10k Las Vegas swim - who else is in?

[tigerchik]

I just registered and I am extraordinarily nervous

I have done a couple 4500-5000 yd workouts in the past week but need to ramp up the distance

AIEEEEEEEE!

Does anyone have some favorite long pool workouts? I know there is the workout section of the forum but am curious if anyone has any workouts that they love

Anyone else going ?

[poolraat]

Are you doing the 10k swim? I thought about going and doing the 5k but then my friend that lives in Vegas told me she would be out of town that weekend so Iprobably won't go now. There's a LCM meet in Boise that I may do instead.

[tigerchik]

Yup, 10k swim.

[knelson]

I just registered and I am extraordinarily nervous

I have done a couple 4500-5000 yd workouts in the past week but need to ramp up the distance

Yes, you really do. I think a good start would be to swim 11,000 yards straight in the pool. Maybe a short stop to drink and/or eat something. 10,000 meters is around 11,000 yards. Concentrate on completing it without concern for speed.

[Rob Copeland]

Does anyone have some favorite long pool workouts?

1000 swim
30 second rest and feed
2000 swim
30 second rest and feed
3000 swim
30 second rest and feed
2000 swim
30 second rest and feed
1000 swim

…but need to ramp up the distance.

One caution on ramping up yardage... I know a lot of people who ramped up for a long swim and ended up with pre-event shoulder injuries that kept them from competing in or completing the race.

[jaadams1]

I signed up for my first OW event as a masters swimmer a couple summers ago, and registered for a 5K swim. There was 2.5, 5, or 10K swims to choose from. I had only been swimming roughly 3,000-4,000 yard practices 4-5 days a week at the time, and thought I'd be okay with a 5K swim.
I thought wrong! First thing, OW is a whole different ball game. You have to be able to swim in differing enviroments, without access to walls for turns or "rest breaks" during a turn.
I made it nearly one lap around (almost 2.5K), and decided to throw in the towel. I wasn't going to suffer a whole other lap of the course in the state I was in. Plus I wanted to see my family again too.

I'm just saying to be sure you're absolutely prepared to be in the water for 2.5 to 3 or more hours straight, which can be tough. I'm only guessing, because the longest OW swim I've done is 1.76 miles, and I've done a 1.5, and 1 miler as well. I'm a pool swimmer, but I can stretch out a shorter OW swim now with no problem.

[trexleradam]

I happen to know you have both longer workouts and quite a bit of ows under your belt, which might not be apparent to the other posters. All the same, more long yardage can only help, if it doesn't hurt. I don't think it's necessary to do the full distance in the pool, but I'm going to try to get to 75 percent at least.

[robertsrobson]

I'd agree that you need more distance but that doesn't necessarily mean doing 10k+ sessions or straight swims. Elite 10k swimmers certainly don't all do crazy yardage on a regular basis. If you swim regularly enough with variety, then the challenge of completing 10k is less a matter of being able to swim for a few hours but one of rehydration, fuelling etc.

[tigerchik]

I thought wrong! First thing, OW is a whole different ball game. You have to be able to swim in differing enviroments, without access to walls for turns or "rest breaks" during a turn.


I'm just saying to be sure you're absolutely prepared to be in the water for 2.5 to 3 or more hours straight, which can be tough. I'm only guessing, because the longest OW swim I've done is 1.76 miles, and I've done a 1.5, and 1 miler as well. I'm a pool swimmer, but I can stretch out a shorter OW swim now with no problem.

Thanks. I swim in the pool in the fall-spring and OW in the summer. I have done a number of long open water swims - I did a 5-6k lake swim once a week this past summer and one 5+ mile ocean swim... in addition to daily swims of 30 to 90 minutes. While I know I'm at a disadvantage not having too much OW access right now, I am extraordinarly comfortable in open water.

[tigerchik]

One caution on ramping up yardage... I know a lot of people who ramped up for a long swim and ended up with pre-event shoulder injuries that kept them from competing in or completing the race.

Thanks. I will be careful.

[vo2]

Tigechick if you are not racing it I'm sure you will be fine given your statements about 5mile swims. There is racing and there is completing....two vastly different approaches and outcomes. Just start out so easy you swear it's not swimming, it will get hard enough b/f too long. If you under pace then you can always kill it the last lap. I never regretted starting an ultra too slow, but dang I sure have pulled the plug on a few where I thought I could turn up the volume a bit only to find out my ego was much larger than my engine.

I'm assuming you have your nutrition kinks if any worked out? There is a huge learning curve with that which cannot be discounted in a 10K swim. If one has trained their system to burn fat then liquids for hydration can be all you need, but if one is a carb fueled machine ya gotta have re-loads ready on tap!

Race safe and let us know how it goes!

[tigerchik]

Tigechick if you are not racing it I'm sure you will be fine given your statements about 5mile swims. There is racing and there is completing....two vastly different approaches and outcomes. Just start out so easy you swear it's not swimming, it will get hard enough b/f too long. If you under pace then you can always kill it the last lap. I never regretted starting an ultra too slow, but dang I sure have pulled the plug on a few where I thought I could turn up the volume a bit only to find out my ego was much larger than my engine.

I'm assuming you have your nutrition kinks if any worked out? There is a huge learning curve with that which cannot be discounted in a 10K swim. If one has trained their system to burn fat then liquids for hydration can be all you need, but if one is a carb fueled machine ya gotta have re-loads ready on tap!

Race safe and let us know how it goes!

I tend to swim after running for about an hour so am used to eating gels or Shot Bloks between the workouts and during swimming, so not too worried there.

5600 yds this morning. Getting there!

[poolraat]

I tend to swim after running for about an hour so am used to eating gels or Shot Bloks between the workouts and during swimming, so not too worried there. 5600 yds this morning. Getting there!

When I was training to do the 10k postal, the longest workout I did was about 6000m. But I wasn't training to race it so much as just finish in a decent time. The hardest part of the swim was around 7k and that was more mental than physical. For hydration and nourishment during the swim I mixed 2 packets of Hammer Gel in 6 oz. of water and prepared one of these to take every 2k (approx every 35 min).

[tigerchik]

6500 scm this morning. Getting there. Even better, I passed 150 mi on the USMS log!

[tigerchik]

bump to find out if anyone else is going

training is going pretty well. 7000 yd swim Thursday of last week, and this week has been 1700 scy Monday, 4300 scm Tuesday, 4600 scm this morning

[tigerchik]

3rd AG and 15th OV female, 2:52 ... water was 68 ... didnt' warm up until halfway through fourth lap!!!1 but done!!!!

[fatboy]

Great job!

[Allen Stark]

I agree,great job!How did it feel,are you glad you did it?

[tigerchik]

Mostly it felt cold... the water was 68* ... but I was glad I was did it.

[ViveBene]

Congratulations! That's about my time for a 5k, and I am dragging at the end.