IM Swim prep...Anyone swim as little as I do?

ballyard7 - 2010-10-07 7:51 AM

Does anyone swim as little as I do in the year of your ironman?  My IM is 30 days away and i've only swam 27,000yds this entire year.  And 4200 of that was from two 1/2IM swims.  I just can't stand swimming unless it's during a race.

2010 totals
Bike:	175h 57m 51s  - 3388.81 Mi
Run:	100h 43m 38s  - 658.13 Mi
Swim:	11h 30m 34s  - 27361.77 Yd

hockeyhands - 2010-10-07 8:24 AMHey John,

I swam about 10K more than you did all year, last month alone.  I took a quick look at your last RR and based off your time, it doesn't appear you're a natural swimming or grew up swimming.  There are a lot of former collegiate swimmers or lifetime swimmers that can do very minimal swimming and still pull off great times, but once again, my guess is you're not one of those people.

Do you want to become a faster swimmer?  You may be perfectly content with your current swimming ability.  If that's the case, I think you'll be OK swimming as little as you do.  However, I think you could greatly benefit from some more time in the water focusing on improving your technique.  Another thing to consider is its very difficult to be good at something you do not enjoy.  This may not be possible for you, but next time you're in the water, think about the things you do enjoy about swimming or how it benefits you.  Also, you may want to consider a Swim MP3 player or something other type of gadget that will help you enjoy your time in the water.

ballyard7 - 2010-10-07 10:12 AM yeah I never swam in my life before 2007. I swam a ton (for me) in 2008 and got my pool 1.2 mile swim down to around 30 min. Fastest OWS in a race was about 37 min. I barely swam last year and did the IM swim in 1:24. Not fast at all, but not slow. I figured I would focus on the bike and run and be happy with a 1:20 IM swim if I could improve greatly on the bike. It has paid off. I did a 6:30 at Louisville last year and I plan on doing an easy 5:40 at Florida this year. That's 50 min...could do that in the pool. Maybe in 2012 at my next IM I'll work more on swimming since my bike is greatly improved.My problem with swim MP3 is that I have to wear ear plugs and only certain ones fit. Any advice on that?

ballyard7 - 2010-10-07 10:12 AM

Sorry forgot to answer you on this.  Unfortunately, I do not have any recommendations on this.  I have the SwiMP3, which definitely doesn't cover your ears like some of the traditional ear plug style headphones do.   Anyone else got any ideas?

I know there are a lot of people who hate swimming, but its been my experience that when people become better swimmers, they start enjoying the swim workouts more.