swim 15 km per week until the end of year

In May to June this year, I swam for about 15 - 18 km every week to prepare for my first marathon swimming (12.5 km) in my life. It turned out well but afterwards I lost my motivation to train for swimming anymore because it was too hot in summer, and the previous training was like torture as it was so damn hot in June and July. I only swam for about 8 km / week in August and early September, and 10 - 14 km / week afterwards until the end of October.

Now the temperature starts to drop and the sea temperature where I live now hits 24°C, which the heat is no longer a concern, and the outdoor pool where I train in is at the same temperature as well. In cooler water I swim MUCH better than before when it was hot in summer, and I can sustain my race speed for MUCH longer without burning out.

I actually enjoyed the 12.5 km marathon swimming I did in July and wanted to do more, however, it was done in a foreign country where the water temperature was only 22°C. Although there was another marathon swimming race (14 km) in my home city in October, I was afraid that it would be too hot for me so I dare not do it, but I still wanted to gain experience to prepare me to do it in the winter race (it is held twice per year, once in autumn which is HOT, once in winter which MAY be cold) so I did it as a relay. That day turned out to be extremely hot, sunny with water temperature 29°C and no wind at all (the race was normally windy and choppy, but this year was an exception), even in a relay I didn't feel good, just tolerated it every 30 minutes (the relay switched every 30 minutes) I was right that I didn't do it solo, otherwise I wouldn't finish it (it was not possible for me to sustain race speed for 6 hours in 29°C water).

Now the winter race is coming next January, a 14 km marathon swimming race with expected sea temperature 18°C and it's time for me to start another training cycle again. A good guideline is to swim at least the race amount weekly for a few months before the race, so I'm expect to swim at least 15 km per week starting from this month until early January, with 1/3 - 1/2 the distance in open water. In the week just finished today (counting Monday - Sunday) I swam 16.9 km, in which 8.1 km is open water.

Reply here if you want to join, and keep updating the progress here!