10Kmarathonswim

Open Water Advent Calendar, day 19

This will be similar to a Christmas advent calendar, but I'll list OW swims I'd love to take part in or products that I would love to find under the tree.

Day 19:

I've practically finished the Swim Smooth waterproof training plan. And I'm hooked. There's something exciting about not knowing what you'll be swimming today. Most masters swimmers, I think, already have this with having a coach. But as a self-coached swimmer, I'm stuck with whatever I can come up with.

Swim Smooth's Iron Man training program is a waterproof booklet with 35 training sessions. The sessions are technique-, distance-, or "fresh and fruity"-oriented. They are designed for 3/week swimmers, mostly triathletes. But the IM plan is good for OW swimmers, especially if most of your competitions are about 2.4 miles long.

Swim Smooth suggests that you swim 400m test to determine which of the plans you should buy. I managed to swim under 6:00, so that meant I bought level 3, in which the workouts average 3100 each.

The workouts are varied and fun. The booklets have descriptions of the drills and explanations of the workout shorthand. Definitely can recommend these books wholeheartedly. I'll talk about their DVD later.

Open Water Advent Calendar, day 18

This will be similar to a Christmas advent calendar, but I'll list OW swims I'd love to take part in or products that I would love to find under the tree.

Day 18:

Back to the books. And there's really only one OW swimming book. OK, there are others, but I haven't read them, so I can't comment on them. But the only one recently published that I have read is Steve Munatones' Open Water Swimming.

The book is pretty good. A long, serious book review is probably warranted, but this isn't that. Let's just say there are some problems with the book. But all in all, there is much more good about the book. Many examples of main sets in the book, which I love. Also, his Pyramid of Open Water Success is perfect; I use it for my training, and once I start my serious training for my inter-island attempt, I'll be using the pyramid even more.

Well worth the price. And look at it this way: buy the book, tell publishers there is a market for OW books!

Swimsense has changed my training

I've recently started using the Finis Swimsense with my swims. Except for two "wishes," I love the damn thing.

I've found that I'm a bit more consistent than I thought. Check out these sets. It consisted of a 300 steady, :20 rest, then 2 x 50 fast, :20 rest, repeat. (N.b: In my pool, 9 laps is 301.8 yards, or 275.9 meters. I set the watch at 15m per length, so let's call these main sets 300 yards.)

Set 1

Set 2

Set 3

Set 4

You can see that my fastest 300 was 4:42, slowest 4:53. Is that considered "steady?" Not sure. That is :11 difference. But the 50s are better, I think. All around :38. (That first 40.2, I think, was from my not hitting the PAUSE button right away.) You can see that the last length of each 50 was a bit slower than the other two lengths (weird to talk about three lengths for a 50, eh?). This is probably because of having to hit the wall, then hit the PAUSE button. In general, though, I am staying pretty steady, especially considering I did the 2 x 50 four times.

This next picture demonstrates the benefits and problems with the watch.

The green reps means I did backstroke. Yes, the watch can tell what stroke you're swimming. But look closely. That 27.1 sec length is actually two lengths. Actually, the 19.4, 11, and 27.1 sec lengths are probably really four lengths.

You see, what happens is: if you do not streamline long enough, the watch won't realize that you've started a new length. This has happened in some of my freestyle sets. (Honestly, the above described 4 x 300, was actually a 5 x 300, but the fourth set had a couple of these double lengths.) Also, look what it does to my pace count. The sixth length being the super-fast :11 length results in a 1:16 per 100m pace for backstroke. Wow! Of course, that speed cost me with the 3:01/100m length!

A few things I wish you could do with the watch that either you can't, or I haven't figured out yet: I'd like to be able to split a long length, like the 27.1 sec one above, into two lengths to make up for my horrible streamlining. Secondly, I'd like to tell the watch I'm drilling, then be able in the computer to type in how many yards I'd swum during the drill. As it stands now, if you're drilling without regular stroking (one-arm, 6/1/6, kicking), the watch will get confused each time your watch-arm streamlines. So, when I upload my 3200 yard workout, it comes up short with however many yards I drilled. And lastly, I wish I could adjust the brightness of the display. It is hard to see the watch, specifically what lap I'm on, underwater. (OK, that's three wishes, not two.)

