I’m training for my first ever 10K open water swim that is just over 3 months away. It’s a lake swim and water should be relatively calm. I’ll be stuck in the pool until the water warms up here but mid to late May it should be warm enough where I can do all of my training in open water. Anyone have any tips for training I might not know of?
I have been and will continue to swim 5 days a week. Recently only been swimming under 4000 yards but plan on ramping up yardage in the coming weeks to where a few times a week my swims will be 6000+ which isn’t a stretch, when doing Ironman builds I generally would swimm about 6000 3 times a week plus a couple of 3000-3500 swims. I have swum a 10,000 yard workout once before, a 100x100 challenge. Goal is to finish under 3 hours (I am consistently a 1:03 Ironman swimmer), but mostly just want to finish it. Although completing it doesn’t concern me that much, I feel confident that I can manage the training and get through it.
My general plan is just to build yardage and swim a whole lot in the next 3 months but any tips are welcome!
Are you going to do a lot of your training in open water?
Instead of doing 6000+ yard swims, you would be better to break that 6000+ into 2 swims in a day.
The only other general advice I would give is if you think you should structure the training like you are training for a marathon run or a 100 mile bike, throw that idea out the window. You’ll train yourself to swimmer slower with less efficient technique and a higher incidence of shoulder injury.
I hope this helps and if you have any questions, please let me know. I’m currently coaching 5 athletes for marathon/ultra-marathon swims.
I intend to do most of my training in open water once it gets warm enough. Unfortunately we are experiencing a way colder than normal spring so I have yet to make it outside. At this point I will likely be limited to only the final 4 weeks in open water. For now I’ve been consistently in the pool 5 days a week getting in 24,000-27,000. Just the other day did 7700 because I had extra time and it was fine.
Once I can swim outside I’m almost limitless in terms of how much I can swim. Easy lake access. It’s interesting you don’t advise really long swims all at once. I feel like I am someone who kind of only has 1 swim speed so it doesn’t feel like I break down much late in a long swim. I think I swim a lot compared to most average Ironman athletes, also swimming 5 days a week for an IM and a couple of those are 6000 yard swims.
Do you have a recommendation for a maximum yardage for a week I should try and hit? Also what should a taper look like? I imagine not much of a taper is needed, just maybe keep up the frequency of the swims, just make them shorter. Thanks for the help!
The athletes I coach we don’t train in open water. We train in the pool. For a 10k, depending on the athlete, we usually shoot to peak around 20k a week for a few weeks before the race. None of the workouts are usually more than 5k with the majority being in the 3500 yard range. Again, it all depends on how the training is going into the lead up.
The best advice I can give you is don’t take what you know about training for a triathlon or a running race or a bike race and apply it to a 10k swim. If your primary focus is about a certain yardage each week to build “fitness,” you are on the wrong path. Also, your chance for a shoulder injury will greatly increase.
In terms of taper, depends on the athlete and what they look like before the race.
I hope this helps and if you have any other questions, please let me know.
I have not figured out the drafting angle for open water swim races. Triathlons usually have many waves and also lots of ability levels so often once things sort themselves out I can catch a draft. Open water races often, at least locally maybe 50 swimmers in a 5 K. The speedy ones are gone pretty fast and unlikely you will see them again. I could try sprinting the first few hundred metres but that has given me hyperventilation episodes in the past not sure if it was due to proximity to other swimmers or from sprinting off the start. I used to do a 11 lap race (450M) per lap and sometimes you could latch onto somebody who was lapping you towards the end.
I suppose a buddy who swims similar speed could work out. Or make a deal at the beginning of the race. Each take a pull.
OR you could just be philosophical about it and count your time as what you would be able to do without drafting.
I’ll answer your question by asking a couple questions - What’s the traditional view of training in biking and running in the triathlon community? What is the primary focus of the training?
I have no clue, as I’m a swimmer who dabbles in cycling for fun. Can you enlighten me?
In previous my running days, my week included a long Zone 1-2 session with interval and hill sessions. But as most know, swimming is considerably more about technique than running or cycling is.
You’re mostly there. The primary focus in triathlon right now is about building aerobic capacity. In my view, the primary focus should be on building the skill of racing faster. Aerobic capacity is a component of that skill, but in the end it’s more of a by-product of the training. The main focus should be on the brain and how to train the skill. That involves a lot of focus on a particular aspect of the movement the athlete wants to improve at higher and higher levels of stress. If an athlete focuses on simply building up yardage each week in a boring, mindless way to get the “fitness,” the athlete will get what they focused on - not much of anything.
I hope this helps and if you have any other questions, let me know.
In open-water swimming, I reckon the focus is building the fitness to maintain a technically effective stroke over a long distance. I found my muscular endurance was challenged around 8k into my marathon swims, making it challenging to maintain good form.
I’m currently prioritising technique work, but I’ll undoubtedly return to work on my muscular endurance in due course.
However, surely, aerobic endurance has got to be a top priority in cycling and running?
Sorry, I think you might have misunderstood what I was saying. The triathlon view point around training is primarily focused on building aerobic capacity. I’m saying yes you need to build aerobic capacity, but the primary focus should be on building better technique. And the best and really only way to train technique and fitness is to do it at the same time.
Indeed, I had misunderstood! Thanks for explaining it.
I’m curious about training swim technique and aerobic fitness simultaneously. I find that I have to drill technique slowly until it’s muscle memory before adding aerobic training. For instance, say I wanted to further refine my catch. How would you advise working on the catch position while doing aerobic training?