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NEWBIE - woman, 55, just timed my 1st 1,500m OW "mile" at 45 mins - NOW WHAT?
PhillyM
CanadaNew Member
I've always loved open water swimming, but I never thought I was particularly good at it until recently, when people started suggesting that what I do is exceptional. By "what I do" I mean swimming for and hour or two or whatever without stop, just for pleasure. It's just what makes me happy. I grew up on a pond in the middle of nowhere, and swimming was a way I could escape. So I swam.
I'm very confident in the water but I have no form to speak of, having never taken swimming lessons, coaching or done any racing before. My partner is an ultra runner, and he has been encouraging me to time myself to see what my baseline is, should I want to race, or at the very least, improve my form and fitness. So tonight I mapped out 1,500m and swam. Conveniently that's the exact distance from pavilion to pavilion and back on opposite sides of the Owen Sound harbour (I live a few blocks from there).
I timed out at about 45 minutes. I pulled mixed side- and breast- and back-strokes most of the way to avoid getting cramps or winded because I was swimming alone (my kayak companion had to cancel last minute). I only did a tiny amount of front crawl, near the shores, for safety. I haven't been swimming much this year so I'm not all that strong yet. And YES, I had a neon float buoy and cap for safety and visibility. And thanks to COVID lockdown here in Ontario, there are no boats on the water, so tonight was the perfect opportunity to cross the shipping lanes safely (marinas and boat launches open again tomorrow).
My question now is where do I go from here? I want to get stronger, faster and more efficient in the water. What should I focus on first? Guidance and suggestions are appreciated!
Comments
MAIN ISSUE: I hate the pool. REALLY hate the pool. Plus they have been closed for over a year. So how do I train in open water in ways that let me measure and gauge progress?
There could be any number of answers to this question....... My main advice is don't stop swimming for fun as you always have done. Whatever you do be sure it keeps making you happy
As far as getting stronger, faster, more efficient it depends on your circumstances and resources. Obviously getting a coach and joining a masters swim group could help a lot, but if you prefer to just do your own thing in the OW, you could find "drills" on line which you could practice as part of your open water swims to improve your technique and efficiency, you could do "interval" type training (ie swim hard for a minute, swim easy for 30 seconds), etc. etc. IF you want to track progress closely, you can get trackers to put on your buoy or wrist worn that will give you a more or less accurate indication of your pace. You could benefit from swimming with a group and finding support and mentoring, you could go on a swim vacation with coaches who will set you up with things to work on, and so on. You'll probably gets many suggestions in the answers, try them out and see what is fun for you. Enjoy.
Welcome to the sport. You will have lots of fun, meet some amazing , inspiring people. The world is your oyster and the sky is your limit. I began around 15 years ago now, my first event was a 1.5km event in a lake and last year I completed an EC Relay for charity. I am now plotting a course to an EC solo.
I guess the best things for you would be to develop your freestyle/front crawl and also to develop skills such a bilateral breathing and sighting which will improve your efficiency. You could try a short swimming holiday , in the UK we have Swimtrek who run international trips which may interest you. Most importantly don't lose sight of what drew you to swim in ow in the first place and keep having fun.
Thanks, I do think coaching or an intensive training holiday would both be great options down the road as things re-open. We are still very much in COVID lockdown here. Part of why I am swimming is it is something I can do right now!
I live in a small community (25,000) with no adult swim clubs so I think maybe the small triathlon community is where I should start. My body seems to want to do bilateral breathing, so that's a good start. Sighting is absolutely a thing I need to learn. There's only so much I can do by watching videos... having someone actually observe and assess would be helpful.
Great!
Welcome!
Try again another mile or few more!)))
Good luck
I would personally suggest against using a breaststroke/sidestroke when swimming long distances? It is harder on your knees and takes significantly more energy to travel even short distances. I would honestly advise you to work on getting comfortable with freestyle (front crawl). It is the most energy-efficient stroke. You will travel farther while expending much less energy. I'm not a pro or an expert though....others here are.
This is just my humble opinion. HOWEVER, just keep having fun with it, and stay in the water! All the best!
Philly, I'm a late onset swimmer; I learned very basic front crawl at 40, ( screw kick, head-up breaststroke only got me so far). I tried open water for the first time in 2008, at 47, with a wetsuited mile, and was hooked. Once I decided I wanted to do longer swims, the first thing I did was get some coaching to improve my front crawl. It makes a huge difference. Even if you hate the pool.....I do, too...... it's a useful tool for training and stroke work, but that's a decision only you can make. I'd just say, if you're having a good time, that's brilliant, but if you do decide you want to swim longer and more efficiently, a bit of coaching will make it even more enjoyable in the long run......and lessen the likelihood of any injury as you increase your distance. Have a great time.
Swimming is 85% technique, so getting a coach, as others have suggested, will do you more good than anything else. If you don't have access to a coach in-person, the next best thing is to find one that can work with you remotely. Getting video of yourself swimming and having it analyzed by an expert, then following up by working on the skills they recommend and staying in touch for continued feedback/direction will be the best way to improve, given the current restricted situation many of us find ourselves in.