Why does that matter? Well, in this system you can set goals. And one of my goals is 20 miles in December. Not sure I'll get that due to my losing anywhere from 200-800 yards from the drills, per day.

All in all, though, I love this watch. Well worth the money.

Open Water Advent Calendar, day 17

This will be similar to a Christmas advent calendar, but I'll list OW swims I'd love to take part in or products that I would love to find under the tree.

Day 17:

In Russia, one must wear a swim cap. My readers know this from my past experience. My swim bag is filled with caps. But only one do I wear everyday.

I love my Outdoor Swimming Society silicone swim cap. Best cap ever. And not just because I got it for free. Although I damn well deserved it for swimming in 15* C water down the River Dart. No. I would pay for this swim cap. Tight enough to stay on my head, yet not tight enough to put my scalp to sleep. I'm definitely sold on silicone caps.

And I really love mine because it advertises the Dart 10K. Yes, I'm still proud of doing a marathon. Sue me!

Open Water Advent Calendar, day 16

This will be similar to a Christmas advent calendar, but I'll list OW swims I'd love to take part in or products that I would love to find under the tree.

Day 16:

I'm a big proponent of fins. My proponency initially was based solely on the fact that I can't kick to save my life. It takes me over a minute to kick a 25m length, without fins. My lane-mates pass me by like I'm going backwards. While a fan of fins, I've never been a fan of huge, scuba diver-style fins. I never saw the worth of those three-foot long plastic monstrosities. Plus, if you whack one of your buddies, he's gonna get cut.

My first, and still only, set of fins were Finis Zoomers. I liked the fact that the blade only went a couple inches past my toes. I still had to fight hard to get that 25m length done, but I could feel it in the legs the next day in areas that I never felt after kicking sans fins. Somehow, these Zoomers helped me kick properly, and in the long run, develop a strong kick. Even more than that, my fins help me with body alignment when I'm working on my stroke; it is easier to keep my feet up, in essence ignore my kick, so that I can concentrate on the pull.

I'm still not the greatest kicker, but when I need to sprint past someone in the OW, I feel my more powerful kick coming alive, and the pass only takes a few strokes. This is a direct result of my work with the Zoomers.

Open Water Advent Calendar, day 15

This will be similar to a Christmas advent calendar, but I'll list OW swims I'd love to take part in or products that I would love to find under the tree.

Day 15:

Today I will suggest that every OW swimmer take his or her significant other out for dinner somewhere nice.  Like Кафе Мишель here in Moscow. Where I'm taking my wife right now.

Open Water Advent Calendar, day 14

This will be similar to a Christmas advent calendar, but I'll list OW swims I'd love to take part in or products that I would love to find under the tree.

Day 14:

T-shirts! As a kid, I loved running 10Ks. Not because I was fast. I wasn't. Not because I liked to see how my training translated to racing. I didn't train well. (You can't run a 10K on daily training runs of one mile...but I didn't realize that until my first 10K.) Not because of the women. Well not completely. 

I raced for the shirts! I loved wearing them to school the next day. "Hey look you jocks! This geek can run." Not fast, but I could run.  I loved those shirts.

Swimming shirts are no different. Why else would I suffer through 5K in my teeny pool (yes, it is 167 laps in my pool) and put my wife through sitting there counting my 50s? For the shirts! But you don't necessarily have to swim to get a shirt. With enough money you can have your very own swim shirt. And my favorite of all time is this one. I probably wear it more than any of my "real" swim shirts. 

Advertise the sport. Wear your swim shirt!

Open Water Advent Calendar, day 13

This will be similar to a Christmas advent calendar, but I'll list OW swims I'd love to take part in or products that I would love to find under the tree.

