One last session tomorrow, a gentle 2km swim and then that’s me done before IMCH on Sunday. TBH, I genuinely have no idea how I’m going to fair. The swim will be 1:10ish. That seems to be my IM swim pace at the moment and unless I get an amazing draft, that’s what it’ll be.
A few months ago I would have been really confident about going well under 11 hours but my running’s been very disrupted since, with no runs in the last 4 weeks owing to a calf niggle. I just felt it better to rest it and be more confident that I could get it through the run intact, rather than trying to crash some last minute training miles. So quite a few 13 milers and one 16 miler long run on about 2 runs per week. I think my plan is to pace the bike with a view to running a sub4 marathon rather than going out for a sub 11 time. If I do, I’m only going to just squeak it.
Breaking it down, I think a great day for me is going to look like a 1:10 / 5:40 / 3:50 / 10 for transitions, which brings me home in 10:50. That run split is looking wildly optimistic at the moment, but I’m going to head out of T2 at that pace and just see how long I can hold onto it for. All that aside, I’m really looking forward to the weekend and whatever happens, I’m going to enjoy it. Thanks to all of you on here who have chipped in with ideas, advice and bants. You’re a top lot👍
FWIW I dropped nearly 10minutes on my IM swim by doing my sessions almost entirely with a PB and paddles. (no change in volume and following Brett Sutton’s sessions). Not for everyone but worked for me.
What were you swimming before training in this way? I mean were you already quite well trained from a swim background or were you more of a fit non swim type who had a good engine but needed swim specific fitness?
I have always been a 1.05-1.10 swimmer to get to 60 minutes seems to be a huge time investment for not a huge gain.
I went from swimming 8mins for my first 400m pool based triathlon, then 74 minutes in my first IM, then 59 minutes a year later.
Not from a swimming background, but could swim front crawl.
I got injured and went from swimming 6-7km per week, to 12+ km for a six week block.
After that block, it just “clicked”.
My pool times are WAY better than my OW times, I’ve swam 57mins for 3.8km in the pool.
That was achieved through sheer consistency and doing what you know you should - one drills, one speed, one endurance, one easy.
Know your weakness (for me - right arm catch) and work on it. Supplement this with gym work (big lats and triceps really help with avoiding aching arms).
It’s all about doing more sessions. 5 x 1.8km sessions are better than 3 x 3km ones. Muscle memory and all that jazz.
Been to the gym? Do a 20 minute pull buoy cool down afterwards.
Been to spin class? Do a 20 minute pull buoy cool down afterwards.
Doing some treadmill work? Do a 20 minute pull buoy cool down afterwards.
I stopped swimming in September 2013 and didn’t swim again until June 2018 (OW)
I was about 1:40/100m for my reps then. With a year of general training in all three sports, I was repping under 1:28/100m this week.
Yes, I agree with Poet. Little & often is better than a few long sessions. Like everything, there is also a point a which you’ll hit a plateau without a huge shake-up of some kind. Historically I’ve always swum 60min +/- 1 min! That was based off 3x 2.5-3k a session. In the last year I’ve felt my swimming has slipped a little, my new pool might have contributed a bit, age maybe too, but I felt that was maybe not the whole picture. Anyway…
During my final 4 week block this year I resolved to swim 4x a week and hit >10k per week. I duly managed that 25 miles of swimming, and despite my OW swims all being fatigued (day after long run) my times seem to have dropped again to previous levels. We shall see on the day.
I will say though, that more swimming is actually the answer in most cases for triafletes …and MAMILs in particular
In the off season, I tried to rebuild my technique, and have gone from swimming 1:55/100m to 1:44/100m, however, I am a typical poor swimming triathlete, who really doesn’t do enough time in the pool
My main focus this season has been bike and run, and taken a big chunk of time, but I am now at the point of marginal gains, especially on the bike, so the next step I can take is to reduce my swim from 1:44/100m to 1:35/100m, and that will take lots more time in the pool
Sounds similar to me. I’ve gone from 1:50-1:55 /100 to 1:40/100 this year by working on my stroke. I spend way too much time on my bike also, but I really enjoy it
Ha, the main goal will be to finish without too many people ahead of me I just want a respectable performance tbh, something that has made the training worthwhile; what that will be on the day depends on a few factors.
I need to buckle down and do a proper swim focus before Wales. I get 2 long swims in per week in the lake behind my house, but I need to add 2 pool swims to get to where I want to on my swimming. I detest pool swimming, but I need to just suck it up.
In that case, the sessions you need to do are also the ideal ones psychologically i.e. short and ‘intense’. Something like w/u, 10-15 x100, c/d or a ‘pyramid’. 1500-2k total distance time permitting.
I have struggled to be consistent with my swimming because I work late a couple of nights a week and they’re the nights I get to swim so if I finish late then I either don’t get to go or it’s a very short swim. My wife has changed jobs now though and she works near the 50m pool so I can now go in the morning, she then brings our child to the pool who I can then take to school. We’ll see how it works next school year and hopefully improves consistency. I do rarely miss my masters swim session, which has seen my ‘top end’ speed improve dramatically, I can stay in the pool afterwards and do some steady swimming usually with a pull and paddles. I just need to translate the ability to swim faster to triathlon.
I live in a bungalow. We are just lucky that a boating lake (was a quarry) has now opened for swimming. It is a god-send for us local triathletes as the previous lake I used was a 30 minute drive.
Jorgan: I think the short, hard pool sets are what I need!
Maybe it’s the London mentality, but this is no distance whatsoever! I think of the London Docks as on my doorstep, yet it’s 45mins on the tube each way.
I just want a respectable performance tbh, something that has made the training worthwhile; what that will be on the day depends on a few factors.