Recovery after a long hard season
Dawn_Treader
Member
In other endurance sports one takes a few weeks off after the training and races are over. I am looking for more feedback on how marathon swimmers recover after they have worked so hard. Thanks for sharing.
Sisu: a Finnish term meaning strength of will, determination, perseverance, and acting rationally in the face of adversity.
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I find for workouts/swims lasting longer than 3 hours I am needing about a day per hour.So , if I do a 4 hour session on a Sat. I can swim on Sunday but it won't be pretty. Monday and Tues.. again.. it's okay but it feels like cr** and my already slow speeds are close to glacial. Come Thurs? I shld be back to normal. In terms of a "season" I can't afford to do more than one big swim a year... so a "season' is whatever leads up to that one big chunk of money.( I am over 50, so those young folks probably have a different response.)
The last 4 weeks I've hit a wall and after only taking three weeks of easy swimming, it's like I haven't swam for months. I've lost 30 seconds off my 400m time! At the same time, I don't feel ready to go back to proper training. I hate this time of year when I know I can't commit to a target for next year, so I'm sticking to low pool metre sessions of about 3k, for the next month at least and just working a bit of threshold, and a bit of speed and trying to hold my technique in check. This time of the year for the past 3 years I do start thinking about doing a 4 to 6 hour pool session every month, entirely so I won't feel like I've completely atrophied.
loneswimmer.com
"I never met a shark I didn't like"
Niek, that's a good one but also very tough because of unpredictable winds and currents. Unfortunately though I am a wimp when it comes to jellyfish... For now I prefer freshwater. :-)
By taking care of your body the whole way through recovery times will be decreased.
Sisu: a Finnish term meaning strength of will, determination, perseverance, and acting rationally in the face of adversity.
@Loneswimmer, I would advise you to stop participating in expensive conference calls with "celebrities". Hey, if I ever win the Euro Lottery I will sponsor you.
Thanks all for your feedback which I take to heart.
Sisu: a Finnish term meaning strength of will, determination, perseverance, and acting rationally in the face of adversity.
Feel fine, no injuries/niggles just always good to have a break re-charge and get ready for a big block of swim training in the pool upto Xmas.
I use Maxifuel as an energy drink before and during can anyone recommend a good recovery drink??? just trying a few different things out. Many thanks.
I am just coming off a long year of training which ultimately lead to a 70km solo swim. It's been 2 weeks and 2 days since the big swim and I am finding the recovery process quite difficult. I am used to swimming 40km + per week and am down to 2km if I am lucky.
Any suggestions to help me through this would be greatly appreciated. I miss swimming for so many reasons : (
That said, I wonder if I am feeling a bit sluggy lately because of the lack of a longer break. (If time permitted, I would swim every day. Darn that pesky work thing!)
I took a few days off after Lake Zurich this summer, but ran in Paris almost every day, then started swimming outside as soon as we hit Spain. One more swim to go, the Alligator Light Swim next week, and after that, the "season" is over. My husband was asking what I was going to do, and whether I should start getting on my bike more, etc.
My shoulders don't hurt but I know I definitely have a tendency to overtrain--because I am manic.
Those of you do take time off, how do you compensate for the ensuing insanity? Because I feel like I am going nuts when I don't swim...
RECOVERY FROM CHANNEL SWIM
Dear Swimmers,
What is the best way and how long should it take to recover from a channel swim ?
Thanks John
I recon the best way to recover after a swim like that is to turn around and swim back in the opposite direction
Everyone is different! Just take your time and don't push it if it hurts. Consistent swimming is helpful to me, but making sure that I don't overdo it is also key. Usually takes me a couple of weeks to feel normal after a long swim. Last year after my Lake Powell swim, it took about 3 months... so it just depends!! But, don't worry, you'll eventually be back to normal, unless you really hurt/tore something during your swim.
I didn't even want to take a shower for about 3 weeks after my EC swim.... much less swim but @ssthomas is the expert on these matters.
I'm pretty happy to see this thread still going, and looking for any feedback more experienced marathoners may have. I swam my longest race, Border Buster 25km, 4 weeks ago. It went really well, I'm not a fast swimmer but I can maintain a decent "forever pace" and I was pretty pleased with how I handled the swim. However, here we are 4 weeks later, I feel great, no aches or pain, no fatigue, but I can't seem to make the transition back to working hard and going faster, even for short bursts. It's like a switch was turned off, and I can't access the reserve of energy I usually draw upon, and usually for hours at a time. I can barely keep up to my normal swim practice pace, and I've been well-rested, eating properly, etc ever since the swim. I can tell from this thread that it's not unusual, but if anyone can explain the science or mechanics behind what my body is going through, it would help me do some research into what I might be able to adjust next time to minimize it, or to help me work through it now. It's been really bugging me, and a grumpy swimmer is never a good thing. All feedback appreciated!
