How Much Is Enough?
One of the big question that comes up with regards to open water training is, “How much do I need to train in the open water?” There is no sure fire answer to this question, but let me share my thoughts.
Just last week, I got a call from a masters swimmer/triathlete. Her dilemma was this. In pool training, she could easily swim 1500 meters, either straight through, or broken into intervals. However, when she swam open water, she could barely swim 200 yards without stopping. I asked her how comfortable she was in the open water settings. Her reply, “I hate it. I can’t swim 10 strokes without inhaling water. Her uncomfortablity in the water, was not allowing her to breathe. What made her uncomfortable was the waves, current, etc, in that open water setting. In the pool, where there is a set environment, she is not having to deal with the waves, etc, and can swim efficiently. So, my suggestion to her.
A. Get a snorkel for the pool. Do some long swims, and some interval swimming with the snorkel, in the pool. As everyone remembers, the 1st time you swam with a snorkel, you swore you wre going to die, a purely psychological symptom. Once you got through this, swimming with a snorkel became easy.
B. Get into an open water setting at least every other week. Do some short, 25-50 yd swims, in this setting. Focus solely on your breathing. Do a longer swim with your snorkel.
C. Before your event, get in at least 1 swim at your events distance.
People generally like to train in their comfort zone. People who excel, learn to train outside their comfort zone. When race day shows up, the ones who have challenged themselves, are the ones having confidence. The ones that kept it comfortable are the ones having doubt.
So, how much should you train in the pool, or the lake/ocean. Most of your training should take place in the pool, but don’t ever underestimate the importance of getting out and seeing what Mother Nature has to offer you. On race day, it will pay off.
From Rowdy Gaines:
Check the course out the day before, if possible and definitely try and swim it as well. This will help you get a bearing on what you need to know so there are no surprises come race day. If you can’t swim it try walking along the land IF the race is along the shore.
The most important part of the race is the start. There are a lot of arms and legs flailing and panic can easily set in. Relax, breathe a lot, start concentrating on the buoy ahead not the persons feet in front of you. Don’t fight the water as that will make things worse when it comes to body position and use of energy.
Don’t forget to settle into a rhythm that is natural for your stroke type and at the same time push it so you don’t finish the race and say I had too much left. In other words, have that building feeling so you finish strong!
