5k Swimming Challenge
LeiLaura
Posts: 238 Member
Would anyone be interested in joining me in a challenge to ultimately swim 5km? That's 200 lengths of my local 25m pool, which I reckon will be about an hour of swimming once I can sustain it for that long. I only got back into swimming a couple of weeks ago, not I'm finding it great for my mental wellbeing as well as for the muscles in my arms and upper body. I never feel to out of breath when I swim, and there's no yucky feeling of being sweaty, either 
I really like the idea of the Couch to 5k running challenge, but I'm not a fan of running at all. It occurred to me in the pool today that there's no reason I can't make up my own challenge to build up from my current 30 lengths (0.75km) to (eventually) 200 lengths (5km). I was hoping there might be some other swimmers on here who would be interested in doing the same? I'm going to try to make it less tedious over a longer swim by ordering this:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B075DBCTX4/ref=ox_sc_saved_image_2?smid=A22BKOKNEQ424B&psc=1
Hope you can join in!
I really like the idea of the Couch to 5k running challenge, but I'm not a fan of running at all. It occurred to me in the pool today that there's no reason I can't make up my own challenge to build up from my current 30 lengths (0.75km) to (eventually) 200 lengths (5km). I was hoping there might be some other swimmers on here who would be interested in doing the same? I'm going to try to make it less tedious over a longer swim by ordering this:https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B075DBCTX4/ref=ox_sc_saved_image_2?smid=A22BKOKNEQ424B&psc=1
Hope you can join in!
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Replies
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*but I'm finding it great 0
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I don't have regular access to a pool so I can't join you in your challenge, but I agree, with building a plan to get you to swim longer distances. I guess to give your muscles a break while swimming, jogging in the pool could be your "walk" breaks and the swimming could be the running part of C25K? I guess you would have to adjust the time because it takes an hour to swim 5K whereas it would be closer to 30 minutes to run a 5K.
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That sounds like quite a challenge.
I'm a mediocre swimmer, having never gone farther than 4450 yds during my "not very straight" Ironman swim last summer. (IM swim distance is 2.4M or about 4200 yds). Doing the math, a 3.1mile swim would be about 5450yds.
So, at my modest 2:00/100yd IM distance pace, I expect it would take me roughly 108 minutes to complete the 5k distance. That's quite a bit of time in the water. Assuming you're more efficient than me, say a 1:40/100 swimmer, then you'd be finished in about 90 minutes. If your long distance pace is faster than 1:30/100, I'm very jealous, because you are becoming a fish!
While I'm not currently planning to build that kind of swim volume, it seems like a great way to build endurance without the pounding of running.
Good luck. Looking forward to reading your completion post!
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Haha, thank you! Perhaps I'm over-estimating what I can do! Still, it has a nice ring to it as a target Thanks for the input and moral support! 0
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I don't have the time to join in, but I did want say that there appear to be a number of 5k swimming plans. I suspect most are aimed at open water swimmers, but you'll probably be spoiled for choice 1
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I got to 1 mile this summer which I thought was s great accomplishment! I don’t see 5k on the horizon at this moment, although I’d like to keep increasing. 1.5 is probably my next goal. I need small achievable goals although I understand some people thrive on mega goals! Have at it!! Keep us posted.3
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Thank you! I honestly don't know if I'll ever get to 5k, I'm going to start with a smaller goal (1k!) and increase them incrementally as I reach one. Why don't we say anyone can set their own distance goal for this challenge? Then we can all celebrate each other's success 1
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surprised you didn't tag me there @Djproulx
i say go for it - i'm training for an ironman, but depending on how my shoulder is, i'm looking to do some longer open water swims next year - i want to do the Swim the Gorge 10k in Tennessee4 -
deannalfisher wrote: »
surprised you didn't tag me there @Djproulx
i say go for it - i'm training for an ironman, but depending on how my shoulder is, i'm looking to do some longer open water swims next year - i want to do the Swim the Gorge 10k in Tennessee
Oh, wow - 10k! Now that is ambitious Thanks for the support, and good luck with the ironman! 0 -
deannalfisher wrote: »
surprised you didn't tag me there @Djproulx
i say go for it - i'm training for an ironman, but depending on how my shoulder is, i'm looking to do some longer open water swims next year - i want to do the Swim the Gorge 10k in Tennessee
@deannalfisher, I've called you out several times in recent posts, so thought I'd give you a break.