It's always a bad hair day when you work at a pool.
PhillyM,
The bad news is that there is no escape from the pool. There is no better way to gauge your improvement not to mention accessibility.
Join a team. It’s very difficult to coach yourself. I had to for a few years out of necessity and barely got by. It wasn’t until I got a coach I trusted that my workouts, pool times, and OW swims got much faster.
There’s no substitute for high end aerobic training and it’s hard to do without a clock and alone.
Bite the bullet and put in the time.
Getting faster greatly improves your odds of being successful. In a longer swim you can count on your mile times being in excess of an hour. That may put you out of bounds on tides, weather, and or cut off times. Being faster and more efficient will allow you to better deal with many forces of adversity that are trying to keep you from finishing.
There is ZERO reason to be out there any longer than necessary.
Chris
I tried to find a masters team where I live but the team I tried was bad. The coach didn't care about us at all and the teammates were not doing what was written on the board. I didn't return to that team.
So, now what? There are only 2 teams near where I live and the other has completely no involvement in open water swimming at all. Should I try that one as well? If that team is as bad as the one I tried, what should I do?
Try it out anyways. Most of your training should be in the pool. It’s by far the best way to build your fitness and skill. Open water workouts are most helpful in developing your feel for the environment (waves, distance, cold, etc).
Chris
I'm not aware of any swim team that does have any involvement in open water, other than informal groups that swim together. I'm sure they exist, but as @swimmer25k says, the pool is where you'll make the most gains. Try get in with a masters team with faster / better swimmers than you and learn from them.
Having experienced different masters groups, I've hit upon one I really like--people of all levels and all preferences--open water swimmers, triathletes, pool lovers, the whole gamut, which makes for a fun, diverse group of people--the coach is a pro triathlete with an amazing open water swimming background. His group is further away from the group I was in previously, but it's worth the trip b/c he takes the time to give feedback whatever one's level. It might be worth investigating groups in a wider area if possible, even if you can only get there, maybe once a week.
@PhillyM back to your original question- in my mind, you can do breaststroke and sidestroke for the rest of your life if that is what you enjoy! If you are looking for feedback on your freestyle, which is often (but not for everyone) a more efficient stroke, you can time yourself for certain pieces of your swim route that are repeatable- this dock to that one, for example. Timing yourself is one way to judge efficiency. Another is heart rate- if you can keep your level of "work" lower over the same distance in the same time, you are doing something right! Heart rate doesn't need to be measured- you can just use perceived exertion- how hard does this feel? Am I out of breath? Could I carry on a conversation right now?
Focus on your posture in the water. The water doesn't have emotions or feelings - it will always respond the same way to a force exerted on it or a shape presented to it.
Thank you everyone!
I stepped away from this thread, as life got busy... but I am still in the water. I have managed to find an open water swim buddy who was a lifeguard once and hasn't been swimming for a while. We're a great match. She has skills and insights but isn't flying past me.
She is giving me gentle guidance on my front crawl. Today's big breakthrough was about rolling my body from/through the hips and torso. I perceive it as leading from my armpit, if that makes sense. Suddenly there's more glide, better pull, less gasping! I was struggling so hard to crawl, windmilling from my shoulders and gasping for air. I may actually want to crawl more now that it feels better.
I crawl about 40 strokes before starting to feel winded. For today's mile got into a gentle repeat pattern: 12 crawl strokes, 12 backstrokes, 12 sidestrokes (6 each side), repeat. It still took 45 minutes, but the water was choppier than last time, so I'll call it a win.
And oh! I am leading a 1,500m swim for co-workers next week as part of an outdoor challenge! We'll have kayakers spotting us for safety. I hope to make some converts.
My partner is an ultramarathon runner so this is a concept I am well aware of.
I have also been a bit over-zealous with intense hill climbs lately and have had to do some knee rehab as a result. I noticed just how much effort the scissor kick takes, and strain it produces compared to the flutter kick once I started the rehab. More reason to crawl.
I sure like reading stuff like this. You are doing great!
When I was getting started on this whole journey I was pool swimming, so I would do a lap of freestyle and then recover with a lap of breast stroke and repeat. I then built up to two laps of free followed by a recovery lap, then three, then finally continuous freestyle. Went from barely being able to swim a lap of free to swimming a mile in a few months. Edit: Just wanted to affirm that the gradual approach definitely works
My one piece of advice that I wish I knew when I started was that you need to be exhaling continuously when your face is in the water when swimming free. Getting your breathing right is really the trick to swimming free continuously.
http://notdrowningswimming.com - open water adventures of a very ordinary swimmer
Yes, I agree with this. Swimming is a combination of conditioning and technique and a little improvement in one aspect adds to a little improvement in the other. The stronger you get, the better you are able to maintain a good stroke. The better you stroke, the longer you can swim without getting tired, which in turn, helps you become better conditioned.
Keep in mind, you aren't in any hurry. You have already missed your chance to qualify for the Olympics, so you might as well enjoy the rest of your journey at your own pace.