Starting swimming, any advice?

Hit 90 laps this morning in 1hour10 (2,250yd, 3:06/100yd)

yet again I found front crawl much easier at the end when tired... I swam laps 70 to 90 predominately front crawl with barely any stops.
 
Just realized that my 90x25yd lengths = 1.2 miles = half iron-man swim distance, and I did it at the cut-off time of 1H10. of course open=water swimming is going to be slower etc but it is a nice milestone to reach.
Will concentrate on efficient technique and getting multiple front crawl laps with a breather, that should automatically make me a little faster. Eventually i owuld like my 1.2 miles to be under 50 minutes and perhaps aim for 1.5miles in 1 hour by the summer.
 
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D.P. said:
Just realized that my 90x25yd lengths = 1.2 miles = half iron-man swim distance, and I did it at the cut-off time of 1H10. of course open=water swimming is going to be slower etc but it is a nice milestone to reach.
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Unless you're using a really odd pool it'll be 25 meters and not yards so it's a bit further than 1.2 miles, just under 1.4 miles :)
 
Dano said:
Unless you're using a really odd pool it'll be 25 meters and not yards so it's a bit further than 1.2 miles, just under 1.4 miles :)
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This is America, the pools website doesn't make it very clear but does stae 25yds in small text. I might try and ask someone more authoratitive
 
1000m in jammers this morning in 24mins which I think is a PB. Still really slow by comparison to most people and I was knackered by the end but as you may remember, I'm trying to ween myself off using neoprene shorts so this is progress for me.:D
 
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D.P. said:
This is America, the pools website doesn't make it very clear but does stae 25yds in small text. I might try and ask someone more authoratitive
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Ahhh, quite possibly so then, thought I was giving you a nice little boost there, sorry :)
 
Dano said:
Ahhh, quite possibly so then, thought I was giving you a nice little boost there, sorry :)
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I originally thought it was 25m , it may well be but I think it is just an older american 25yd pool.

I'm so delighted that in 1 month I have gone form 30 laps in 33 minutes to 90 in 70minutes, and at the same time my front crawl technique has improved immensely. I don;t have any specific swimming goal s in mind but if I did I think I am way ahead of schedule. In the next weeks I will probably drop my swimming down to once a week and concentrate on marathon training 100%. I think this will be beneficial to my swimming because I wont get bored or loose motivation and I can make slow continued progress. In the summer when it gets too hot here to run much outside, and after my marathon, I will get back to swimming 3 times a week and will see where I am cycling wise for spring-summer 2017 Half iron-man.
 
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What marathon have you entered?

A friend of mine is a para-triathlete who favours swimming.

She has entered an "Isoman" triathlon which aims to balance out the time spent in each discipline.

So for example, a half-isoman is 3.5mi swim, 30.6mi cycle, 13.1mi run. As a weak swimmer that is a big fat NOPE from me.:D
 
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Shamrock said:
What marathon have you entered?

A friend of mine is a para-triathlete who favours swimming.

She has entered an "Isoman" triathlon which aims to balance out the time spent in each discipline.

So for example, a half-isoman is 3.5mi swim, 30.6mi cycle, 13.1mi run. As a week swimmer that is a big fat NOPE from me.:D
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Pittsburgh, may 1st.

I definitely wouldn't want to do an ISOtri, and the extra swimming ratio is why I will also avoid anything less than HIM except for practice. I suck at cycling but hope that changes in time. I also suck at swimming but since the swimming is only 10% of the average time as I have found out I have now reached the swim distance for a HIM but cycling 56miles is a fantasy right now. Put another way I can swim for an 1hr10, cycle for 1Hr10 and run comfortable for 1Hr30.


if I was to design a triathlon just for me it would be something like 1.5mi swim, 60 mile bike and 20-22 mile run. 20-22 miles it is like the sweet spot of running IMO. 13miles is too short for endurance to really play a factor, 26 miles just ends up too long on your feet, too much impact and is literally just a few miles too far. Similarly, HIM seems reasonably tough, full IM seems impossible, so something that fits in-between marking the limits between mortals and supermen would make sense. I'm not sure how it is possible for most people to train appropriately for an IM, I am very flexible with my work and don't commute at all but still struggle to do 15 hours training a week while still having any scrap of social life.
 
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I've heard 20-40 hours a week for IM, 12-25 for HIM all depending on goals. I can do 15 hours a week at a push, but 20 would be more or less impossible, 10 already takes a lot of time once yu factor in driving to simming pool, showering, picking myself off the floor after a long run etc.
 
Similar swim to Monday this morning, 90 lengths in 1hr 9, so 1 minute quicker:D

Spoke to the head swim coach a few day back, he conformed the pool was 25 yards but he is hoping that they will get a new 25 or 50m in the next years. He is currently coaching a couple for Olympic trials and it making training an issue. he said i should just keep swimming for 6 months and when feel like I have plateaued, getting bored, not making progress etc to find him and he should be able to give me some quick lessons in the summer off-season.
 
Just had my longest swim and really feel like I'm making progress, though this may be because I can't run at the moment because of a hip injury and have a bit more energy.

Hit the magic 100 lengths in the 25m pool. 30 non stop, 5 minute rest, then 70 non stop (aside from taking a very quick sip of my drink a couple of times).

17:27 for the initial 30
46:31 for the 70

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1015698990

I don't think that's very quick but I don't care, I'm pretty flippin' happy right now. :D
 
That is amazing mate.... getting to 100 is a real achievement, and most people could not swim that!

Next step is the 128 for 2 miles :)

I've just sent a Garmin friends request so we can see each others swims, look up MPW1 (wonko) also he has Garmin also

After 3 months I've just moved onto 2 mile non stop swims... only just mind you, it's a real killer :)
 
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2 miles?! non stop! :eek: Blimey, that's impressive.

I think I could maybe do that distance now, but certainly not without a rest or two and plenty of fluids. I had a bit of neck ache at the end today and got a couple of twinges of cramp.

Something to aim for though. Really looking forward to trying open water swimming now in the spring. :D
 
D.P. said:
Just realized that my 90x25yd lengths = 1.2 miles = half iron-man swim distance, and I did it at the cut-off time of 1H10. of course open=water swimming is going to be slower etc but it is a nice milestone to reach.
Will concentrate on efficient technique and getting multiple front crawl laps with a breather, that should automatically make me a little faster. Eventually i owuld like my 1.2 miles to be under 50 minutes and perhaps aim for 1.5miles in 1 hour by the summer.
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Just reading through some posts in this thread and came across this (in bold) and I'm curious. Why is open water swimming slower? I swear I've read that in a wetsuit the reduced drag and extra buoyancy will potentially make you swim quicker, up to 20% quicker in some cases??
 
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