[chassis]

2k yds, 128HR, 45 minutes. Quick swim. Felt good. Lane to myself the entire time!

[chassis]

2k yards, 54 minutes, 132 HR. Good swim. Lane to myself most of the time except for the last 500yds

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by chassis

2k yards, 54 minutes, 132 HR. Good swim. Lane to myself most of the time except for the last 500yds

When is your open water swim?

[chassis]

August 17!

I want to get one swim in before the open water swim, probably August 9. A week from now I am doing a three-day course to get a motorcycle endorsement on my license.

[chassis]

2k yds, good swim. Last time in the pool before the open water event next weekend.

[chassis]

1.2 mile open water swim in the books! 53 minute time which is on the slow end of the range I was hoping for. I finished in the middle of my age group. The winner of my age group had a very competitive time and it would be a big stretch for me to achieve it. With another open water swim, or two, for practice, I can beat the next couple of faster times in my group. First time doing this for me, I am willing to do it again.

Open water is completely different than pool swimming. The main difference is nearly zero navigational awareness without raising the head out of the water. In the pool the black stripe on the bottom is visible 100% of the time. In open water, you need to raise the head to see the next course buoy to avoid swimming off course, which is a fact of life when swimming open water.

The distance was a piece of cake because of my training; I was not winded at all. Reason is that I was not able to get my heart rate up like I do on training swims, because I often slowed to raise my head and see the course.

Water temp was mid-70s. Nice and a couple of degrees warmer than ideal for me. Chop and waves were manageable and did not cause a problem. Fun time!

[M_Six]

Well done! I'm a former Red Cross Water Safety Instructor, but I haven't been in water deeper than my knees in over 40 years. I doubt I could swim 100 yds, let alone 1.2 miles. Quite an accomplishment.

[chassis]

Swam a quick 300yds a few days ago at a new-to-me pool. Pool was OK. More importantly the facility has a hot tub which was the reason to go. I will probably return to my normal pool where there is no hot tub but my brain is imprinted on the pool/lane geometry and environment.

In fairness, my normal pool has a large amount of natural window light which I like. Older pools have little or no outdoor window light which gives the feeling of swimming in a dungeon.

[chassis]

Hoping for a return to the pool in a few weeks as the weather gets cooler. I expect some loss of speed and swimming condition. I have been running and cycling lately and it has been good. I miss the pool!

[MyZ4Coupe]

I joined a masters swim club this fall. Have been going 2 or 3 times a week and we swim 1500m to 2000m in an hour usually.. I haven't swam laps since high school but it is coming back well. First week I thought I might die haha... Seeing steady progress as I get back into shape... Hardest part was re-learning how to breathe properly.

[chassis]

Originally Posted by MyZ4Coupe

I joined a masters swim club this fall. Have been going 2 or 3 times a week and we swim 1500m to 2000m in an hour usually.. I haven't swam laps since high school but it is coming back well. First week I thought I might die haha... Seeing steady progress as I get back into shape... Hardest part was re-learning how to breathe properly.

Congrats! Yes, agree that breathing is the main skill I needed to re-learn.

[chassis]

2k yds, 51 minutes, 116HR. Good to be back in the pool for the first time in four months!

Swimming is truly a winter activity for me. I swam later into the spring and summer this year to train for the open water event. Not sure if I will do an open water event in 2026, we shall see.

Interesting to see my time today and AHR. Time was unchanged and AHR was lower than when I was in the pool from January to August.

I attribute the reason to running. From late-August to mid-November I bicycled 20-40 miles per week and ran 2.5-3 miles 2-3 times per week. I have always believed that running is the best fitness activity of them all, on a per-minute and and per-mile basis. Seems like the data agrees.

From mid-November until now I have been travelling and running once per week, so a decrease in cardio activity.

Lately I prefer running but at the moment there are two inches of ice in my neighborhood and running and cycling are out of the question!

[MyZ4Coupe]

Second last swim tonight before Christmas break. I improved my 100m free time to 1:29 which I am pretty happy about. When I started I was at about 2:05.

We did a warm up, ladder set, some kicking then a 400m pull.... About 2km I think which it typical.

[chassis]

Originally Posted by MyZ4Coupe

Second last swim tonight before Christmas break. I improved my 100m free time to 1:29 which I am pretty happy about. When I started I was at about 2:05.

We did a warm up, ladder set, some kicking then a 400m pull.... About 2km I think which it typical.

What yardage and times do you do for your ladder set?

[MyZ4Coupe]

Usually 50, 100, 150, 200, 250 then back down..... Different variations... Our coach has them all planned out ahead of time which is really nice. I would get way to stuck in a routine if it was up to me.

[MyZ4Coupe]

This was our last set of the year on the 21st. It is listed in order but on the board it was bottom up in the shape of a Christmas tree.

50 Free/50 Stroke/50 Free
7 x 100 Free
6 x 50 Stroke
5 x 100 Free
4 x 50 Stroke
3 x 100 Free
2 x 50 Stroke
1 x 100 Free
50 Free/50 Stroke/50 Free

15s rest on the 50's and 20s on the 100's.

[chassis]

Nice set. What is your peak and AHR for that workout?

[MyZ4Coupe]

Wish I knew, my watch doesnt track HR in the pool unfortunately.

[chassis]

I was invited to an ocean lifeguard interview! Pretty excited. Requirements include a timed pool swim, a non-timed open water beach swim, rescue board paddle and beach run.

I feel good about all of the requirements but they will be a challenge. Skills test is third week of January. I will do some training swims between now and then. South Florida.

[chassis]

First training swim: 11 minutes for 550 yards. Requirement not met!

I need to swim 550 yards in 10 minutes or less. My brother who is running the Boston Marathon this year gave me an interval training program to use with the goal of achieving a pace of slightly more than 9 minutes for 550 yards. Let's go!

[MyZ4Coupe]

That is a quick pace for sure.... You are really close though, you can do it!

Had a rough swim tonight.... Getting over a cold and I was gassed... Almost left early but stuck with it.

[chassis]

I did the first workout today. Hard!

The goal was 6 x 100yds @ 1:40 with 1:00 rest between 100s. Do this twice.

I achieved 1:37, then 1:40 on the first two 100s, then was 10 seconds slower than goal on the remaining four 100s.

I rested for 30 minutes, then did a second set with the same result: two good 100s and four which were 10 seconds slower than goal.

I feel good now. Tomorrow I will rest and probably do a short run or maybe a 1 mile beach run.

I met a guy today in a CPR class who is 73 yrs old (I am a good bit younger than that) and swims 1:15 for 100yds. He calls himself "an ocean swimmer". He said to train every day. What do people think about that? My main concern is injury.