Day 13:

Today is the 13th, but it's not Friday. Even in Russia. So this particular advent gift is a little forced. But, in the end, this is my blog. So there!

Now, you could do the obvious with a scary swim cap. There are ample supplies of shark caps, jack o'lantern caps, or eyeball caps. For my money, there is but one way to scare your fellows aquaphiles: show up in grandma get-up.

You begin your ensemble with the quintessential grandma swim cap. The more flowers the better. Seek out many plastic flowers to really make a splash. Cover your eyes with wonderful flower goggles, matching the blooms on your noggin. 

You must, of course, wear a grandma suit. But I know that most (if not all) of my male readers will not do that. Worry not! I have the suits for you.  And they're really Ugly! I mean, Uglies. 

So, gentle readers. Go out and get supplied in granny gear. Then take a picture of yourself and win a free year's access to this blog! 

 

Open Water Advent Calendar, day 12

This will be similar to a Christmas advent calendar, but I'll list OW swims I'd love to take part in or products that I would love to find under the tree.

Day 12:

Some of the workouts we OW swimmers do take a long, long time. Swimming a 10 x 1000 main set takes most of us (normal) mortals a while to complete. Flipping through lap after lap becomes mind-numbing after a while. You can only go through your shopping list or finish your last chapter of your thesis in your head so many times. Not to mention the trouble of remembering your laps (but if you read day 6, you shouldn't have to worry about counting).

For me, I have no idea how I managed my occassional two-hour workouts without my Swimp3. I get sad when I forget to charge it and I hear only 30 seconds of the first song before it dies. It is simply more fun to swim with music, and the Finis Swimp3 is the best player on the market.

I've tried the swim headphones with my old style iPod shuffle years ago. The Otterbox I got was excellent, and I recommend it highly for protecting your iPod against water. But trying to keep headphones in your ears without water getting between your ear and the phones is impossible. I wasted plenty of money trying that and I figured I'd never swim with music. 

Then I tried my buddy's Swimp3. I was instantly hooked. The music is muted when you initially put it on, but sink below the water, and your life is filled with the sweet soleful sounds of Amy Lee. You can't help but swim fast. 

The Swimp3 lasts about 4-6 hours on a charge, so pay attention to your time in the pool. Also, let me recommend that when you buy your Swimp3, you buy a replacement cap for the USB end. You don't want that thing to break, then have to wait for a new one. And the last thing you want is your USB to get wet. Also, I recommend you rinse your player after each swim and make sure it is completely dry before plugging in to your computer.

Oh, and you don't have to hook it under your goggles. When I do that, the goggles are pulled up just enough to let water leak in. That doesn't work for me so I tuck the speakers under my swim cap behind my ears, not in front. In front my temples start to hurt after a while. 

Open Water Advent Calendar, day 11

This will be similar to a Christmas advent calendar, but I'll list OW swims I'd love to take part in or products that I would love to find under the tree.

Day 11:

Today we'll feature a Christmas gift which is difficult to give without involving the person you'll be giving it to. You'll have to have your loved one's complete buy-in for this gift. There is no other way around it. This gift is for a lifetime.

I'm talking about a tattoo. An open water swimming-specific tattoo. And you wouldn't be the first person to get one. They are apparently common among Olympians. And some marathon swimmers. (Evan and Rob, where are yours? Please submit pictures.) 

It is important to find a tattoo artist whose work you like. It is not impertinent to ask to see an artist's portfolio. It is also not rude to ask to see him/her unwrap the tattoo needles. Hell, you can even buy your own if you get tattoos regularly, that way you know you're getting clean needles that has touched no one else's skin. 

Then, and this is my rule, make sure you're happy with the design. I have two tattoos. Each of which I had the idea/drawing in my mind for over two years before I committed. You want to imagine the tattoo stretched out and wrinkly. Because we're not all going to look this beautiful forever. ;)