General Discussion Triathlon Talk » Suck at Swimming! Rss Feed  
Moderators: k9car363, alicefoeller Reply
2014-02-18 4:56 AM


1

Subject: Suck at Swimming!
So I will be doing my first IM this year in Port Elizabeth South Africa. For the past 8 months, I've R-E-L-I-G-I-O-U-S-L-Y attending swim coaching twice a week to correct and improve my swimming. This past weekend, I took part in a Half distance tri, where my swim time was worse by 7 minutes than the last Half I did (and it wasn't that good to start with!). I am losing hope and am increasingly nervous about the 3.8k swim that needs to be undertaken in 7 weeks time.

Any hints/tips/rituals etc to undertake over the next 7 weeks to ensure that i don't spend the full 17 hours in the sea?

Much appreciated!!


2014-02-18 6:56 AM
in reply to: Dahajo

User image

Regular
5477
5000100100100100252525
LHOTP
Subject: RE: Suck at Swimming!

Firstly, welcome to BT :)

What does your coach about the slower HIM time?  What kind of feedback has he/she given you on your swimming?  How much of this do you think is a mechanical issue and how much of it is lack of swimming endurance?

Seven weeks isn't much time.  However, if your goal is to complete the race, and you have a real question about making the swim cutoff, doing a swim focus and marginalizing the bike/run may be your best bet. I've seen remarkable things happen in a six week swim focus.

If you have only been swimming twice a week, my suggestion would be to rearrange your training to swimming 5-6 days per week.  3-4 of these sessions could have lower volume and focus on drills and feel, but it's hard to see improvement in swimming on 2x/week.

 

 

2014-02-18 8:32 AM
in reply to: Dahajo

User image

Member
1748
100050010010025
Exton, PA
Subject: RE: Suck at Swimming!
SO you have been swimming twice a week, but what have you been doing? 1000 meters/day, 2000, 3000, 4000? how has this been structured? If you have been swimming slow long distance and just working on form I can see you slowing down. If your form is good you need to start working on short fast intervals. You could see a lot of progress in 7 weeks if this is the case.
2014-02-18 8:47 AM
in reply to: #4951226

User image


111
100
Subject: RE: Suck at Swimming!
Unless you have a big swim background or you want don't mind struggling to make the swim cutoff of 2:20, you can't train for an IM swim on 2x a week. If you are 7 weeks away, you don't have a lot of options. As another poster wrote, you'll need to swim 4-5x a week minimum. But 7 weeks is not a lot of time, especially if you don't have a swim background and have only been swimming 2x a week.

If you have any questions, please let me know.

Best regards,

Tim Floyd
2014-02-18 8:48 AM
in reply to: Dahajo

User image

Champion
7136
5000200010025
Knoxville area
Subject: RE: Suck at Swimming!
HIM swim course times are not good comparisons. They can be drastically different even IF (and that's a big, big if) they are both correctly measured.

More importantly, how have your times in the pool been in comparison?

Other important questions...

- How comfortable were/are you in the HIM swim.
- What kind of time are we talking about when you say slow... slow as in almost didn't make the cutoff? Slow as in bop? Slow means different things to different folks
2014-02-18 5:10 PM
in reply to: Dahajo

User image

Coach
9167
5000200020001002525
Stairway to Seven
Subject: RE: Suck at Swimming!
Originally posted by Dahajo

So I will be doing my first IM this year in Port Elizabeth South Africa. For the past 8 months, I've R-E-L-I-G-I-O-U-S-L-Y attending swim coaching twice a week to correct and improve my swimming. This past weekend, I took part in a Half distance tri, where my swim time was worse by 7 minutes than the last Half I did (and it wasn't that good to start with!). I am losing hope and am increasingly nervous about the 3.8k swim that needs to be undertaken in 7 weeks time.

Any hints/tips/rituals etc to undertake over the next 7 weeks to ensure that i don't spend the full 17 hours in the sea?

Much appreciated!!


When were these races in relation to how long yo'v ebeen doing the swim coaching? You say attending 2x a week...are these 1 on 1 lessons or group? Or a setting where there is a coach on deck but doesn't have time ot give you feedback?

What kind of measurable or subjective improvements have you seen in the 8 months you've been attending coaching?

What were your paces for the halfs? What is your anticipated pace for teh IM? How did you feel at the end of the swim portion of your half?

Finishing the IM swim just udner teh cutoff time but feeling totally energized and ready to bike & run is a totally different outcome than finishing well under the cut off but too exhausted to put much more into the remaining 138+ miles of the race


New Thread
General Discussion Triathlon Talk » Suck at Swimming! Rss Feed  
RELATED POSTS

I suck at swimming.........Help Pages: 1 2

Started by CoachMitch
Views: 1737 Posts: 28

2011-04-14 3:32 PM CoachMitch

Open water swims suck

Started by moabrunner
Views: 785 Posts: 5

2009-07-09 7:33 AM nadaswimmer

I think I suck at swimming...or maybe I'm not that terrible

Started by sma777
Views: 1142 Posts: 16

2009-05-01 6:51 PM MDHillSlug

Oh, I found my swim pace and...it sucks

Started by merlin2375
Views: 950 Posts: 7

2009-03-25 7:53 AM merlin2375

"Hi, My Name is Pat, and my Swim Sucks" Pages: 1 2

Started by superfuzz
Views: 2191 Posts: 37

2005-10-02 4:15 PM snookdude
RELATED ARTICLES
date : September 13, 2011
author : garyhallsr
comments : 2
What triathletes can learn from a new world record in the 1500 meters
 
date : July 18, 2011
author : garyhallsr
comments : 5
World-record swimmer gives advice on correct breathing technique
date : October 29, 2008
author : Tri Swim Coach
comments : 0
Triathlon swim training discussions on the pull, open water swimming all year, winter swim focus, bilateral breathing during a race and Ironman swim training in 6 weeks.
 
date : March 17, 2008
author : randomescape
comments : 10
I first decided I was going to "do" a triathlon in 1994. It wasn't until 13 years later, in 2007 that I actually did. Why did it take me 13 years to get to the starting line? The swim!
date : September 3, 2006
author : TriDDS
comments : 1
Stroke after stroke, my pace was pulling me out into the middle of the lake quickly. The cover seemed to be getting thicker. But still in the distance, the little boathouse was my lighthouse.
 
date : April 2, 2006
author : Tri Swim Coach
comments : 0
Discussions on endurance building, bilateral breathing, kick drills with zoomers, tri versus competitive swimming, ramping up for a HIM and swim golf.
date : May 3, 2005
author : Tri Swim Coach
comments : 1
Swimming and golf can both present you with a meditative-like form of exercise that I have found to be both fulfilling and fun!
 
date : October 10, 2004
author : Tri Swim Coach
comments : 0
Many people in the triathlon world think they need to just emulate Ian Thorpe to have a faster time, or have a similar stroke to Michael Phelps to cruise through the swim. Unfortunately...