Exiting the OS and building up swim endurance
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So here's the deal: I'm in the final month of the OS, but I also about 12 weeks out from my A-race (Oceanside 70.3). I really haven't been swimming much in the OS (no surprise), aside from a few very short technique oriented sessions. I've been trying to get back into "swim regularly" mode recently, but I realize that my endurance in the pool SUCKS right now.
Basically:
- I can't swim a repeat farther than 100m without getting to the point of muscle failure in my lats
. (I have no idea how I managed to swim 2.4 miles several months ago...). I think I swam a total of ~700m during my last session this week before I gave up? - My technique is getting better, but there's certainly more work I can do to improve it. I'm swimming around ~1:50 per 100 (i.e. perhaps just under the benchmark for working on technique vs. fitness), but I find that fatigue really builds up quickly and I have a hard time holding together my form after a while. And I don't feel like banging out a hour-long workout with crappy form.
- Perhaps it could be that I'm swimming "too hard", but based on my stroke rate and feel of the water, it really doesn't feel like that's the case.
- I've started trying to build up strength by using stretch cords when I'm not out of the pool. Nothing super fancy or hardcore; I've been doing something like 4x1' of pulling a day. Maybe that might help?
I guess the obvious solution to this is to gradually ramp up volume and getting into the pool frequently. However, I'm always wary of fatigue and don't want to compromise my OS training. Does anyone have any experience/suggestions on how to handle the swim while exiting the OS and going into a race-build plan?
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Last year after no swimming in the OS and even the first 3 weeks of my IM plan, I knew I had to get going. I jumped into the pool for 6 straight days doing a lot of alternating drills and repeat 50/100's. After that week, I was fine to get all the swim workouts done without any problem. I made sure to tone down some of the run and bike workouts during that week, but then ramped back into a normal schedule the following week. I found that my speed was as close to where I left off the previous year after that week and just continued to build it. This is an n=1 thing, but something to play with. The first workout was hard, but days 2 & 3 were worse because of fatigue and muscle soreness so there were more drills than sets those days.
Good luck.
Anson ... I assume you and Coach Rich have agreed on staying in the OS the full 14 weeks before switching over to an HIM plan for Oceaside. I hear you about wanting to make sure your swim is ready to go for that race. Last year, I did WIldflower (actually, just the swim/bike in a relay) 12 weeks after starting the OS, and panicked about 4 weeks into the OS when I realised I had to be ready to swim in 2 months!
I'm biased towards hitting the ground running when it comes to swimming in the race plans. I suggest starting Jan 7 that you pick 2 of the 3 swim workouts from the HIM plan, and do them on Mondays and Fridays thru the remainder of the OS. Meaning, load up an HIM plan to end at your race, and look at the three workouts for next week, pick two that make sense to you, and Just Do Them. Dont worry so much about your time at this juncture, just get the distance in. Start focusing on effort more when you've left the OS, as well as add ing that third workout. Menatlly, you'll probably benefit by not worrying about whether you're doing enough to get ready for that 1900 meter swim come race day (NOT 3800!)
As a reference, this year I swam 4-5 days a week in the first six weeks of the OS, and now am doing 2 days/week, and am not having to miss any of the bike or run workouts depsite following the Adv plan. I do this pretty much every year, as I HATE to lose my swim fitness (that's a long story for another post), and have not seen any fall off in my ability to get in the required OS workouts.
Thanks for the advice everyone.
@John: Haha yeah, I'm a little antsy given the fact that I'm supposed to be in race prep mode 12 weeks out but have little hope of hitting the swim volume as of right now
. I guess the fact that I've always been a weak swimmer adds a bit more to the anxiety, but I'll give it some time...
@Keith: I'm considering doing a similar "swim focus" week to whip me back into shape. Might do this instead of the testing week at the end of the OS.
@Al: I might cut the OS short a week and go into the HIM plan from here. I too wanted to hit the ground running, and hence my concern about getting my swim volume up this month.