Anyway I just got back from the pool and swam from one side to the other 32 times so 800 meters. I asked and the pool is in fact 25 meters not yards.
I actually felt pretty good given the fact this is only day 2. My form was better (or at least felt better) and I’m not even that tired right now.
The pool is closed tomorrow and I can’t get to the shore till Friday so I guess tomorrow will be a rest day or should I do some running, lifting or anything else?
I did a 1/2 mile a few years back. Here are a few things I did right, and more mistakes. Hopefully you’ll learn from then.
Learn how to trend. I mean this. Trend so well that you could watch a movie. I couldn’t do this well enough. In the first part of the triathlon, you’re stuck for five minutes listening about retarded rules you don’t care for. I didn’t know how to trend well. I was bobbing in and out with water.
A mile in the pool is about half a mile in the real water. Multiple reasons. One of the reasons is fear. The water you’re swimming in is new to you, secondly, you can’t see anything. Pool water you can just look down. When you’re in the Hudson, the water will be dirty and the taste in your mouth will be disgusting.
I wish I had done this, but get a swimsuit/tri-suit ahead of time. Even if rental costs +150, DO IT. The water is about 60D on a GOOD day. You know how when you enter the pool, it’s a little cold and warms up? Well that pool water is MUCH warmer than 60 degrees. It’s so cold, the initial feeling is shock. A swimsuit will allow you to float better AND keep you warmer. Swim in the tri-suit to get used to it too.
Swim the river ahead of time. This is a must if you don’t want surprises. Get used to bumps. If you’re not a fast swimmer … some of the competitive out there will SWIM over you. I was put in the age group of 18-25 when I first went. I was 16. It sucked. A few of the pros just swam right over me. I got kicked a few times. Disorienting, to say the least.
Practice. All the time. I didn’t work on technique well enough, just pure stamina (I was captain of my track team). I wish I had worked on technique. Technique is the hardest to do.
Spike helps. Spike honestly will help when you’re bored out of your mind at 5AM swimming in a pool by yourself.
Hudson will suck. This is not a tip, just a mention. It will suck.
A mile is not short. Try to swim more often though. 21 days is extremely short. I don’t get who’s saying a mile is short. This is long if you’re pushing yourself.
Best of luck mate. You’re making me dig up my swimmer gear and take my own advice and do another tri by the end of summer =)
tips on your practices
try something like this to get your technique and endurance up because for a mile, no matter how good your technique is, you will need endurance because you will get tired. There are different pools in competitive swimming, that is because the way they are but elimates waves as much as possible getting into other lanes and diminishing in their own lane. Now the Hudson river is going to to have WAY more waves that are bigger, this will slow you down alot.
Tips for practice
-For warmup do at least 100meters
-then do some kicking with a kick board, your legs will save you when you get tired just kick more and you’ll save your arms from dying
-do some technique work at least 200meters total, nothing fast just concentrate on technique and drill
-some conditioning long distance do something like 5X200’s or 4X500’s take as long as you want but finish it, you might feel dead like you can go anymore and when you reach that point, u got to push yourself a little more and you break a little barrier and it gets easier, remember no ones watching you swim, so don’t cheat yourself
-then with some more technique…mainly arm technique
-do an easy 100meters however you want take as long as you want enjoy this as your warm down…
this may seem hard but after a week it gets easier and easier and you will see improvements…how big those improvements are all up to you, only how much effort you put in you can take out.
p.s. get a wetsuit and save youself from crying of the cold
I am going to get a wetsuit, the less of The Hudson that ggets on me the better. I know it’s not the East River but still. I will not be swimming today but I plan on spending some time in the ocean over the weekend so I will let you all know how it goes.
[quote]DB297 wrote:
The part about gaining weight was a joke…
Anyway I just got back from the pool and swam from one side to the other 32 times so 800 meters. I asked and the pool is in fact 25 meters not yards.
I actually felt pretty good given the fact this is only day 2. My form was better (or at least felt better) and I’m not even that tired right now.
The pool is closed tomorrow and I can’t get to the shore till Friday so I guess tomorrow will be a rest day or should I do some running, lifting or anything else?
[/quote]
So you did a half mile right? If you did that on your second swim you’ll be fine for a mile later on. The hardest part about swimming for me is fully committing to good form because when you really put your head down in the freestyle you get water in your ears every time you turn your head to breathe. I HATE getting water in my ears so I usually swim with bad form if I am just messing around.
I think if you commit to the form, and just relax and take the swim easy you could do a mile today though. You get a second and third wind on long swims. Just think, the English Channel is 21 miles at it’s shortest point and people swim it fairly often.
Swam in the ocean 2 times this weekend. I’m not sure how far I went but I did about 1/2 hour each time. It was a lot more dificult at first keeping my head in the water and coming out for air but by the end of the second time it was getting a bit easier. I plan on being in the pool Mon, Tues, Wed, Fri and Sat this week and will try to get back to the ocean on Sunday.
I did 45 laps last night. My lord I am sore today! I am starting to think I should be able to do the mile though given how much I have improved in a week.
[quote]DB297 wrote:
I did 45 laps last night. My lord I am sore today! I am starting to think I should be able to do the mile though given how much I have improved in a week. [/quote]
[quote]DB297 wrote:
I am happy to say I was able to do the mile swim in 27 minutes and 37 seconds.
Thanks to everyone who gave me advice on how to build up to this. I had a great time in the race and plan on doing the entire triathlon next year![/quote]
That’s a good open water time, especially for a newb.
[quote]DB297 wrote:
I was very happy with the time but I must admit there was a good current behind me. I did 1 mile in the pool in 31 minutes earlier in the week.[/quote]
[quote]DB297 wrote:
I am happy to say I was able to do the mile swim in 27 minutes and 37 seconds.
Thanks to everyone who gave me advice on how to build up to this. I had a great time in the race and plan on doing the entire triathlon next year![/quote]
Nice job man. TOLD YA SO!!! I knew it wouldn’t be a problem. After all, people regularly swim the English Channel which is like 21 miles or something. So for a fit guy such as yourself, I never had any doubt.