5k Swimming Challenge

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Replies

  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,179 Member
    LeiLaura wrote: »
    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...
  • LeiLaura
    LeiLaura Posts: 238 Member
    Thanks folks, I hadn't thought of that! Can you tell I'm a newbie to this endurance lark?!
  • Jackie9003
    Jackie9003 Posts: 1,105 Member
    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.
  • Finafoshizzle93
    Finafoshizzle93 Posts: 157 Member
    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!
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,464 Member
    edited August 2019
    Djproulx wrote: »
    LeiLaura wrote: »
    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?
  • LeiLaura
    LeiLaura Posts: 238 Member
    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!
  • LeiLaura
    LeiLaura Posts: 238 Member
    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!
  • LeiLaura
    LeiLaura Posts: 238 Member
    Djproulx wrote: »
    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.

    y2ax9t1eiqcm.jpg

    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!
  • LeiLaura
    LeiLaura Posts: 238 Member
    beerfoamy wrote: »
    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 :)

    That was actually really helpful, thank you! And consider me impressed! Triple challenge, just wow.
  • LeiLaura
    LeiLaura Posts: 238 Member
    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!

    PS. Have you tried one of the waterproof mp3 players? I'm curious to know if they actually work!
  • deannalfisher
    deannalfisher Posts: 5,600 Member
    edited August 2019
    LKArgh wrote: »
    LeiLaura wrote: »
    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...

    honestly - no offense but that is really slow for swim teams unless they are doing lots of breaks - consistently as a triathlere with about 1:55/100yds - i can do that in just shy of an hour (about 30 second break between 500yd sets) - 2.4miles for me in an ironman triathlon was 1:15 and i'm not even a prior college swimmer (or swim team type) - most of them finish in under an hour
  • aokoye
    aokoye Posts: 3,495 Member
    This whole thread is making me wish I had the time to do this!
  • Finafoshizzle93
    Finafoshizzle93 Posts: 157 Member
    LeiLaura wrote: »
    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!

    PS. Have you tried one of the waterproof mp3 players? I'm curious to know if they actually work!

    I haven’t tried waterproof MP3 players but know a few people who find swimming boring without it. I find it’s a time to clear my mind and focus on how many laps I’m on (or else I forget haha). I basically just count in my head the whole time!

  • Djproulx
    Djproulx Posts: 3,084 Member
    lorrpb wrote: »
    Djproulx wrote: »
    LeiLaura wrote: »
    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?

    The key is floating on your back like a sea otter, lol. I tyically wear a wetsuit, so its very easy to float. I can then slide the buoy cord to the front where I can easily open the folded pouch and take out what I need. In addition, some of us will keep a gel packet under the collar of the wetsuit (or around the arm hole if a sleeveless wetsuit)in the collar so you can extract it easily. The same thing applies to a spare set of goggles. Not usually an issue, but I've had them knocked off in the scrum that happens at the beginning of a race. That is no fun, so I've begun carrying a spare set during races.
  • Djproulx
    Djproulx Posts: 3,084 Member
    edited August 2019
    [/quote]

    2.4miles for me in an ironman triathlon was 1:15 and i'm not even a prior college swimmer (or swim team type) - most of them finish in under an hour[/quote]

    So @deannalfisher, my offer stands: You drag this 1:25 guy along to a 1:15 swim finish, and I'll return the favor by doing the pulling on the bike course. :)
  • LeiLaura
    LeiLaura Posts: 238 Member
    I've been swimming three times a week for nearly a month now. I can now manage 1km (40 lengths) with relative ease, but I'm definitely ready to get out by the end of that, not least because of stinging eyes (need to find some goggles that don't annoy me!). While I'm still a long way off 2km, let alone 5km, I'm pleased with my progress. I'm stronger, faster, and - crucially - still swimming! I've also had to order a swimsuit in the next size down. Yay for MFP!
  • deannalfisher
    deannalfisher Posts: 5,600 Member
    yay! congrats! if you are considering doing a 5k - i ghighly recommend you look for some Open Water swim training