I have been following the threads for a sub 1 hour swim at Lake Placid. I will be competing for the 3rd time at the Longest Day in 13 Weeks. (uk IM distance race). I am a very slow swimmer 1:45.
I am looking for similar info from the swim gurus for a circa 1:30 swim.
Cheers
Alan in Scotland
Oh, I was thinking maybe you were looking to do a 1:30 100 meters! That’s about all I can do, so I certainly won’t be able to help!
the easest way to swim 1:30 or faster is to find a coach who will work with you one on one. Swimming is an extremly technical sport. You wouldn’t trust a video tape to teach you how to do surgery on yourself so don’t trust one to teach you something that is almost as technical. Find a good pair of hands and eyeballs, I’ve had people drop 10 min in 4 :30min sessions of technique work.
alan,
Not to belittle your ability, but 1:30 should be well within your ability with 13 weeks to go. With some coaching on technique and some time to practice and get comfortable, this should be a very easy pace to maintain. You have set a very realistic goal. Your chances for achieving this goal should be extremely high. You should be able to come out of the water without even being winded. The desert dude is right on!!! Follow his advice!
Good luck.
Hi Alan,
1:30 for 3.8km is approx 2:20 per 100m.
1:45 for 3.8km is approx 2:45 per 100m.
So, you need to improve by at least 25secs/100m. That might seem a lot at first, but I reckon it’s possible. First, what is your technique like? Have you every had technique lessons? What sort of coaching/lessons have you had up to now?
Hey Alan,
George here in Kelso.
My recommendation would be to work on your technique, I’ve got a TI book which you can borrow.
I’ve followed it over the last few years and while I’ve not got that much faster. It has helped me to become a much more economical swimmer.
A 1hr 30 would be well within your grasp
Regards
GEorge
Believe it or not I have had coaching from Archie Brew (ex British Olympic Swim Coach) Fiona Lothian (Scottish Triathlon junior coach) to name a few.
Should I be doing 38 x100m repeats off 2.20 which would give me about 10-20 sec rest depending where I was in the set, with possibly a longer rest after every 10 to 13 100m repeats.
I appreciate technique is very important but sometimes you have to accept you are not naturally gifted. I have seen people progress more in 5 months than I have in 5 years.
Did you get technique coaching as well? Do you have access to a masters swim program? What sort of sessions are you doing now?
Yes, since you only have 13 weeks, I’d suggest you try the 38 * 100 on 2:20 set and see how you go.
However, you need to increase your speed as well, though focusing on that now may interfere with your IM program. Maybe after your IM you could sign up for a masters program and work on speed for a while?
My answer, not because I’m a good swimmer, but, because I’ve recently improved a measurable amount:
After a certain amount of critical “relaxing” or getting comfortable in the water, getting better balance, reaching and rolling on your side, etc., at some point, especially if you are a “sinker” like me, you have to put some real effort into the stroke. I wasn’t improving at all until I started to swim harder after a long time of always trying to swim “more efficiently”. Once I reach a certain speed, my hips rise in the water and I begin to actually move along at a decent pace…THEN I can think about efficiency. I swim as long as I can before my 100 times begin to lengthen, pause for a break, and resume. If I don’t recapture the speed I want, I do a few lengths of various drill work, then go back to swimming. For me, finally getting faster meant working harder, not always striving for the maximum efficiency.
Yep, that’s a good point. I’m just getting back in the water properly at the moment, and my arms are not up to real swimming fitness. I can swim about 200m at a time before my stroke starts falling apart a bit.
So, what I usually do is alternate 100 FS with 100IM (or some drills if you cant, or prefer not to, do the other strokes). It gives your arms a bit of a break, but you can still clock up the distance. Using this approach I got a 2000m session in this morning.
I haven’t done an IM though, so I’d be reluctant to advise Alan to work harder if he’s only 13 weeks or so out, but he definitely needs to do some speed work afterwards. Maybe someone else with more IM experience can chime in about whether doing it now would interfere with IM preparation?