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Pre-os Open Water Swim Block

Dave TalloDave Tallo
in General Training Discussions

Over the holidays, I'll have a chance to OW swim daily for about 16 days.  Setup is apparently quite safe for distance swimming ... "just stay along the bouy lines".  Should I:

1) JFS, and let the time take care of itself, realizing it's eons until my first race

2) try to create some structure with a timex to give general guidelines (ie 'about 5 mins of hard effort, about 1 min recovery, repeat,' etc)? 

When I've included early season / OS swim blocks in the past, it's comprised little more than repeated 1h sessions of 3 x 500 at tpace + 5, and 10 x (100 tpace, 50EP).  This works for me.  But with no walls to touch here, I'll have to adapt the structure a little.  

 

 

 

Comments

  • wareagledustywareagledusty
    Reading this I can't help but think of a DCRainmaker blog post where he talked about putting a Garmin 310xt under his swim cap. If you have a 310 you could set up intervals work with it set to buzz on distance intervals (say 500m) and then program rest/repeat intervals. I haven't done this but if I had the opportunity to do a lot of OWS practice I would definitely try something like this out. Be a neat way to get time/distance in OW and see how you progress over the course of 16 days. $.02
  • Al TruscottAl Truscott

     One of my great joys in life is OWS in tropical paradise. To me, it's the pinnacle of swimming,, and the chance to do it should not be sullied with structure. It's all about having fun with my fitness. I first figured this out when I moved to LA after college. 10 years in pools on swim teams; the first time I swam in the Pacific, I figured out, "Oh, that's why I spent hours a day slogging backhand forth, so I could be able to do THIS."

  • Jump4Joy19Jump4Joy19

    Have to agree with Al, just enjoy!!! OWS on vacation is one of the great joys of life, like swimming in an aquarium! Although once I did see three "salties" (big saltwater crocs) cruising up a swimming route I'd been using for 3 weeks having been assured it was "safe" so watch out for the local flora and fauna and pay attention to tides, rips, and breaks.

  • Joseph LombardiJoseph Lombardi

    JFS  ....and enjoy.

  • Paul HoughPaul Hough
    Just swim and go cycle through technique focal points while enjoying it.
  • jhbinscjhbinsc

    Option #1 JFS dood. It is winter and you aren't obligated to swim at all let alone for fitness. Enjoy the water and have fun, worry about swim fitness later when you are actually nearing tri season.

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