No swimming in OS?
Can some of the veteran ENers give me some feedback on the whole no swimming in the OS thing? I just signed up and that makes me nervous, but I'm sure RnP know more than me! 
Let me know how this worked for you! Thanks!
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Can some of the veteran ENers give me some feedback on the whole no swimming in the OS thing? I just signed up and that makes me nervous, but I'm sure RnP know more than me! Let me know how this worked for you! Thanks!
Comments
That being said, I might hit the pool once a week with a friend so that I can learn two things I can't do right now. (1) flip turns, and (2) comfortable bi-lateral breathing. But those will not be workouts, instead they will be social time with learning.
Joe
To be swimming the times you do in a pool, you must have good technique. Once you have it, it doesn't go anywhere. It's like riding a bike.
I don't know how old you are. The OS is really HARD. I really needed to sleep in on the days I would have otherwise gone swimming. Getting up at 6:20 instead of 5:20 really makes a difference. But I am 49. Maybe a younger person doesn't need the same recovery.
Hope this helps.
---Ann.
Trust the system. Focus all your efforts on the bike and run. If done properly you will be tired enough and see some really good gains.
And welcome.
Agree with everyone else. No swimming for you in the OS.
To offer a contrasting viewpoint, I think swimming in the OS is extremely valuable. My OS run/bike workouts were much less painful when I incorporated an hour morning swim 2-3x a week...go figure. Typically it would precede one of my run workouts and one of my bike workouts and it served as an excellent warmup. I started last year's OS with no swimming and then experimented by swimming one week and skipping the next week. I noticed in when I added swimming back in, my power and recovery improved immensely. I was able to hold my prescribed zones much easier on the days when I swam prior to the workout. I'm sold on it and will follow thru this coming OS with the same tactic. Just make sure you hold back on your kicking. I mostly kept with a 2-beat kick for those swim workouts. Just my 2 cents.
---Ann.
All the best, Paul
---Ann.
I went from OS to the advanced IM plan. That called for 3000m swims from day one. Zero swimming for three months to 3000m with no buildup = jacked up shoulder.
You must have dropped into the 12wk plan? And, don't forget, you don't have to drive your training plan into a brick wall. You can say "hmm, I haven't swam in 3mo, maybe I should dial this workout down?"
Just sayin'
.
I had the same problem but was coming off 3 years of no swimming and chronic shoulder pain since I was 15. I just let the shoulder be my swim coach until it said I could swim harder/longer. Fortunately, swimming too much/longer is not my problem
Yes, it was the 12 week plan. I learned from that and will not drive my plan into a brick wall again. I will do a build up next time. I was m'fing you two for a couple weeks though - "What kind of a**hole tells us not to swim for three months and then tells us to swim 3000m from day one of a training plan." Then I thought of my own personal responsibility in all that and rightfully blamed myself.
After all, if you said not to run for three months and then told me to run 12 miles on day one of the training plan -- I wouldn't have done it. Not sure why I went full on with the swimming.
However, maybe it's taking me longer to digest the EN koolaid, I believe it's only works if you're fast. I swam 1h42m and I feel if I don't take the time to improve my technique over the winter with some specific coaching, in summer 2012 I will be exactly where I am now (or maybe 3 minutes faster). If I can tweak my stroke and reduce my time by 20 minutes, that's like gaining 1mph on the bike or being able to have an extra 1 min per mile when I run.
Am I wrong here to focus on swimming for the next few months? I'm planning to start OS in January.
Rich has specifically mentioned in the past that an exception to the no swimming rule would be for technique improvements with a swim specific coach.
@ Diana - To add to the discussion, there is also a point and I don't recall the number or if there is a hard and fast one when you get out to 1h50-2h where swimming is important. The EN focus for bike/run is for the time/benefit trade off somthing everyone has to look at. A good focused block here may make sense but you must also look at what you bike and run gains could be until January, without burning yourself out.
My personal example I did a 1:31:XX at Lake Placid in 2004. I lived in an apartment complex that had a pool and swam 3X week just training no drills, etc just swimming laps, long and slow. For IMC 2010 I had not been in a pool for 3 year and did no swimming in the OS and started about 15 weeks before the race, using the EN workouts. I also did not get in the 3 swims a week and did a 1:31:05 a PB by a few seconds.
So what does this tell you, not swimming will not make you faster just that you don't really lose anything. So is this swim block going to give you enough time to make the swim gains and get the muscle memory to retain that after the OS? Or are you able to do a swim hack over the OS to maintain this? There is a time cost and extra effort as the OS gets tough in the last 10 weeks especially beyond week 14 without swimming.
Gordon
As the only ENer who was ever required to swim in the OS, I think this would be an excellent time to do a swim block and get good coaching -- January is a long way away!
@Beth - did you follow any specific swim workouts to get better?
And sorry, Bryan, I didn't mean to hijack your thread
Diana - I had a swim assessment with a local coach that included videotaping and then lots of master's team.