So as I galavant along into my second summer of triathlon – having done two sprints last summer – I figure, hey, try an Oly.
So I sign up, not paying attention. I figure, I see the run is twice the distance a sprint is, and the bike also twice the distance. Hey, I can handle that.
I am no math geek – not even close, I make a point of skipping all the bike geometry threads due to ignorance so the 1.5K swim didn’t register.
Now that I’ve done the math, I’m a tad freaked out signing up to swim .93 of a mile. I know all you Iron folks will think “ah, it’s nuthin” but having only swam a 1/4 mile in a race, .93 mile seems daunting.
So the question is for a non swimmer, how to best utilize the next 8 weeks? I’ve been using the “Swim Workouts in a Binder” but hot off my first marathon, my swim workouts suffered in April/May so I sorta started from scratch at the end of May.
I’m slower than slow. While not taking an exact time, I ball park I can do 100 yards in 1:50. It’s been taking me 75 minutes to complete one of the binder workouts. Should I swim 3x a week? Focus on Endurance, Form or Speed, or do one each?
Any helpful tips on how not to completely embarrass myself by taking an hour on the swim leg come August would be appreciated.
FIrst off…congratulations on taking the next step. That is a good step forward.
8 weeks should be plenty of time. I have been coaching swimming for a long time, but without seeing your form, I can’t give you specific stroke advice, but here is what I would do.
Find a coach in your area and have a couple of private lessons. Try to get your freestyle as efficient as possible. You don’t have to go fast, but you don’t want to kill yourself in the swim and be too pooped for the bike.
Then…and as important as the lessons…swim swim swim. Any time I want to improve my swimming, I have to swim more than 3x’s a week. Just try to get to the pool and swim. Ride your bike to the pool and swim. Run to the pool and swim. I don’t care how you get…just get there. Try to get an hour a day or so in (5x’s a week). Use your binder. If you don’t get through a whole workout in a set amount of time…who cares.
I would also do a time trial of some sort. You could swim a 400 or 500. Do it once every other week so you can gauge your improvement.
So to sum it up…to improve in swimming…you have to swim swim swim swim. Make it a game…make it fun…bribe yourself to get there I dont care (perhaps with one of those cool swimp3 players)…but go swim.
Go swim 1500m or 1650 yards straight through, tomorrow!
Now that the whole mental issue of can I swim the distance is out of the way, you can start swimming.
Do 1/2 of the A workouts in your book 4 or 5 days per week.
FWIW, i find it daunting to swim an oly distance straight through in a pool, but not in a race. all you have to do is 2 laps open water, not one million (like in a pool).
swim lessons will help you, i would do that first. then do a swim focus where you get to swim 4 or 5 times a week. also, practice getting on your bike post swim so you are used to riding after swimming that much distance.
I have to agree with Klorene - swim, swim, swim. As you are already comfortable with the bike and run distances, you need to swim as much as possible to get comfortable with the swim distance. If possible, swim at least 3x a week, and ideally, MORE! If you can swing 5x a week, that would be good. One other good idea from Klorene is to work one-on-one with a swim coach. You don’t need to sign up for 8 weeks of sessions; 2 or 3 private lessons should help you identify areas for improvement and help you focus your workouts on gaining speed through improved technique.
My additional advice, and I too am a newbie so take it for what it is worth, is really focus on form even though you are trying to log the the yards. Especially if it is an ocean swim. If you start getting tired in the race, or you feel like there is a lot left to do, it can be very comforting to start thinking about your form in your head instead of what lay before you, and the next thing you know, you’re in T1.
BTW: My first full Oly is Breath of Life in Ventura in two weeks and I’m nervous about the swim as well. So I am hoping my own advice works well. Well I did Bonelli and lake swim is a joy compared to Ventura and Strawberry Fields.
Best advice I can give you at this point is to just go swim (and not intentionally sounding like Paulo)
Don’t worry too much about workouts at this point, just go to the pool 3 or 4 times a week and put in as much time as you can manage. Swim long, swim short, swim fast swim slow.
Jaret: That’s the plan I’m a newbie to FAST, and was at the picnic last week but maybe didn’t meet you…maybe you remember a loud mouth volunteer at Mile 9 of the bike course of the AA tri…that was me & my gal pals…
Anyway, off to the pool ASAP!!!