Hey Nadine- Great job on the Border Buster, and I hear you on the feeling like something switched off. I felt like that a lot after my Loch Ness swim in 2015, and sadly, I still am not back to "normal." I feel like one of those video games where you have the life bar up at the top that tracks your energy status and mine ticked down a block or two after that swim. It could be as @evmo mentions above a "between the ears" problem, and I'm not unfamiliar with those. It sure does feel physical most of the time, though.
I don't know what the mechanism or science is of it, and I've tried to swim through it. I've managed to do a few swims here and there where I've felt like my old self, but by and large, I haven't, so I, too, am curious what others have to say about this. I suspect it's more in my head than I realize, but it sure is frustrating and I'd like to get out of it. Will stay tuned to this thread.
Stop me if you've heard this one...
A grasshopper walks into a bar...
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I've experienced the same thing this year. Having SCAR as my first event of the season, I've had a difficult time switching gears for shorter events. I've only had a couple of swims at what I felt was optimal pace for the distance and one of those was in 56 degree water. Several of my 5Ks were 5 minutes slow (for me) but I realized I could've swam the course another 2-3 times at the pace I fell into.
Most of the time I feel like an aqua-sloth, (term coined at Colman Pool a couple of weeks ago during a break between sets). I can occasionally get up to speed in practice, which assures me that I haven't completely lost the ability to swim faster, but I'm having a hard time making myself do it. I have a ton of aches and pains that never quite seem to go away, (a function of being middle-agey, I guess) and I definitely need a break from swimming. Once the season is over, I'm going to take some time off from swimming, ride my bike, lift weights and get some new tattoos, (just to be sure I stay out of the pool). Next year I plan to focus more on long swims and not worry about the short stuff.
It's always a bad hair day when you work at a pool.
Sometimes hearing that other people seem to have the similar issues is reassuring just by itself.
I felt like an "aqua sloth" for weeks last fall.
I have not done anything like an EC crossing, or boarder buster, so I can only imagine that it would take a lot more recovery time. I found that I have to wait until I feel "ready" to swim again- or at least on the cusp of being ready mentally- before I even let myself in the water. I still beat myself up for awhile over my "slothy" pace, but eventually I will be back. I keep reminding myself that somehow I will be back to normal and find some speed, but in the meantime knowing I am not alone helps and I just need to work through it.
I can't add to the mechanics or the science but two years and a couple of long swims later (see above my post from 2 years ago... ;-)) I certainly gained a lot more experience on what works for me recovering from a long season:
PRE SWIM: There are two things I really need to take care of in the weeks leading up to the swim, if I want to swim and recover well: Tapering and Food. Lots and lots of both. As with everything in marathon swimming this is highly individual but I need 2-3 weeks of light (really light! max 2k-per-session-light!) taper-training, and lots of food. Might be the carboload-effect or just the good food, but it works fine for me.
SWIM: I identified two aspects of the swim that have an significant effect on the recovery afterwards: Number one is cold. That's not surprising, but the colder the water the longer the recovery. Don't know the reason, I suspect it has to do something with needing a lot more energy during the swim or maybe even some physical damage. Number two is - at least for me - emotions. It sounds weird but for me this is a far more relevant recovery-factor than the actual conditions of the swim (beside the cold). If I swim in "adventurous" conditions, but my mind is set right, the recovery seems a lot easier and faster than with an comparatively "easy" swim of the same distance and temperature, if I am fighting emotionally during the swim. I suspect (again) this has something to do with the energy-cost of emotions running high, but after integrating mental training in my preparation I (mostly) swim with more inner peace and (than) recover better although the swims got longer, rougher and colder (I realized that just this season because I had a bloody normal 6-hour-OW-training swim with emotions running high that took me out for about two weeks afterwards while I usually only need 3-4 days to recover).
POST SWIM: After the swim there are four things I need to take care of to help my recovery: One is Food. Again: Lots of food for at least 2 weeks. Best time ever: Swim is done and all I need to do is eat. :-) Two is a good old fashioned sports massage the day after the swim and than again at least 3-4 more every couple of days. That seems to support the muscle recovery. Three is rest. As I mentioned in my post above I stay out of the water for about 2-3 weeks, and even then its at least 4-6 weeks of very light training. It feels like this is the time the ligaments and tendons need to recover unless you really hurt something. And four is - again - emotions. I mentioned that in another post (had something to do with the depression-like symptoms one might face after the big swim), but before I can think of going back to some real training or even planning the next big swim, I really need to "arrive" emotionally in what I just did. That sometimes takes days and even weeks to fully understand, but - as before and during the swim - there are techniques that help to get there (big fan of sport psychology here... :-D)
This is all just my experience, it's highly individual and as always I never do anything that just doesn't feel right. If I listen to my body I might not understand every detail, but for as long as I swim my body always told me when it's time to start getting serious again. Happy recovering everyone!