i always do three sessions per week. endurance, technique and a threshold swim. the threshold swim is the hardest as it builds you up to swim at pace over longer distances. when the waves are choppy you also need to change your stroke (not so classic but a more straight arm as you bring it over and into the water) and so the technique part you focus on open water swim specific skills (sighting, bi-lateral etc).

Question for jenez_world...Which training do you do first. I swim three times a week also (Mon, Wed, Fri) but I am not for sure if I should do endurance on Monday and threshold Friday or just the opposite. I have only been swimming for 7 months, so I am still working on a good training plan. I signed up for the Boise HIM, June 9th and need help increasing my distance.
My breathing is my biggest issue...I do okay up to 100m and then it seems like I just cant get enough air. I breathe to the right side. During my warm up and drills I try bilateral breathing and I do ok....again up to about 100m and then my breathing falls apart.
Anyone have any ideas.
My 100m time is 2 min +/- 5 sec

i do drills monday because it is the easier swim and i usually have just done alot of long bike/run workouts over the weekend. then endurance wednesday and i swim with a group for threshold on saturday. i am no expert but you need to get your breathing sorted out as it will impact you the most if you cannot relax and settle into a rythmn. i swim bilateral for training but usually only to my right in a race as it is my strongest side. however if it is choppy and i need to i will change and breathe to my left. make sure you expel all the air in your lungs before rotating to take another breath. i always have to focus on this at the start (to relax) so i really make sure i have a bubble trail coming out my mouth and nose. you will feel exhausted if you dont breathe out fully and your breathing shortens up. i hadnt used my wetsuit in awhile and last week i was in a race and didnt stretch it out and couldnt breathe fully and i had a terrible swim. go to www.swimsmooth.com and paul has some great tips on breathing and heaps of stuff for beginners.

azut1r0nman

I have coached guys swimming for a few years and from what you describe I would suggest that you should not worry about bilateral breathing too much. Build up your endurance first and be happy that you can comfortably swim the distance that you are going to race, then look to work on your bilateral breathing. To start with keep it for your warm ups and warm downs min of 200m each, as you progress you will be able to increase your capacity to bilaterally breath.

@Maggiemeans, to train for open water swimming in the pool, I will often do longer continuous sets where the last half of the set is pulling with a pull buoy. This simulates the greater strain on your upper body and lesser kick that you will have when swimming in a wetsuit. Also, focus on taking shorter strokes and turning your arms over faster. You can't really use a long gliding stroke in choppy water.

@azut1r0nman The odds are high that your problem is not your breathing, but your stroke technique. More than likely, you are expending a lot of energy (and oxygen) in moving water in different directions other than straight behind you. Perhaps you are crossing over the center line of your body with your arms, causing your hips to wiggle from side to side (this incurs a *lot* of drag) or you have poor body position with feet well below the surface of the water. With a combination of inefficient stroking and increased drag, you are working very hard to move your body through the water, even 100 yards. Your time of 2:00/100m tells me that you are swimming quite inefficiently and this is probably the cause of your shortness of breath.

The biggest bang for your buck right now will be to fix your technique, through coaching, drills, watching DVDs, joining a coached swimming group, or whatever you can muster. As your technique improves, your swimming endurance will improve drastically. Trying to improve endurance by swimming longer/harder with the same stroke will not buy you much. Best of luck!

@azut1r0nman

Not one to disagree with Ironmon especially on the swimming front, I agree with all that she has said however, the technique has to be coupled with building up your endurance. For a weak swimmer it is very easy to overload them with a multitude of changes in technique, which can result in the swimmer focusing on what every part of their body is doing instead of just swimming. The guys that swim with me until they can swim 400m front crawl continuously with the exception of a few quick fixes I won't even look at them.

Agree with joining a club, for you feedback is the most important, swim smooth is a great aid but it does not watch you swim and see what you are doing wrong.

@maggiemeans. This probably won't help you much, but in the pool I breathe on 4s (on both sides) so when I get into open water racing, I can breathe on 2s on either side. I don't really find that pool swimming helps train for open water all that much. You can practice sighting exercises by placing a pull buoy at either end and train yourself to look up to sight instead of following the bottom of the pool.

@azut1ronman. Can you breathe properly after 200m? I still have problems with my breathing for the first 100m, and I have been swimming for 5 years. More volume will help make it easier. One thing I do is warmup on 3s and swimming breathing on 4s. For you though you might want to warm up on 2s and breathe on 3s. To learn to do this, I would just practise a set like this: 8 x 50m where each time you increase the breathing. Example for the first 50m try breathing on 2s, then next 3s, then next 4s, then 5s and then repeat the pattern. If 50s are to hard just do 25s at first. When I am not following a specific workout I always do this set.

5 x 100m (4s, 5s, 6s, 7s, 8s) I also do it with a pull buoy, because I find it easier with one, but it is a good set.

The basic idea is that you have to build fitness by restricting your oxygen. That plus lots of volume and it will help you a lot. Another way to build fitness is to keep your sets small. 25s, 50s, 75s, and make sure you have a bit of rest after each.

Thanks for all the comments.....

I wish swimming was as easy for me as biking and running where it seems like my body naturally knows when to increase/decrease its breathing pattern and inhale deeper/shallower depending on the intensity.....opposed to having to roll to one side or the other in rythmn to breathe. Then deciding if I can make it 3 or 4 strokes before I need to breathe again or if I need to stay at 2.....while at the same time make sure I keep kicking so my legs don't drop. Okay I'm done whining.

When I first started swimming I used fins and a pull buoy (not at the same time) for my warm ups and drills. They definitey kept my legs up and helped with body position and it didn't seem like I used as much energy. I could swim 100m and even 200m with the pull buoy without the shortness of breath feeling. About a month ago for one of my endurance sessions (3 x 400m) I tried swimming one set with the pull buoy and it was easier than the other 2 sets and only took about 20 sec longer. I try to avoid using it now because I was getting to the point to where I was depending on it. Should I keep it in my training......maybe 50m with it then 50m without and then just keep alternating?????

I have watched some of the videos and read the articles on the swimsmooth and Total Immersion websites, but like a couple of you have mentioned, having someone watch me and provide feedback would probably be the best for me.

@azut1ronman.

I think I would stick with breathing on 2s and a two beat kick pattern (2 kicks per stroke cycle, or 1 kick per arm). Keep short sets at first. So for example do something like this:

250m warmup
5 x 50m with 10s rest. (250m) - no pull buoy
5x 50m with 5s rest (250m) with a pull buoy.
5x 50m with 10s rest (250m) kick no fins, keeping legs relatively straight.
5x 50m with 10s rest (250m) sprint kick with fins.
5x 50m with 10s rest (250m) choice stroke (breast stroke or back stroke)
250m cool down.

You can do the sets in a different order but that will give you some decent mileage, which will help build fitness and then build up to longer sets once you are ready. Ie. Go from 5 x 50m to 3 x 100m or whatever you feel ready for. You can also scale down and do 8 x 25m for any of them as well.

I am not a swim coach but maybe there is also someone who might be able to help you out around your pool that might give you some better entry level fitness building workouts.

If you join a tri squad you can get some good open water practice. often they will do a few lengths where it's every wo(man) for themself, where you get used to swimming in chop.

With technique, if you can develop more a 'punch and flow' type of stroke that will serve you well in open water. By this, I mean not being too gentle with the water but entering with force. This combats choppy conditions.