With that said, I'd still like to draft behind you in my next Ironman swim. Perhaps next summer at Lake Placid or Mont Tremblant, mon ami? 1 -
deannalfisher wrote: »
surprised you didn't tag me there @Djproulx
i say go for it - i'm training for an ironman, but depending on how my shoulder is, i'm looking to do some longer open water swims next year - i want to do the Swim the Gorge 10k in Tennessee
@deannalfisher, I've called you out several times in recent posts, so thought I'd give you a break.
With that said, I'd still like to draft behind you in my next Ironman swim. Perhaps next summer at Lake Placid or Mont Tremblant, mon ami?
I dunno - this flatlander don’t like hills! we’ll chat 1 -
Thank you! I honestly don't know if I'll ever get to 5k, I'm going to start with a smaller goal (1k!) and increase them incrementally as I reach one. Why don't we say anyone can set their own distance goal for this challenge? Then we can all celebrate each other's success
Oh I think this is totally doable. If I wasn't already cycling and rowing I would totally do this challenge with you.1 -
Thank you! I honestly don't know if I'll ever get to 5k, I'm going to start with a smaller goal (1k!) and increase them incrementally as I reach one. Why don't we say anyone can set their own distance goal for this challenge? Then we can all celebrate each other's success
Oh I think this is totally doable. If I wasn't already cycling and rowing I would totally do this challenge with you.
Good luck with your own challenges!0 -
It's definitely a doable goal (so far my longest swim has been about 4KM) you might want to reconsider your pace though, you'd have to be matching a professional triathlete's pace over 1,900m to do 5K in an hour (the winner of the 70.3 at Mont Tremblant was swimming 1:16 / 100m which would still be a bit more than 60 min if you were able to sustain it over 5KM). Admittedly you can swim faster in a pool than open water (no chop, no current & pushing off the wall) I'm a so so swimmer and the best I've been able to do in the pool is just over 2:00 / 100m0
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Yes, I'm sure you're right! I worked out today that it would take me 200 minutes, assuming I didn't lose pace through fatigue! Maths never was my strong point 0
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Yes, I'm sure you're right! I worked out today that it would take me 200 minutes, assuming I didn't lose pace through fatigue! Maths never was my strong point
As your time in the water increases beyond 90 minutes or so, you'd probably benefit from taking in both hydration and nutrition during your swim to help maintain performance.
If you're in a pool, no problem, since you can store items on deck. If you choose to do an open water swim, then towing a floating buoy will allow you to store liquids and calories. 1 -
Yes, I'm sure you're right! I worked out today that it would take me 200 minutes, assuming I didn't lose pace through fatigue! Maths never was my strong point
As your time in the water increases beyond 90 minutes or so, you'd probably benefit from taking in both hydration and nutrition during your swim to help maintain performance.
If you're in a pool, no problem, since you can store items on deck. If you choose to do an open water swim, then towing a floating buoy will allow you to store liquids and calories.
It will also make you significantly more visible to other people who are sharing that body of water water with you which is a rather important safety issue. From a rowing shell, swimmers without buoys frequently don't actually look like people at first and thus don't look like things to be avoided.3 -
Would anyone be interested in joining me in a challenge to ultimately swim 5km? That's 200 lengths of my local 25m pool, which I reckon will be about an hour of swimming once I can sustain it for that long. I only got back into swimming a couple of weeks ago, not I'm finding it great for my mental wellbeing as well as for the muscles in my arms and upper body. I never feel to out of breath when I swim, and there's no yucky feeling of being sweaty, either I really like the idea of the Couch to 5k running challenge, but I'm not a fan of running at all. It occurred to me in the pool today that there's no reason I can't make up my own challenge to build up from my current 30 lengths (0.75km) to (eventually) 200 lengths (5km). I was hoping there might be some other swimmers on here who would be interested in doing the same? I'm going to try to make it less tedious over a longer swim by ordering this:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B075DBCTX4/ref=ox_sc_saved_image_2?smid=A22BKOKNEQ424B&psc=1
Hope you can join in!
