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Limited swim training

Ok, so I haven't done one yet but am already heading towards being hooked!

I am entering my first sprint tri in May and and aiming to do Hever Castle Olympic in September. To be clear, I am aiming to finish, not set a sparkly time (but I am a competitive bugger....)

I have been running/cycling for a while and triaining in these two can be bent around my work/family life easy enough but I am really going to struggle fitting in swim training. I therefore have two questions for you lot:

1) if I don't do any swim training for the sprint tri and just get the pool bit over with am I going to find it a real shock to the system when I head off the the ride/run? (I can do 500m front crawl without stopping as I stand today)

2) For Hever I can't see how I can do more than one 1 hr session a week during the summer. I will probably have to ride 10k to the pool up some very steep (in my view) hills. Question: am I going to damage what limited training I can do by puffing up 10k of hills before even getting in the pool?

Your thoughts/abuse welcome!

Comments

  • Depends what your swimming is like. I was in a similar situation a while ago, when I did the Bath sprint - 750 metres in the pool. My front crawl was pretty hopeless at the time and I didn't have much time to practise (probably 6 hours of swimming in training in total), so I did breast-stroke for most of the way (as did many others) and ended up clocking a time of about 16 minutes.

    Having said this, I used to swim breast-stroke for my club as a kid, so have a reasonably effective style, but I probably hadn't swum at that sort of pace for 20 years at the time.

    Jonathan
  • BlinkybazBlinkybaz Posts: 1,144
    If you dont have much time to train then its quality you need and not just banging out lengths.

    Look up some drills on you tube.
    I am doing drills at present and my swim time for 400 is 7.05. It was 8.10 so its amazing what good training can do for you.

    Paddles have worked for me as well. Builds the strength in your strke.
    If its technique you need then a coach will iron out any issue and its sometimes good to have someone telling what to do. My coach who I see for an hour a week has me doing upto a mile in an hour using varied drills and paddles even a bloody pull bouy sometimes.
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