Here’s the D.L.: Due to circumstances I cannot control, I will not have access to a pool for the forseeable future. I am “peaking” for a series 5 sprint triathlons between March and May (yes, I know I can’t hold a peak that long, the idea is to do the best I can at all five, kind of like the ITU WCS races are set up). But anyway, this is not a question about my racing choices. It IS a question about how I can best maintain swim fitness while out of the water for an extended period- I may not be able to swim all spring. Please share personal experiences and training advice to best prepare for these races!
And btw, here’s a background of where I’m coming from/currently at with the swim…
I am coming back from anemia and other health issues, so I am slower than I have been for three years in every sport, but the swim is definitely my weakness and has been for the past couple years. Swim- a couple years ago I was going 18’s for a 1650 scy, but these days I’m WAY slower. Probably could barely do a 2:20 200. Working on improving my technique, though back in the day when I was swimming faster I had terrible technique, even worse than it is now. No, I don’t want swim technique tips, I have that and anyway it won’t do me any good since I can’t get to a pool.
Can you xc ski? Roller or snow would work IMO. Otherwise would use the $200 Total Gym like a VASA trainer if I had nothing else.
You said no access to a pool, how about open water? Rowing, paddling, kayacking, all are good, and of course with a good wetsuit you can just swim in it for best results. If you have no water, then I 2nd the totall gym thing, I bought 2 of them at garage sales for $10 each. That with an upper body weight program is about the best you can do.
+1 for buying 2nd hand total gym… I just meant buy the model that sell for about $200 new. If you try xc - skate gear is what will do it best, the leg action will help cycling, poling helps swimming. You can wear rollerblades in lieu of roller skis (not pure xc but this is tri training), make sure the wheels are all level and not rockered (like a hockey skate). You need to get skate poles that are the right length (longer than classic or alpine).
I would purchase some exercise bands. I would do swimming workouts – trying to put in similar time intervals – with the bands anchored to a door or something. You would also need to work you arm recovery muscles with bands or weights. Those are the muscles that pull your arm out of the water and place it in front of your head. The most important recovery muscle is on the lower back part of your shoulder. You would probably also benefit from shoulder flexibility exercises.
If it makes you feel better, I was averaging probably only 1 swim worout per week last year and still only swam about 0:40 seconds slower than my best time in a 350y indoor swim. That’s still a lot of time, but I wonder if for all the time i put into swimming, if that time was spent cycling or running if I can gain more time than what is lost swimming.
+1 for using bands.
There are swim specific training machines out there. I’m not sure how good they are.
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Exer-Genie:
http://www.exergenie.com/
We used them all the time when I was an age-group swimmer in the 60s. -
We also did isometrics on something like this:
I’m going to take a different approach…It’s OK that swim is your weakest sport, because it’s the shortest leg of the race. If it were not your weakest sport I would suggest training changes!
Your goal isn’t to get the most swim fitness you can outside the pool…your goal is the fastest overall triathlon finish you can achieve without a pool. To this end I say simply to replace your swim time with more biking and running.
working on some alternative to swimming will not yield you a faster triathlon in May than putting that extra time back in to more cycling. (I suggest cycling because your spend 50% of your race on the bike).