To give you perspective, unless you are an athlete, you are facing way more than 1 hour, more like 3-4 hours. So you migth want to readjust your goals. My daugther is in a swimming team, practice is 90-120 minutes, and on days when they are only swimming laps, they do not do more than 3000 meters. For me, who I am a typical amateur swimmer who started swimming as an adult, it took me 1 year to go from 1 k to 2k...1 -
Thanks folks, I hadn't thought of that! Can you tell I'm a newbie to this endurance lark?!0
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That's a great target, I've recently discovered swimming again too, I managed 30 lengths in an hour so can't imagine being able to do 200 any time soon.
My husband and I have a mini challenge of swimming the channel through accumulated lengths, he's winning at the moment
Good luck, keep this thread updated for followers, it'll be fantastic to know you've got there.1 -
I find boredom the hardest part of a 5km swim. I always get 'bored' between 20 and 30 lengths no matter the distance. On a 5km, it hits again around 120, so that is when I pause and have a drink or a gel.
I swim along telling myself, you are not tired, you are bored - on repeat until I get back into the zone of just swimming.
Takes me around 1hr45 to do 5km but I haven't been training to decrease my time. I restarted swimming around 5 years ago, doing 30 lengths breaststroke, 2 front crawl and building from there. I would say it took a year and a half before I was regularly swimming 3km and a further year before I did a 5km in the pool. As I say though, I wasn't actively training for it.
This year I did a triple 5km challenge - 3 days in a row - 5km each day. That tuckered me out! Next year I am going to try and do two 5km sessions in one day and do the challenge over 2 days - that I will train for!
ETA - no real help here, sorry, just some info/experiences/waffle 5 -
Is the goal to complete that distance without stopping? Or just be able to swim that far with breaks? I typically do 120 lengths in about an hour in sets of:
3 x 150 yards
50 yards kick (gives my shoulders which are tendinitis prone a break)
Repeat until 120 lengths, once comfortable up to 150, 180, 200 lengths.
Also agree hydration is very important. It’s hard to recognize how much you need to hydrate when you’re not sweating but it’s definitely necessary!0 -
Yes, I'm sure you're right! I worked out today that it would take me 200 minutes, assuming I didn't lose pace through fatigue! Maths never was my strong point
As your time in the water increases beyond 90 minutes or so, you'd probably benefit from taking in both hydration and nutrition during your swim to help maintain performance.
If you're in a pool, no problem, since you can store items on deck. If you choose to do an open water swim, then towing a floating buoy will allow you to store liquids and calories.
@Djproulx I always use a buoy with a self contained dry bag in open water, but it must take some practice to open it up to retrieve food or drink without letting water in. How does that work?0 -
Jackie9003 wrote: »That's a great target, I've recently discovered swimming again too, I managed 30 lengths in an hour so can't imagine being able to do 200 any time soon.
My husband and I have a mini challenge of swimming the channel through accumulated lengths, he's winning at the moment
Good luck, keep this thread updated for followers, it'll be fantastic to know you've got there.
Oh, I like that! I hadn't thought of doing *accumulated* km! Maybe that's a more realistic way of doing it. Will mull that over. Good luck beating your husband!2 -
Jackie9003 wrote: »That's a great target, I've recently discovered swimming again too, I managed 30 lengths in an hour so can't imagine being able to do 200 any time soon.
My husband and I have a mini challenge of swimming the channel through accumulated lengths, he's winning at the moment
Good luck, keep this thread updated for followers, it'll be fantastic to know you've got there.
PS. Thanks for the support!0 -
As @aokoye points out, swim buoys are a great safety device. We use them for visibility, nutrition storage, and as a safety net (if facing cramps, fatigue, breathing issue, etc) while swimming in open water.
I've never tried open water swimming, but there's a place near me that they do it, so I'll bear that in mind for if I get brave enough!0
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