sets that guys doing 50 flat in Kona were doing, yet there I was right next to them.

So in closing, it is not a magic bullet to be able to do that set, just that if you can you should probably be under an hour for a non wetsuit swim like Kona, and if not, then you got some low hanging fruit to catch(like in fast feet) to get there.

when someone asks about a performance and you get to say it was at kona

I am 10 weeks out to my A-race. Last weekend I raced 00:35 swim on 2k (wetsuit), how could I best prepare (training wise) in the last weeks to gain as much speed as possible?

A-race is a wetsuit legal sea swim.

I'm no pro but lots of 10x100s, 10x200s repeats on intervals with ~15s / 25s rest - try to drop the interval 5s per every two weeks. Mix in some long "slow and long" swims of 500/1000 here and there.

The biggest mistake you’re making is you are taking off 4 months out of the year. That’s a pretty big hurdle to overcome when you want to go from 1:15 to under an hour, especially if we are talking about a “neutral” swim course (no current, not much wind, no chop/waves) without a wetsuit and the course is dead on accurate.

In my experience, you could probably do it based on your description of where you are now. The pacing is around 1:30/100m. Below are some suggestions on how to do it:

Plan on swimming for 12-18 months to achieve this goal
Stop doing long, straight swims.
Swim 5x a week (3 hard workouts; 2 easy ones).
Technique finally becomes important; it really isn’t at 1:40+/100. Fitness is more important at that pacing.
Don’t take 4 months off out of the year
Swim with a team with a qualified (qualified and certified aren’t the same thing) coach on the deck.

In terms of a set you’d need to do in my experience, a good bench mark would be 20x100 swim @ 1:35 holding around 1:15+/- 3-5 seconds. Some folks need to be faster than that some can be slower and still under an hour.

There are athletes who will be able to go under an hour on less. There are some who would need a lot more. There are many who wouldn’t be able to do it no matter how much or how good their training is. But without seeing you, you’re probably in the ball park.

Hope this helps.

Tim

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Quoted for emphasis; and further, some tri-guys only swim the last week or 2 before any given race. Hard to believe but i see these people every summer, maybe 2 times per week for 4 wks before their race.

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

FWIW, my "go to" set to gauge swim fitness and ability to go under an hour is 10x200 (SCM) w/paddles, leaving on 3:00 (trying to get in on 2:45). If I can nail that set I will probably go under an hour (swam 59:45 at last IM, in a choppy ocean swim w/ wetsuit).

Then again, my buddies who do exactly the same set swim 57:XX

what Tim is saying... I swam 5000m under an hour and only had one 1500m and one 800m straight swim during the 3 prior months and they were test swims since the meets I was at didn't offer them.



Start with improving your 400m as a test. You need to get your 100m pace under 1:33 in open water. I would suggest that to be confident you have to be swimming 100m reps consistently under 1:30 to go sub 60.

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___________________________________________
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2020 National Masters Champion - M40-44 - 400m IM
Canadian Record Holder 35-39M & 40-44M - 200 m Butterfly (LCM)

5:45 400m

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___________________________________________
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2020 National Masters Champion - M40-44 - 400m IM
Canadian Record Holder 35-39M & 40-44M - 200 m Butterfly (LCM)

I would say that if you can do 20 X 100 SCY on 1:25 holding 1:15 per 100 you are probably good. Add 8 secs for SCM. I am generally around an hour (58-1:01) and that is about where I am.

So just curious and looking for a reference...I feel that I tend to underperform in the open water vs. the pool. I am typically a 35 min wetsuit legal HIM swimmer. I haven't done any 20x100 leave on "x" sets but have recently done a 15x100 SCY set at all out effort with a prescribed 15s of rest. 100s started at 1:08, faded to 1:22 by the 6th repeat, and held steady/slightly faded to 1:24 over the next 9 repeats. I'd love to get my HIM swim under 30 min but it's been very stagnant over the past couple of years. I typically swim 3-4x and 6k-10k each week. Any "experts" out there want to weigh in on how my pool and ows times compare?

recently done a 15x100 SCY set at all out effort with a prescribed 15s of rest. 100s started at 1:08, faded to 1:22 by the 6th repeat, and held steady/slightly faded to 1:24 over the next 9 repeats.//

Who the heck had you do that set, hope it wasn't a coach you are paying for. Now if you reversed all the times and ended with a 1;08, it would have been a perfect set. The way you did it was really bad and you probably did nothing for yourself after the 5th one or so...If you want to get a 1/2 under 30 minutes, do that set starting at about 1;17 and ending at 1;10 or better.

I swam 32 in my last HIM w/ a wetsuit and there is no way in hell I'm cracking 1:15 in a 100scy. My best ever was 1:19. I would say absolute underperform.

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@floathammerholdon | @partners_in_tri

What would you do on a 20x100y with a 10s rest?

The best I can do is a 1:40 send off, landing all of them around 1:31-1:32, and I want to see how far I am from swimming 32 min.

+1

I can merely give you some anecdotal feedback based on my own experience. To be in sub 60 shape, I need to be at a CSS of around 1:24/100m or better

Typical workout efforts for me to be in shape for under 60
- 1:24/100m feels like a steady cruise. It should not feel too difficult doing 100m reps leaving the wall on a 1:30 interval.
- 200m intervals during a workout are all comfortably under 3:00, usually 2:46 - 2:50 with 2:50 not feeling too hard.
- 400m intervals repeating on 6:00 should feel comfortable. Coming in around 5:45 or faster. If I can do 10x400 coming in on 5:45 that's a good sign (but that is also not a very fun workout!)

Hope that helps a bit!

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Are you ready to do an Ultraman? | How I calculate Ironman race fueling | Strength Training for Athletes |

Cheers Rob, Eric and everyone who contributed. You've been a great help in pointing the way and I appreciate the effort you took to reply and debate.

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Swim. Overbike. Walk.