Extending taper / maintaining fitness when swim window blows out
ssthomas
DenverCharter Member
This summer, my big swim was to swim the English Channel. So, I trained my butt off, went to England, and then sat in Dover for 10 days and watched the wind blow. When I got home, my boat captain emailed and said he had someone drop out and I could have the spot if I wanted to come back. I thought about it for a few days, and have decided to go back. But, this leaves me with a training problem I've never had before: How do I best prepare to go back in TWO weeks?
Prior to leaving for England, I was training a minimum of 60,000 meters/week. I rested one week before going to England (swam about 35,000 meters that week), and then swam about an hour per day in Dover harbor for the two weeks I was there. I took three days off while we were in London before coming home (proably the longest amount of time without swimming in 8 months). I've been swimming since I've been back, but feel like a big pile of jello. I haven't lost much speed, but feel like I've lost fitness.
What can I do over the next two weeks to get back into fighting shape? Swim massive amounts of yardage? Focus on intensity? Little bit of both? Never having been in this situation before, I'm open to advice or suggestions from any of you who might have been in a similar situtation for whatever reason.
Prior to leaving for England, I was training a minimum of 60,000 meters/week. I rested one week before going to England (swam about 35,000 meters that week), and then swam about an hour per day in Dover harbor for the two weeks I was there. I took three days off while we were in London before coming home (proably the longest amount of time without swimming in 8 months). I've been swimming since I've been back, but feel like a big pile of jello. I haven't lost much speed, but feel like I've lost fitness.
What can I do over the next two weeks to get back into fighting shape? Swim massive amounts of yardage? Focus on intensity? Little bit of both? Never having been in this situation before, I'm open to advice or suggestions from any of you who might have been in a similar situtation for whatever reason.
Comments
This is a game of waiting, and few people get to swim at their ideal moment. Trust your training; its great that you might get another slot this season!
...anything worth doing is worth overdoing.
3 weeks ago: confident that I'd destroy it.
Now: worried about pain management. :-)
www.darren-miller.com
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania U.S.A.
I doubt there are any textbook answers for what you describe. It's an unusual situation, and you'll have to improvise. You've been swimming forever - you've put in the 10,000 hours that qualifies you as an "expert." Trust how you feel, and what seems right.
If it were me, I'd approach the two weeks as a sort of inverted "V." Build up distance over Week 1, then taper off over Week 2. Keep intensity higher than usual - I find it's better for maintaining good feel for the water.
So excited for you to get this second chance!
No disrespect Evmo, but I wish that were true. In fact for EC Soloes it's very common, I've known the one person get weathered out four times. It's so common I'm writing a blog post about it that I'll post soon after I restart the blog next week.
The weather, the waiting and the resulting stress is probably the least understood aspect of EC swimming by those who haven't gone through it and part of the overall challenge, like the NC, Molokai, Gibraltar or Cook that way.
Sitting in Dover & Varne, day after day, waiting, watching forecasts, going to the beach, talking to pilots every day, staring off the Varne cliffs at dawn, mid-morning, mid-afternoon and evening, visiting the Castle, Canterbury, Folkestone, France ... again, watching the TV Weather, listening to the Shipping News, visiting every weather website, and still not having an answer, is punishing, all the while wondering if your year or two years of training and preparation will be wasted and you will go home without a swim this year, because that happens swimmers every year.
At 2 weeks out, I'd consider a couple of 3 or 4 hours swims then taper back down again holding one hours swims and you will be fine, "your body remembers" as Lisa Cummins frequently repeats to me.
The good news is the EC weather has changed finally as you know, and this week has seen a lot of Soloists get out and the jam start to clear. Best of luck during the swim but remember it's not luck that will get you there, or what happens in your next couple of training days, but all the training and commitment you have already input!
loneswimmer.com
The hardest part of the whole thing for me was the stress of not knowing, raging control freak that I am. This came to a bit of a head on day 10 in Dover, as the wind still howled; I remember that there was some crying, and then, in a state of distraction, I accidentally threw the keys to my campervan out with the rubbish, and eventually had to be saved from myself by my partner who drove down to Dover, took me out for fish and chips and persuaded me to get a grip and head home to wait. In that whole time (and for two weeks before I was supposed to swim), I didn't do more than four hours in one go, but the training was in there somewhere and I honestly don't think I suffered for the delay on the day.
My point is: (a) I am no model for the good emotional management of a delayed swim; but (b) if you've done the work already (which you obviously have), ticking over is fine. It's a bit of a leap of faith, but it's all still there.
It's so exciting that you've got another chance - good luck!
You WILL do it!
Good Luck,
LBJ
“Moderation is a fatal thing. Nothing succeeds like excess.” - Oscar Wilde
"I never met a shark I didn't like"
I could not agree more with this statement. I may be the lowest mileage marathon swimmer on the planet that I know of when I read what the others are doing on a montly basis.
I recently read that the average monthly mileage of some very experienced open water swimmers in California was at the 100,000 meter per month range. I'm more like a 75,000 - 80,000 meters per month during peak training. Of course that includes 90% pool workouts including fast and tiring intervals but I marvel at how much I perceive everyone else is training. Despite my comparatively low mileage, it has carried me through a number of successful swims including Catalina, MIMS and the Kingdom Swim.
I'm 45 and I hope to be swimming for the next 45 years. I don't want to be injured and I've never had shoulder surgery. I want to keep it that way. I'm fine with not grinding myself physically so I can be better mentally. Yes I'll go do the 10-15 mile training swims so I know what it feels like (and which I agree is absolutely necessary) but I don't think its essential to do those monster types of swims week in and week out. I'll go as far as to say it could be counterproductive.
I am cheering for you to make it. Take confidence in your not so distant massive training. If you were doing 60,000 meters/week (240,000 meters/month), you have what it takes man.
loneswimmer.com
However, I'm under no illusions about this approach. I "got through" Tampa, MIMS, Catalina, and Ederle last year on fairly pedestrian weekly volume (interspersed with occasional big training swims). But there's no doubt my marathon swims would have been faster and less painful if I had, say, doubled my weekly volume.
It's a trade-off that works for me - but it's still a trade-off. And I wouldn't recommend it to others unless they're very experienced swimmers and fully conscious of the trade-off.
We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams
We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams
loneswimmer.com