Thanks everyone for the advice!!! Will be seeking swim coach, unless anyone in the Ann Arbor/Northville/Livonia area can recommend one?
God I hate to say this, but if I were i would cheat. Yup I would go buy myself a wetsuit. Instant free speed with no effort with a side bonus of floation for secruity and safety for you.
After you do that Go swim, and do it a lot like other have said. I like the ide of doing a 1500 meter swim non stop. Just go do it and get the mental block out of the way. But the thing is you need to do it several times, maybe 5-6 before you race, and I would even throw in a couple 2000 just so you know you can go more. Also If you can get into a lake and some open water swims, of course find some firned to do it with you. Based on your time schedule I would plan on one edurance swim a week for the next 8 weeks with the other sessions working on stroke and some speed work.
if you can get 5+ 1500 (+) swims under your belt before the race you will be confident going in that you can do it. At the race stay at the back of the field for the start- all the way back or off to the side. This is important, a sure fire way to ruin or end your race is to get kicked bumped or swam over by stronger faster swimmers. Starting at the back reduces that risk.
I probably won’t be there this saturday, I will be at the Race for the Cure in Detroit. Look for Dave Dehn, Gavin Nunns or Mac, they will point you in the right direction.
First of all know this: You will be fine, you will not embarrass yourself. The only person who should be embarrassed is the person who doesn’t try cuz she’s too scared to fail.
You swim faster than I do. I’ve completed a half swim in under an hour easily.
Of course, the other advice is on target. For race day go out easy, start @ the BOP, don’t breaststroke (you’ll make anyone you kick crabby) and if you can find a similar speed swimmer draft.
Relax during the swim, build towards the end if you feel fast or strong. Have fun.
There are morning and evening masters workouts at Fuller Pool, which is down the hill and across the street from the U of M hospitals. Free parking right there, which is somewhat unusual in Ann Arbor. Some information about it here: http://www.a2gov.org/fuller/fuller_programs.html. Seems to be a wide variety of abilities from the one time I swam there, and you might get some good feedback and coaching as well. You could get more info from Matt West, who posts here from time to time. Even if you can’t make the masters practices, there seems to always be lap swimming available from the website.
As far as what you should do, focus on form and building endurance. If you can work up to doing a set of 15 x 100 meters long course, with less than 10 seconds rest between each 100, then you should have no trouble finishing the Olympic distance swim.
I have my first Olympic distance tri about 12 weeks away. I’m a relative tri n00b, so my advice is based on being in a similar position to you, not on being some expert.
You clearly will be fine for the running part having just done a marathon.
Biking more is obviously important for lowering your time, but, let’s face it, although biking may be most important for overall race time, it is the least intimidating in terms of pain and being able to finish.
The problem is that swimming in a race in open water can be MUCH tougher than in a pool. After swimming regularly for 8 mos. (and being a mediocre swimmer), I think swimming 1500m in a pool at a decent pace to be a relaxing cakewalk. In contrast, 750m in a race can be very tough even not swimming for speed. (For example, in my last sprint, I was 11/57 in my AG coming out of the water but I thought it felt brutal and I was NOT trying to swim fast.)
Therefore, how for someone like you and me prepare for a 1500m open water swim in a race? Overcompensate, I think.
I can only swim 3x a week but you should probably swim 4-5x a week.
I never swim less than 1500m per session and I would like to up my workouts to 3000m per session.
Try to get in some open water swims or laps in a 50m pool.
Swim harder. One bummer about swimming is that once you can easily swim 750m or 1500 straight in a pool you need to increase the pain by swimming faster and doing intervals. If nothing else, this should help your “wind” and hence help in open water. It will also make you faster, of course, but my primary concern is not losing my breath in a race, because that is what I find to suck.
CTL: Tnx for the link! I did swim at Fuller last year but was a-scared to meet up with the master’s folks, but will look into this year. It’s quite nice to A, swim outside; and B, in a 50 rather than 25 lane.
Definitely get out and do a couple of open water practice swims if you can because mentally it’s a whole other critter than having nice walls come by every so often to let you know how your workout progress is going.
I’m probably one of the least likely people on ST to freak out in horrible open water conditions, but when I’m in open water for the first time in a while, there’s always a moment of “Pretty far to the first buoy, eh?”
I have swum with the Ann arbor masters group on occasion when i was in town for business. What a great group, well run and good workouts. You can’t go wrong with them.
so the 1.5K swim didn’t register.